COVID-19 hospitalizations in Michigan hit record high, health systems in West Michigan managing – Fox17

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

MICHIGAN The number of people in the hospital being treated for COVID19 reached an all-time high on Tuesday.

According to state data, 4,158 patients are hospitalized with confirmed cases of the virus, with 663 patients locally. There are 896 people in the ICU and 530 people are on a ventilator.

While the east side of Michigan is behind much of those numbers, doctors say West Michigan is nowhere in the clear.

Our trend is still going in that upward direction, said Dr. Joshua Kooistra, chief medical officer at Spectrum Health West Michigan.

According to Kooistra, Spectrum Health is nearing hospitalization records of their own. Currently there are 314 patients, with about a quarter in the ICU. Last November, the health system hit a high, treating 358 patients.

Adding to the issue, Kooistra says, is Spectrum seeing its normal levels for other inpatient admissions, such as routine illnesses and injuries.

Our capacity is becoming strained, said Kooistra. Like in the fall, we are deferring some non-emergent or urgent procedures that could be safely deferred until our capacity will allow us to care for our patient population.

Regionally, Mercy Health is seeing a slow increase at its hospitals in Grand Rapids and Muskegon, with numbers shifting from the low 40s and 50s to upper 40s and 50s. The trend is translating to its ICU admissions.

At Ascension Borgess in Kalamazoo, data shows its two cases from hitting its highest number of patients since mid-December.

Bronson Healthcare saw a recent peak at its hospital in Kalamazoo with 73 patients, however the health system says its four hospitals saw a 10 percent reduction in hospitalizations over the weekend. A spokeswoman said its too early to tell if the worst is behind them.

Our teams are fatigued, but still have the mission to care for our community and do so in the best way possible, said Kooistra.

According to Gov. Whiter, youth sports, COVID-19 fatigue, and variants are behind the increased numbers.

Health officials are urging people to continue to mask up, social distance, wash their hands, and get vaccinated. Kooistra says at Spectrum, the number of people hospitalized in the 70+ age group is not rising like the other age groups.

The West Michigan Vaccine Clinic has appointments open this week. To sign up, click here.

That alone should encourage people in those younger age groups to really go out and get vaccinated, said Kooistra. If you have the opportunity and youre eligible to do so, I would encourage everybody to sign up and get your vaccine.

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COVID-19 hospitalizations in Michigan hit record high, health systems in West Michigan managing - Fox17

Now is not the time to reduce Medicaid funding for safety net hospitals | Guestview – Pensacola News Journal

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

Tom VanOsdol, Guest columnist Published 10:42 a.m. CT April 15, 2021

Since the first patients with positive indications and test results for the novel coronavirus began to arrive at local hospitals in March 2020, nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, environmental services personnel and other essential staff members have heroically put their lives at risk to care for those stricken with COVID-19. The pandemic has tested and stressed our teams as never before, and exacted a terrible toll across Northwest Florida. At Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola alone, more than 2,000 people have been hospitalized in our COVID-19 units and ICUs.

When the pandemic began, Ascension Sacred Heart was one of the first hospitals in the state to open drive-through testing sites. Since then, our Ascension Medical Group has provided more than 80,000 COVID-19 tests to people in our region. Similarly, Ascension Sacred Heart was THE first provider in the region to open a mass vaccination clinic. To date, our clinics in Northwest Florida have administered 60,000 shots of vaccine.

It's been an extraordinary and historic effort, and our ongoing work to fight this virus has come at a material and human cost. COVID-19 imposed a financial hit on most hospitals, but especially on safety net hospitals like Ascension Sacred Heart which care for the largest percentage of those who are poor and most vulnerable in our community.

When the pandemic began, our hospitals temporarily stopped performing non-urgent surgeries and procedures in order to appropriately conserve personal protective equipment and prevent the spread of the virus within our facilities. Consumers anxious about COVID-19 also stopped coming to our ERs for care they needed, and they postponed other essential and necessary medical care for conditions like heart and vascular disease, cancer care,and other significant and potentially serious health concerns.

At a time when we are still experiencing a loss of revenue due to COVID-19, we never expected the Florida Legislature to further cut the Medicaid funding we receive to care for the poor and vulnerable in our communities. But sadly thats exactly what's happening. While the Governors budget recognized our efforts over the past year and proposed no cuts, the Florida House budget proposes to reduce Ascension Sacred Heart's Medicaid reimbursements by $16 million and the Senate bill includes cuts totaling $15 million. Importantly, these are NOT governmental payments to healthcare institutions. Rather, these cuts follow individual patients, and further reduce the already less-than-cost reimbursement hospitals receive to cover the care of Medicaid beneficiaries.

We are further dismayed that hospitals providing neonatal intensive care are facing some of the most dramatic funding cuts in the Senate and House budget plans. As the 7th largest Medicaid provider in the state, Ascension Sacred Heart has no room to absorb these proposed cuts. With over 30 percent of our patients being Medicaid enrollees, we now face $16 million in reductions of an already anemic reimbursement rate. In light of these proposed cuts, we simply cannot see a way to balance our budget. For our doctors, nurses and other caregivers who have performed so valiantly and selflessly over the past year, this would mean we would not be able to support and resource them as before. This is not the reward they deserve for their service. And for patients, these cuts would render us unable to continue and extend all the essential services we provide, particularly for those most in need.

We sincerely ask our legislators to reconsider the fairness and the full implications of the House and Senate plans to cut support for the safety net hospitals in Florida, and for those most in need. We are specifically asking the House to reinstate the Critical Care Funds, which are allocated to the top 25 Medicaid providers in the state and are intended to help offset losses incurred when reimbursement is far less than the cost to deliver care. Importantly, were not asking for more money. Were simply asking NOT to be cut, particularly in light of the year weve all lived through.

Additionally, the Legislature is planning these cuts at the same time that Florida is the beneficiary of $10 billion in federal funds coming to the State and over $300 million is coming from an increase in the rate of federal matching funds for the Medicaid program.

Throughout the pandemic, the community has been able to rely on us despite the financial and operating challenges COVID-19 has presented. And in turn we've been fortunate to have the support of the community, and of our state and local officials as we worked to fight this battle, save human lives and slow the spread of the virus. Today, the new vaccines provide great hope, but the fight against COVID-19 is not finished. Now is not the time to reduce Medicaid funding for healthcare providers who have battled tirelessly over a year to serve the needs of our community and those most vulnerable to this insidious disease .

Tom VanOsdol is president and CEO ofAscension Florida and Gulf Coast.

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Now is not the time to reduce Medicaid funding for safety net hospitals | Guestview - Pensacola News Journal

Listen to Sufjan Stevens Lamentations, the second part of his five-part album – NME

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

Sufjan Stevens has shared the second part of his upcoming five-part album listen to Lamentations below.

The track is included on the second part ofStevens new 49-track album Convocations, which is due out next month.

Each of the five parts of the album are being released one-by-one in the run-up to the albums full release. Earlier this month, Stevens shared the albums first part, Meditations, before the Lamentations release was previewed earlier this week by new track Lamentation II.

Following them will be Revelations (April 22), Celebrations (April 29) and Incantations (May 6). The new instrumental record from Stevens will be released digitally on May 6 via Asthmatic Kitty. A 5xLP coloured vinyl edition of Convocations will follow on August 20.

Listen to the 30-minute Lamentations below.

The forthcoming project is comprised of five volumes Meditations, Lamentations, Revelations, Celebrations and Incantations and sees Stevens reflect on a year of anxiety, uncertainty, isolation and loss through 49 new songs.

Stevens created the album in tribute to his biological father, who died just two days after his 2020 album The Ascension was released. According to a press release, each Convocations volume represents a different stage of the mourning process.

Reviewing The Ascension upon its release last year, NME said: The unashamed pop feel of The Ascension is regularly coupled with the sort of wiry electronics you might expect to hear in a Glastonbury dance tent at 4am.

These anxious instrumentals echo the albums uneasy outlook and fear of the future, and when they combine forces it often makes for an astonishing listen. The world is pretty shitty at the moment and its easy to feel helpless, but as the horror show that is 2020 continues to rumble on, The Ascension is yet another ample soundtrack to rage-dance to.

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Listen to Sufjan Stevens Lamentations, the second part of his five-part album - NME

Check out the high school track and field leaders for the Baton Rouge area – The Advocate

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

Boys

Track events

100-meter dash: 1, Dylan Sampson, Dutchtown, 10.48. 2, Kevin Domino, St. Amant, 10.69. 3, JayVeon Haynes Woodlawn 10.79.

200: 1, Dylan Sampson, Dutchtown, 21.16. 2, Chris Hilton, Zachary, 21.33. 3, Imania Coleman, West Feliciana, 21.48.

400: 1, Chris Hilton, Zachary, 49.47. 2, Imania Coleman, West, Feliciana 49.99. 3, Kalvin Skelton, Brusly, 50.18.

800: 1, Joseph Ellis, Catholic High, 1:56.60. 2, Rhen Langley, Zachary, 1:56.97. 3, Lejuane George, Zachary, 1:59.91.

1,600: 1, Rhen Langley, Zachary, 4:19.56. 2, Daniel Sullivan, Catholic High, 4:22.83. 3, Blaison Truell, Catholic High, 4:24.00.

3,200: 1, Rhen Langley, Zachary, 9:37.22. 2, Caleb Ackman, Zachary, 9:39.78. 3, Steven Mayer, Catholic High, 9:46.05.

110 hurdles: 1, Lanard Harris, Woodlawn, 14.57. 2, Cosy Smith, Zachary 14.96. 3, Donnell Matthews, Scotlandville, 14.96.

300 hurdles: 1, Lanard Harris, Woodlawn, 37.83. 2, Donnell Matthews, Scotlandville, 39.84. 3, Ethan Hook, Episcopal, 40.07, Louis Rudge, Catholic High, 40.07

4x100 relay: 1, Zachary 41.24. 2, Dutchtown 42.36. 3, Scotlandville 42.53.

4x200 relay: 1, Zachary 1:26.23. 2, Dutchtown 1:27.91. 3, St. Amant 1:28.81.

4x400 relay: 1, Scotlandville 3:23.09. 2, Catholic High 3:25.88. 3, Zachary 3:26.99

4x800 relay: 1, Catholic High 7:59.98. 2, Zachary 8:20.41. 3, Scotlandville 8:27.33.

Field events

Discus: 1, Jerrell Boykins, East Ascension, 170-02. 2, Oliver Jack, Episcopal, 153-6. 3, Sam Cole, Catholic High, 150-2.

High jump: 1, Chris Hilton, Zachary, 7-0. 2, JaMarius Snowden, Northeast, 6-8. 3, TreShaun Dunn, St. Amant, 6-6.

Javelin: 1, Jackson Rimes, Catholic High, 208-8. 2, Peyton Pontiff, Episcopal, 198-6. 3, Caleb Marcantel, Catholic High, 181-7.

Long jump: 1, W'Juanterous Rodrique, St. Amant, 23- 7.75. 2, Chris Murphy, Port Allen, 23-6.5. 3, Jaden Wiliams, Walker, 22-10.5.

Pole vault: 1, Clayton Simms, Live Oak, 17-2.5. 2, Trey Boucher, Parkview Baptist, 16-2. 3, Todd Collins, Walker, 14-0.

Shot put: 1, Oliver Jack, Episcopal, 56-1. 2, Prince Edwards, Catholic High, 53-0. 3, Jerrell Boykins, East Ascension 52-2.5.

Triple jump: 1, Kevon Hamilton, Scotlandville, 47-6. 2, W'Janterous Rodrique, St. Amant, 44-8.5. 3, Reginald King, Scotlandville, 43-11.

Track events

100 meters: 1, Zoa Adams, Zachary, 11.99. 2, Sade Gray, Scotlandville, 11.99. 3, Jessica Pitcher, Baton Rouge, 12.01.

200: 1, Sade Gray, Scotlandville, 25.08. 2, Ariane Linton, Dutchtown, 25.21. 3, Hannah Jones, SJA, 25.61.

400: 1, Zoa Adams, Zachary, 55.83. 2, Makeriah Harris, Scotlandville, 56.6. 3, Haley Jones, SJA, 57.94.

800: 1, Callie Hardy, Episcopal, 2:21.10. 2, Rachel Fereday, Dutchtown, 2:23.04. 3, Amelia Cochran, SJA, 2:23.85.

1,600: 1, Sophie Martin, SJA, 5:06.50. 2, Maddie Gardiner, SJA, 5:15.80. 3, Callie Hardy, Episcopal, 5:18.40.

3,200: 1, Sophie Martin, SJA, 10:53.43. 2, Maddie Gardiner, SJA, 11:28.22. 3, Emma Claire Hendry, SJA, 11:56.10.

100 hurdles: 1, Makeriah Harris, Scotlandville, 14.2. 2, Ariel Pedigo, Parkview Baptist, 14.66. 3, Orsciana Beard, Zachary, 14.97, Heather Abadie, St. Michael, 14.97.

300 hurdles: 1, Makeriah Harris, Scotlandville, 42.29. 2, Whitney Harris, Scotlandville, 45.96. 3, Daila Young, Episcopal, 47.11

4x100 relay: 1, Zachary 48.72. 2, Scotlandville 48.85. 3, Dutchtown 49.55.

4x200 relay: 1, Zachary 1:40.58. 2, Scotlandville 1:41.61. 3, Baton Rouge High 1:42.76.

4x400: 1, Scotlandville 3:58.25. 2, SJA 3:59.84. 3, Zachary 4:00.86.

4x800: 1, SJA 9:43.27. 2, Episcopal 10:10.60. 3, St. Michael's 10:15.00.

Field events

Discus: 1, Jaydan Jackson, Zachary, 138-5. 2, Jamyah Williams, Madison Prep, 133-9. 3, Laila Guy, Baton Rouge, 122-1.5.

High jump: 1, Ariel Pedigo, Parkview Baptist, 5-10. 2, Riley Wilson, SJA, 5-6. 3, Alana Simms, Episcopal, 5-5.

Javelin: 1, Ariel Pedigo, Parkview Baptist, 142-3.25. 2, Rebecca Bordelon, SJA, 136-0. 3, Anna Ferrand, SJA, 135-8.

Long jump: 1, Ariel Pedigo, Parkview Baptist, 19-5.75. 2, Orsciana Beard, Zachary, 18-3.75. 3, Heather Abadie, St. Michael, 17-10.

Pole vault: 1, Heather Abadie, St. Michael, 13-4.25. 2, Ava Riche, SJA, 11-6. 3, Taylor Walker, SJA, 11-1.

Shot put: 1, Jaydan Jackson Zachary, 44-8. 2, Laila Guy, Baton Rouge, 42-5.75. 3, Jamyah Williams, Madison Prep, 39-8.

Triple jump: 1, Orsciana Beard, Zachary, 39-2. 2, Simone Castelluccio, SJA, 38-1. 3, Francis Oliver, Episcopal, 37-4.

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Check out the high school track and field leaders for the Baton Rouge area - The Advocate

Corrections: April 17, 2021 – The New York Times

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

NATIONAL

Because of an editing error, an article on Friday about New Yorkers whose houses were flooded with sewage in 2019 misstated the percentages of homeownership among New Yorkers of different ethnic and racial groups in 2018. The percentages given referred to homeownership within those communities, not to homeownership in the city over all. That year, 44 percent of Asian households and 43 percent of white households owned their homes, while the same was true for just 27 percent of Black households and 17 percent of Latino households.

An article on Friday about a noose being removed from the logo of Placerville, Calif., misstated the given name of the man who discovered flecks of gold in a streambed in early 1848, touching off the California gold rush. He was James Marshall, not John Marshall.

An article on Sunday about the professor Carl L. Hart referred incorrectly to his position at Columbia University. Jennifer Manly, a professor of neuropsychology, was the first tenured African-American science professor granted tenure at Columbia, not Professor Hart.

An article on Friday about a former alt-right YouTuber misstated the name of the group that the video producer Caolan Robertson runs. It is Future Freedom, not Future of Freedom.

An article on Friday about the acquisition of the basketball player Charli Collier by the Dallas Wings misstated the first Finnish player in the W.N.B.A. It is Taru Tuukkanen, not Awak Kuier.

An article on Page 15 this weekend about play reading groups describes incorrectly the type of work that donors to the Playwrights Realm could pay to act in. They could commission new plays or pay a smaller fee to act in a previously written play.

An article on Page 46 this weekend about Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Vincent van Goghs sister-in-law, misstates the surname of an artist. He is Richard Roland Holst, not Roland-Horst.

An article on Page 30 this weekend about the use of informants in terrorism-related cases misstates the filing date of a lawsuit about the constitutionality of Communications Management Units brought by several prisoners against the Justice Department. It was 2010, not 2011.

An article on Page 19 this weekend about drying your laundry in the sun misstates Joe Wachunass position at an electric-transportation advocacy group. He is a program manager, not a program director.

One of the covers for this weekends Culture issue misspells the surname of the singer featured with Elton John. She is Rina Sawayama, not Sawayawa.

A picture caption with an article on Page 56 this weekend about friends who create together misspells the surname of a model and journalist. They are Trey Gaskin, not Gaskins.

Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions.

To contact the newsroom regarding correction requests, please email nytnews@nytimes.com. To share feedback, please visit nytimes.com/readerfeedback.

Comments on editorials may be emailed to letters@nytimes.com.

For newspaper delivery questions: 1-800-NYTIMES (1-800-698-4637) or email customercare@nytimes.com.

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Corrections: April 17, 2021 - The New York Times

Nebraska journalism professor investigates the lure of extremism – Nebraska Today

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

About five years ago, Nebraska journalism professor Joseph Weber became intrigued by news accounts of young Somali Americans in Minnesota accused in a plot to join ISIS.

I have had a longstanding interest in the idea that people join cults Why do they join them? What appeals to them that they would completely submerge their identities into a group? said Weber, an associate professor who holds the Jerry and Karla Huse endowed professorship.

Again the question arose for me: People all over the world at that point were joining ISIS. I couldnt understand why people would join a murderous, horrific cult, a death cult.

Weber previously authored Transcendental Meditation in America: How a New Age Movement Remade a Small Town in Iowa, which explored how followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi settled on a former college campus in Fairfield, Iowa. Before joining the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Weber worked 35 years in magazines and newspapers, including a 22-year stint for BusinessWeek in Dallas, Philadelphia, Toronto and Chicago. He also has taught journalism students in China and studied their attitudes on censorship and freedom of the press.

Webers curiosity about what was happening in Minneapolis grew to the point that he traveled there in May 2016 to attend the lengthy trial of three Somali-American men. That launched three years of research, including lengthy interviews with star witness Abdirahman Abdirashid Bashir, a 20-year-old diverted from the plot in the nick of time by his father and other relatives. Bashir became an FBI informant and avoided the harsh fates of some among a dozen who were once his friends: lengthy prison sentences or death in the Middle East.

As he traced the lure of extremism, Weber probed how the schools, courts, community organizations and others responded to ISIS recruitment. He looked at the role of the internet and researched how women and girls were persuaded to join in. He looked for patterns in a previous wave of Somali-American youth who were enticed to join Al-Shabab, the Somalia-based Islamic guerilla force.

Webers research, conducted independently and with support from his Huse professorship, resulted in a book, Divided Loyalties: Young Somali Americans and the Lure of Extremism, published in September by Michigan State University Press.

Following are Webers responses to some questions about his latest effort. They are edited for brevity and clarity.

While Divided Loyalties is a far cry from my business journalism, it is a logical extension of my first book, about the Transcendental Meditation community in Iowa. I have an enduring interest in Utopian (or dystopian) groups that fall outside the mainstream.

The TM community is a Utopian group whose members follow the teachings of a now-deceased guru, including outside-the-norm teachings that arguably categorize the group as a religious sect. Members built their lives within the group and surrendered a big part of their identities to it.

Similarly, the Somali-Americans who joined, tried to join or supported terrorist groups such as Al-Shabab and ISIS did so with a fervor that mixed nationalism and ethnic identity with religion. ISIS in particular is a death cult. Its members sometimes yield their lives to it.

The common denominator was my core question: why would someone leave their ordinary workaday lives to join what others regard as a cult, surrendering their individual identities to the group? Its an easier answer with a group pledged to peacefulness, such as the TM folks. Its a tougher answer with people who join a murderous group such as ISIS. Still, the question can be asked of recruits in both groups.

The connection is tangential though not too great a stretch.

In China, I explored the sentiments of journalism students who felt that journalists need to stand outside and take a critical look at another important group, the Chinese Communist Party. Similarly, I critically examined the TM movement and, of course, ISIS and Al-Shabab and like groups from the outside.

Journalists need to have critical distance when they report on religious groups, cults, political parties and the like. By looking at them dispassionately, we can help others understand them.

I dont believe the reportage on these cases fully explored the complex motives that drove so many Somali-Americans to seek to join ISIS and Al-Shabab, nor did it examine in detail the motives that pushed the informant (and others) away from that desire. I believe that society needs to understand both the pathologies that make such groups appealing to some people especially malleable young people as well as the best techniques for prying them loose from such pathologies (if possible). In addition to my interviews, I was able to draw on a deep well of academic material on these points where it seemed relevant.

I do credit many journalists for their superb work, which I cite at various points in the book. Good journalists deserved mention and, as a former occupant of the daily and weekly journalism trenches, I was obliged to acknowledge their coverage. Journalism is the first draft of history, as its often said, and the work of daily journalists can be put into perspective by authors of books, even when such authors are journalists themselves.

Sociologists, political scientists, judicial experts and psychologists all could tell pieces of this story. Indeed, I cite and quote people from such fields on issues of poverty, crime, alienation and other maladies that afflict parts of the Somali-American community. My contribution was to put such insights into a narrative with quotes from and accounts of individuals in a way that I hope is readable and accessible to non-experts. That is what journalists typically bring to the party in any of their work and what often differentiates it from academic studies and such.

Also, it is helpful to readers to apply a critical eye to the work of experts, especially when their findings contradict one another or seem incomplete.

Islamist terrorism has deep roots and its not going away, despite the destruction of the so-called Islamic State. Such foreign terrorism has been largely absent from the U.S. in recent times, but it continues to plague Africa and Europe, and is likely to return to us in time. So we need to understand what drives people mostly young people who havent found their way in American society into the ranks of terrorists. What are the recruitment techniques groups use? Why do they work? How can we thwart them?

The appeal of a group such as ISIS, moreover, in many ways is similar to the appeal of white supremacist groups in the U.S. and elsewhere. Both groups appeal to people who feel alienated from the mainstream, often to people whose personal identities are ill-formed and incomplete and who seek to develop their sense of self from a group that is likewise outside the norm. Both sorts of groups embrace violence and are driven by a sense of mission, no matter how misplaced. Many people involved in them see themselves as heroes battling for righteousness. They are often driven by religious fervor or nationalism. Their convictions can often be sincere and heartfelt, no matter how bizarre they seem to outsiders.

I believe policymakers can learn techniques for combatting the appeals from all sorts of cults. I hope the book contributes to that understanding.

Nebraska journalism professor investigates the lure of extremism - Nebraska Today

Greenwich saw five hate crimes in 2020. Learn to be ‘allies against prejudice and bullying,’ advocates say. – CT Insider

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

GREENWICH Hate crimes and related incidents more than doubled in Greenwich from two in 2019 to five in 2020, according to data from the Anti-Defamation League.

The trend is roughly consistent with data statewide, which shows an increase from 65 events in Connecticut in 2019 to 128 in 2020.

Of the five reported incidents in Greenwich last year, three were anti-Semitic: swastikas and anti-Jewish slurs were written in a Jewish teachers classroom; a Zoom meeting was interrupted by intruders making vulgar remarks and sharing pornographic images; and New Order, a neo-Nazi group, distributed materials in town that contained swastikas and said Hitler was right.

Rabbi Mitchell Hurvitz of Temple Sholom in Greenwich said anti-Semitic hate was not a new concern for his temple. But in recent years, Hurvitz said he has seen people spreading hateful ideas become more emboldened, apparently because of national discourse.

I think that unfortunately, the climate within the nation has created an incubator to kind of let people who are at the extremes to do things and express things that arent appropriate, Hurvitz said. I dont know that our town has been immune to the national phenomenon.

He said the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic also could have contributed to increased hostility in general.

I think that in times of challenge, fear takes root, Hurvitz said. And the exacerbation of extremes, demagoguery and words that incite ... all of that is challenging. And then the difficulties that COVID-19 brought and the economic challenges and all that extra turbulence definitely exacerbates the problems. We have to be more proactive.

Hurvitz said hate crimes have been increasingly part of the collective conscience, pointing to the 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Va., which featured white supremacist groups and resulted in the death of a counter-protester, and the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that left 11 dead in what has been called the deadliest attack on a Jewish community in American history.

The Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol reignited existing fears of increased anti-Semitic hate, Hurvitz said.

Some of the crazies that were marching out with anti-Semitic shirts and slogans put people at greater consternation, he said.

And though the other two Greenwich incidents chronicled by the ADL predated the Capitol siege, they were of a similar tone and tenor. Both involved the alt-right group Patriot Front, which in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election distributed materials bearing slogans such as Reclaim America and America is not for sale.

Hurvitz said he has been impressed with the towns response in the wake of anti-Semitic or related incidents, both from clergy and town leaders. Greenwichs public and private schools have partnered with clergy and the ADL to spearhead educational initiatives on the dangers of anti-Semitism and white supremacy.

One example, Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones said, is the annual Names Day, which she said gives a voice to the targets of bullying and bias; building empathy in the perpetrators; and inspiring and empowering bystanders to become allies against prejudice and bullying.

Discrimination, racism and hateful acts have no place in our schools and in our communities, Jones said. Two components of our mission and vision very directly demonstrate the value we put on educating and preparing our students so that they can: Conduct themselves in an ethical and responsible manner and recognize and respect other cultural contexts and points of view. We build these capabilities in our students in hopes that they will perpetuate the good they see in the world, and recognize and act on what needs to be fixed.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586

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Greenwich saw five hate crimes in 2020. Learn to be 'allies against prejudice and bullying,' advocates say. - CT Insider

How Baptists hold differing views on the resurrection of Christ and why this matters – The Conversation US

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

Early on April 4 morning, the following message appeared on the Twitter account of the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the newly elected U.S. senator from Georgia: The meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whether you are Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others we are able to save ourselves.

He later deleted the tweet, but not before strong reaction from both conservative and progressive Christians. Some conservative Christians denounced Warnock as a heretic for, in their view, downplaying the story of Jesus bodily resurrection and for claiming that humans can save themselves rather than God, who alone saves humans from their sins. Other Christians came to Warnocks defense, citing his credentials as a theologian and pastor of Atlantas Ebenezer Baptist Church. Rather than condemn his message, they applauded him for sharing a more humanistic message that included non-Christians.

As a Baptist minister and theologian myself, I believe it is important to understand how Baptists hold differing views on the meaning of the Resurrection.

Easter is the Christian holiday which commemorates the story of Jesus Christs resurrection. According to the Christian faith, resurrection is the pivotal event on which God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after he was crucified by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and then buried in a tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea.

While none of the four canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John describe the actual event of the resurrection in detail, they nonetheless give varying reports about the empty tomb and Christs post-resurrection appearances among his followers both in Galilee and Jerusalem.

They also report that it was women who discovered the empty tomb and received and proclaimed the first message that Christ was risen from the dead. These narratives passed down orally among the earliest Christian communities and then codified in the Gospel writings beginning some 30 years after Jesus death.

Earliest Christians believed that by raising Jesus of Nazareth from the dead, God vindicated Jesus from the torture and death he unjustly incurred at the order of Pilate, and that Jesus now as the crucified and risen Lord shares in Gods power to transform the creation and put an end to evil and suffering.

By affirming the resurrection, Christians do not mean that Jesus body was merely resuscitated. Rather, as New Testament scholar Luke Timothy Johnson indicates, resurrection means that [Jesus] entered into an entirely new form of existence.

As the risen Christ, Jesus is believed to share Gods power to transform all life and also to share this same power with his followers. So the resurrection is believed to be something that happened not only to Jesus, but also an experience that happens to his followers.

Over the years, Christians have engaged in passionate debates over this central doctrine of Christian faith.

Two major approaches emerged: the liberal view and the conservative or traditional view. Current perspectives on the resurrection have been predominated by questions: Was Jesus body literally raised from the dead? and What relevance does the resurrection have for those struggling for justice?

These questions emerged in the wake of theological modernism, a European and North American movement dating back to the mid-19th century that sought to reinterpret Christianity to accommodate the emergence of modern science, history and ethics.

Also known as liberal theology, theological modernism led liberal Christian theologians to attempt to create an alternative path between the rigid orthodoxies of Christian churches and the rationalism of atheists and others.

This meant that liberal Christians were willing to revise or jettison cherished Christian beliefs, such as the bodily resurrection of Jesus, if such beliefs could not be explained against the bar of human reason.

Just like all other Christian denominations, Baptists are divided on the issue of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Arguably, what may be unique about the group is that Baptists believe that no external religious authority can force an individual member to adhere to the tenets of Christian faith in any prescribed way. One must be free to accept or reject any teaching of the church.

In the early 20th century, Baptists in the United States found themselves on both sides of a schism within American Christianity over doctrinal issues, known as the fundamentalist-modernist controversy.

The Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick, a liberal Baptist pastor who served First Presbyterian Church and later Riverside Church in Manhattan, rejected the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Rather, Fosdick viewed the resurrection as a persistence in [Christs] personality.

In 1922, Fosdick delivered his famous sermon Shall the Fundamentalists Win? rebuking fundamentalists for their failure to tolerate difference on doctrinal matters such as the infallibility of the Bible, the virgin birth, and bodily Resurrection, among others, and for downplaying the weightier matter of addressing the societal needs of the day.

In his autobiography, the late civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. explains that in his early adolescence he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

While attending Crozer Seminary in 1949, King wrote a paper trying to make sense of what led to the development of the Christian doctrine of Jesus bodily resurrection. For King, the experience of the early followers of Jesus was at the root of their belief in his resurrection.

They had been captivated by the magnetic power of his personality, King argued. This basic experience led to the faith that he could never die. In other words, the bodily resurrection of Jesus simply is the outward expression of early Christian experience, not an actual, or at least, a verifiable event in human history.

Others within the Baptist movement disagreed. Like his fundamentalist forebears, conservative evangelical Baptist theologian Carl F.H. Henry argued in 1976 that all Christian doctrine can be rationally explained and can persuade any nonbeliever. Henry rigorously defended the bodily resurrection of Christ as a historical occurrence by appealing to the Gospels telling of the empty tomb and Christs appearances among his disciples after his resurrection.

In his six-volume magnum opus, God, Revelation, and Authority, Henry read these two elements of the Gospels as historical records that can be verified through modern historical methods.

Despite their predominance, the liberal and conservative arguments on the resurrection of Jesus are not the only approaches held among Baptists.

In his book Resurrection and Discipleship, Baptist theologian Thorwald Lorenzen also outlines what he calls the evangelical approach, which seeks to transcend the distinctions of liberal and conservative approaches. He affirms, with the conservatives, the historical reality of the Resurrection, but agrees with the liberals that such an event cannot be verified in the modern historical sense.

Other than these, there is a liberation approach, which stresses the social and political implications of the Resurrection. Baptists who hold this view primarily interpret the resurrection as Gods response and commitment to liberating those who, like Jesus, experience poverty and oppression.

Given this diversity of perspectives on the Resurrection, Baptists are not unique among Christians in engaging matters of faith practice. However, I argue that Baptists may be distinct in how they engage the question of Jesus resurrection and why it matters for their faith.

According to Warnocks tweet, the meaning of Easter goes beyond the question of what happened to Jesus body, making resurrection a matter of what human beings can do to make a more just and humane society regardless of religious affiliation.

However, as some Baptists protested, the meaning of the resurrection is a matter of precisely what happened to Jesus body some 20 centuries ago which has implications for how Christians live out their beliefs today.

[3 media outlets, 1 religion newsletter. Get stories from The Conversation, AP and RNS.]

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EDITION Announces Eight Anticipated New Hotel Openings Across The Globe By The End Of 2022 – Herald-Mail Media

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

BETHESDA, Md., April 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EDITION Hotels today announced its further international expansion by the end of 2022, with the slated opening of eight new properties across three continents. The new openings include sites in Rome, Madrid, Dubai, Reykjavik, Tampa, Doha, Mexico's Riviera Maya at Kanai and EDITION's second property in Tokyo. With 11 hotels worldwide currently, these planned openings underscore the brand's strong growth and will bring the portfolio to a total of 19 properties globally. In addition to these new properties, EDITION Hotels expects to announce further expansion later in 2022.

EDITION Hotels redefine the concept of luxury through offering an unexpected collection of one-of-a-kind hotels. Conceived by hotel visionary and cultural icon Ian Schrager and Marriott International, the brand also benefits from Marriott's global scale and operational expertise. The commitment to uncompromising quality, true originality and impeccable modern service continue to challenge traditional perceptions of luxury and entrench EDITION's position as an industry leader. Every EDITION hotel is unique, reflecting the social and cultural milieu of the time and place of its creation. Each new property is individually developed in collaboration with one of the world's most eminent designers chosen specifically for that location, and introduces original food and beverage concepts from internationally renowned chefs. The end result offers the best of dining and entertainment, modern luxury services and amenities "all under one roof."

"I've always been committed to being involved in special projects on a global scale that reach new heights.I'm thrilled to work together with Marriott, and the opportunity to see these hotels come to life across the world is a dream come true." Ian Schrager.

Please find further details on the properties and their scheduled opening dates below:

The Reykjavik EDITION

Launching mid 2021

The Reykjavik EDITIONis anticipated to launch in summer 2021 in one of the world's most sustainable capitals. Located in the historical, scenic heart of downtown Reykjavik by Old Harbor port, the hotel is just steps away from Laugavegur Street, the city's vibrant shopping district, and the Harpa Concert and Conference Center.The hotel is the perfect jumping off point for exploring the wonders of the region, with the renowned Blue Lagoon within driving distance and the Northern Lights visible in the city during the winter solstice.

Ian Schrager Company has collaborated with architects T.arch and designers Roman & Williams to introduce EDITION Hotels to Iceland. Poised to offer 253 guestrooms and suites, The Reykjavik EDITION will house a rooftop, nightlife, spacious meeting and event spaces (502 sqm/5,402 sqft) and a spa. In addition, the hotel is expected to offer guests and locals a diverse culinary offering with a signature restaurant, destination bar and a caf.

The Tokyo EDITION, Ginza

Launching late 2021

Following the successful launch of the first Japanese EDITION hotel with The Tokyo EDITION, Toranomon in late 2020, the opening of the The Tokyo EDITION, Ginza will further strengthen the brand's position as one of the most exciting lifestyle pioneers in Asia. Slated to open in late 2021, The Tokyo EDITION, Ginza will be situated just off Chuo Street, one of the largest upscale entertainment and shopping destinations in the city.

The newly constructed property will include 86 guestrooms and suites, three incredible food and beverage destinations including rooftop bar, together with meeting studio and a state-of-the-art fitness center.

The Rome EDITION

Launching late 2021

Expected to open late in 2021, EDITION Hotels' first Italian property will feature 95 guest rooms and suites, including a Penthouse suite with a private 130 sqm (1,399 sqft) terrace. The Rome EDITIONwill offer uniquely designed food and beverage outlets, including a signature restaurant with outdoor dining space that will make locals and visitors fall in love with its cuisine and all that comes with it; a Punch Room Bar with exceptionally crafted cocktails; and a Rooftop Terrace where guests can have the choice of a seasonal bite, a drink overlooking the city, a private gathering with friends, or all of the above. In addition to customizable indoor and outdoor event spaces, the hotel will also be home to a rooftop swimming pool, a very spacious hi-tech gym, and two treatment rooms including a couple-massage experience.

With its central location a few steps from Via Veneto and Bernini's Tritone Fountain in Piazza Barberini, The Rome EDITION is within a short walk of all the best that the city has to offer, such as the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Borghese Gardens and Gallery, and many other wonders that make Rome a must-see destination. At the corner of modern luxury and history, the hotel is housed within a historical striking building designed by Cesare Pascoletti in collaboration with architect Marcello Piacentini, one of Italy's most famed architects of Rationalism in the early 20thcentury.

The Dubai EDITION

Launching late 2021

The anticipated opening of theThe Dubai EDITIONin late 2021 will mark a significant expansion for the brand into the Middle East's most popular travel destination. Situated in downtown Dubai, the hotel will be located in one of the city's most popular locations, opposite the world-famous Dubai Mall.

Designed with LW Design Group LLC, the hotel will feature 275 guestrooms and suites. The property will also be home to multiple food and beverage outlets, pool, spa and fitness center, in addition to dynamic events spaces boasting meeting rooms and a flexible ballroom.

The Madrid EDITION

Launching early 2022

The Madrid EDITIONwill showcase 200 beautifully appointed guestrooms and suites, some with terraces, and five unique food and beverage outlets including a signature restaurant, cocktail bar, Sky Bar and rooftop terrace, together with an outdoor pool, state-of-the-art fitness center and spa. Flexible studios with over 350sqm (3,767 sqft) of dedicated space will host creative meetings and events for large or small groups.

Set in a tranquil square surrounded by historic buildings, The Madrid EDITION is near Puerta de Sol in the heart of the Spanish capital, one of the city's most famous sites, and within walking distance to The Golden Triangle of Art three of the most important art museums in Madrid.

Slated to open in early 2022, the hotel will reflect the people and the culture of the city and will become a stunning microcosm of one-of-a-kind food, beverage and entertainment offerings, innovative design, and luxury service. The Madrid EDITION will be the second EDITION Hotel in Spain, following the successful opening of The Barcelona EDITION in 2018.

The Tampa EDITION

Launching early 2022

Planned to open in early 2022, The Tampa EDITIONwill become the fifth US property from EDITION Hotels. Situated withinthe new 56-acre Water Street Tampa neighborhood, the hotel will be home to172guestrooms and suites and six food and beverage outlets, including a signature restaurant, rooftop bar and terrace. The property will also feature a 204sqm (2,195 sqft) Penthouse Suite, expansive spa, fitness center and over 550sqm (5,920 sqft) of flexible meeting and events space. Bringing some of the world's best talents together into one project, design is care of the acclaimed New York-based architecture practice Morris Adjmi in collaboration with Florida-based firm Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates; with interiors designed by the renowned Roman & Williams. The hotel is situated within immediate proximity to the best that Tampa has tooffer interms of cultural institutions, entertainment, recreational, dining and shopping options.

The Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai

Launching mid 2022

The Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanaiis expected to open in mid 2022. With 180 guestrooms and suites, the hotel will be situated within the luxurious Kanai development, and home to six food and beverage outlets including a signature restaurant, pool bar and beach club, destination spa and an expansive 206sqm (2,217 sqft) Penthouse Suite. In addition to multiple meeting spaces, the hotel will also house an extensive outdoor deck for large scale events and parties.

Located on a pristine beachfront site, EDITION Hotels' first property in Mexico will find its home in the blissful stretch of Caribbean coastline. Riviera Maya is known for its mangroves and lagoons, ancient Mayan cities, tropical beaches, ecological reserves and the world's second largest coral reef.

The Doha EDITION

Launching late 2022

The DohaEDITIONisanticipated to open in late 2022in Doha's central business district, West Bay,whichedgesthePersianGulf.The hotel will have 200 guest rooms including 29 suites, two restaurants, three bars and a nightclub and nearly 929 sqm (10,000 sqft) of event space. The hotel tower will punctuate the already eclectic Doha skyline and will house167 EDITION branded residences.

Note on Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws, including expected hotel openings, future expansion announcements and similar statements concerning anticipated future events and expectations that are not historical facts. We (Marriott International, Inc.) caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to numerous evolving risks and uncertainties that we may not be able to accurately predict or assess, including those we identify below and other risk factors that we identify in our U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. Risks that could affect forward-looking statements in this press release include the duration and scope of COVID-19, including the availability and distribution of effective vaccines or treatments; its short and longer-term impact on the demand for travel, transient and group business, and levels of consumer confidence; actions governments, businesses and individuals have taken or may take in response to the pandemic, including limiting or banning travel and/or in-person gatherings or imposing occupancy or other restrictions on lodging or other facilities; the impact of the pandemic and actions taken in response to the pandemic on global and regional economies, travel, and economic activity, including the duration and magnitude of COVID-19's impact on unemployment rates and consumer discretionary spending; the ability of our owners and franchisees to successfully navigate the impacts of COVID-19; the pace of recovery when the pandemic subsides or effective treatments or vaccines become widely available; general economic uncertainty in key global markets and a worsening of global economic conditions or low levels of economic growth; the effects of steps we and our property owners and franchisees have taken and may continue to take to reduce operating costs and/or enhance certain health and cleanliness protocols at our hotels; the impacts of our employee furloughs and reduced work week schedules; our voluntary transition program and our other restructuring activities; competitive conditions in the lodging industry; relationships with customers and property owners; and the availability of capital to finance hotel growth and refurbishment. Any of these factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations we express or imply in this press release. We make these forward-looking statements as of the date of this press release, and undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

ABOUT EDITION HOTELS

EDITION Hotels is an unexpected and refreshing collection of individualised, customised, one-of-a-kind hotels which redefine the codes of traditional luxury. Displaying the best of dining and entertainment, services and amenities "all under one roof," each EDITION property is completely unique, reflecting the best of the cultural and social milieu of its location and of the time.

Conceived by Ian Schrager in collaboration with Marriott International, EDITION combines both the personal and intimate experience that Ian Schrager is known for with the global reach, operational expertise and scale of Marriott. The authenticity and originality that Ian Schrager brings to this brand coupled with the scale of Marriott International results in a truly distinct product that sets itself apart from anything else currently in the marketplace.

For affluent, culturally savvy and service-savvy guests, the EDITION experience and lifestyle explores the unprecedented intersection and the perfect balance between taste-making design and innovation and consistent, excellent service on a global scale. EDITION manages 11 hotels around the world including two in New York, and one in each of London, Miami Beach, West Hollywood, Barcelona, Shanghai, Sanya (China), Abu Dhabi, Bodrum (Turkey) and Tokyo.

About Marriott International

Marriott International, Inc.(NASDAQ: MAR) is based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and encompasses a portfolio of more than 7,600 properties under 30 leading brands spanning 133 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts all around the world. The company offers Marriott Bonvoy, its highly-awarded travel program. For more information, please visit our website atwww.marriott.com, and for the latest company news, visitwww.marriottnewscenter.com. In addition, connect with us onFacebookand @MarriottIntl onTwitterandInstagram.

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Celebrating the essence of Hinduism: How 19th century Brahmo Samaj altered Bengali society – The Indian Express

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

Amit Das recollects a little anecdote from his grandmothers life. If she ever saw any of us praying to an idol before going to school, she would immediately rebuke us, he says. Her point was that if one had studied properly then they would do well regardless of whether they pray to God or not. The 57-year-old is a fourth generation member of the Brahmo Samaj, a Hindu reformist movement that began in the early 19th century.

His great grandfather, Sundari Mohan Das, a freedom fighter, doctor and social worker of the late 19th century, was the first in his family to have joined the Samaj. Like many young Bengali men of the time, he too was a follower of Keshub Chandra Sen, who influenced them to dream of a world devoid of superstition; where widows could remarry and womens education was deemed essential, says Das.

One of the most influential religious movements of the 19th century that took birth in Bengal and spread far and wide from here, Brahmoism is today reduced to a few thousand members. The community, for the past few years, has been demanding minority status from the government of India. Das, an active member of the religious organisation, is a firm believer in the principles laid down by the Brahmo Samaj: denunciation of idol worship and polytheism, rejection of the caste system, emancipation of women, respect for all religions, and others.

Back in the 19th century, Brahmoism was established as an effort to reform Hinduism from within, in response to the criticisms being levelled against Hindu society by the West. It was a movement that struck a fine balance between reform and rejection. These were people willing to change contemporary Hindu society without uprooting themselves from tradition- obviously, this was guided by the emergence of a sense of cultural pride and patriotism to which, paradoxically, modern Western education had greatly contributed, says historian Amiya Sen over the phone. In other words, the Brahmo Samaj was both an effort to alter Hinduism through western ideologies, and at the same time stay true to its traditional principles.

Although the movement lost momentum by the end of the 19th century, the Brahmo Samaj did have an impact on the psyche of the Bengali middle class. At a time when the political landscape of Bengal is witnessing the possibility of inroads being made by the Bharatiya Janata Party, adherents of Brahmoism say the party will be unable to understand the liberal nature of religion practised by them.

Historian David Kopf, who authored the book The Brahmo Samaj and the shaping of modern India, explains that the establishment of the Brahmo Sabha by the social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy, needs to be understood in context of the Unitarian movement that was raging in large parts of the Western world since the 16th century. Unitarianism was a radical approach to religion, society and ethics which looked to substitute popular religious traditions with a rational faith.

By 1822 he (Roy) had helped form the Calcutta Unitarian Committee and by 1825-26, his scattered writings in their cumulative effect already contained a kind of syllabus for activists dedicated to Hindu reform, writes Kopf. Roy formed the committee in collaboration with a missionary, Rev. W. Adam. Apart from conducting Unitarian services, the committee also established the Vedanta College meant for churning out Hindu Unitarians. But Roy and Adam fell off soon after and the mission was abandoned.

Consequently, in 1828 Roy along with a group of wealthy upper caste men started a more Indian variant of the Unitarian movement. This was named the Brahmo Sabha and its first meeting was held on August 20, 1828 at a house in Chitpore road in Calcutta. Among the most notable supporters of Roy in the Sabha was Dwarkanath Tagore, grandfather of Rabindranath Tagore. Activities carried out by the group included chanting of verses from the Upanishads, and then translating them in Bengali and singing of theistic hymns composed by Roy. There was no organisation, no membership, no creed. It was a weekly meeting open to any who cared to attend. Ram Mohan believed he was restoring Hindu worship to its pristine purity, writes John Nicol Farquhar, a Scottish education missionary in Calcutta who authored the book, Modern religious movements in India.

Throughout this period, the Brahma Sabha played a key role in modernising Indian society. Roy successfully campaigned against Sati or the immolation of Hindu widows, he established a number of educational institutions including the Vedanta College, the English School and the City College of Calcutta popularising English education and promoted a rational and non-authoritarian form of Hinduism. He also played a pioneering role in opening the Hindu School in 1817, which is now the Presidency University.

With Roys death in 1833, the still infant Brahmo Sabha lost its wind a bit. It was in 1842 that the Sabha was given a fresh lease of life under the leadership of Debendranath Tagore, son of Dwarkanath Tagore. Debendra followed Ram Mohan in his belief that original Hinduism was a pure spiritual theism, and in his enthusiasm for the Upanishads, but did not share his deep reverence for Christ, writes Farquhar. He was also the one to give an organised structure to the Sabha. In 1843, he drew up a Brahmo convent or a list of solemn vows to be taken by every member. Some of these included abstaining from idolatry and to worship God by doing good deeds.

In 1857, Keshub Chandra Sen joined the Sabha, and he would soon turn out to be its third leader. Under his influence, Debendranath decided on giving up the tradition of Durga Puja in the Tagore family, which was a grand annual affair. The Sabha also discussed caste, with its members giving it up altogether. Debendranath too got rid of his sacred thread.

Sen was heavily influenced by Christianity. At his suggestion, the Sabha began to follow the example of Christian philanthropy, gathering money and food for the needy.

In 1860, members of the Sabha realised the need to spread out from Bengal. In 1861, the preacher Pundit Navin Chandra Roy went to Punjab to spread the new faith. He established the Brahmo Samaj in Lahore. Another preacher, Atmuri Lakshminarasimham went to the Madras Presidency to spread the Brahmo teachings in the Telugu speaking areas.

Brahmo Samaj was not just restricted to Bengal. It was the first pan Indian movement of Hindu reform, says Sen. But Bengal was the first province to come under western influence through British colonialism. In cultural terms, Bengal was indeed the province of paradoxes. It was to produce the first crop of western educated intelligentsia, many of whom were anglophiles. On the other hand, this early and excessive enthusiasm for Western ideas or ways of life eventually also produced a wave of anglophobia which took the shape of a reactionary, antireformist position, he adds.

But the Brahmo Samaj was a very small community and that too an urban and elite community, explains researcher Snigdhendu Bhattacharya who authored the book, Mission Bengal: the Saffron experiment. Although it was a miniscule community, it remained one of the most influential ones since it included some of the finest social reformers and personalities of Bengal. Two of the most influential Bengali families, the Tagores and the Rays, were both Brahmos, he says.

Speaking about the kind of influence that Brahmo families had on middle class Bengali society, Bhattacharya says, every child in any urban area grows up reading Sukumar Ray. When they read the Ramayana, it is Upendrakishore Roychowdhurys interpretation in most cases. Then of course there is Satyajit Ray whose films have influenced every child and adult in all of Bengal. The influence of the Tagore family not just in Bengal, but all over India, remains unmatched. The essence of all their work remained humanism and rationalism which emerged from the fountainhead of Brahmo philosophy, says Bhattacharya.

From the 1860s, a number of schisms and splinter groups emerged within the Samaj. In 1866, the first formal division between liberal younger Brahmos and conservative older Brahmos led to the establishment of the Brahmo Samaj of India under Sen. In 1878, the marriage of Sens daughter to the maharaja of Cooch Behar in violation of the Brahmo Marriage Act of 1872 caused yet another major schism in Brahmo history, resulting in the formation of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. These splits resulted in the dwindling popularity of the Samaj, says Bhattacharya.

I would say that the Brahmo movement began to decline from the 1880s. Firstly, there was a distinct Hindu counter discourse, or Hindu revival. Also by this time, the political overtook the social, says Sen. By 1885 the Indian National Congress was formed. The Hindus realised that the best way to fight against colonialism is to politically unite, rather than focusing on social reform, Sen says.

Despite their decline though, the Brahmo Samaj made an enormous impact ideologically and culturally to Bengal and created an enduring value system in the region. They were the people behind promoting womens education, introducing widow remarriages, inter caste marriages, questioning the very hierarchy of caste, and democratising education. Unlike traditional Hindus, Brahmos gave as much importance to moral uprightness as to a spiritual life. In traditional Hinduism, moral purity was considered subservient to the spiritual call. Not so for the Brahmos. says Sen.

Given the dwindling popularity of the Samaj since the late 19th century, a majority of Brahmo members today are those by birth. Nonetheless, there are instances of those who have taken formal initiation in the community in the recent past. Ketuki Bagchi (67) took up formal membership of the Samaj in 2004. She says her parents were staunch followers of Roy and thereby she had been associated with the Brahmo ideology since her childhood even though not a member. The influence of the Samaj was such that there were many Bengali families who believed and practised the principles of Brahmoism, despite the fact that they were not formal members, she says. She explains that her parents perhaps never formally joined the Samaj because the organisation never went about promoting its beliefs or engaged in proselytising activities.

Prasun Ganguly, 74, a fourth generation Brahmo says the first thing that any new member of the Samaj has to do is give up idol worship and follow the basic principles of egalitarianism and rationalism promulgated by Roy. That apart, the social ceremonies of its members like marriage and funerals are in stark contrast to those in Hindu society. For instance at a Brahmo wedding, the bride and the groom assemble in front of people and declare their vows to each other. Similarly, at a funeral first the preacher presiding over the ceremony says a few words about the departed soul and then the others join in to sing a few Brahmo sangeet (spiritual songs written by Roy and other influential members of the Samaj), says Ganguly.

Speaking about what the current political situation in Bengal means to the Brahmo community, Ganguly says, In most Bengali families even today, there is a reverence for Brahmoism because of the kind of social reforms brought by them. It believes in a kind of religion devoid of the ill practices and superstitions of Hinduism. In that sense, Brahmoism is the essence of Hinduism.

Any political party in power must not try to impose its own understanding of Hinduism on anyone.

Ray Fisher Thinks Cyborg Could Return in The Flash Movie If Warner Bros. Apologizes – MovieWeb

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

The biggest upgrade for a character from the 2017 version of Justice League to Zack Snyder's Justice League was regarding Victor Stone aka Cyborg, played by Ray Fisher. At one point, Cyborg was set to play a major role in the upcoming solo Flash movie, but the very public fallout between Fisher and Warner Bros. during which he accused the studio of racially motivated actions against his onscreen character led to Cyborg getting dropped from The Flash. Now, during the Justice Con event that is raising money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Fisher weighed in on what it would take for him to return as Cyborg to the DCEU.

The theatrical version of Justice League drastically reduced Cyborg's backstory, which the "Snyder Cut" restored. Fisher has also stated in past interviews that he was forced to say Cyborg's catchphrase "Booyah" despite being uncomfortable being the only character in the film with a catchphrase. A variety of other accusations were also leveled by Fisher against the management at Warner, and the actor has been calling for an apology since last year. According to Ray Fisher, while he knows getting an apology is a long shot, he will continue to ask for an acknowledgment from the studio regarding their wrongs.

Zack Snyder's Justice League stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ray Porter as Darkseid, Ciarn Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film is currently available on HBO Max.

Topics: Cyborg, Flashpoint, Flash

Link:

Ray Fisher Thinks Cyborg Could Return in The Flash Movie If Warner Bros. Apologizes - MovieWeb

Bellator 257: Julia Budd expects win over Dayana Silva will lead to rematch with Cris Cyborg – FanSided

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

Julia Budd must get through Dayana Silva before chance to reclaim gold, possible rematch with Cris Cyborg

Julia Budd is on a quest to get back the Bellator womens featherweight championship, and her next step comes at Bellator 257 on April 16, as she welcomes Dayana Silva to the Bellator cage for the first time.

Budd was successful in her last outing, defeatingJessica Miele by unanimous decision at Bellator 244 in August. It was a fairly dominant performance and a needed bounce-back for Budd after losing the title to Cristiane Justino (aka Cris Cyborg) at the start of 2020.

But Budd told FanSided MMA in an exclusive interview that it wasnt the performance she had hoped for against Miele, even though she was thankful to get back in the cage especially with how wild the year 2020 was.

It was great to get back in there and get a win, but obviously I was really looking for the finish in that fight, Budd told FanSided MMA. And so it was like a mix of emotions, but at the same time, I was just so happy to be able to get in there, get a win after losing in January and having the chance to fight twice in 2020.

The loss to Justino was just Budds third loss in professional MMA. Budd started off her career 2-2 in Strikeforce, but two losses came to some of the greatest names womens MMA has ever known: Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes.

In fact, between those two losses, Budd scored a victory over Germaine de Randamie.

Budd then went over to Invicta for a spill before ending up in Bellator, and she went on an 11-fight win streak, which included capturing Bellators female 145-pound championship.

But even with her only losses coming against some of female MMAs best of all time, it doesnt provide solace to the feeling of defeat, let alone losing a championship.

Ive been a competitor my entire life and a champion, and so it was definitely hard losing, Budd said. But after kind of watching the fight, correcting a lot of it, getting back in the gym, Im feeling like I am still evolving and getting better as a mixed martial artist. The goal is still there and I feel like Im right there. So it was definitely hard, but Im still here and Im still motivated to get the belt back.

It was mostly technical stuff from my striking and little stuff in my wrestling, ground [game], so it was these little techniques that basically now, being as long as Ive been in the sport, we can look as a team and make the adjustments and correct them. So that feels good to be able to do, but at the same time, Im looking to go out there on April 16 and have an amazing performance and show why I deserve that title shot again.

Before Budd can think of another title shot, and potentially getting revenge on Justino, she must first get through Silva, wholl be making her Bellator debut.

Silva won seven of her first 10 bouts before competing on season two of Dana Whites Contender Series, losing a split decision toGisele Moreira. Silva then went 2-1 in Shooto Brasil, most recently defeatingTayna Lamounier at Shooto Brasil 100 in August.

[I] studied all of her fights. I really respect the team shes coming from, Budd said. Shes a tough girl and I look forward to it. I think we match up great and I look forward to welcoming her.

Getting thrown right away into a fight with the former longtime champ in a promotional debut might be quite the start for Silva, but Budd is certain shell be getting a Silva who performs at her full potential, nerves or not.

I always expect my opponents to be having their best night, Budd said. I never kind of look too far into that becauseI remember when I first got to fight on Strikeforce or Bellator; I was excited more than nervous.

Im just expecting it to be here last night, and Im expecting to have my best night.

And it should be quite the memorable night either way for Budd, as the new Bellator deal with Showtime gives her the chance to compete on the TV platform for the first time since her days with Strikeforce.

Showtime and Strikeforce, which was run by current Bellator CEO Scott Coker, were pivotal players in the early role of womens MMA. At a time where women werent in the UFC and MMA didnt have the mainstream attention its able to get today, the promotion placed a focus and spotlight on womens MMA that no one else was giving.

Now with MMA back on Showtime, Budd feels it can lead to more women giving martial arts, whether MMA or the more traditional martial arts, a try.

I think it just increases basically everything, Budd said. Its just another step in the right direction for women to explore martial arts or mixed martial arts, and its an awesome platform to be fighting on.

The Bellator womens featherweight title will be next on the line at Bellator 259, as Justino defends against Leslie Smith.

Budd is not looking past Silva but is confident shell put out the win and Justino will beat Smith. And Budd would love to get the title back and get revenge on Justino at the same time.

Im fully focused on this fight ahead; never looking past my opponent, Budd said. But yeah, I expect that I go there and make an amazing statement and show why I deserve that spot. Then my performance will do the talking for me.

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Bellator 257: Julia Budd expects win over Dayana Silva will lead to rematch with Cris Cyborg - FanSided

Watch: Ja’Marr Chase is Training Like a Cyborg to Prepare for Life in the NFL – Sports Illustrated

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

CINCINNATI LSU star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase impressed NFL teams and scouts at LSU's Pro Day last month. The 21-year-old has been training for months to prepare for life in the pros.

The NFL's "Play Football" YouTube channel took an in-depth look at his training regimen before and after his pro day. Watch it below.

The Bengals are eyeing Chase with the fifth overall pick. If they don't take the star receiver, then they'll likely draft Oregon tackle Penei Sewell at No. 5.

Videos like this and the summer of 10,000 catches bodes well for Chase's chances of going in the top seven, even if the Bengals don't take him with the fifth pick.

Related: Penei Sewell Goes Through Four Stage Work Out

For the latest free agency news and NFL Draft coverage, bookmark AllBengals and check out some of our other articles below.

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Will Hollywood take a stand on workplace bullying? Ray Fisher and others speak out – KCRW

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

Two recent stories from The Hollywood Reporter examine the toxic work environment in Hollywood.

In one, actor Ray Fisher spoke out about being mistreated while working on Justice League with Joss Whedon. Fisher was excited about portraying Cyborg, the first Black superhero in the DC Comics film universe. The films original director, Zack Snyder, had to leave mid-production because of a family tragedy, and Fisher clashed with Whedon, the new director who cut Cyborgs part and insisted Fisher say a catchphrase he felt was not appropriate.

Fisher said other actors also had issues with Whedon, but that Warner Bros. seemed more interested in protecting top executives than hearing their concerns.

In the new version of the film, Zack Snyders Justice League, Fisher has a larger part.

In another piece from The Hollywood Reporter, ex-staffers of famous producer Scott Rudin went on the record about his abusive behavior.

Rudins reputation as a toxic bully has long been documented in the industry, but this may be a tipping point as more people step forward to call out his abuses, which include sending an assistant to the hospital after Rudin smashed a laptop monitor on the assistants hand.

Rudin is also a producer on Broadway, and at least one performer in one of his shows says shes not going back to work for him. Karen Olivo (Broadways Moulin Rouge!) said in an Instagram video, The silence about Scott Rudin? Unacceptable. Unacceptable. That's the easy one, y'all. That's a monster. That should be a no-brainer. Those of you who say you're scared, what are you afraid of?

With the Oscars coming up, Rudin collaborators may be asked about him at press events. Rudin has worked on multiple projects with Aaron Sorkin, director of the Oscar-nominated film The Trial of the Chicago 7. Rudin is also slated to have an upcoming project with Frances McDormand, who is nominated for Best Actress.

Rudin is not an employee of a company, so he cant be fired, but hell be out of luck if talent refuses to work with him.

Will Hollywood take a stand on workplace bullying? Ray Fisher and others speak out - KCRW

Hit or Miscreant: Thunder Force and In the Earth – River Cities Reader

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

THUNDER FORCE

If a comedy isn't at all satisfying, yet somehow also isn't the least bit disappointing, then what the hell is it? I'm not sure, but it probably stars Melissa McCarthy, most likely as directed by her real-life husband Ben Falcone. These two have made so many lame movies together since 2014 Tammy, The Boss, Life of the Party that it wasn't until this past weekend that I learned another one, Superintelligence, had actually dropped on HBO Max in the fall. (To be fair, I have no idea if that film is lame or not; I'll probably give it a watch one of these years.) Amazingly, a fifth, titled Thunder Force, landed on Netflix just over a week ago. How do McCarthy and Falcone maintain the energy to keep churning these things out? And why can't I ever seem to hate these obvious, awkward, badly scripted, lazily directed outings with the fervor they deserve?

The chief answer, of course, is McCarthy, who, barring an occasional train wreck in the vein of Identity Thief, seems nearly impervious to weak material. But while she and Falcone have yet to craft a star vehicle that could be described as inventive or ingenious or, you know, good, they at least understand that modern farces are like bags of microwave popcorn: If enough bits have a tasty crunch, you don't much mind the duds. Every once in the while, comedies that are legitimately great from beginning to end my list of late would include Palm Springs, Game Night, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm still manage to get released. In an entertainment world ever-more dominated by familiar intellectual property, though, McCarthy's and Falcone's continued mission to provide cheer through inarguably silly business, ridiculous non sequiturs, and gifted actors willing to look foolish isn't just brave, but kind of admirable. By all means, enjoy the big trademarked ape laying into the big trademarked lizard, or all nine-and-a-half hours of the reconstructed Justice League. Crummy movie or not, I'd rather spend my time watching Thunder Force's Jason Bateman attempt to hold a wine glass with enormous crab claws, or McCarthy imitate Jodie Foster in Nell a quarter-century past that gag's expiration date.

Given that their latest finds a pair of novice superheroes attempting to rid Chicago of a team of nefarious supervillains called Miscreants, you might think director Falcone (who also wrote the script) and McCarthy were initiating a send-up of Hollywood's whole intellectual-property stasis. They're really not, though. It's just dumb jokes, as usual. After some nominal backstory establishes 1983 as the year that outer-space gamma rays (or whatever) gave miraculous abilities to all of our planet's sociopaths, Thunder Force picks up in the present day, where one-time childhood friends Lydia and Emily the former a blue-collar boor, the latter a shy brainiac reunite. Hoping to avenge her parents' 1983 deaths at the hands of an ber-baddie, Octavia Spencer's Emily has invented serums that will grant non-psychotic Earthlings powers of their own. Yet before the scientist is able to turn herself into a superheroine, McCarthy's Lydia, Nosey Nellie that she is, accidentally gets several needles' worth of a super-strength vaccine, leaving the aghast Emily stuck only with the one for invisibility. A pair of tacky, increasingly smelly leather suits later, and Lydia and Emily are no longer mildly hostile pals. They're Thunder Force!

What happens next couldn't possibly matter less. The women train for active hero duty with varying degrees of success (and, on McCarthy's part, lots of predictable slapstick). Bobby Cannavale plays a megalomaniacal mayoral candidate with plans to assassinate everyone who didn't vote for him. A henchwoman unimaginatively named Laser (Pom Klementieff) does the fiend's bidding through glowing balls of destructive energy. Emily's teenage daughter (Taylor Mosby) frets for her mom's safety. Melissa Leo excuse me, Academy Award winner Melissa Leo plays the least surprising turncoat in superhero history. The Cubs and the Bears and the Bulls are all dutifully name-checked. Glenn Frey, for some reason, peppers the soundtrack. And Bateman shows up as a snarky smoothie with, yes, crustacean claws, the actor's always-welcome presence also accidentally reminding us of the nightmare that was Identity Thief. The whole thing is stupid. It's desperately formulaic. It's never remotely clear whether the film was designed for family audiences, as the remedial plotting and juvenile puns would suggest, or irony- and nostalgia-minded adults. (Seriously: Nell?!) And I'd be lying if I said I didn't giggle out loud on at least two dozen occasions.

It's entirely possible, of course, that we're simply conditioned to expect less from comedies that debut on our TVs and phones movies we can safely watch in between bill paying and house cleaning without also fearing that we're missing anything. Ironically, though, you actually will miss things if you tune in and out of Thunder Force, because what makes the film modestly worthwhile (or at least harmless) is its frequent supply of charming, goofy, throwaway gags of the sort that similarly enlivened Tammy and The Boss and Life of the Party. She's only in the film for about 60 seconds, but I wouldn't have wanted to miss Sarah Baker, as Emily's politely firm receptionist, telling Lydia there was no earthly way she'd be allowed into the scientist's lab only to be told by her employer that, yep, she was indeed allowed. (Not how I thought that one was gonna go!) I'm glad my attention didn't wander when Lydia made fun of Laser's achingly slow walk down some steps, and when Brendan Jennings failed miserably at a simple knock-knock joke, and every time Cannavale bristled atbeing called King instead of The King. ("That's adog'sname!")And I was super-happy not to have been denied the sight of Bateman crab-scooting sideways out of danger, to say nothing of the moment in which the guy admitted to Lydia that, as a Miscreant, he was really only half-'Creant, and she mistook the description for half-Korean. Later, Emily makes the same mistake, and it's actually funnier the second time around.

Between the cornball routines and wan sentimentality and cheesy effects and Falcone's bizarre habit of almost never positioning his camera where it needs to be, there's every reason to want to give up on Thunder Force, and despite giving a completely decent and committed performance, Spencer doesn't develop much of a rapport with McCarthy. (In real life, the women are apparently good friends, but here, they don't appear to have even met prior to filming.) Yet the movie's star, as ever, emerges unscathed, and even though she's played variants on this role what feels like dozens of times before, McCarthy and her game cast deliver just enough good-natured fun that you can enjoy Falcone's most recent offering nearly all the time without ever genuinely liking it. The ability to produce that kind of irrational response has gotta be its own kind of superpower.

IN THE EARTH

Written and directed by Ben Wheatley, and filmed over the course of 15 days last August, the torture-porn-cum-eco-thriller In the Earth is one of only a handful of cineplex releases over the last year that I've actively hated. It starts well, and with maximum familiarity, as scientist Martin Lowery (Joel Fry) enters a research facility filled with mask-wearing professionals and explains that he's out of practice dealing with other people, having spent the last four months indoors, alone, as a result of a global pandemic. (Join the club, Martin.) Before long, he and a park ranger (Ellora Torchia) are scouring the English woods for unspecified equipment and supplies, as well as running afoul of a mysterious hermit (Reece Shearsmith) who looks like David Strathairn as co-opted by ZZ Top. And for the rest of Wheatley's interminable experimental freakout, nothing about this gruesome assault on our equilibrium ever bothers to cohere. At one point, a fourth character played by Hayley Squires tells our leads Don't try to make sense of this, but the advice lands about an hour too late.

So no, I can't tell you what, precisely, In the Earth is about, although there is some metaphysical hooey about the forest being a living entity that lures unsuspecting visitors to their deaths. But I can tell you what I saw and heard. Martin, screaming loudly, having his foot cut open in gory closeup. Martin, screaming even louder, having several toes hacked off. Martin, screaming even louder, suffering through the subsequent cauterization. (Foot fetishists may have to take to their fainting couches.) Savage beatings. Druggings. A medical tool sticking out of an eye socket. Hackneyed horror imagery out of The Blair Witch Project. A number of eardrum-busting, nausea-inducing sound-and-light shows that are never explained and absolutely immaterial to the narrative. (A pre-film title card warns epileptics about the strobe effects to follow, but doesn't warn sentient beings of the nonsense to follow.) And quite possibly the least satisfying wrap-up to a horror flick in modern history, with only the stalwart performers and composer Clint Mansell's synth-heavy, John-Carpenter-on-Lithium score making the experience even borderline-bearable. Most confoundingly of all, the pandemic-y preamble actually has no bearing on anything that happens in In the Earth, which could just as easily have unfurled without the gimmicky addition of a real-world health crisis. Then again, if any cinematic work ever felt like the laboriously unpleasant result of cabin fever, Wheatley's would be the one.

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Hit or Miscreant: Thunder Force and In the Earth - River Cities Reader

No AI Overlords?: What Is Larson Arguing and Why Does It Matter? – Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

Yesterday, we were looking at the significance of AI researcher Erik J. Larsons new book, The Myth of Artificial Intelligence: Why Computers Cant Think the Way We Do, contrasting it with claims that AI will merge with or replace us. Some such claims are made by industry insiders like Ray Kurzweil. But more often we hear them from science celebs like the late Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins, who, on these topics, are more known than knowledgeable.

So why does Larson think they are wrong? He offers two arguments. First, as information theorist William Dembski explains, is that there are some kinds of thinking that, by their nature, computers dont do:

With regard to inference, he shows that a form of reasoning known as abductive inference, or inference to the best explanation, is for now without any adequate computational representation or implementation. To be sure, computer scientists are aware of their need to corral abductive inference if they are to succeed in producing an artificial general intelligence.

True, theyve made some stabs at it, but those stabs come from forming a hybrid of deductive and inductive inference. Yet as Larson shows, the problem is that neither deduction, nor induction, nor their combination are adequate to reconstruct abduction. Abductive inference requires identifying hypotheses that explain certain facts of states of affairs in need of explanation. The problem with such hypothetical or conjectural reasoning is that that range of hypotheses is virtually infinite. Human intelligence can, somehow, sift through these hypotheses and identify those that are relevant. Larsons point, and one he convincingly establishes, is that we dont have a clue how to do this computationally.

Abduction? Heres an example, one of a series:

Example # 1 Suppose you have two friends, David and Matt, who recently had a fight that ended their friendship.

Shortly afterwards, someone tells you that you saw David and Matt together at the movies. The best explanation for what they just told you is that David and Matt made peace and are friends again.

In all the examples presented, the conclusions do not logically derive from the premises.

In example 1, about David and Matt, if we accept that both premises are true, it could be that these two examinations were casually seen in the cinema. In addition, we do not have statistics on fights or friendship.

The conclusion that they are friends again is not logical, in fact, but it is the Better explanation Possible for the fact that they have been seen together. The same applies to all other cases. What is an abductive argument? (With examples), Life Persona

Abduction is often called an inference to the best explanation. Computers have difficulty with this type of decision-making, probably because it is not strictly computational. There is nothing to compute. A different sort of thought process is at work.

Dembski continues,

His other argument for why an artificial general intelligence is nowhere near lift-off concerns human language. Our ability to use human language is only in part a matter of syntactics (how letters and words may be fit together). It also depends on semantics (what the words mean, not only individually, but also in context, and how words may change meaning depending on context) as well as on pragmatics (what the intent of the speaker is in influencing the hearer by the use of language).

Larson argues that we have, for now, no way to computationally represent the knowledge on which the semantics and pragmatics of language depend. As a consequence, linguistic puzzles that are easily understood by humans and which were identified over fifty years ago as beyond the comprehension of computers are still beyond their power of comprehension. Thus, for instance, single-sentence Winograd schemas, in which a pronoun could refer to one of two antecedents, and where the right antecedent is easily identified by humans, remains to this day opaque to machines machines do no better than chance in guessing the right antecedents. Thats one reason Siri and Alexa are such poor conversation partners.

Heres an example of a Winograd schema:

[f]rom AI pioneerTerry Winograd:The city councilmen refused the demonstrators a permit because they [feared/advocated] violence. Theres a verb choice quiz embedded in the sentence, and the task for System A is to select the right one. If System A has common sense, the answer is obvious enough.

Strangely, not only squirrels with superhuman memories but advanced AI systems running on IBM Blue Gene supercomputers (who might play fabulous chess), hit brick walls with such questions. The quiz, as originally put by Winograd, so flummoxes modern AI that another AI pioneer, the University of TorontosHector Levesqueand colleagueErnest Davis,devised an test for AI based on the Winograd Schema, as it came to be called. The focus is on the pronouns in a sentence, for example, they. Thus the updated question reads:

The city councilmen refused the demonstrators a permit because they feared violence.Who feared violence?

Readers find it easy to supply the right noun or noun phrase, the city councilmen. Its obviousits just common sensewho else would fear violence?

But now change the verb to advocated and the common sense stays, but the answer changes (the demonstrators). Winograd Schema quizzes are small potatoes to almost any native speaker of English past the age of (what?) five? ten?. But it repeatedly flummoxes any and all the AI systems that are purporting to be charging inexorably toward superintelligence. It seems like theres a small problem with the logic here if such systems fail on easy language questions and they do. Analysis, Superintelligent AI is still a myth at Mind Matters News

The contest was abandoned in 2016 when the Google Brain teams computing power got nowhere with this type of problem. Larson recounts some misadventures this type of deficit has generated: Microsofts trashmouth chatbot Tay and University of Readings smartmouth chatbot Eugene Goostman were fun. Mistaking a school bus for a punching bag (which happened in a demonstration) would not be so funny.

There are workarounds for these problems, to be sure. But they are not problems that bigger computers and better programming can simply solve. Some of the thought processes needed are just not computations, period.

Dembski (pictured) concludes, After reading this book, believe if you like that the singularity is right around the corner, that humans will soon be pets of machines, that benign or malevolent machine overlords are about to become our masters. But after reading this book, know that such a belief is unsubstantiated and that neither science nor philosophy backs it up.

Next: Why did a prominent science writer come to doubt the AI takeover?

You may also wish to read the first part: New book massively debunks our AI overlords: Aint gonna happen AI researcher and tech entrepreneur Erik J. Larson expertly dissects the AI doomsday scenarios. Many thinkers in recent years have tried to stem the tide of hype but, as Dembski points out, no one has done it so well.

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No AI Overlords?: What Is Larson Arguing and Why Does It Matter? - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today – The New York Times

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

The U.S. reaches universal eligibility

The United States passed a significant milestone in its vaccine rollout: As of today, all adults in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are now eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine.

The states had rushed to meet the April 19 deadline set by President Biden two weeks ago, and today the final states Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont expanded eligibility.

After a slow start in December, the pace of vaccinations in the U.S. has picked up considerably in recent months. More than 131 million people, or half of all American adults, had received at least one shot as of Sunday, and about 84.3 million people had been fully vaccinated, a third of the adult population. At its current pace, the U.S. will vaccinate 70 percent of its population by mid-June, but experts are warning Americans not to let their guards down. The virus is resurgent and the U.S. is averaging more than 67,000 new cases a day over the past seven days, up from over 54,000 a month ago.

The next phase of the rollout will bring its own challenges. Some scientists and health officials believe that making more people eligible will ultimately get more people vaccinated more swiftly. But others have said they are worried that some of the most vulnerable people, including those 65 and older, may have trouble competing for a shot. About a fifth of that group has not received even one shot.

As the vaccine supply expands, the extent of vaccine skepticism in the country will also come into focus. To combat vaccine hesitancy, the Biden administration is making an intense push today, which officials have likened to a get out the vote effort that will roll out on social media and radio and television programs.

Officials are particularly concerned about a rise in vaccine hesitancy as federal health officials pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson dose while regulators examine six cases of rare blood clots among recipients. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel is expected to meet on Friday and make recommendations about the vaccines use.

A year in, and we are languishing. Thats the academic term for the collective fog weve endured for more than a year trouble concentrating, trouble staying motivated, trouble getting excited about the future.

Languishing isnt burnout, which is more a lack of energy. Its not depression, with its lack of hope. Instead, its a sense of stagnation, of emptiness, of just-getting-by, a malaise that might be the dominant emotion of 2021.

Adam Grant, a professor of management and psychology at Wharton, suggested we think of languishing as a midpoint between flourishing and depression.

Flourishing is the peak of well-being: You have a strong sense of meaning, mastery and mattering to others. Depression is the valley of ill-being: You feel despondent, drained and worthless, Grant writes.

Theres still more research to do, but giving the emotion a name might give us a way to move forward, Grant argues.

It could give us a socially acceptable response to How are you?

Instead of saying Great!' or Fine, imagine if we answered, Honestly, Im languishing. It would be a refreshing foil for toxic positivity that quintessentially American pressure to be upbeat at all times.

For the first eight months of the lockdown, my husband and I literally did not know anyone personally that had Covid. We were compliant using masks, sanitizer and delivery options. My husband got antsy and began venturing out but with caution. Most of the time it was outdoor camping. On Jan. 5 my husband started showing symptoms. Alarmed but hopeful, we treated it with everything we could and took all the medical advice. On Jan. 15 he was feeling better, had energy and color in his face. We were so relieved. Jan. 16 he woke up and was struggling to breathe. I took him to the E.R. but couldnt go in with him. He called later to say he was on antibiotics, antibodies, and oxygen and the doctor was going to keep him overnight. He felt better and his spirits were good. Three days later he went into respiratory distress, was moved to I.C.U. and put on a ventilator. My husband died Feb. 10, 2021. He turned 50 while in the hospital. The worst part was not being at his side. It breaks my heart to think he couldnt feel the comfort of our touch. Even though we were able to FaceTime our voices many times before he passed, I mourn not being at his side almost as much as his absence.

Joanne Atoigue, Las Vegas

Let us know how youre dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.

Email your thoughts to briefing@nytimes.com.

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Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today - The New York Times

173 infected in new coronavirus outbreaks at 41 schools, says Michigans April 19 school outbreak report – mlive.com

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

A total of 173 students and staff at 41 K-12 school districts have been infected by coronavirus in new school-related outbreaks, according to data released Monday, April 19, by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The data was collected on Thursday, April 15, and includes preschools and daycares in those buildings

Last week, the state reported 201 infections in new outbreaks at 48 K-12 school districts and three colleges.

The biggest new outbreak involves 21 students and staff at Imlay City Middle School near Lapeer.

K-12 school outbreaks were identified in 28 counties. Below are those outbreaks listed by county.

A cumulative total of 8,559 individuals have been sickened in ongoing outbreaks, the April 19 report says. Ongoing outbreaks include clusters identified earlier but that had at least one additional case in the past 28 days.

Last week, there was a cumulative total of 9,886 cases in ongoing outbreaks.

Most of those ongoing outbreaks involve college communities, and most of those outbreaks occurred outside classroom settings. A total of 7,895 infections linked to ongoing outbreaks have occurred in and around 18 college communities. That compares to 7,827 cases on 23 campuses reported last week.

Among K-12 schools, there were 2,166 staff and students infected in ongoing outbreaks at 269 schools serving pre-K through high school.

The latest list includes buildings with at least one case in the past 28 days.

The largest ongoing outbreaks in K-12 schools: 56 at Ruth Fox Middle School in Lapeer; 54 at Lapeer High School; 50 at Imlay City High School; North Branch Elementary, 48, and East Grand Rapids High School, 45.

Outbreak data for K-12 schools includes only cases in which the student or staff was infected at school or at a school-related function. Those who caught the virus outside of school are not included.

A COVID-19 outbreak is defined as two or more cases with a link by place and time indicating a shared exposure outside of a household.

Below is an online database that allows readers to search outbreak data by school name or by city or county. The number of those infected is a cumulative total since the original outbreak. (Note: Washtenaw County only reports cumulative totals for the past 28 days.)

Below is an interactive map showing both new and ongoing outbreaks listed in the Monday, April 19, report. It shows outbreaks reported as of April 15. You can put your cursor over a dot to see the underlying data.

Coronavirus in Michigan: Heres what to know April 18, 2021 – WDIV ClickOnDetroit

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

DETROIT The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 785,307 as of Saturday, including 16,840 deaths, state officials report.

Saturdays update includes a total of 5,530 new cases and 69 additional deaths -- 60 of those deaths were identified from a Vital Records review.

Fridays update included a total of 8,955 new cases and 40 additional deaths. It was the second highest single-day case total in Michigan since the start of the pandemic. On Nov. 20, 2020 the state reported a total of 9,779 cases, its highest case total to date.

On Saturday, the state reported a total of 603,094 recoveries from COVID-19.

New: Michigan governor to appear on Meet the Press Sunday, April 18 with Dr. Anthony Fauci as states COVID cases continue surging

Latest: Worldwide COVID-19 death toll tops a staggering 3 million

Testing has been steady around 35,000 diagnostic tests reported per day on average, with the 7-day positive rate above 14% as of Friday, lower than one week ago. Hospitalizations have increased over the last several weeks, now at the highest point of the pandemic.

Michigan continues to lead the nation in new COVID-19 cases. The states 7-day moving average for daily cases was 6,949 on Friday -- the highest since November. The 7-day death average was 47 on Friday, slightly higher than the last two weeks. The states fatality rate is 2.2%. The state also reports active cases, which were listed at 175,000 on Friday.

Michigan has reported more than 5.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered as of Thursday, with 44% of residents having received at least one dose.

According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 31.5 million cases have been reported in the U.S., with more than 566,000 deaths reported from the virus.

Worldwide, more than 140 million people have been confirmed infected and more than 3 million have died. More than 79 million have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are certainly much higher, because of limited testing, different ways nations count the dead and deliberate under-reporting by some governments.

Michigan COVID-19 vaccinations: How to find appointments, info on phases

Coronavirus headlines:

VIEW: Tracking Michigan COVID-19 vaccine doses

VIEW: Tracking coronavirus cases, outbreaks in Michigan schools

Michigan has extended the COVID-19 order that implemented restrictions on gatherings, restaurants, entertainment venues and more.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services extended the epidemic order through May 24. It also expanded mask requirements to include children ages 2-4 years old.

Michigan continues to implement smart health policies and mitigation measures to fight the spread of COVID-19, MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel said. This includes the requirement to wear a mask while in public and at gatherings, limits on indoor residential social gatherings larger than 15 people with no more than three households, and expanded testing requirements for youth sports.

Read the latest on the restrictions here.

The director of the CDC said the answer to Michigans alarming rise in COVID-19 cases isnt to vaccinate our way out of it, but to shut things down like the state did last spring and summer.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, spoke Monday about the COVID-19 situation in Michigan.

On Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called Michigan a COVID hotspot and called on the federal government to surge additional vaccines here in response to rising case numbers.

Heres what it would take to cut Ohios coronavirus cases in half – cleveland.com

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Danzig

CLEVELAND, Ohio - While coronavirus cases continue to drop among the oldest Ohioans - the group most extensively vaccinated to date - cases are up this month over March for younger people.

In fact, the drop in cases for Ohioans age 60 and up has been so sharp since December as vaccines were getting started that if rates for other age groups had fallen as sharply, there would be just half as many new coronavirus cases this month.

In comparing the first 15 days of December ahead of vaccination efforts to the first 15 days of April, coronavirus cases have dropped 90% for those age 60 and older, cleveland.com found in an analysis of case reports from the Ohio Department of Health.

If all age groups had dropped at that same rate, Ohio would have had 13,778 cases with an onset of symptoms from April 1 through April 15.

Instead, Ohio had 27,082 during that time period, records through Sunday show. This is because while the drop off from near the peak in December to April was 90% for for those age least 60 years old, it was just 82% for those age 40 to 59, and 74% for those under the age of 40.

The trends by age group were amplified in the last month, as cases edged up overall in Ohio.

Here are the number of Ohio coronavirus cases by age group the first 15 days of each month this year, based on the date symptoms began.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

The 3,490 cases for those age 60 and up over the first 15 days of April represented a 3% drop from the first half of March.

But among those age 40 to 59, cases were up 15% to 7,614. And for those under the age of 40, cases were up 31% to 15,978.

Younger people were the last to become eligible for vaccines and those age groups are still playing catchup. Through Sunday, the state reported vaccines started for:

* 74% of those age 80 and up (68% completed all doses).

* 75% age 75 to 79 (68% completed).

* 78% age 70 to 74 (69% completed).

* 72% age 65 to 69 (62% completed).

* 62% age 60 to 64 (49% completed).

* 50% age 50 to 59 (35% completed).

* 41% age 40 to 49 (23% completed).

* 34% age 30 to 39 (17% completed).

* 26% age 20 to 29 (12% completed).

* 4% under age 20, though only those age 16 and up are eligible for shots under federal rules (1% completed).

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. Find data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral. Find previous census 2020 at this link.

Previous coverage

Why using population estimates instead of census 2020 is a bad idea for drawing new congressional districts: Analysis

How much would you save under the Ohio income tax cut proposed by House Republicans? Likely a few dimes every week

What can a consumer do about forced-arbitration clauses on cell phone, car and other deals? - Thats Rich!

Ohio gains 12,700 jobs in March; remains down 295,000 since before coronavirus pandemic

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Heres what it would take to cut Ohios coronavirus cases in half - cleveland.com

Futurist Transhuman News Blog

Monthly Archives: April 2021

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Michigan hit record high, health systems in West Michigan managing – Fox17

Now is not the time to reduce Medicaid funding for safety net hospitals | Guestview – Pensacola News Journal

Listen to Sufjan Stevens Lamentations, the second part of his five-part album – NME

Check out the high school track and field leaders for the Baton Rouge area – The Advocate

Corrections: April 17, 2021 – The New York Times

Nebraska journalism professor investigates the lure of extremism – Nebraska Today

Greenwich saw five hate crimes in 2020. Learn to be ‘allies against prejudice and bullying,’ advocates say. – CT Insider

How Baptists hold differing views on the resurrection of Christ and why this matters – The Conversation US

EDITION Announces Eight Anticipated New Hotel Openings Across The Globe By The End Of 2022 – Herald-Mail Media

Celebrating the essence of Hinduism: How 19th century Brahmo Samaj altered Bengali society – The Indian Express

Ray Fisher Thinks Cyborg Could Return in The Flash Movie If Warner Bros. Apologizes – MovieWeb

Bellator 257: Julia Budd expects win over Dayana Silva will lead to rematch with Cris Cyborg – FanSided

Watch: Ja’Marr Chase is Training Like a Cyborg to Prepare for Life in the NFL – Sports Illustrated

Will Hollywood take a stand on workplace bullying? Ray Fisher and others speak out – KCRW

Hit or Miscreant: Thunder Force and In the Earth – River Cities Reader

No AI Overlords?: What Is Larson Arguing and Why Does It Matter? – Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today – The New York Times

173 infected in new coronavirus outbreaks at 41 schools, says Michigans April 19 school outbreak report – mlive.com

Coronavirus in Michigan: Heres what to know April 18, 2021 – WDIV ClickOnDetroit

Heres what it would take to cut Ohios coronavirus cases in half – cleveland.com