Faculty and Staff Authors Compile Impressive List of Works – Middlebury College News and Events

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. Middlebury College faculty and staff authors have again put forth a slate of books representing a diversity of interests and scholarship. Although the annual reception celebrating the authors could not take place this year, Jim Ralph, dean for faculty development and research,notes the importance of recognizing the dedication of those who have published books.

This years list of books, published in 2019, points to the remarkable imaginative and analytical powers of Middlebury Colleges faculty and staff, said Ralph.This listwith titles on topics ranging from history to geochemistry to pressing contemporary issuescould serve as a terrific starting point for readers seeking to expand their liberal education.

Books continue to be an important vehicle for conveying knowledge and stimulating insight on a topic, says Ralph. I know I speak for our community when I say how proud we are all of their achievements. The publication of these books also shines a light on the intellectual and creative vitality of our community.

Following is a list of books published by Middlebury faculty and staff in 2019:

Tara Affolter,Through the Fog: Towards Inclusive Anti-Racist Teaching.Charlotte, NC: IAPInformation Age Publishing, Inc, 2019.

Drawing from over 20 years of teaching experience in the U.S., ranging from prekindergarten to postgraduate, Affolters work illustrates personal, practical, and theoretical ways for teachers to grapple with the complexities of race and racism within their own schools and communities and develop as inclusive anti-racist teachers.

Matthew Dickerson,The Voices of Rivers: On Places Wild and Almost Wild. Boston, MA: Homebound Publications, 2019.

This work of creative narrative nonfiction interweaves elements of nature writing, personal narrative, outdoor writing, and environmental writing. In 2017, Dickerson was selected to be artist in residence at Glacier National Park (Montana) for the month of June, and then in 2018, he was selected to be artist in residence at Acadia National Park (Maine) for the month of May. This collection contains essays written in those times and places as well as essays set in some national forests, national parks, and state parks of Alaska from 2015 to 2018.

Elizabeth Endicott,Mongolia 19782017: Memoirs of a Part-Time Mongolist.Manchester Center, VT: Shires Press, 2019.

This memoir is a personal account of the authors 14 trips to Mongolia spanning the years 1978 to 2017. The book offers observations on the Mongolian way of life as it has evolved from the socialist period to a new post-socialist reality. Over 150 of the authors photographs document the social and cultural transformations in the Mongolian countryside and in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city.

Natalie Eppelsheimer,Roads Less Traveled: German Jewish Exile Experiences in Kenya, 19331947. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2019.

Drawing on archival sources in Kenya, Great Britain, Germany, and the U.S., as well as other literary, governmental, journalistic, and historical sources,Roads Less Traveledexamines the experiences of German Jews who managed to escape from Nazi Germany to the British colony of Kenya. This study explores the historical background of Jewish emigration to Kenya, analyzes first-person accounts of former refugees and descriptions of life in the colony, and pays special attention to the experiences of refugee children in Kenya.

Irina Feldman,P. Baker, F. Lagos, and R. Pareja(Eds).Latin American Marxisms in Context: Past and Present.Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019.

The opposition to neoliberal development patterns in Latin America has gone beyond social-democratic reformism to a revival of Marxist theoretical perspectives and political practices in the beginning of the 21st century. This book provides an insight into the rich diversity of Latin American Marxism, historically and contemporarily. Given the global interest in the revival of radicalism in Latin America, it should appeal to non-Marxist as well as Marxist scholars with interests in topics from political economy to cultural theory.

Irina Feldmanand A. M. Lopez-Zapico(Eds).Resistiendo al imperio: Nuevas aproximaciones al antiamericanismo desde el siglo xx hasta la actualidad.Madrid, Spain: Slex Ediciones, 2019.

This volume revisits discourses and practices from Latin America, Spain, and the United States labeled as anti-Americanist, analyzing these political and cultural phenomena as practices of resistance in the face of imperial advances of the United States in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Felicia A. Grey,States and Non-participatory Memberships in the WTO.London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

This book examines non-participatory memberships, or why states choose not to use the benefits of international institutions to which they belong. To investigate this question, the author explores why states choose not to litigate within the World Trade Organizations Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). The research contributes to the literature on global governance and institutions generally, and of the WTO specifically. Additionally, the project includes comparative case analysis of WTO agreements and international disputes: China and Jamaica; Guatemala and Mexico; the United States and Mexico. This volume will interest policy makers, trade professionals, academics, and anyone who is interested in development studies.

Christian Keathley, Jason Mittell,Catherine Grant,The Videographic Essay: Practice and Pedagogy.Online:http://videographicessay.org, 2019.

This digital open-access book, adapted from a print version previously published in 2016 and revised for 2019, collects a series of writings, conversations, and examples of videographic criticism that emerged out of the ongoing Scholarship in Sound and Image summer workshops that have been offered at Middlebury since 2015. In recognition of the pedagogical work discussed in this online resource, Keathley and Mittell were awarded the Society for Cinema and Media Studies inaugural Innovative Pedagogy Award in 2020.

Gary Margolis,Time Inside.Peterborough, NH: Bauhan Publishing, 2019.

A book of poems.

Michelle McCauley,J. J. Dickinson, N. Schreiber Compo, R. N. Carol, B. L. Schwartz (Eds).Evidence-Based Investigative Interviewing: Applying Cognitive Principles.Routledge Press, 2019.

Evidence-Based Investigative Interviewingreviews the application of cognitive research to investigative interviewing, revealing how principles of cognition, memory, and social dynamics may increase the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. It provides evidence-based applications for investigators beyond the forensic domain in areas such as eyewitness identification, detecting deception, and interviewing children.

Bill McKibben,Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?Henry Holt and Co., 2019.

Falteris an account of our current peril on a hotter planet, and the way that rampant inequality, spurred by libertarian market fantasies, has left us in a particularly weak place to meet the crisis. It argues that nonviolent social movements might offer a way out. A New York Times bestseller, it was named by the Washington Post as one of the 10 best books of the year.

Laurie L. Patton,Who Owns Religion? Scholars and Their Publics in the Late Twentieth Century.Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 2019.

Who Owns Religion? focuses on a periodthe late 1980s through the 1990swhen scholars of religion were accused of scandalizing or denigrating the very communities they had imagined themselves honoring through their work. While controversies involving scholarly claims about religion are nothing new, this period saw an increase in vitriol that remains with us today. Authors of seemingly arcane studies on subjects like the origins of the idea of Mother Earth or the sexual dynamics of mysticism have been targets of hate mail and book-banning campaigns. As a result, scholars of religion have struggled to describe their own work to their various publics, and even to themselves.

Lana Dee Povitz,Stirrings: How Activist New Yorkers Ignited a Movement for Food Justice.Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019.

In the late 20th century, government cutbacks, stagnating wages, AIDS, and gentrification pushed ever more people into poverty, and hunger reached levels unseen since the Depression. In response, New Yorkers set the stage for a nationwide food justice movement, organizing school lunch campaigns, establishing food co-ops, and lobbying city officials. Stirrings uses the political history of food advocacy organizations to explain why such groups focus almost exclusively on feeding hungry people rather than on addressing the root cause of that hungerpoverty.

Peter Crowley Ryan,Environmental and Low-Temperature Geochemistry, Second Edition. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: 978-1-119-56858-2, 2019.

Environmental and Low-Temperature Geochemistrypresents conceptual and quantitative principles of geochemistry in order to foster understanding of natural processes at and near the earths surface, as well as anthropogenic impacts and remediation strategies. It provides the reader with principles that allow prediction of concentration, speciation, mobility, and reactivity of elements and compounds in soils, waters, sediments, and air, drawing attention to both thermodynamic and kinetic controls. The scope includes atmosphere, terrestrial waters, marine waters, soils, sediments, and rocks in the shallow crust; the temporal scale is present to Precambrian, and the spatial scale is nanometers to local, regional, and global.

Paula Schwartz,Today Sardines Are Not for Sale:A Street Protest in Occupied Paris.

Oxford University Press, 2020. (This book was intended for release in late 2019, so it is included on this years list.)

Based on a rich documentary record, together with the oral testimony of surviving participants and witnesses, Today Sardines Are Not for Saleuses a microhistorical approach to probe multiple dimensions of a single short-lived event and its repercussions over time. The author shows how gender shaped an illegal public protest action under a French collaboration government and German occupation.

Yoko Ogawa.The Memory Police.Stephen Snyder, trans. New York: Pantheon, 2019.

The Memory Policeis a fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss. The English-language edition was a 2019 National Book Award finalist, was named one of the New York Times's100 Notable Books of the Year, and is currently a finalist for the Booker International Prize.

Allison Stanger,Whistleblowers: Honesty in America from Washington to Trump.New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.

Winner of the Association of American Publishers PROSE award in the category of Government, Policy, and Politics.

Max M. Ward,Thought Crime: Ideology and State Power in Interwar Japan. Durham: Duke University Press, 2019.

Thought Crimeexplores the development of the Japanese Peace Preservation Law (Chianijih) from its initial passage in 1925 to suppress communism and anticolonial nationalism to its expansion into an elaborate system to ideologically convert thousands of political criminals throughout the Japanese Empire in the 1930s.The book illuminates the complex processes through which the law articulated imperial ideology and how this ideology was transformed and disseminated through the laws application over its 20-year history.

Richard Wolfson,Essential University Physics, 4th edition. Pearson, 2019.

This is the fourth edition of the less is more calculus-based physics textbook thats designed to give students a concise, progressive text with a lively writing style and real-life applications; it costs less and weighs less than standard university physics texts.

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Faculty and Staff Authors Compile Impressive List of Works - Middlebury College News and Events

US Congress to question heads of tech giants on Wednesday – Yahoo News

Washington (AFP) - A highly anticipated congressional hearing on anti-competitive practices, bringing together the heads of four US technology giants, has been rescheduled for noon (1600 GMT) Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee has announced.

The heads of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple -- the world's biggest technology companies -- will be testifying at a time of growing complaints about their dominance and amid calls by some politicians and activists to break them up.

The hearing, originally set for Monday, was rescheduled. The committee did not offer a reason, but civil rights icon and long-time congressman John Lewis will be lying in state in the US Capitol on Monday and Tuesday.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the four tech leaders -- Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Tim Cook (Apple), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Sundar Pichai (Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube) -- will be allowed to appear virtually if they wish.

It will be a first congressional appearance for Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post.

Pressure has been growing both from the right and the left -- and sometimes internally -- to do something about the overwhelming dominance of the internet platforms.

The Judiciary Committee has spent more than a year conducting a sweeping investigation into the four companies to determine whether they are guilty of any antitrust abuses and, if so, to consider possible remedies.

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Star Wars: 5 Things Attack Of The Clones Got Right (& 5 It Got Wrong) – Screen Rant

George Lucas divided the Star Wars fan base with The Phantom Menace. Contemporary children lapped it up, but adults who grew up with the original trilogy felt insulted by the campy tone. Lucas ignored his critics and boldly charged ahead with the prequel trilogy, following up Episode I with Attack of the Clones, which continued the journey toward the inevitable tragic downfall of Anakin Skywalker.

RELATED:Star Wars: 10 Greatest Moments In Attack Of The Clones, Ranked

Although Attack of the Clones is widely regarded to be the worst of the prequels, and was considered to be the worst Star Wars movie altogether until the sequel trilogy came along, it does have some redeeming value.

As with all the Star Wars prequels, Ewan McGregors portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi is infinitely charismatic. Instead of trying to emulate Alec Guinness, McGregor presented his own take on the character, while maintaining the dry charm that originally defined Guinness performance.

RELATED:Star Wars: 5 Things Ewan McGregor Brought (& 5 Things Alec Guinness Brought) To Obi-Wan Kenobi

In Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan leads his own subplot as he investigates the creation of the Clone Army and stumbles into a widespread Sith conspiracy.

George Lucas is the first to admit that he doesnt write great dialogue particularly romantic dialogue and he even allowed Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman to rewrite their own lines on the set of Attack of the Clones. Still, their romantic scenes are pretty cringeworthy.

There have been defenses of this pointing out that Anakin was raised as a slave and therefore has limited social skills, but what still doesnt make sense is Padm falling head over heels for Anakin when the cringe factor never goes away.

As with any entry in the Skywalker saga, Attack of the Clones can be counted on for some breathtaking musical compositions courtesy of the great John Williams.

No matter how banal the romantic dialogue shared by Anakin and Padm is throughout the movie, Across the Stars, the Williams track that plays over their wedding in the films final moments (and when theyre being taken to their deaths in the Geonosian arena), captures the Shakespearean beauty of their forbidden, star-crossed love.

This is a problem that permeates throughout the prequel trilogy, but especially in Attack of the Clones. While The Phantom Menace was forced to use some practical techniques by technological restrictions and the computer-generated effects in Revenge of the Sith were sharper and more refined, Attack of the Clones is the worst of both worlds.

RELATED:Star Wars: Ranking All The Villains In The Prequel Trilogy

To say that Lucas overused primitive CGI throughout this movie would be an understatement. There isnt a single clone played by a physical actor in the entire movie; theyre all CG. Some scenes were entirely computer-generated.

George Lucas maintains that Jar Jar Binks is his favorite Star Wars character, but the fan base clearly wasnt as warm to him from his slapstick-laden debut in The Phantom Menace. Kids enjoyed his antics, but teenagers and adults rolled their eyes.

In Attack of the Clones, Jar Jar wasnt eradicated entirely, but Lucas did tone him down and figure out a manageable amount to keep him around that would stay on the side of lovable without veering into cringe territory.

Throughout Attack of the Clones, the slapstick comedy that Jar Jar brought to The Phantom Menace is instead given to C-3PO and R2-D2. After getting separated in a droid factory, Threepios head gets attached to a battle droids body and Artoo sets out to put him back together.

This subplot is filled with dreadful puns (This is such a drag, Im quite beside myself, etc.) and cringeworthy gags that belong in a cartoon.

Ben Burtt is the sound design genius who gave us the hum of a lightsaber, the crack of Indiana Jones whip, and the synthetic, yet sympathetic voice of WALL-E. On top of his usual iconic sound effects, like the voice of R2-D2, Burtt added some new mesmerizing sounds to the library in Attack of the Clones, like Obi-Wans seismic charge.

In addition to the prequels sound design, Burtt worked as an editor on the films. He worked with co-editors on The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith, but tackled editing duties on Attack of the Clones solo.

The mystery behind the cloning operation on Kamino ended up being dropped from Revenge of the Sith, because Lucas realized he bit off more than he could chew in Attack of the Clones.

The movie has too many villains, too. There was no reason for Jango Fett to outsource the assassination of Padm to Zam Wesell, who in turn outsourced it to a droid, after Nute Gunray outsourced it to Fett. Its the only prequel for which Lucas recruited a co-writer to help figure out the plot; he shouldve seen that as a sign that it was getting too complicated.

The plot threads of Attack of the Clones all converge in a spectacular final battle in which Star Wars fans get everything but the kitchen sink in their favorite galaxy far, far away. Obi-Wan reunites with Anakin and Padm as theyre shackled up in a gladiatorial arena and fed to some monsters for the Geonosians amusement.

RELATED:10 Greatest Battle Sequences In The Star Wars Saga

From there, the entire Jedi Order takes on the Separatists entire droid army, Yoda shows up with the Republics Clone Army, and Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Yoda confront Count Dooku.

Although he would eventually settle into the role of Anakin Skywalker with more theatrical flair in Revenge of the Sith, Hayden Christensens acting in Attack of the Clones was depressingly wooden.

To be fair to him, I dont like sand, is a difficult line to bring nuance to, but Christensen didnt do anything to elevate Lucas dialogue like his co-stars Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Samuel L. Jackson did.

NEXT:Star Wars: 5 Things The Prequel Trilogy Did Wrong (& 5 It Did Right)

Next Harry Potter: The Death Eaters, Ranked By Likability

Ben Sherlock is a writer, filmmaker, and comedian. In addition to writing for Screen Rant and CBR, covering a wide range of topics from Spider-Man to Scorsese, Ben directs independent films and takes to the stage with his standup material. He's currently in pre-production on his feature directorial debut (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema and BabbleTop.

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Giant Panda Slots and Blackjack Added to Spearhead – Golden Casino News

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Spearhead Studios, a fast-growing online casino game maker recently released two more gaming titles on its platform. The titles are a part of its Super July campaign under which it plans to launch a total of five games.

Giant Panda and Blackjack were two of the most recent additions to the Spearhead portfolio. The game library of the studio contains 13 titles already and is available in several jurisdictions via major online gambling operators and content aggregators. Blackjack will be the second table game of the platform. They already have a European Roulette offering for the users. The Blackjack game will be the studios own version of the classic table game. It is designed to be used on both mobile and desktop and provides an intuitive experience to the users.

Giant Panda is a 5-reel, 4-row slot game with an Asia-focused theme. It is designed for people looking for a relaxing and calming gaming experience. The game comes with a scenic bamboo background and features peaceful music that could transform the gameplay and provide a soothing pleasure to the player. It comes with numerous features and a free spin feature as well. A user can win in 1024 unique ways which will provide ample opportunities to win combined with the base model and free spins.

Both the titles were added to the Spearhead platform as part of the firms Super July campaign. The studio plans to bring forth five new gaming titles to its users this month. The first two games of the series- Royal Crown and Dark Joker were launched on July 7 and July 14. On July 28, it will release the final release of the month- the Super 7 Deluxe.

Managing director of the studio, Mathias Larsson commented on the release and said,

its not very often to have two game releases in just one week, so we are super proud of that achievement.

Spearhead is the game development wing of EveryMatrix, an online gambling provider. It was launched last year and currently provides its services in Lithuania, Denmark, Sweden, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, and Colombia.

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How Fred Smith rescued FedEx from bankruptcy by playing blackjack in Las Vegas – Fox Business

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro says his mission is to make sure Americans get gloves, goggles, ventilators and other materials they need.

Within a few years of starting FedEx, Fred Smith made a realgamble to keep the company afloat.

Smith founded the Federal Express in 1971 and it began operations in 1973. The company was based on an idea he wrote about in a term paper in 1965 while he was an undergraduate student at Yale.

In his paper, he explained how companies could deliver items faster if they changed their shipping strategies, according to the FedEx website. However, Smiths professor didnt think the idea was possible, so Smith's paper was only given a C, Entrepreneur magazine reported in 2008.

HOW JEFF BEZOS HELPED AMAZON OVERCOME A MAJOR COMPETITOR TO BECOME AN E-COMMERCE GIANT

Smith wasn't deterred. After he graduated from Yale and served in the Marine Corps for two tours of duty in Vietnam, Smith bought controlling interest in Arkansas Aviation Sales in 1971, the FedEx website said.

With his new company, Smith realized how difficult it was to ship items within a few days, so he decided it was time to try to put his Yale term paper to use.

According to Entrepreneur, Smith raised $80 million in loans and equity investments by the end of 1972.

FedEx founder and CEO Fred Smith is also a part owner of the Washington Redskins. (Redskins.com)

FedEx began operations in April 1973 and quickly grew. However, rising fuel costs eventually caught up with the young company, putting FedEx millions of dollars in debt, Entrepreneur reported.

Investors declined to give FedEx more money and Entrepreneur reported that "bankruptcy was a distinct possibility."

When the company had only $5,000 left, Smith pitched General Dynamics for more funding, but the board refused.

HOW JPMORGANS JAMIE DIMON WENT FROM BEING FIRED TO BECOMING A TOP LEADER IN BANKING

On his way home, Smith took a detour to Las Vegas and won $27,000 playing blackjack, which he wired back to FedEx, Forbes reported.

"The $27,000 wasn't decisive, but it was an omen that things would get better," Smith said about the gamble, according to Entrepreneur.

"I was very committed to the people that had signed on with me, and if we were going to go down, we were going to go down with a fight,"he said. "It wasn't going to be because I checked out and didn't finish."

Fedex CEO Fred Smith is pictured at a business roundtable meeting in 2012. (REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo)

After his blackjack win, Smith was able to raise another $11 million, the magazine reported. And by 1976, FedEx's revenue had reached $75 million, according to Forbes. The company went public two years later.

According to the company website, FedEx reported $1 billion in revenue in 1983. Though it was hit hard by the 2008 recession, the company has bounced back.

According to Forbes, the company made $69.7 billion in revenue last year.

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Smith, who is still the CEO and chairman of FedEx, is estimated to be worth $3.9 billion, according to Forbes real-time net worth calculator.

Though gambling FedExs last $5,000 was a risky choice, Smith doesn't appear to regret his decision, according to a quote from an essay by Smith that Forbes published in 2017.

"No business school graduate would recommend gambling as a financial strategy, but sometimes it pays to be a little crazy early in your career, Smith wrote.

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Blackjack Spooking – What Is the Legality of Blackjack Spooking – BestUSCasinos.org

Blackjack is the most popular game among advantage players. It can be beaten through a variety of ways, including card counting, shuffle tracking, ace sequencing, and hole carding.

The casino will throw out any players whom they catch successfully using any of these techniques. However, each of these methods is at least legal and wont get one sent to jail.

Other strategies for beating blackjack are more questionable. Spooking, for example, falls into the murky category.

Unlike marking cards or colluding with the dealer, spooking doesnt come off as being blatantly illegal. Ill discuss more on this technique along with if its ultimately legal to use in blackjack.

In a real money blackjack game, the dealer receives two cardsone up card and one face-down cardto start each round. You can use the up card in combination with your cards to determine whether to hit, stand, split, or double down.

Youre not supposed to know the value of the dealers face-down card (a.k.a. hole card). Therefore, youre dealing with incomplete information when making decisions.

Spooking Is a method of finding out the dealers hole card so that you have more information to act on. It involves two people, including one who sits at a table and plays hands, and another who tries seeing the face-down cards value.

The latter person stands off to the side of the game, in a position where they can better spot the dealers face-down card. They use hand signals or gestures to relay the information to the gambler.

Spooking can also involve a dealer who colludes with a gambler. The croupier must peek for the hole card value whenever they have an ace or 10 up card.

They can make an indiscreet gesture to let the player know their hole card. Dealer-player collusion is obviously illegal, so Ill avoid discussing it throughout the rest of the post.

Spooking bears many similarities to hole carding. The latter also involves trying to figure out the dealers hole card.

However, here are the key differences with hole carding:

Simply put, hole carders always sit and play a blackjack game. They dont need an accomplice who watches the dealer from afar, because they look for the hole card values themselves.

Spooking might sound like an easy way to make money. You just need somebody who can sit stand in a way that they can see the dealers hole cards, right?

Actually, spookers must not only be good at seeing the face-down card but also evading detection. They need to be extremely discreet about looking at the hole cards and also when signaling the player.

Casino surveillance is very adept at catching skilled gamblers. They have no trouble spotting transparent hand signals and obvious attempts to see cards.

Those who dont practice and work out infallible techniques beforehand risk being discovered. Therefore, any good blackjack team has to hone their skills before hitting the casino.

The person who is monitoring the dealer especially must be on top of their game. They should be adept at seeing the hole card from afar and properly relaying the value without drawing attention to themselves.

In answer to the original question posed at the start, no, spooking is not legal. Casinos have the right to kick you out and also prosecute you afterward.

Now, you may wonder why hole carding is legal and spooking isnt. The answer lies in where the participants are located.

All hole carding takes place at the table. Gamblers rely on their own skills and observations to figure out the hole card and make money.

Spooking, meanwhile, mainly relies on somebody whos not even at the blackjack table. Instead, the person watching the dealer is considered a cheater.

Youre not going to spend years in prison as a first-time offender who gets busted for spooking. However, youll definitely face legal repercussions of some kind when caught.

Spooking certainly isnt desirable from a legal standpoint. Therefore, you might wonder why one doesnt just opt for a safer way of beating blackjack.

I definitely suggest going to the legal route if you want to win profits in the casino. But spooking does have its merits when compared to other strategies.

You do need skill to properly pull off this technique. However, you dont have to be as skilled as, say, a hole carder or shuffle tracker.

The latter pursuits involve putting countless hours into winning. Spooking also requires some preparation and practice, but it doesnt demand the same amount of dedication.

Moreover, the watcher is the only person who really needs to be skilled. The player at the table, meanwhile, just needs to read the signals or gestures and act accordingly.

Spooking is also a very successful technique when properly pulled off. You dont have to wait for a dealer who flashes their cards. You just need somebody who can spot the dealers hole card when they check for a natural blackjack or pluck the card from the shoe.

Again, spooking is an extremely risky technique that could put you behind bars for a short while. But its also fruitful and relatively easy to manage when compared to more complicated strategies.

You likely arent thrilled about risking prosecution to beat blackjack. Therefore, you might consider the following legal advantage gambling methods instead.

Card counting is by far the most popular way to beat the casino. Gamblers have been using this strategy for decades to win profits.

It involves watching each card as it comes out of the shoe and assigning a point value to it. Here are the card groups along with their associated point values:

The goal is to determine when theres a positive count and increase your bets at this point. You also benefit more when the count is positive later in the shoe.

With more deck penetration, you can have more confidence in your accounts. After all, a +3 count is more trustworthy 75% of the way through the shoe versus just 10%.

Many different card counting systems exist. But you should definitely start out with the simple and reliable Hi-Lo, which is explained here.

Shuffle tracking begins with card counting. You count cards until the dealer stops the game to shuffle.

The point of card counting in this situation is to determine which part of the shoedealt or undealt portionfeatures a positive count:

Heres an example:

Shuffle tracking brings an added element to card counting by calling on you to visually track favorable card piles. With enough skill, you can track the favorable clumps and bet more when these slugs are dealt.

This strategy has an advantage over card counting, because its harder to detect by pit bosses.

I briefly covered hole carding earlier, but Ill go over it again in this section. This technique involves trying to see the dealers hole card.

The biggest step toward successful hole carding involves finding a dealer that accidentally flashes their face-down cards. These dealers are rare and usually only show hole cards due to a lack of experience and/or skill.

After finding such a croupier, you need to sit in a way that allows you to see the dealers hole card. Here are the seats you would take in a blackjack game:

Basically, you just need to be where the croupier would logically flash their hole card. For example, theyre more likely to show it to third base when theyre left-handed.

You also need to be discreet when looking at the dealers hole card. This matter involves slouching so that youre lower to the table without making it obvious what youre trying to do.

Unlike the advantage play methods covered here, spooking isnt legal. Its an underhanded technique that relies on somebody whos not even at the table.

One might think that theyre being clever when looking at the dealers hole cards from a distance. But theyre actually breaking gaming laws in any jurisdiction.

Spooking will still remain a popular strategy to beat the casinos thanks to its ease of use and success rate. However, it also requires taking a considerable degree of legal risk.

Assuming you want to avoid being busted for cheating, you should use a legal advantage gambling strategy. Enough of the latter exists to where you dont need to cheat.

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Advantage Gambler Tommy Hyland – Blackjack Card Counting Teams – BestUSCasinos.org

Blackjack has produced many legendary professional gamblers. From Ken Uston to Jeff Ma (MIT Blackjack Team), a number of blackjack players have won serious profits through the game.

However, few of these advantage gamblers have lasted as long as Tommy Hyland. In fact, Hyland presides over what is currently known as the longest-running blackjack team in history.

Who is Hyland and what are his secrets? You can find out below by reading more on this legendary gambler, how he got started, and what keeps him going.

Tommy Hyland has been interested in games of chance since childhood. Once he became of age, he started visiting Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos.

He didnt initially set out to become an advantage player. However, Hyland later took up this pursuit in the late 1970s and hasnt looked back since.

He started an advantage gambling team around the same time. Hes somehow managed to keep his unit going for over four decades.

Hyland is widely regarded as one of the firstif not firstplayers to use ace sequencing to beat blackjack. Ace sequencing involves tracking aces throughout play and predicting when they come out of the shoe.

His longtime success and contributions to the game earned him a spot in the Blackjack Hall of Fame in 2003.

Again, Hyland didnt initially set out to be a professional gambler. He played real money blackjack for fun and learned strategy along the way.

In 1979, though, he changed his focus after reading Lawrence Reveres book Playing Blackjack as a Business. Afterward, Hyland recruited a blackjack team with four members.

Each player put $4,000 towards funding the teams bankroll ($16k total). They also chose Atlantic City as the initial stomping grounds for their efforts.

Hylands team specifically targeted Atlantic City casinos after they began offering early surrender. This rule lets you surrender a hand before the dealer checks for a natural blackjack.

It lowers the house edge by 0.63% when compared to no surrender option. Early surrender has an even bigger effect on the house advantage than the number of decks (+0.59% when going for 8 decks to 1 deck).

Team Hyland used its blackjack knowledge combined with the friendliest rules at the time to become a fast success. They quickly booked a $50,000 profit after just weeks of playing in Atlantic City.

Most blackjack teams have trouble sticking together for a monthlet alone 40+ years. They quickly run into a number of unforeseen problems before having a real chance to bond.

First off, advantage teams need a large enough bankroll to survive variance. They should start with at least $20,000, although Team Hyland began with slightly less than this.

Second, teams need a completely skilled unit. Most groups usually have 1-2 members who arent quite on par with the others.

Finally, they need to play a consistent schedule as agreed upon by all members. Given that most beginning blackjack teams have fulltime jobs, they often dissolve due to an inability to regularly play together.

Problems can spring up when teams do become successful. Even the best teams can fall apart when members argue over a cut of the action.

Tommy Hyland and his squad have somehow overcome the typical problems that have dissolved other teams. His success isnt just the result of tracking aces or card counting.

Hyland also has a unique ability to rally his team to the cause. Everybody trusts one another and continues working towards the same goal of beating casinos.

Of course, this isnt to say that Team Hyland hasnt dealt with its share of struggles too. His original group became disillusioned when Atlantic City instated worse rules to combat card counters.

They travelled to Asian gambling destinations in hopes of finding softer games. Hyland couldve easily given up at this point.

Instead, he formed a new team with some friends that he played golf with. Hyland has continued the tradition of replacing old members with new to constantly keep the team going.

Additionally, hes also mastered other forms of advantage play beyond just card counting, such as ace sequencing and shuffle tracking. These techniques give him a leg up on the average pro player, who only relies on card counting.

The latter usually makes it easier for casinos to spot advantage gamblers. A pit boss often looks for players who raise bets later in the shoe as they gain more deck penetration.

Shuffle tracking and ace sequencing, meanwhile, create more difficulties in catching professionals. They allow gamblers to find favorable situations at any point in a shoenot just towards the end.

Tommy Hyland and his team became notorious for a 1994 incident involving Casino Windsor (Windsor, Canada). The casino caught three members of the team counting and wanted to prosecute them.

They found that two of the female spotters were using pop-off bead bracelets to keep track of aces. Theyd pop off a bead for each ace that came out of the deck.

Casino Windsor attempted to say that this method amounted to using an illegal cheating device. Gamblers arent supposed to use devices that manipulates the game flow to win.

However, the casino was unable to prove that the beaded bracelets were truly a cheating device. Famed player Arnold Snyder also provided testimony that using ace sequencing and bracelets does not constitute cheating.

The judge ruled in Team Hylands favor. They got to keep over $100,000 in winnings and avoid any kind of legal repercussions after the ruling.

Certain blackjack squads have rivaled the longevity of Team Hyland. The latter, however, is typically known as the longest-running blackjack team in history.

Most advantage gamblers dont even last for five years before flaming outlet alone run a team that long. Hyland has managed to both play professional blackjack and keep his team going for the same amount of time.

Of course, members come and go much like with rock n roll bands. But Hyland always finds replacements for those who leave.

His greatest challenge was perhaps replacing everybody else after the initial Atlantic City run in the late 1970s and early 80s. He recruited and trained his golfing buddies to do the job.

No evidence exists that any other team has enjoyed quite the same longevity as Hylands unit. The MIT Blackjack Team had a lengthy stint that lasted from the late 1970s into the early 2000s. But they eventually called it quits when casinos identified almost every member.

Snyder has also put together some good teams. However, no sources mention him as currently running the longest-lasting blackjack squad.

Tommy Hyland began playing blackjack at a time when advantage play methods were still being mastered. Hes one of the pioneers of such techniques as shuffle tracking and ace sequencing.

Todays gambling world still offers plenty of potential profits. However, the winnings were better when Hylands team was terrorizing casinos.

For starters, ace sequencing and shuffle tracking were quite revolutionary when Hyland began using them. Casinos had little recourse for catching such players.

Of course, pit bosses still have trouble spotting those who use these advanced methods today. But theyve become better at it.

Therefore, youre unlikely to find as much success if you became an advantage player today and tried lasting 40+ years.

Another problem is the sheer act of keeping such a team together. Again, many blackjack teams dont even make it months before drifting apart.

Through a combination of trust and highly skilled play, Hyland has kept his team running for over four decades. Hes a total anomaly in the modern gambling world.

You can still have plenty of success if you develop your skills and find good teammates. But youre unlikely to last anywhere near as long as Team Hyland.

Tommy Hyland is one of the most-experienced advantage gamblers in the casino world today. His skills have enabled him to make a living through gambling since the late seventies.

But as good as Hyland is at blackjack, hes even more adept at team management. The legend has avoided all the pitfalls that sideline other blackjack teams to keep his unit going for more than 40 years.

Will Team Hyland be able to make it another decade or two? I imagine that Hyland and his team will eventually retire at some point before this. But whenever he does quit, Hyland will remain a gambling legend for all time.

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Advantage Gambler Tommy Hyland - Blackjack Card Counting Teams - BestUSCasinos.org

‘Beyond the Dugout’: Cleveland Indians Manager Terry Francona reveals what he would change if he could rule the world – WKYC.com

An in-depth conversation with the Tribe skipper that was filmed back in the spring, before COVID-19 shut everything down.

CLEVELAND Get to know more about Terry Francona, as 3News' Dave Chudowsky goes "Beyond the Dugout" with the Indians Manager.

NOTE: This interview was conducted during Spring Training in Arizona, before the coronavirus pandemic shut things down. This is why social distancing measures were not being practiced.

Dave Chudowsky: Terry, [Beyond the Dugout] can get a little dicey at times, but I feel like last year you were fantastic. Are you nervous at all?

Terry Francona: Yeah, I have some anxiety over this, yeah definitely.

Chudowsky: Because you never know what will come your wayDo you love to win or hate to lose more?

Francona: You know, I try to love to win more. When you get in that mode where you're just relieved, you know, that you didn't lose, I've been there. We've all been there, and that that's not healthy, so you try not to define yourself by your record.

Sometimes that's hard to do. I mean, sometimes things don't go well, and that trying to be even keel, like I said, or not define yourself, that can be challenging.

Chudowsky: Favorite thing to do in Cleveland?

Francona: Actually, my favorite thing is to go to the ballpark. I love to go to the ballpark. Now I do, and I think I told you this last year, I feel an obligation to give back to the community so I go to the casino and I'm really good at giving back (laughs).

Chudowsky: Favorite game in the casino?

Francona: The only thing I do there is play blackjack. If I was with a bunch of buddies in Vegas or something, I might roll the dice. But when I'm by myself, or with Barney or somebody, I just go sit and play blackjack for an hour. It's really relaxing, and like I said, I'm really good at giving back to the community.

Chudowsky: That's fantastic! If you could rule the world what is the first change you would make?

Francona: Three-batter minimum. We're not doing it! Then we'll have world peace or whatever comes that's a distant second (laughs).

Chudowsky: I think on that note we end, that was a fantastic! Tito youre off the clock.

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'Beyond the Dugout': Cleveland Indians Manager Terry Francona reveals what he would change if he could rule the world - WKYC.com

Top Online Games You Need to Play Today – Kagay An

Do you enjoy playing casino games? Or just starting with the fantastic world of casino and gaming. Its okay if you dont know about many games and things about casinos, we have got you covered in this post!

Most times, gaming lovers avoid playing games because they dont have enough time for gaming clubs. That is why you should consider some of the best gaming websites to play your favorite casino games. The online world is full of casino games and gambling. Playing your favorite games from the pleasure of sitting in your room or office, Judi bola brings you the best casino games whether play free or real money games, online casinos have everything for a gaming lover!

Best Casino Games to play in 2020

Casino frenzy is essentially a typical casino game for you. You can have fun with video poker and can also play your usual slots game. You can have a lot of fun with it, and to keep things fresh and exciting, it offers video poker games and new slots from time to time. The game is completely multiplayer so, when you play video poker, you will be playing against another player. In bonus, it awards players with free ships frequently. Keep in mind that it doesnt offer prizes or real-money gambling.

Everyone knows that blackjack is an insanely popular game. If you dont have time to go to the gaming or cannot find people to play with, you can play blackjack 21 HD. It is the simplest game and is really for ones who play blackjack only. There are no extra games in this game all you will be doing is to play blackjack. If you want to play an excellent blackjack game, this game is for you.

Full house casino includes all types of casino games; whether you are a fan of blackjack, roulette, traditional poker, or any other poker card game, it has all variety inside. Full house casino is a lot of fun to play as they organize hold slots tournaments regularly, quests for you to complete, and a bunch of other stuff.

Slotman 2019 is a favorite fan casino which comes up with a lot of fun games. There are more than 70 slot games for you to play, and when you register slotman 2019 gives you over 5,000,000 coins that you can gamble in the future for free. Its a perfect way to get started, and if you run out of coins, you can buy more or earn them. It is a pretty unique game, and new casino games are added frequently in slotman 2019.

Lucky win casino is another popular casino game on this list, featuring a lot of casino games. You can play Roulette, Texas, hold Em, and many more. Lucky win casino also organizes tournaments so; you can win prizes here as well.

If you play for keeps, lucky win casino will be best for you. But if you want to play just for fun, any other on the list will do fine for you!

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Top Online Games You Need to Play Today - Kagay An

Tesla (TSLA): Elon Musk wants more nickel and more good employees – Electrek

If one thing transpired out of Teslas (TSLA) Q2 earnings, its that Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants more nickel and talented people at the automaker.

Considering that Tesla was able to maintain strong deliveries amid a global pandemic, talks of demand issues are starting to surface, and analysts are starting to look at production constraints again.

As usual, Musk pointed to battery cell supply as the main production constraint for Tesla.

Musk brought up an interesting new strategy from Tesla to help manage battery supply with LFP iron phosphate batteries.

We previously reported that Tesla is introducing a new version of the Model 3 in China with LFP batteries.

During Teslas Q2 2020 earnings call, Musk explained that Tesla believes its improves efficiency enough that it is able to use less energy-dense LFP batteries in some vehicles and still achieve a decent range.

This approach is going to free up some energy-dense nickel-based Li-ion battery cells for Teslas other vehicle programs, which has so far only used Li-ion cells with nickel as the primary material.

Musk argued that if theres going to be a raw material constraint, its going to be nickel.

On the call, he pleaded with mining companies to increase their nickel production:

Well, Id just like to re-emphasize, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel. Okay. Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel and dont wait for nickel to go back to some long some high point that you experienced some five years ago, whatever. Go for efficiency, obviously environmentally friendly nickel mining at high volume. Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time, if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way. So hopefully this message goes out to all mining companies. Please get nickel.

The CEO is trying to convince nickel miners to not try to control supply in order to increase the price, but to instead focus on more efficient higher volume production.

Along with the need for more nickel, Musk also emphasized the need for Tesla to secure more talent in manufacturing and engineering.

He brought up the need for talent several times during the call.

Tesla SVP of engineering Drew Baglino also added:

Adding to what you said earlier about talent and people the same goes in all areas of cell, supply chain, manufacturing materials, design. We are solving this problem. And were treating it like any other problem that we have solved. We will solve this problem, and we want talented people to join us as we solve these problems.

The amount of hiring Tesla is going to have to do in the next few years is hard to overstate.

Between growing production at its current facilities, Tesla is going to have to hire tens of thousands of people at its new Gigafactories in Germany and Texas.

Musk said that he was particularly concerned about Gigafactory Berlin due to stricter restrictions regarding non-compete clauses.

The capacity of attracting top talent is one of Teslas best competitive advantages.

Ben Schaffer, president ofUnplugged Performance, had a very interesting perspective on it.

He said that despite Tesla having a high turnover rate, the cycle of talent at Tesla is helping the automaker get new ideas and absorb expertise.

There are a lot of talented engineers in the world, and most of them want to work at Tesla and for Elon, who Shaffer describes as the best engineer in the world.

Schaffer told me:

Its a magnetic effect and the magnet is Elon, the worlds most brilliant engineer. That, and Teslas mission, which is solving the worlds biggest problem.

He believes in Teslas ability to keep attracting top talent, and even if they dont stay for long, Tesla and even Elon himself are absorbing a lot of their knowledge and using it long after theyre gone.

Its also not to say that the people are disposable, but its an interesting perspective to look at it as a cycle.

As for nickel, it sounds like Tesla is looking for miners willing to sign long-term contracts.

I wouldnt be surprised if Tesla ends up partnering with some junior miners who would be more willing to lock themselves into long-term contracts in order to secure financing on new mining projects.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Audi CEO admits to being two years behind Tesla in EV tech – CNET

Well, at least he's got a good reason for that sour expression.

When it comes to electric car technology, Tesla is well ahead of basically every other manufacturer. The public seems to know it, we in the media know it, and apparently, Audi CEO Markus Duesmann knows it too, according to a report published Friday by Automotive News.

In the report, Duesmann concedes that Audi is at least two years behind the Big T when it comes to computing power in its vehicles as well as in self-driving technology, none of which is terribly surprising given that Audi has only been pushing super-hard toward electrification for the last five years or so. It's just shocking to see a car company CEO say it publicly.

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"Currently, Tesla has larger batteries because their cars are built around the batteries. Tesla is two years ahead in terms of computing and software architecture, and in autonomous driving as well," said Duesmann, in a statement to Germany's Handelsblatt.

Now, Audi shouldn't get too down on itself because of Tesla's lead in technology. We've spent plenty of time in both the E-Tron SUV and in Teslas of all kinds, and when it comes to things like build quality, Audi feels light years ahead of Tesla. That's one of the benefits of being a "legacy" manufacturer: decades of building cars makes you pretty good at building cars, it turns out.

Duesmann had more to say to Handelsblatt too, this time regarding Audi's sales. He expects the company to be back to pre-COVID numbers of sales by 2022 or 2023. That's a big deal since the company experienced a pretty big sales hit amid all the quarantine efforts worldwide.

Things aren't all doom and gloom though, because while the company only sold 17,000 E-Trons in the first half of 2020, it expects 40,000 units to go to customers by the end of the year.

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Audi CEO admits to being two years behind Tesla in EV tech - CNET

Impact of Covid-19 on Carbon Nanotubes 2020-2027 with Focusing Key players like Arkema SA, CNano Technology Limited, Carbon Solutions, Inc., Hanwha…

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Impact of Covid-19 on Carbon Nanotubes 2020-2027 with Focusing Key players like Arkema SA, CNano Technology Limited, Carbon Solutions, Inc., Hanwha...

Oberlin Nutrition serves up shakes while promoting healthy lifestyle – The Morning Journal

Tucked next to a laundromat in Oberlin sits a nutritional shop.

The shop, small and lined with pale walls, gives off a vibrant and bright contrast to the wooden decor when the sun beams inside.

Oberlin Nutrition owners Adrian Carter, 28, and Maria Pitts, 19, specialize in nutritional health and physical fitness. According to Carter, the shop gives people within the city an option of healthy shakes and teas while promoting a healthy lifestyle.

"We give people a healthier option because there's not a lot of that out there especially that's quick and on the go. You can come in here and grab something really fast thats good for you and gives you all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals you need, Carter said.

Popular menu items include mega teas, which are teas with an energy tablet and collagen for healthy skin and nails. With shake flavors such as Oreo, birthday cake, cake batter, frosted animal cookie, the 90 shake flavors give customers a chance to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Youre going to get something that tastes like dessert but also gives you the good stuff at the same time, Carter said. "Its killing two birds with one stone. Its satisfying a sweet tooth but giving you nutrients."

According to Carter, the shop sees more local community members come out as opposed to students despite being near Oberlin College.

Our location is special because theres nothing like us around here, Carter said. "People come in from Oberlin and theyre excited."

"I just think its unique here. Especially if you want a healthy option it stands out on that alone.

During the novel coronavirus pandemic, the business has kept up with all additional and necessary sanitary measures and precautions, including cleaning everything at the top of the hour and taking away seating.

The capacity for the shop is 10 people and is now open for online ordering. Originally, online carryout was opened for the pandemic when takeout was only available, according to Pitts.

We still do that because so many people utilize it. Im not sure if itll stay but people seem to like it, she said.

Along with the online ordering, Pitts said she has seen a strong increase in business since the pandemic began.

Everyone asks how it affected us, but I dont know what to say," she said. "It was unexpected, but people came more than ever.

With such a focus on health, Carter said he believes people started coming to the shop to become healthier as a precautionary measure for COVID-19.

It gave people more awareness for physical health. If you aren't healthy, you have a better chance of getting it, Carter said.

With the shop being carryout, Carter said the energy of the business has shifted.

We didnt offer carryout before," he said. "People used to come in to hang out and now we gave people a chance to order online. It kind of changed the vibe.

Part of what Pitts said makes the business such a staple for the community is the simplicity of the business.

A lot of people are starting to come in. Ordering is simple, you just circle what you want on a piece of paper and we make it for you, she said.

With the pandemic still carrying on, Oberlin Nutrition plans to continue to supply the community with healthy meal replacement shakes and teas.

I think right now is the time to get healthy, Carter said. "Now is the time to check in with ourselves and ask us what were going to put in our bodies. Your immune system is going to save you."

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Oberlin Nutrition serves up shakes while promoting healthy lifestyle - The Morning Journal

Coronavirus is crushing fitness industry pros – Fox Business

Retro Fitness CEO Andrew Alfano on the coronavirus pandemic keeping gyms closed and why they should be deemed essential instead of dangerous.

The fitness industry has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic, leaving hundreds of thousands of employees without jobs while gyms are closed.

We're a group that has been hit really hard by this pandemic, but largely left out of any relief given by the government, Chris Craytor, a board member of the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) told FOX Business.

While restaurants and hotels received specific waivers in the first PPP loan package, fitness centers did not, Craytor explained.

Gym and fitness center jobs are being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and state-mandated closures across the U.S. (iStock)

We have a pretty similar employee base, with quite a few part-time employees as well as full-time, Craytor said. While we're not as large as those industries, we're also still pretty important because what we do is keep people healthy. And it's probably never been a better time to be healthy and lead a healthy lifestyle.

Craytor, who is also the president and COO of acac Fitness & Wellness, a regional chain of fitness clubs in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, said that without government help, 25 percent of fitness businesses in the U.S. are expected to close for good this year.

GYM-LOVING NEW YORKERS HINDERED BY CORONAVIRUS SHUTDOWN ARE CROSSING STATE LINES FOR WORKOUTS

On Monday, IHRSA sent a letter to Congress describing the job losses and the long-term effects of the pandemic on the fitness industry. The association also asked lawmakers to pass legislation that would give the industry financial assistance for the long term, including allowing mid-sized health and fitness chains to access PPP loans.

According to that letter, the fitness industry is estimated to have lost $7 billion in revenue through July 1.

The letter also said that 489,000 fitness employees are unable to work in states including Michigan, New York, Washington, North Carolina, Arizona and California, because of state-mandated closures.

Another 280,500 employees may be out of work again soon in Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania if those states order fitness centers to close a second time -- as they are expected to, IHRSA said.

IS IT SAFE TO GO TO THE GYM DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC?

The uncertainty about whether gyms will be allowed to reopen and stay open is a huge challenge for the industry, Craytor said.

We dont know when [government regulation is] going to be turned on or turned off, it can happen any time, Craytor said. That uncertainty has been really hard for our workforce Once you're shut down again, anybody who came back to you is now immediately back on unemployment and with the current stimulus, we really don't know how long that's going to last.

Its particularly difficult because many owners of fitness centers are small regional or local players, Craytor said.

These are people who built their business from the ground up, he said. These are small business owners, these arent big corporate business owners. They are small companies that are just going to go away.

I think what were going to hear is that these jobs go away and then they dont come back, he added. Where are these people going to go work?

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Even in the midst of the pandemic, fitness centers and gyms are still doing their best to stay afloat.

I think many clubs are doing absolutely everything they can to maintain their workforce and their membership, whether that be offering virtual classes, whether that be renting out their equipment or even doing things outside if they're not allowed to open their doors, Craytor said. So our clubs across the country are pivoting very quickly, but that does not replace in any way their core business. So what we're doing is holding on. And what we're doing is trying to make sure that we survive.

Ultimately the fitness industry needs outside help, he added.

I think that we really need people to recognize that this is a really important industry that serves billions of visits a year and millions of employees and 40,000 locations across the country and it's been largely ignored, Craytor said.

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Fighting the good fight – Deccan Herald

Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt and Karan Johar have fallen far behind. In the past few months, one of the most commonly searched phrases on Google happens to be, how to boost immunity. It seems everyone is out to build thatelusive immunity during these Covid times. Scientific jargon like T-cells andcytokines are casually bandied about whileevery uncle (and aunt) on WhatsApp is a newly-minted expert on homemade immune boosters. So, what gives?

Simply put, your individual immunity levels decide your response to the novel coronavirus infection, just like any other infection.

Immunity is dynamic

Dr Subramanian Swaminathan, Senior Consultant (Infectious Disease) at Gleneagles Global Health City, threw some light on what immunity exactly is. It is a dynamic thing and there are noquantifiable measures to say this is what immunity is. All of us have some amount of innate immunity. But, because Covid-19 is a new infection, we dont seem to have enough. The only way to deal with this is to either get infected or get a vaccine in order to build immunity. Immunity has many different levels and is an entire system in the body. For example, the skin is as much part of the immune system as is the stomach. Immunity, to asignificant extent, is genetic, but it is also a result of our interaction withthe environment and other factors like vaccination.

Dr Sachin Kumar, Senior Consultant and Head, Department of Pulmonology, Sakra World Hospital, described immunity as the naturalised frontline defence mechanism against any illness, especially viral infections.

Immunity helps the body fight through receptors that identify unpleasant viruses. Medicine takes care of a part of the illness, but your immunity is the backbone in this fight.

Do concoctions and pills work?

Covid-19 has opened our eyes to the need for immunity. However, are we doing the right thing by stuffing ourselves with health foods, guzzling herbal concoctions using spices from our kitchen racksand perhaps doing some yoga? Says Dr Isacc Abbas, well-known nutritionist and health expert, Rebirth Fitness Centre, Mumbai:Our immune system cannot be boosted overnight like social media messages would have us believe. The body needs balanced nourishment to fight infections, but many believe they can boost their immunity in a few days, just by consuming superfoods or kitchen spices. The most common mistake people make is to pop multi-vitamins or mineral supplements. But, there is no evidence that multi-vitamins boost immunity. In fact, when taken in excess, some of these have been found to alter some components of the immune function.Only sustained efforts over a period of time work, Dr Isacc said.

Surely, our kitchen recipes passed down from generations are not harmful and have, in fact, aided in speedy recovery from the coronaviruses that cause the common cold, cough and flu? A bite of ginger or garlic every morning cannot boost your immunity instantly. Healthy lifestyle strategies give a goodboost to your immunity, but over time. Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, along with low carb-high proteinfoods is good. Many people overdo the healthy eating part thinking the more the nutrition they pack into their day, the better their immunity. Actually, a person must eat according to her nutritional needs. I would recommend buying any fruit/veggies/greens that you can afford.Avoiding locally-available nutrition is counter-productive to immunity, said Dr Isacc.

Doctors are of the opinion that there is no harm in taking Vitamin C and D, along with zinc, but these cannot stave off an infection. Kitchen spices cause no harm and if they help improve your general well-being, you can consume it, but kashaya or kadha is not the only way to protect yourself. When in the middle of a pandemic, following safety protocols is most important, said Dr Swaminathan.

Is there a shortcut?

To cut a long story short,good immunitycan only be achieved through leading a healthy lifestyle, doing regular exercises, ensuring good sleep and eating a well-balanced diet. The healthier your intake, the better equipped your body is to fight an infection.

Proteins help to strengthen antibodies, which is why those with poor immunity are advised high-yield proteins. Vitamin C and minerals like zinc are important. Keep an eye on yoursugar and oil intake and avoid smoking and drinking, if you desire good immunity, Dr Sachin explained. People above 65 are finding it difficult to cope because of co-morbidities and decreased antibody generation due to ageing, which compromises ones immunity, headded.

What about Ayurvedic remedies?

This brings us to another interesting question of whether our own ancient nature and plant-based science Ayurveda could provide any answers.

The Ministry of AYUSH gives an interesting take on immunity stating that Ayurveda, being the science of life, propagates the gifts of nature in maintaininga healthy life. Ayurvedas extensive knowledge, based on preventive care, derives from the concepts of Dinacharya (daily regimes) and Ritucharya (seasonal regimes). Dr Sachin said, India has a wealth of informationon alternative methods of treatment, including Ayurveda and yoga. But, findings should be backed by robust scientific data, which is where the difficulty comes in. That said, there is no harm in taking preventive measures.

How to tell if your immunity is good or bad?

Dr Sheela Chakravarthy, Director-Internal Medicine, Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, said, the tricky part is that one cannot really tell if ones immunity is good or bad. Unlike popular perception, mild infection is not always indicative of good immunity. Medical researchers around the world are exploring the effects of diet, exercise, age, psychological stress and other factors on the immune responseand the jury is still out, so to speak.

The body continually generates immune cells, but it is not yet known how many are needed for optimum immunity. Researchers and scientists have also found that a probable cause of lesser immunity as we age is the decreased production of T-cells that fight infections.

Dr Swaminathanopined thatwhile it is true the elderlyare more susceptible to infections andare at a higher risk, statistics concerning this group should not be extrapolated to individuals.

One of my patients, an 85-year-old man with hypertension, walked out healthy after his brush with Covid-19. And we have heard of many such cases now. So, we have to be careful with statistics. As with previous infections, hopes have been pinned on vaccines. Dr Sachin, meanwhile, said that immunity levels against a virus generallyimprove over three or four months, but one cannot be sure that the same immunity will be good for the next viral infection.

Viruses change all the time in character, making it difficult to say if one vaccine will make us immune. The silver lining is that if the virus is killing someone, it is also dying. This is what happened in H1N1. Today, it is increasingly a case of survival of the fittest, he added.

Dr Swaminathan added: What we know now is just the tip of the iceberg.However, an interesting aspect that has emerged is the use of convalescent plasma. People who have recovered have donated plasma with their high levels of antibodies and this has led to positive results in many cases. This is one area where immunity helps both donor and recipient and we need to explore this further.

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Fighting the good fight - Deccan Herald

Research Reveals that Being a Centenarian Depends a Lot on the Environmental Conditions – Gilmore Health News

Scientists are as curious to find out more about the secrets of longevity as anyone. New research conducted by scientists of Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, revealed that the secret to being a centenarian depends a lot on the environmental conditions. Based on this study, scientists suggest that although hereditary factors have an irrefutable effect on longevity, the living environment contributes significantly to determining life expectancy of an individual.

Read Also: Anti-Aging: HGH Can Reduce Biological Age by One Year and a Half Study Shows

Mortality rates of Washington State from 2011 to 2015 were utilized for conducting this research and it included information of around 145,000 individuals living up to the age of 75 years or more. This study, which was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, revealed that individuals residing in more walkable areas get naturally involved in the habit of walking more and are consequently prone to living longer than others.

The study also suggests that a lively and interactive social community is crucial for increasing the possibility for people to become centenarians. People who live in mixed-age social communities tend to interact with each other more and such communities create a lively social environment with youngsters and children living around senior citizens.

Read Also: NAD+: A Guide to The Longevity-Boosting Coenzyme

Another interesting finding of the study is the fact that higher socioeconomic status also contributes to longevity. According to study results, a higher percentage of people living in urban areas and enjoying a higher socioeconomic status reached the age of 100 years. So Seattle and Pullman were found to have more centenarians than other areas for this reason.

Read Also: Study On HGH Therapy Effects On Older Adults Over 60

Based on the findings of this study and an analysis of earlier research on hereditary factors of longevity, researchers concluded that environmental factors, community, and socioeconomic status play a vital role in determining whether an individual would be a centenarian or not. Major variables of the study included walkable environment, age groups in the community, socioeconomic status, pollution, and greenery in the environment. The eye-opening study findings made it clear that if an individual lives in a healthy and happy environment he/she is likely to live up to or more than 100 years regardless of his/her genetic predispositions.

The researchers further created an interactive map based on the study findings, highlighting areas of Washington State with a higher percentage of people reaching the age of 75 years or above. Based on the findings of this study by the medical students of WSU, life expectancy can be increased making it possible for more and more individuals to be centenarians. By creating a healthy and supportive environment around us, we can all expect to live much longer. Economic stability, better health care facilities, and a pollution-free environment are vital for a long healthy life. Similarly, factors like social support and healthy lifestyle also play a vital role in increasing life expectancy.

Read Also: Anti-Aging: HGH Can Reduce Biological Age by One Year and a Half Study Shows

Environmental Correlates of Reaching a Centenarian Age: Analysis of 144,665 Deaths in Washington State for 2011

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Research Reveals that Being a Centenarian Depends a Lot on the Environmental Conditions - Gilmore Health News

Beaver County native ‘fighting’ on frontlines of COVID-19 battle – Ellwood City Ledger

Battling asthma while growing up in Beaver Falls, Sheldon Stewart Smith still wanted to follow his fathers footsteps and join the military. Instead, he embraced a new fight to help liberate Blacks all over the world while using his medical degree as a perfusionist and respiratory therapist. He is now a highly sought-after doctor on the frontlines battling COVID-19 in one of the nations biggest hotspots Cleveland Clinic/Fort Lauderdale-Miami.

As the youngest of three children born to Army 2nd Lt. Calvin Smith and Betty Cross (Stratton) Smith, Sheldon Stewart Smith nicknamed "BuBu" and now known as Dr. Ahmses SaRa Maat grew up aspiring to become a military hero, much like his father, who was a WWII veteran in the African American flying regiment known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Childhood disability empowered and unknowingly helped steer his career path

Maat reflected on how growing up with chronic asthma impacted his life as a teen navigating life as a young adult, trying to avoid peer pressure.

"It was tough because kids can be mean. Along with the asthma, I also suffered skin rashes. Id get teased by the boys, but even worse my girlfriends would shy away, once the skin disorder took effect," he sadly recalled. "I remember lying in bed praying to God for the ability to just breath normally like everyone else."

Living with asthma as a child, not only hindered Maats aspirations for early athletic prowess, but after high school graduation, a failed military physical exam, his chances to volunteer for the Air Force in efforts to follow his dads and older brothers military-based footsteps were not a reality. His older brother, Newt Smith II, is a retired Air Force officer. In May 2018, a former veterans park in Beaver Falls was officially re-named the Lt. Calvin Smith Tuskegee Airman Veterans Park.

Void of clear-cut career goals after graduating from Beaver Falls High School in 1977, Maat, who never considered himself a committed academician in high school, recalled his 1.47 GPA his senior year, when he needed a 1.5 GPA to graduate. Having been taught to play chess by his father, he challenged the high schools woodshop teacher to a game. If he wins, he graduates high school. If he loses, he repeats another year. Apparently, Dads chess lessons paid off.

Following his early training at Community College of Beaver County and Community College of Allegheny County, Maat initially worked as a respiratory therapist at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He quickly developed star-quality studying patterns while attending both CCBC and CCAC and was promoted to supervisor at AGH a stark contrast from his academic performance in high school.

Studying and practicing in Atlanta resulted in a bachelors degree in respiratory care from Georgia State University and post-bachelors degree in perfusion technology from Northeastern University in Boston. He was able to practice his newly gained experience while working at Atlantas Grady Memorial Hospital, one of the worlds leading Level 1 trauma centers.

While studying and focusing on African spirituality and physics, he attained his Ph.D. in 2000 from the Metaphysical Institute of Higher Learning in San Bernardino, California.

Fast-forward to winter 2020, amid the coronavirus outbreak, Maat finds himself in an unprecedented battlefield on the frontlines of Americas first pandemic in 100 years as a medical professional treating patients suffering from chronic respiratory deficiencies.

With more than 40 years of experience and training as a respiratory therapist, and later as a perfusionist, Maat is a highly sought-after traveling medical practitioner. Hes currently deployed at Cleveland Clinic/Fort Lauderdale-Miami, helping to counter Floridas recent spike in coronavirus cases and deaths.

Helping stem COVID-19s growing rates among Blacks

"While coronavirus patients typically display symptoms requiring oxygen support with symptoms such as chest pains, shortness of breath and muscle aches, the use of external respirators and ventilators are typical devices used to treat respiratory deficiencies," Maat said.

His perfusionist training requires expertise in administering artificial lungs, hearts and kidneys used during the replacement process of heart-lung bypass surgeries.

"My role as a perfusionist is to keep the patient alive during the replacement of organs, kidneys, lungs, hearts, during the entire operation. Where advanced cardio life-support ends, perfusion life-support begins," he explained.

Amid current cases of COVID-19 cases rising throughout the United States with disproportionate numbers impacting African Americans, Maat knows and understands how valuable his knowledge, experience and overall skill sets are during this pandemic.

But the real question that must be answered is why the African American community has suffered more than any other group during the pandemic?

Maat noted the disparaging numbers affecting people of color as the ones with generally lower immune systems.

"Those are the ones suffering from diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Its also a fact that too often, Black folks dont eat lots of vegetables and have lived in environments with high toxins like lead-based paints. Although the larger cause is systemic racism and oppression," he said. "It exists all throughout the globe, including America, and the medical industry, unfortunately."

"Systemically, as a respiratory therapist or clinical perfusionist, I tend to see a system geared toward a certain population facing more social ills. I want to make the world a better place, doing what I do and my non-African peers they see whats going on, and they too, want to do the right thing," he added.

Living in a sports-related environment was challenging

Growing up in sports-enthused western Pennsylvania specifically in Beaver Falls he wanted to be the next sports star.

"Like all the kids in my 15th Street neighborhood, I wanted to play football, basketball and baseball and become the next Joe Willie Namath, our hometown hero and Super Bowl III quarterback," Maat said.

"Hoops and football couldnt work for me, but I enjoyed playing baseball. It didnt demand the intense running like basketball, and it wasnt dirty and dusty like football. I always had to concern myself with staying healthy at all times so I always carried my inhaler," he noted.

In retrospect, Maat connected his asthma woes with environmental impacts. He lived next door to the now-razed Armstrong Cork plant, which consistently emitted smokey fumes and white, ashy particles from its factory walls. He also lived with two cigarette-smoking parents.

By the time he reached age 12, with the influence of a childhood neighbor, Richard "Dicky" Morris, Maat started taking karate lessons from the now infamous Beaver County School of the Oriental Arts of Self-Defense, headed by the family of Willy and Roy Wetzel, one of the nations first karate instructional schools, in Beaver Falls and later, Rochester. In March 1975, the school closed after a much-reported family battle between son Roy and father Willy.

Maat said his karate and judo training tremendously impacted his breathing patterns and primarily helped him to overcome childhood asthma.

With a growing reputation of being an incredibly skilled martial artist throughout Beaver County, Maat was also able to leave behind unfavorable experiences of being bullied by larger upper classmates while in high school.

He credits his mother and godmother, Marian Jane Taylor, for tending to his crisis situations as a youngster and later ensuring that he was proficient at self-care, even at a young age.

"I was always a mamas boy," he admitted. "She was fully committed to my ailment, and would often take off work early to ensure my medical needs were met. Self-care is essential to my health and has always been a part of my proactive healthy lifestyle."

Career and family development

While living in Atlanta, he joined an an
ti-KKK protest march in Forsyth County, Ga., in 1987, led by the late Rev. Hosea Williams, one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) colleagues, along with SCLC head, the Rev. Joseph Lowery.

"In the late 1980s when South Africas President Nelson Mandela was released from prison, that sparked my interest in the liberation of Black people all over the world and to live a more revolutionary lifestyle," he said.

He changed his name, explaining, "Its similar to when Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The reason for the name-change was based on my culture. I was Sheldon X in 1992 as a member of the Nation of Islam, and in October 1995, I led a medical brigade from L.A. to Washington, D.C., to be a part of the Million Man March."

Maat is married to Akua Two Hawk Maat, sharing a blended family including four adult children: Alexia, Malika, Mnsa and GyeNyame Maat.

Although his high school years were somewhat challenging, Maat said within his soul, he pridefully maintains the old Beaver Falls High School creed.

"Once a Tiger always a Tiger," he said, adding, "Still fighting."

Timothy Cox is a Beaver Falls native who graduated with a journalism degree from Point Park University. He also attended Slippery Rock University and CCBC. He formerly worked with Gannett, Scripps-Howard and currently freelances with Beaver County Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Augusta Chronicle and publications in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Washington, Pa., and Washington, D.C.

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Beaver County native 'fighting' on frontlines of COVID-19 battle - Ellwood City Ledger

Extra $600 unemployment benefits set to expire this weekend – WKOW

MADISON (WKOW) -- When millions of Americans began losing their jobs in March the federal government stepped in to provide a lifeline, $600 a week in extra unemployment benefits but now those payments are set to disappear.

Supplemental checks through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program expire at the end of the month. But because of when these payments are issued and how the calendar falls in July, workers in Wisconsin wont qualify anymore after this weekend.

This means peoples employment benefits will be reduced and for some cut in half.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress continue to disagree on how to move forward with the program. The White House and Senate Republicans continue to but-heads in finding a way to scale back the program without overwhelming state unemployment agencies.

This is leaving many Wisconsinites worried about their financial stability.

For Sadie Tuescher the extra $600 and being enrolled in the Workshare Program allowed her health insurance business to stay open and avoid laying off workers.

I was then able to know my employees were happy and safe and were able to meet their basic needs at not go find jobs elsewhere, she said.

Workshare allows employers to keep workers at reduced hours and avoids businesses from closing.

On top of the program, Tuescher and her employees were also getting the additional $600 a week in benefits.

But without a guarantee of those funds, she worries some of her employees wont be able to afford basic needs.

Citizen Action of Wisconsin said once these extra funds expire the state will see a ripple effect because those payments will no longer be funneled into the economy such as paying for groceries or rent.

They'll be facing foreclosures, eviction, food insecurity and everything else that comes with your income plummet, said Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action.

Republicans argue enhancing unemployment benefits could deter people from going back to work.

As lawmakers continue to negotiate a new deal the uncertainty weighs on peoples livelihoods.

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Extra $600 unemployment benefits set to expire this weekend - WKOW

Why Now is the Time to ACT on KUB – SACE – Clean Energy News

Amy Rawe | July 25, 2020 | Energy Justice, Tennessee, Utilities Take action in Knoxville at ACTonKUB.org/action.

We all can relate to the feeling of dread when we receive our latest utility bill and wonder, Is this right? Am I actually using this much electricity, or water, or gas? I thought I did a decent job of trying to use less this month so I could save money.

These are valid questions, so lets break down why, no matter how hard we Knoxvillians try to conserve, were still paying large fees on our monthly utility bills regardless of how much electricity, water, or gas we use. Lets also take a look at how, with a potential vote this fall, you could help change the structures in place that have led Knoxvillians to face unaffordable utility bills that force too many residents to choose between putting food on the table or keeping the lights on.

Every month, Knoxville residents pay our local power company, KUB (Knoxville Utilities Board), for utilities. Services provided by KUB include electric, gas, water, and wastewater. If youre a KUB customer, youll find up to $85 in mandatory fixed fees, or basic service charges, you are required to pay each month. Thats $85 before you even use a drop of water or a single unit of electricity or gas.

Breaking those basic service charges out, KUB customers pay a set fee of $20.50 for electricity, $10.90 for gas, $18 for water, and $35.90 for wastewater.

If youre wondering whether this is just the norm for similar-sized utility providers, know that its not. KUBs fixed fee for electricity alone is 50-90% higher than most of their peer utilities serving the largest cities in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) service territory, including Memphis, Chattanooga, and Huntsville. Why is that?

For one thing, in 2010, KUB started a damaging trend of increasing basic service charges on customers bills on what appeared to be unjustified grounds, rather than being based on facts, data, and utility industry best-practices. For example, the basic service charge for electricity has more than tripled, from $6.09 in 2010 to $20.50 today. This negligent rate-making that severely impacts low-income, fixed-income, and single-resident customers prompted groups in Knoxville, including us at SACE, to launch the Freeze the Fees campaign in early 2019, which thanks to the thousands of Knoxvillians who spoke out in opposition of unjustified fixed fees, prompted KUB to temporarily halt fee increases on customers bills.

This was a win for Knoxvillians, but the fact remained that the fee freeze was temporary, agreed to for only at least two years. There is no guarantee KUB will not impose future fixed fee increases on customers bills that arent grounded in industry best practices.

Shouldnt KUB customers be aware of why their utility bill fixed fees are increasing? And shouldnt the KUB Board of Commissioners, who approve increases to fixed fees, be held accountable to being transparent about the process for determining these fees?

We believe so, which is why SACE is part of a grassroots coalition of several Knoxville-based non-profit organizations, community leaders, elected officials, and candidates* proposing the ACT on KUB initiative that would enact basic reforms to KUB through an amendment to Knoxvilles City Charter.

ACT stands for Accountability, Cost-Savings, and Transparency, which would be realized through our proposed charter amendment that would shorten the lengthy terms of KUBs Board of Commissionerswho oversee the utility rates and feesand revise the process of their election to ensure the community is better represented and connected to our publicly-owned utility.

Currently, the City Charter establishes that KUB commissioners serve seven-year terms, with a limit of two terms, for a total of up to 14 years. Seven-year terms are longer than the terms for utility board members of any of the other five largest cities in the TVA service territory, which range from 3- to 5-year terms, and are longer than terms of TVA board members (5 years), the Governor (4 years), and even the President of the United States (4 years). The excessively long terms for KUB board members currently authorized by the charter hinder accountability to the people KUB is meant to serve.

In addition, the City Charter currently authorizes the KUB board to self-select new board members by screening applicants and advancing only its preferred candidates to be considered for nomination by the mayor. We think that if the mayor were to receive all applications for board membership without the boards initial screening process, it would allow a broader slate of community members to be considered for nomination.

A charter amendment is the right vehicle for these reforms for two reasons:

KUB was established by the City Charter and is ultimately governed by the charter. The charter clearly states that for the KUB Board of Commissioners, The term of office shall be for a period of seven (7) years and no commissioner shall be elected or serve for more than two (2) such terms, or a maximum of fourteen (14) years [] Since this is in the charter, it cannot be trumped by any act of the Board, City Council, or the Mayor. To shorten Board members terms it must come in the form of a charter amendment to be binding.

In response to the ACT on KUB proposed amendment changes, KUB and Mayor Kincannon have offered some voluntary commitments to address issues identified by the campaignhowever, they are limited in both their scope and their permanency. Because the Mayors resolution is only an Executive Action and not a lasting City Charter amendment, there is no guarantee that her commitments would be continued after she is no longer in office. Unless changes are made to the City Charter, as the ACT on KUB amendment proposes, theres no lasting guarantee that KUB will be held accountable to serving Knoxvillians as fairly as possible.

[See more on why a charter amendment is necessary in this Knoxville News Sentinel Op-Ed: Fixed fees, makeup of KUB Board at heart of proposed amendment | Opinion]

The bottom line is that Knoxville needs City Council to step up and ensure proper oversight over our publicly-owned utility and show that they can operate independently of the Mayor to do whats right to bring lasting changes proposed in the ACT on KUB charter amendment to Knoxvillians. Anything less than that, such as the resolution Mayor Kincannon is suggesting, would be only a temporary change, allowing future KUB Board members or Mayoral administrations to easily undo the reforms. When that happens, Knoxville residents will once again be left paying the price.

Ultimately, when it comes to this very narrow and focused set of proposed reforms, there is virtually no reason why Knoxvillians shouldnt be given the peace of mind and assurance that placing these common-sense reforms in the charter would provide.

In order for the changes recommended in the ACT on KUB proposed amendment to take effect, the amendment needs to be placed on the November 3 ballot for Knoxville voters to approve as a change to the City Charter.

However, in order for Knoxville voters to have the chance to vote on the amendment on November 3rd, the Knoxville City Council must first pass the proposed amendment at their July 28 and August 11 meetings in order to allow it to be included on this falls ballot.

If you, too, are ready to bring more Accountability, Cost-Savings, and Transparency to KUB, now is the time to ask City Councilmembers to support ACT on KUBs proposed charter amendment, so Knoxville city voters can decide whether or not to approve it this November.As ACT on KUB coalition member Reverend Calvin Taylor Skinner, Co-Founder and Convener of One Knox Legacy Coalition, said during a virtual town hall held to discuss the amendment,

This is an issue that resonates with a lot of people, not just people in a particular income bracket. The issue of rates and transparency really transcends class and economicsAnd we know the power is with the people.

Its up to us to take a stand for Accountability, Cost-savings, and Transparency from KUB. As Reverend Skinner said, the power of this campaign really IS with the people.

CONTACT KNOXVILLE CITY COUNCILMEMBERS AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT THE ACT ON KUB CHARTER AMENDMENT

*Supporters of the ACT on KUB proposed charter amendment include:

Excerpt from:

Why Now is the Time to ACT on KUB - SACE - Clean Energy News

6 steps to better conversations that can reimagine AI regulation – World Economic Forum

AI and algorithms are everywhere, underpinning many parts of our daily lives, improving systems and increasing productivity. They also carry risk, however, potentially introducing new biases or worsening old ones, blocking candidates from jobs and even misidentifying crime suspects.

As AI is ubiquitous, governments and businesses leverage social licence to explore new uses. Through social licence, communities agree that governments, agencies, or companies are considered trustworthy enough to use AI in ways that may have risks.

Having this trust means people believe that if something does go wrong, it will be quickly identified and fixed before there is harm caused. Such trust can be built with conversations and robust engagement between the public, technologists and policy makers.

Successful conversations on AI or other emerging technologies are multi-stage processes, involving different players at different intervals to play important roles. As part of the World Economic Forums Reimagining Regulation for the Age of AI project, the project team and community developed a range of best practices and steps for how to design a successful conversation on AI. For better, more robust conversations, these tips can help.

The COVID-19 pandemic and recent social and political unrest have created a profound sense of urgency for companies to actively work to tackle racial injustice and inequality. In response, the Forum's Platform for Shaping the Future of the New Economy and Society has established a high-level community of Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officers. The community will develop a vision, strategies and tools to proactively embed equity into the post-pandemic recovery and shape long-term inclusive change in our economies and societies.

As businesses emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, they have a unique opportunity to ensure that equity, inclusion and justice define the "new normal" and tackle exclusion, bias and discrimination related to race, gender, ability, sexual orientation and all other forms of human diversity. It is increasingly clear that new workplace technologies and practices can be leveraged to significantly improve diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes.

The World Economic Forum has developed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Toolkit, to outline the practical opportunities that this new technology represents for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, while describing the challenges that come with it.

The toolkit explores how technology can help reduce bias from recruitment processes, diversify talent pools and benchmark diversity and inclusion across organisations. The toolkit also cites research that suggests well-managed diverse teams significantly outperform homogenous ones over time, across profitability, innovation, decision-making and employee engagement.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Toolkit is available here.

Whats needed for powerful engagements

Strong engagement forges trust and will power valuable conversations to help different parties fully understand each others needs and views. Good engagement takes several factors into account, including:

How to run a successful engagement

Planning can create the right spaces for strong engagements. To make the most out of these opportunities, the following steps should be taken:

1. Define. To start, the design team must identify core elements such as principles, legal context and societal norms underpinning the current use of AI. These current rules and conventions outline which boundaries, safeguards and protections are already in place. Communicating these elements to participants helps focus discussions by letting the public know which concerns are already covered by regulation and how participants can contribute to the creation of new safeguards.

2. Discover. In this stage, the design team researches the issue and the current context, identifying how the engagement could fuel progress. This initial stage could take place with a small-scale workshop involving a few key stakeholders. This stage allows the designers to crystallise the issue at hand, the aspects where consultation is needed, and any goals or outcomes. Participants will trust the process more if they can see the pathway ahead, know they can contribute to the desired end goal, and understand they are helping to design some of the steps to reach the end goal.

3. Decide. Here, the design team identifies who should be included in the larger engagement. This might include stakeholders as well as members of the community with particular concerns about, or knowledge about, bias and algorithms. Hard-to-reach audiences need to be identified and decisions made on how best to reach these participants. Designers will also decide what level of influence the participants will have and the extent to which views will be listened to, respected, and used in the next stages. Trust will be lost if people participate and then find their views have been ignored.

4. Design. In this stage, the team takes what it has learned about the issue it is covering, and the people involved to decide the best channels for engagement and dialogue. The shape of the engagement will depend on factors such as the intended participant list, the level of involvement being sought by the participants, and the nature of the feedback wanted. So, for example, a small-scale engagement with a specific group seeking views on how personal data is to be used, with the aim being to feed into a piece of legislation, will require different materials, meetings and level of discussion than will a general nationwide conversation on how human rights sit within digital technologies, with the aim of raising awareness about digital rights.

5. Analyse. Once the engagement has occurred and information gathered, the results need to be analysed and synthesised by the design team. The design team needs to look at the inputs and adjust for bias, vested interests, monopoly of views and strong voices. The findings will need to be presented to key stakeholders and other key audiences, including the participants. These findings will include recommendations on how the engagement research will be used (that is, it will inform or change the decision?) and the next steps.

6. Review. Finally, the whole process should be reviewed and evaluated, either by the design team or by an independent group. This will help identify what went well and what didnt, giving valuable insights for future engagements. The review can be done in many ways (For instance, interviews or surveys with the participants and design team is a useful way to review the process from both sides). A key part of this process is providing honest feedback to participants on what happened with their input and how it has contributed to the next steps.

"Through trust, its possible to yield the valuable insights and material that make the ultimate decisions stronger."

Open and honest engagement requires courage on both sides. Conversations on new technologies that have the potential to disrupt communities and economies are difficult. A carefully planned engagement helps signal transparency and humility to participants and the fact that one party has all the answers.

Engagements will inevitably result in differing views or roadblocks. The steps above cant prevent disagreements, but if the designers are open and honest from the start, trust is built early and its possible to work through any disagreements. Through trust, its possible to yield the valuable insights and material that make the ultimate decisions stronger.

An involved and active community that trusts enough to engage is vital to a functioning democracy. Gaining and maintaining this trust requires an ongoing commitment but one that is worthwhile as community support and input makes for better, stronger policy.

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6 steps to better conversations that can reimagine AI regulation - World Economic Forum