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Reparations is a nonstarter in Congress. Not in this Southern city. – The Christian Science Monitor

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Reparations to Black Americans for slavery is an old and fraught national topic. It has been taken up recently by activists seeking racial justice and police reform in cities, including Asheville, North Carolina, which styles itself as a progressive city but has a history of urban renewal that largely excluded Black people from sharing in the wealth created.

In July, the Asheville City Council passed a reparations ordinance, one of only a handful enacted in the U.S. Among other measures, it pledges new investment in Black homeownership as a way to redress the racial wealth gap. As in other segregated cities, Black children in Asheville are far more likely to grow up in poor neighborhoods.

Ashevilles ordinance doesnt provide financial restitution for past discrimination and its unclear how much money will be committed. But advocates say it represents a potentially new approach to reparations, one that puts the emphasis on local actions as a building block toward a national effort to tackle structural racial inequities.

Anthropologist Paul Mullins says Asheville is acknowledging its role in perpetuating injustices and providing a path forward. And thats deep-down what reparations are about: How can we have a measure of response to injustice that leads to some sort of racial reconciliation?

Asheville, N.C.

For all the funky exterior of a progressive mountain redoubt, this city has until now often looked the other way when it comes to racial inequity.

Two months after days of intense racial justice protests, however, a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that had stood for nearly a century is gone. And an obelisk in the honor of Confederate-era Gov. Zeb Vance is now wrapped in black plastic, as the city considers its removal.

But those symbolic changes have been followed by something that could prove more concrete. Last month, the majority-white Asheville City Council unanimously passed a reparations ordinance aimed at righting not just historic injustice against Black Americans, but more recent wrongs against Ashevilles Black population.

In the past 40 years, residents say, urban renewal and discriminatory banking practices dispossessed especially older Black residents from historic Asheville neighborhoods. Today, 60% of public housing residents are Black, even though they only make up 12% of Ashevilles population, reflecting thenational trend in which Black children are far more likely than their white peers to grow up in poor neighborhoods.

Asheville is a microcosm of the nation right now, says John Hennon, a retired corporate executive turned pro-Black rights protester. Its done talking and its now acting.

The city ordinance isnt strictly reparations, which involve the direct redistribution of wealth. Its real contribution, though, may be to sharpen the optics for a national rethink of the concept: how laws and practices that were both explicitly and implicitly discriminatory have reinforced yawning gaps around wealth, health, even of hope.

Closing those racial gaps runs up against entrenched opposition. Even white liberals have balked at reforms like building public housing in gentrified neighborhoods. President Donald Trump has touted his save-the-suburbs campaign by undoing federal executive orders intended to add low-income housing in predominantly white middle-class districts.

These tensions arent going to go away magically if we ignore them, and frankly were in a historical moment where the [reparations] conversation is ... more publicly palatable, says Indiana University anthropologist Paul Mullins, author of Race and Affluence: An Archaeology of African America and Consumer Culture.

He frames the Asheville ordinance as a political statement that acknowledges racial injustices around land ownership and dispossession after World War II. Moreover, it outlines a first step toward some sort of reconciliation. And thats deep-down what reparations are about: How can we have a measure of response to injustice that leads to some sort of racial reconciliation?

The idea of compensating formerly enslaved Black Americans has been around since before the Declaration of Independence. Even some white Southerners urged the idea as an economic stimulus for the postwar South. More recently, the U.S. has paid reparations to Japanese Americans interned during World War II.

Still, two-thirds of Americans regularly pan the proposal. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the Senates only Black Republican, has likened reparations to trying to unscramble that egg. President Barack Obama in 2016 called the idea impractical.

Polls show most Black Americans agree with the concept of reparations. But even as support has grown in that community in recent months, overall white support has barely budged.

White people opposed to reparations say it would be unfair to force modern-day Americans to underwrite a wealth transfer for injustices they didnt personally commit. Scholars have estimated that the price tag could be as much as $10 trillion, or nearly half the nations annual economic output.

Ruben Dejernette is one of those torn by the concept. The white Asheville homeowner bought a house four years ago in what used to be the citys Black neighborhood on South French Broad.

There is no escaping that we have been doing the Black community wrong, but every time I go over it in my head I dont know what can actually be done to fix it, says Mr. Dejernette.

Nearly all Democratic presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, have come out in favor of a national commission to study reparations. A House study bill that would do just that has gone nowhere in Congress for 30 years.

Conservative Black commentator Vince Ellison says the Black community would be foolish to expect progressive Democrats to remunerate them for slavery. He calls reparations a lie.

Black people should look at white people who think theyre going to solve my problem and say, Who the hell do you think you are? says Mr. Ellison, a Virginia-based pastor and author.

Reparations just make you a slave looking for a master. Reparations is about making them pay, but youll never get enough. Forgiveness cannot be earned, and it shouldnt be expected.

In 2014, the journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates penned a case for reparations in a widely-read cover story for The Atlantic. [A]s surely as the creation of the [racial] wealth gap required the cooperation of every aspect of the society, bridging it will require the same, he wrote.

Yet as the slow walk for the House study bill shows, even studying reparations is deeply unpopular, says David Bateman, co-author of Southern Nation: Congress and White Supremacy After Reconstruction.

The question is, how do you actually amass a winning and enduring coalition that can sustain a particular vision? How do you define it and what would it look like? That might be easier done at the local level,thoughmost localities dont have the fiscal capacity or reach necessary to achieve a meaningful redistributive program.

In June, the California Assembly voted to create a reparations task force, and in July, Providence, Rhode Island, embarked on a truth telling and reparations process. The effort in Rhode Island underscores the extent to which Northern cities also profited from slavery and segregation.

In November, Evanston, Illinois, by an 8-1 vote, became the first entity to establish a reparations fund through a future recreational marijuana tax. How the money will be dispersed is still not clear.

Advocates for reparations say such efforts may ultimately nourish a broader national reparations bill by laying groundwork for what reparations look and feel like to Americans living in segregated areas, whether in the North or South.

This is a situation where many different entities states, cities, religious institutions, industries are beginning to recognize and realize that each unjustly benefited from the stolen labor during the enslavement era and through continuing laws and practice like gerrymandering, redlining, the war on drugs, and mass incarceration, says Washington, D.C., civil rights attorney Nkechi Taifa.

They are looking in their own backyards to rectify some of these abuses they themselves not personally, but institutionally were responsible for.

Patrik Jonsson/The Christian Science Monitor

Black rights activist John Hennon holds a sign next to the Zeb Vance monument in Asheville, North Carolina, on July 29, 2020. In response to racial justice protests, the city wrapped the obelisk, a monument to a Confederate-era governor, in plastic.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, a familiar pattern played out here in Asheville, which has become known as a beer brewing mecca.

Urban renewal brought the promise of a fresh start, and in some ways it laid the groundwork for the tourist destination the city is today. But renewal came at the expense of Black people. The cheapest properties to buy were targeted, with the city clearing out parts of the South French Broad neighborhood where Mr. Dejernette lives. Today, even a small home there can fetch $700,000.

But it wasnt just white people who benefited from Ashevilles gentrification. Retired paper mill worker Amanuel Lytle, who is Black, bought his newly vacant lot for $1, with a promise that he would build a new house on it.

A lot of the homes were falling down, says Mr. Lytle. The people who lived there didnt have enough money for upkeep, and the taxes kept going up.

A white builder agreed to cosign Mr. Lytles mortgage so that the bank would pay for the house that now stands there.

Many others, says Mr. Lytle, didnt have such benefactors. Today, most Black people live in public housing. Rates of Black homeownership in the city have declined as housing values and white wealth have soared.

These disparities, rooted in economic and social policy, are now part of the reparations conversation here.

Ashevilles reparations ordinance offers an official apology and vows to create policy and programs that will establish the creation of generational wealth and address reparations due in the black community. It also asks the state legislature and federal government to do the same.

That process may involve replacing lost housing stock by using city-owned land and its bonding authority to create new housing that will boost Black wealth, Sheneika Smith, a Black city councilor, has said.

If a community says were going to redevelop the urban core and were going to favor descendant communities ... you could dramatically and radically reshape a city that way through modest kinds of policies that dont cost a ton of money, says Professor Mullins.

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Reparations is a nonstarter in Congress. Not in this Southern city. - The Christian Science Monitor

The road to riches – Illinois Times

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Illustration by Chris Britt

Dr. Lawrence Hatchett says he feels like he's stuck in a desert.

He grew up in Colp, a southern Illinois village once known as a safe place for African Americans amid sundown towns where folks who weren't white couldn't venture after dark. Basketball was his ticket out. Good enough to land a scholarship at Marquette University, he didn't star but went on to graduate from medical school at the University of Chicago. After a residency in North Carolina, he landed a fellowship at Harvard and ultimately returned to the region of his upbringing, where he practices urology in Marion.

"My best friend, he went to prison; I went to Harvard," Hatchett says. "He's still my most trusted friend."

If all goes well, Hatchett hopes to help folks like his friend by getting into the cannabis business with a little help from the state and perhaps Doc Rivers, who coaches the Los Angeles Clippers and played college ball with Hatchett, who says he's contacted his former teammate asking if he'd like to invest.

Hatchett is waiting for the state to decide whether he'll get licenses to grow and sell weed. By now, he should know. The law says that 75 dispensary licenses were supposed to be awarded on May 1, and 40 licenses to grow pot were due on July 1. But, like hundreds of other applicants for pot licenses in what experts predict will be one of the nation's most lucrative weed markets, Hatchett is waiting long after deadlines have passed.

State regulators blame coronavirus for delays. Hatchett, who is seeking two grow operations and 10 dispensaries, says he's spent $200,000 on the venture with no guarantee of a return. Each application can consume hundreds of pages, fueling a cottage industry of lawyers and consultants to provide guidance and advice on negotiating regulations to come up with a winning plan. Those who want to grow pot must show they have sites available, which can mean paying for options on real estate if applicants don't already have property.

"I'm like a camel that's out in the desert, and I need some water," Hatchett says. "I'm at the point of no return."

Loopholes and going slow

Hatchett and his partners have plenty of company. The state has received thousands of applications for licenses to grow or sell pot, mostly from folks who claim social equity status under a provision designed to give the disadvantaged a leg up.

Dispensaries and cultivation centers now in business that began as medical marijuana operations are mostly white, and often corporate, undertakings. The state says it wants people impacted by the war on drugs to profit from pot, and so it has established a licensing system designed to benefit "social equity" applicants. With 20 percent of the grade based on whether an applicant qualifies under the social equity program, it is the single biggest consideration in awarding licenses.

Hatchett says that he's been approached by well-heeled investors who wouldn't qualify as social equity applicants. " 'Do you really want to do that application on your own are you sure you don't want to join us?'" he recalls.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has received 4,517 applications for dispensaries, with 4,400 coming from applicants who say they qualify for social equity points. Entities can have more than one license, and of more than 900 entities that have applied, more than 800 have claimed social equity status, the department says. The Department of Agriculture has received 853 applications to grow, transport and make edibles and other non-smokable products from cannabis, with 721 of the applicants asserting they qualify under the state's social equity program.

The numbers make Hatchett wonder.

"How can there be such a high percentage who say they are social equity applicants?" he asks.

Akele Parnell, attorney with the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, has an answer: The law has loopholes, he says, and the definition of "social equity applicant" is overly broad.

"I've seen a lot that makes me wary," says Parnell, who was a lawyer for Green Thumb Industries, a Chicago-based marijuana company with stock traded on the Canadian stock exchange, before taking his current job last year.

Dr. Lawrence Hatchett has applied for licenses to start 10 dispensaries and two grow operations.

People who've been arrested on marijuana charges but not convicted, whether as adults or juveniles, qualify, as do people who've been convicted. Spouses, parents and children of people who've been arrested or convicted of pot offenses also qualify. And so a wealthy person who hired top-notch lawyers to handle his son's arrest for pot possession would meet the standard, Parnell notes. He uses the example of George W. Bush, who was once arrested for driving under the influence: If it had been weed, Bush and his parents if they were still alive and his daughters would all qualify as social equity applicants if they moved here (the law requires that social equity applicants, but not other applicants, live in Illinois). Eric Clapton, who beat the rap in 1968, also would qualify, as would Snoop Dogg, who's been busted more than once.

Where someone lives, or has lived, can also make a difference. Based on demographics that include poverty rates and arrest statistics, the state has identified census tracts deemed to have suffered disproportionately from the war on drugs, and people who have lived in such areas for at least five of the past 10 years qualify. The areas include Jerome, which is adjacent to a dilapidated apartment complex that's been cleaned up, and Humboldt Park in Chicago, where gentrification has taken hold, Parnell says. And so a well-off Humboldt Park denizen who doesn't know anyone who's been arrested could qualify, as would Jerome Mayor Mike Lopez. Dr. Hatchett says he qualifies by virtue of living in a census tract deemed disproportionately impacted.

Parnell also sees a loophole in a provision allowing license seekers to qualify as social equity applicants if they have at least 10 employees and more than half live in areas deemed disproportionately impacted. Employees who've been arrested or convicted of marijuana offenses also count, as do employees who have spouses, parents or children who've gotten busted for low-level marijuana crimes. Parnell notes that there is no requirement that applicants keep such folks on the payroll once licenses are awarded. The entire provision, he argues, should be abolished: Ownership, he says, is what should matter, not whether applicants have hired disadvantaged people.

Parnell also argues for a tiered approach. A rich person with a relative who got busted for weed but was never convicted shouldn't be treated the same as a poor person who served time for pot. Instead, he suggests, give more consideration to people who have suffered the most.

"I think there's going to be a lot of folks who win who are not social equity applicants in the spirit of social equity," says Parnell, who predicts that nearly all of the licenses will go to social equity applicants. "My prediction is, less than 50 percent, maybe 25 percent, will be real social equity applicants. That's a little cynical. I hope that's not the case."

The law also rewards applicants who submit diversity plans that explain how they would provide opportunities in management, contracting and employment. In the case of grow operations, a diversity plan can earn an applicant 100 of a possible 1,000 points, more points than can be gained with plans to train employees or ensure product safety and accurate labeling. Points are awarded in 12 categories, with only social equity status, plans for security and recordkeeping, and business plans that include financing sources and evidence of business acumen carrying more weight than diversity plans. While operators will be required to submit diversity reports when renewing licenses, it's not clear how the state will ensure that diversity plans submitted by successful applicants will be carried out.

Applications are not subject to public disclosure, but the importance of diversity plans was evident last month, when backers of a proposed Pleasant Plains grow operation told neighbors that owners would concentrate on hiring minorities. Chris Stone, who's been in the pot business since the state legalized medical marijuana, explained the proposal to neighbors and said that employees who've been with the company for more than three years will get stakes through a stock ownership program after the business has been in operation for five years.

"The owners...want to provide opportunity for the creation of generational wealth for those that do not have these opportunities currently," backers wrote in a handout distributed to neighbors who attended an informational meeting.

Also, there is a question of scale. Each of the 21 existing cultivation centers established when medical pot was legalized can grow 210,000 square feet of marijuana for recreational use; there is no cap on how many square feet of medical marijuana can be grown. No more medical cultivation licenses will be issued under current law, and no additional large-scale cultivation centers for recreational pot are anticipated. New growers will be capped at 14,000 square feet at full build out. Parnell asks why startups shouldn't be allowed to establish grow operations as large as ones now allowed in an industry dominated by white people.

Photo by Bruce Rushton

LInes are common outside Illinois pot dispensaries, where nearly $240 million worth of pot and cannabis products were sold during the first six months of this year despite shortages.

"The larger ones are going to benefit from economy of scale: It's not a competitive business model," Parnell says. "Can you even survive and, if so, for how long? That's not something that's talked about a lot, but it should be, and it will be."

Toi Hutchinson, a former state senator who helped push the pot legalization bill through the legislature last year and now oversees the state's recreational cannabis program as an adviser to Gov. JB Pritzker, acknowledges that tweaks might be needed as the state gains experience.

"As a former legislator, I know there's no such thing as a perfect piece of legislation I came into this knowing that my whole role would be to identify what we figured out in the beginning and what we're learning as we go," she says. "This is a growth industry that's going to adapt and change and move."

There's nothing to prevent successful applicants who meet social equity requirements from selling licenses, although reduced licensing fees as well as state grants and low-interest loans reserved for social equity enterprises would have to be repaid if licenses are sold within five years of being granted. Larry O'Hern, who owns a Fulton County cultivation center and an interest in a Peoria dispensary, says entities that stand little chance of winning licenses are watching. "There are multiple companies from out of state, like hawks on a fence, waiting for them to be awarded so they can pick them off," he says.

While Hutchinson says the state's cannabis program is set up to promote diverse ownership that endures, there are no guarantees, and licensees can do what they wish with licenses once they are awarded. "I do not want to reduce the property rights of a minority owner so they have less property rights than white counterparts," Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said uncertainties are why Illinois has adopted a go-slow strategy. The limited number of Illinois dispensary and growing licenses each will come with five-figure annual fees to successful applicants. The law also decrees how many dispensaries will be allowed in given cities. Springfield, where two dispensaries now do business and licenses for two additional dispensaries have been issued, has been allotted one new dispensary in the initial round of applications. By the end of next year, the state is due to issue another 110 dispensary licenses and an additional 60 licenses to grow marijuana. Beyond that, the state has set a hard cap of 500 recreational dispensaries and 150 new recreational grow facilities.

Other states have issued far more licenses, more quickly, and without geographic restrictions. The law requires Hutchinson to deliver a report next spring on whether discrimination exists in the industry and what might be preventing people from entering the pot business.

"We'll be looking at how ownership changes, how it actually ends up growing and changing in real time," Hutchinson said. "These are all reasons why this is a slow, multiyear, phased approach. ... When we get through this phase, we will study this whole process, how it started, how the application process worked, who got licenses, where are the barriers, what does the industry look like."

"We're super-excited"

Dr. Hatchett lauds the goal, and he agrees with limiting the number of licenses. "I give credit to Illinois for this process I really think they're trying to do it the right way," he says. But the wait has not been easy.

Former state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, who helped write the marijuana bill and advises Gov. JB Pritzker, says that starting slow is best.

"It's stressful that we're being put on delay," he says. "We're praying for September."

Hutchinson blames coronavirus for delays in granting licenses that were due in May and last month. The General Assembly, due to a truncated session, didn't pass legislation setting tiebreaker rules in the event top applicants have identical scores, she notes. Absent rules written into statute by lawmakers, the state Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, which establishes rules necessary for agencies to oversee laws, must approve rules. The earliest that can happen is next month.

Also, the application scoring process has taken longer than expected. The state has hired KPMG, an accounting firm, to score applications for dispensaries and growing operations, and more applications were submitted than expected. According to a recent report in the Chicago Sun-Times, the state's contract with KPMG has ballooned from $2.5 million to $6.7 million. The newspaper also has reported that the contract required KPMG to physically pick up applications for dispensary licenses, which wasn't possible because the firm instituted a travel ban in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Parnell says some applicants are skeptical that a travel ban could delay license awards for this long. "A lot of folks are suspicious, I'll say that," he says. "What's the real cause of it? I don't know." But Parnell doesn't dispute that rules to resolve ties are needed, in part to avoid litigation from losers.

Given the number of applicants, there will be plenty of losers. Still, experts say that Illinois is among the most promising marijuana markets in the nation, with predictions of annual sales ranging as high as $4 billion once there is sufficient product and retail outlets to meet demand. During the first six months of this year, nearly $239.2 million in weed, edibles and other cannabis products were sold in the state's 55 recreational dispensaries. Recreational pot isn't legal in any state that touches Illinois, and nonresidents accounted for $56.8 million of the total.

"With its permissive laws for visitors and intelligently constructed plan to make medical dispensaries the first (recreational) dispensaries, the state seems primed for an effective transition and the opportunity to bring in massive business from neighboring states," wrote attorneys for Thompson Coburn, a law firm, in a 2019 ranking of states based on how favorable they are for pot businesses. The silk-stocking firm, which provides legal advice to marijuana businesses, includes such past and present partners as John Cullerton, former Illinois Senate president, Kit Bond, former Missouri governor and U.S. senator and the late Thomas Eagleton, former U.S. senator from Missouri.

Illinois shot from number 18 to number 6 in the firm's rankings, thanks to legalization of recreational pot and a regulatory scheme the firm calls "expansive and canny." Other top-tier states include Oregon, Colorado and Nevada, which have granted far more licenses at lower cost and with less bureaucracy than Illinois. "I would say it comes down to your preference in business," says Michael Rosenblum, a Thompson Coburn lawyer who helped prepare the rankings. "If you feel you can acquire a limited number of licenses, barriers to entry will protect you." On the other hand, small businesses, he says, might prefer states with large numbers of licenses issued at low cost because it's easier to get started.

In a June appearance on "Mad Money," a CNBC television program on the stock market, Ben Kovlar, CEO of Green Thumb Industries, set the future value of the Illinois market at $3 billion. "There are going to be many, many, many winners," he said. "We're super-excited about the Illinois market."

Akele Parnell, a lawyer for the Chicago Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights, sees loopholes and predicts that fewer than half of licensees will meet the spirit of the law designed to create social equity.

GTI, which has two large cultivation centers and five recreational dispensaries in Illinois along with operations in 11 other states, plans to establish an incubator program for startups, which is one way established companies can meet a state requirement to provide financial assistance and otherwise help new licensees. Another way is to write checks for deposit into a state fund set up to provide loans and grants to social equity enterprises. In its most recent annual report, GTI says it has partnerships with other enterprises in four states, including Illinois. "The company structures its joint ventures on a case-by-case basis but generally maintains operational control over the joint venture business and a variable economic interest," the company says.

Partnerships are welcome, Hutchinson says. "It's a fact that small businesses are competing against very big businesses," she says. "I'm hoping to see a lot of these small enterprises hook up or partner. I love to hear entrepreneurs think about it in a very fulsome way."

It is better for regulators to go slow and small at the start than big and fast, Hutchinson says, because what happens now will define the future. "I can't erase the fact that the medical (marijuana) industry existed for six years before we did this," she says. The state, she says, needs to be cautious. "You can't go backwards, you can't unring that bell," she says. "Once they're there, they're there."

Meanwhile, applicants wait. Despite requirements that growers not discriminate in selling product to dispensaries, Hatchett says he needs a growing facility in addition to dispensaries to ensure an adequate supply of product. He isn't banking on getting everything he's asked for.

"If I get more than one location, I'll be tremendously happy," he says. "We're going to have diversity and we'll try to be as independent as possible and bring in people of color."

Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.

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The road to riches - Illinois Times

Opinion Defining defunding the police to help our community – The CT Mirror

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If we asked 25 different people what defund the police means, we would likely get 25 different definitions. Our definition focuses on where the investment should take place while recognizing that public safety is a priority.

A 2014 Pew Research study reporting 52% of African Americans and 63% of Hispanics responded that police do a good job of enforcing the law. While the numbers are not overwhelming and likely have changed due to recent events, they do indicate that there is a level of recognition for a need for a police force. The need for reform will have to wait for another day.

The terms defund and invest are used intentionally as defunding the police does not mean merely saving money. It means investing in our people and our communities to defeat systemic racism, to start saving one person at a time, and to redefine what our expectations of police are. A 2015 report commissioned by President Obama and led by Chief Charles Ramsey, former Commissioner of Philadelphia Police Department and recent consultant on community policing with the Bridgeport Police Department, said that an overarching goal for 21st century policing should promote programs that take a comprehensive and inclusive look at community-based initiatives that address core issues of poverty, education, health, and safety.

On a personal/professional level, we repeatedly have had conversations with police officers themselves who have expressed frustration at societys expectation that they act as social workers, mental health experts, substance abuse counselors, and mediators. At the top of their frustration list is when school resource officers are asked to intervene in a school discipline issue. Naturally, this is the same frustration we hear from urban teachers (who throw in parenting as one of their expectations) who work for an institution that has been defunded for years. We cant make the same mistake here and reduce funding without reinvesting those dollars in interventions that work..

Police are currently asked to intervene in many situations where a crime has yet to be committed. Mental health issues, substance abuse issues, domestic violence cases, pets in trees or distress, health emergencies are all situations where a trained professional may be a better option. And they receive very little training for these activities.

In fact, if our conversations with police officers tell us how they feel about working on these issues they will generally tell you they are not trained to perform them and that they are the most difficult cases for them. So why not transfer these incidents to mental health, substance abuse, social welfare, healthcare professionals where they will be treated by skilled professionals in the field.

Unfortunately, data show Black and brown people are more likely to be treated harshly by law enforcement than white people. The question for us is not to defund the police, but to examine all the ways police are involved in peoples lives and determine their appropriateness and whether they might be handled more effectively by trained professionals and do not result in an arrest.

In our research, we have recently read about Cahoots, a partnership between the Eugene, Oregon Police Department and a community agency that has saved the city $8.5 million dollars annually with the real impact on individuals being transformational. New Orleans has recently outsourced minor traffic accidents to a private company at no cost to the city. Many police departments such as West Palm Beach, Fla. are piloting an Australian co-responding model with a social worker or substance abuse counselor who can respond to overdoses, domestic abuses, or other mental health situations.

We all know that substance abuse/mental health issues are better dealt with by behavioral health specialists who are trained to de-escalate conflicts that may arise because of the substance abuse or mental health issue. Unfortunately, substance abuse has been the primary reason the United States imprisons more people than any country in the world.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, over 70 million Americans have a criminal record and we know the War on Drugs has focused most of its attention on Black and brown communities. Further strengthening the treatment-versus-incarceration argument is the National Institute on Drug Abuses finding that $1 invested in addiction treatment results in $12 in savings on the justice system side.

The actions of young people with developmental disabilities are often misconstrued to mimic criminal behavior. For example, autistic children may be either overly affectionate, which looks like wrestling, or they cant be touched because when you touch them they strike out; both of which they may be arrested instead of more benign and appropriate treatment.

School resource officers or SROs are called to intervene in all sorts of disturbances at school better handled by teachers, administrators, guidance counselors and social workers. Bridgeport Police have removed the physical presence of SROs in schools for a few years now, which has resulted in many fewer school arrests and much more appropriate intervention.

Police also are called whenever there is a health emergency; they accompany firefighters to fires; they respond to lost pets or pets up trees; etc. We have repeatedly heard the narrative backed by multiple research papers about Black people being stopped for broken tail lights, lost mirrors, simply driving while Black or simply looking suspicious. We have seen the narratives of the next step of going for their license and registration that escalate into arrests and even death like Philando Castile.

By utilizing alternative options as discussed above, we prevent and avoid a number of potential negative interactions between police and the community. We provide the space for the police to serve as public safety officers, the space for social workers and mental health counselors to support and treat mental illness, and the space for substance abuse counselors to treat addiction. All professionals get to do what they are good at, what they are trained for, and, most importantly, what they are passionate about.

By ensuring the right professional responds, we keep citizens out of the justice system and reduce the likelihood of negative interaction with the police that sometimes escalates into criminal behavior. Our community is therefore safer. These investments can be incorporated as a team and community response alongside and in partnership with the police and will result in a safer and healthier community.

All of this results in a safer, happier, healthier community and we can agree that that outcome is not a political argument. Our communities need a police force. We just need it to look differently.

Marc Donald is Executive Director of RYASAP (Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership) and Robert Francis is the organizations former Executive Director.

CTViewpoints welcomes rebuttal or opposing views to this and all its commentaries. Read our guidelines andsubmit your commentary here.

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Opinion Defining defunding the police to help our community - The CT Mirror

How at 34 I’m working out if I really want to be a mother one day – iNews

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Since my early twenties, the question of motherhood and whether its for me is one I havent fully considered. Like most of the big decisions in my life, Ive avoided tackling it by shoving it to the bottom of my to-do list.

Ive just turned 34, which, according to some fertility experts, means I supposedly have only one year until my biological clock starts plummeting into an oblivion of dwindling eggs and eventually menopause.

My school education didnt really prepare girls for one of the biggest, life-defining decisions theyll make as a woman. Instead, we were taught how to avoid becoming pregnant, which I have to admit is a refreshing change from the days when women were taught our sole purpose was to be a housewife.

My knight in shining armour has come in the form of endless Tinder and Hinge dates

However, were still continually being sold the millennial dream of women being able to have it all a successful career, marriage and kids but the reality has left me feeling disillusioned. My knight in shining armour has come in the form of endless Tinder and Hinge dates, who are mostly not ready for commitment, or say they are, but then leave me on read or just vanish. Then the price of London living is hefty especially when youre doing it on your own, and dont have the high-flying salary to match.

Culturally, I feel like a British-Ghanaian spinster, as back in Ghana a woman is really expected to be married with kids by the age of 25 a complete juxtaposition from my life here. Despite all of my glittering achievements, my dear sweet grandmothers favourite topic to discuss with me on the phone is when are you going to have a baby? This is what she views as the real fulfillment of womanhood especially as she has had 12 children.

All this and more has left me riddled with anxiety about how I can even contemplate becoming a mother in this climate, and it seems Im not the only one who feels this way. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show women under 30 are having babies at a record low and the only age group in which births are increasing is the over-40s.

For those without children like myself, these findings give some assurance that Im not the only one still trying to decide on parenthood. But within my own personal circle, gradually more friends are hopping off the young, free and single bus and switching to married with kids and a mortgage.

Seeing some of my die-hard party compadres transform into doting mothers has been a joy to watch, and has left me playing the role of the cool auntie travelling all over the globe. However, my life has changed since the Covid-19 pandemic. I can no longer jet from country to country or distract myself with endless schmoozing at Londons finest soires. Ive been homebound and will remain so for a while, which leaves me with the time to dwell on the things Ive been putting off, like my personal stance on becoming a mother. Having this opportunity to explore this has led me to looking into options that could potentially buy me more time, or just less mental stress.

Im elated women like myself have more avenues available to us such as adoption, freezing our eggs or heading to the sperm bank. But while these modern choices are game changers, they dont really appeal to me. Freezing eggs seems like a costly process financially, physically and emotionally which, at the end of it, doesnt guarantee a baby. Call me a heartless cynic, but I would rather invest that money into getting on the property ladder.

The short-term benefits of a sperm donor seems like the perfect match for me, but I do worry about never having the answer to whos my daddy? So its a no from me, but I will forever admire the women who have the strength and courage to do it alone.

My quest down the online rabbit hole of parental indecision led me to self-described motherhood clarity mentor Ann Davidman. Ann is a licensed marriage and family therapist and has a private psychotherapy practice in Oakland, California.

Parenthood hesitancy has been her area of expertise since 1991, when she and fellow therapist Denise L. Carlini created a group for the undecided population, like myself, who are seeking help deciding whether to have a child or not. The pair co-wrote a book, Motherhood Is It for Me? Your Step-By-Step Guide to Clarity in 2016.

Fast forward to 2020, Ann counsels both women and men worldwide, in a three-month online Motherhood/Fatherhood clarity group course, costing 800 or for a cheaper price tag, you can follow the guidance and assignments in the book. She has a growing UK clientele, who reach out to her to take part in the online clarity courses or to be counselled individually in one-to-one sessions.

Ann says she has found herself busier than ever in lockdown as the hectic lives of 30 and 40-somethings have been turned down a notch.

This one-of-a-kind program, which I am now participating in, has started my journey to deciphering my own private, uncensored feelings away from the judgement of other peoples opinions. Each week, I am set a writing assignment that aims to help me dissect and evaluate external circumstances that cloud my decision-making when it comes to parenthood.

I am addressing my fear that a child free life is going to be paved with regrets at a later stage

In week one I was set the task of drawing my family map and tracing generational patterns and attitudes to relationships and children. My findings were then discussed on a live call so we could explore any common traits or unsettling feelings. Alongside written assignments are recorded guided visualisations, which come packaged as a healing aid to help you relax and process your subconscious thoughts in a variety of role play scenarios. In one scenario, you visualise that you have decided to become a mother and journal your uncensored initial feelings that come with this decision.

In an alternative scenario, I am addressing my fear that a child free life is going to be paved with regrets at a later stage especially when Im older and my career is no longer the light of my life.

Of her method, Ann explains: Everything is to stir up the unconscious recordings that you carry, and its designed to record the information because often people are reacting to something outside of them, reacting to societys pressure, or living in a pro-natal society, where you are taught you should want children or what someone else wants for you.

Most people who are ambivalent or undecided, they dont even mention it to people because theres so much backlash. Ambivalence in general is uncomfortable for people, so, if you say youre not sure what you want to do about children, people have a hard time with that so that makes you go further underground and [feel] more alone.

She adds: You may desire to be a parent but live a child free life. Each part of that is a personal decision. The important thing is you know why youre making that decision which is really between you and you, its not an explanation you owe to anyone but yourself.

So far in the motherhood clarity mentoring process, Ive dealt with the uncomfortable truth that my thinking behind wanting to become a mum has solely been to keep up appearances as if a baby is a trendy accessory. Ive started shedding those beliefs and moved more towards questioning myself on whether I want the lifelong responsibility of an offspring, and if I am capable of providing them with love, guidance, wisdom, protection and financial security for as long as Im alive?

Im slowly learning that if the answer is no it doesnt make me a horrible person or any less of a woman.

During lockdown Ive spent time researching the pros and cons of motherhood by speaking to friends who have shared their wisdom, joys and honest regrets about becoming a mother. Ive googled and watched almost every Ted Talk on the subject and read numerous articles on the women deciding to go against the grain by remaining childfree and happy.

I have considered my lifestyle as a travel writer and being able to go anywhere in the world at the drop of the hat and how this may look different if I were to become a mother. But from speaking to travel mums who are successfully combining both of these worlds, Ive realised nothing is impossible, and actually family travel could turn out to be just as adventurous as solo travel.

I would say millennials feel more entitled to question and decide for themselves whats going to work, so they are reaching out more and feel less shame about not knowing, says Ann.

Speaking to Ann has made me understand its not a woman vs man battle when it comes to parenthood, as some men are also going through the same complexities of trying to understand what being a father may mean for them. Sometimes men reach out to me because theyre single and theyve been dating and their relationships keep ending over this topic so they want to get clear on it, so they know who to date, she says. They want to do right by themselves and their partner.

Motherhood clarity mentoring is enlightening and is making me feel more comfortable with the thought of becoming a mum one day but only for the right reasons, and Im giving myself the time to work out what these reasons are.

I now know that parenthood hesitancy is not something to be frightened of, as motherhood isnt so black and white. I am also learning to make peace with the fact that if I never have my own children naturally, I have the nurturing and loving spirit most women have. I am already a mother to children like my four Godchildren, who arent my own, but whom I love with the maternal yearnings within me. At any moment I can adopt the role of being a mum because, as the African proverb says, it takes a village to raise a child.

For more information on Ann Davidman and her services visit her website.

Stephanie Takyi is a travel and showbusiness journalist based in London

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How at 34 I'm working out if I really want to be a mother one day - iNews

Asterisk or not, the 2020 NBA champions will be one to remember – Yahoo Sports

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This year's NBA champion will never be forgotten. (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)

This quarantine has done nothing but fuel my existentialism. Not mad at it though I like the process of having a seemingly enigmatic thought and dismantling it until I unearth an answer that Im satisfied with. I dont have to like it, but I would like to understand it. Lately, I sometimes find myself wondering what the point of sport is. Since going without for months now, it's expected we have these musings. My brain has been smoothed by superficial notions of productivity (we learn, we work, we die), so when I witness passion through music, sports and art, I hold my breath in a display of reflex. Whats the catch?

There is no traditional quarterly goal with the mentioned modes of cultural production in order to be well regarded. It's all about the outcome the creation itself. People create and add immeasurable contributions to the global zeitgeist. So, when we look back in time and attempt to walk in the shoes of those existing in that specific moment of the past, we look to music, sport, art and film as a way to gauge what the societal atmosphere was like. What did these people watch? What did they hear? Value? Enjoy? Cheer for or against?

These are the thoughts that swam through my head when I pondered whether the 2020 NBA championship would possess the weight and value of years past. There are several rules in the basketball world that define the value of a championship win. Losses due to extenuating circumstances, such as injury to star players, are stricken from the record, to an extent.Wins are devalued if they come at the expense of injury to the opposition or lockout years. Its the way we satisfy our inherent need to rank, quantify and legitimize talent or success.

On the one hand, there are too many intrusive variables bleeding into current play in the bubble to document a championship winner without the dreaded asterisk. Players are bearing the weight and the psychological toll of being separated from family for months on end. This is all within the hurricane of the largest civil rights movement since, well, the civil rights movement, not to mention a global pandemic ravaging the state of Florida particularly harshly.

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Although many may be able to maintain the mamba mentality required to succeed in such an environment, to expect all players to do so is myopic. Trauma exhausts us. It triggers fight or flight responses and cultivates stress reactions. It occupies our minds and throws us into a pit of anxieties. How it manifests itself on the court we have yet to see, but absent-mindedness and reduced court awareness shouldnt be a shock to viewers.

Another variable to consider is the high probability of an outbreak of the virus within the bubble. The NBA itself acknowledged, and seems to be bracing for, the chance of this occurrence. A sick rotation player, let alone superstar, can challenge the integrity of the most balanced egalitarian systems. The race to the Finals and Larry OBrien trophy will be a question of what organization has retained peak physical and mental health. If theres anything we learned over the course of the last few months, its that these things are often times not in our control.

Players that experience a sort of stage fright before thousands of bombastic fans in packed arenas are sure to find themselves easing into shots they may not have otherwise attempted, and the same goes for those who struggle with free throws. Subsequently, professional shooters are already excited at the prospect of flexing their skillset in empty arenas. Orlando Magic sixth man and former Toronto Raptor Terrence Ross has already expressed such, commenting on an Instagram post that the depth perception in these gyms are perfect. Dont let a shooter get hot.

On the other hand, one can substantially argue that this may be the most memorable championship win in recent memory. Considering the ultimate value of sport as a contribution to the collective consciousness and culture, the winner of the trophy during a time of widespread unrest and epidemic will be bookmarked in history forever. The bubble, and all of those within it, will be a relic and reflection of the desperation of fans to see sports again and the desperation of investors to see profits again. Under the best circumstances, the awarded team and their treacherous journey may be viewed as a demonstration of durability and will. Whether people like it or not, the 2020 NBA champions will exist in a realm of perpetuity. Whatever happens, well never forget it and that is worth something.

There have been thorough debates regarding the ethics of resuming the NBA, and sports in general today. There is a pressure to play and there is a passion to play. More frequently than not, the line between the two is blurred. Regardless, the bubble experiment has commenced and Ive found myself hoping for the most organized and safest of executions.

It seems, for observers, that most players themselves see this as a valuable moment in history to use their platform as a means to amplify protest and liberating rhetoric, so perhaps there isnt a need to separate the postseason champion from this larger quest.Ultimately, the team to hoist the Larry OBrien may be dealt with an asterisk to accompany their title for years to come, but any attempt to devalue or erase their contribution to the zeitgeist will be fruitless because, guess what? Youll always remember it.

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Asterisk or not, the 2020 NBA champions will be one to remember - Yahoo Sports

Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast: Richard Florida, Author, The Rise of the Creative Class – pittsburghquarterly.com

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Donald Bonk interviews Richard Florida, influential professor, author and urban theorist, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. This is the first part of a three-part interview. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity.

View the episode archive here. Read Richard Floridas Creative Class bio here. Read his University of Toronto bio here.

weve studied the location of industries and firms for a century, but we really havent studied from an economic geography point of view, from an urbanist point of view, the location decisions of people. That was my motivating question. Why do we as people choose to live in the locations we do? Richard Florida

Donald Bonk: Welcome to a very special edition of Pittsburgh Tomorrow with Richard Florida, influential professor, author and urban theorist. Welcome, Richard.

Richard Florida: Its great to be with you, Donald. Thanks for having me. And its great to be back in Pittsburgh, if only virtually.

Bonk: Well, were happy to have you here. You know what Pittsburghs going through (COVID-19), as is the rest of the world right now, but we really want to focus first on the city of Pittsburgh and also your background; what youre doing and your connection to Pittsburgh.

Florida: Well, I moved to Pittsburgh in 1987 and I was 29 years old at the time. And its an interesting story. I was teaching at Ohio State (Im originally from Newark, N.J.). I got enough money to do a lecture series. I invited all of the eminent urbanists of the time, and they agreed for very small honoraria, to come give a talk in my lecture series.

There was a very eminent urbanist at Carnegie Mellon at the time, in what was then called SUPA, the School of Urban Public Affairs (now the Heinz School); his name was Gordon Clark. As it turns out, Gordon is now the Mackinder Professor of Geography at Oxford University. He went to graduate school in Canada, was at Harvard, was at the University of Chicago and moved from the University of Chicago to SUPA at Carnegie Mellon.

At the time, Carnegie Mellon was looking to hire a professor jointly between SUPA and Architecture, and they had had many eminent people out, that the two departments couldnt agree on. Very famous people. But Architecture and SUPA are very different places. Gordon said, Why dont you come out and interview for this position? I always heard a lot about the so-called Pittsburgh Renaissance and the comeback of Pittsburgh as an innovative center, artistic center, a great city of neighborhoods.

I went out, and lo and behold, people liked me, even though I was I was different than anyone because the people in SUPA were very technically quantitative. And the people in architecture were architecturally good. Im a qualitative researcher; Im not a quantitative researcher. Im not very numeric or mathematical, but they sort of liked me.

They offered me a job and I said, yeah. Dick Cyert was president of Carnegie Mellon. I forget who else was involved in it; but Dick (President Cyert), for sure, I know (Angel) Jordan was the provost. My dean was Alfred Blumstein.

Anyway, they had a major gift from John Heinz II, who was still alive, and Senator John Heinz III, to establish a center for economic development. Carnegie Mellon had all this capability in science, technology, computer science, electrical engineering, metallurgical engineering and material science. And the idea was to think about the ways to connect that to the economic future of Pittsburgh. I was brought in to help build that, as this young 29-year-old assistant professor.

I was thrust into a vortex of forces that were acting on Pittsburgh in the late 1980s. My growing up in Newark, N.J., and experiencing the civil rights movement and racial unrest, convinced me to be an urbanist as a young boy. I got a college degree at Rutgers (and later a Ph.D. at Columbia in urban studies). Those things and my life in Pittsburgh, where I lived for nearly 20 years, really shaped me as an urbanist.

Bonk: Very interestingthe power of serendipity in many cases.

Florida: Yeah. As a young single guy living in Shadyside, I could walk or bike or take a car to the university. And remember, at that time, this is really interesting; well before I wrote The Rise of the Creative Class, SUPA (CMU School of Urban and Public Affairs) was not in the building in Hamburg Hall. SUPA was in a second or third floor, up the stairs in Margaret Morrison Carnegie College. We were embedded with the arts and dance students.

I still remember my secretary. We had secretaries at the time and my office was lined with file cabinets because we still had paper centric offices.

My secretary, Mary Joyce, was this wonderful woman who supported a half dozen of us. She would say she was always hesitant to go to the restroom because there would not only be girls from the arts and dance program changing in there but there would be boys. Everybody is in the arts. They didnt care; they were artists.

But the point is that SUPA wasnt in computer science or electrical engineering. Our department was actually, literally in the creative hub of Margaret Morrison Carnegie College. Quite an introduction for me to Pittsburgh.

Bonk: It obviously played a role in your later theory. Its just interesting that your foundational experience on a physical level was exposure to the other side of Carnegie Mellon.

Florida: It was a long evolution from when I came to Carnegie Mellon to Rise of the Creative Class. It was a dozen years that I was at Carnegie Mellon before I even began to think in that way, shape or form. It was a long intellectual evolution shaped by my experience in Pittsburgh and at Carnegie Mellon, for sure.

Bonk: That gives us a deeper insight into your career that followed. You had this transformational insight around the turn of the century. Can you tie that to what youve been doing since then? So you were at Carnegie Mellon at the time. The Rise of the Creative Class became an international New York Times bestseller.

Florida: First of all, I had written several other books that were international non-sellers, and I fully expected The Rise of the Creative Class to not sell, other than my parents buying it, my brother and some relatives and friends. I didnt write that book to be a bestseller; I just got really lucky.

As any musician will tell you who has had a hit, they just wrote a lot of other good songs and got lucky. The timing was right. The mood was right. Something happened. Somebody wrote a story on it. I got lucky. And I had written a bunch of other books since and that havent done as well, so I think Ive got a great stroke of luck, but shaped by Pittsburgh.

When I came to Carnegie Mellon, I was thrust into the Center for Economic Development. I had been researching high tech industry complexes like Silicon Valley and Boston Route 128 and what happened in the Research Triangle (North Carolina). I had been studying at Carnegie Mellon with a brilliant economist named Wes Cohen, whos now at Duke.

We had been studying university industry partnerships and had a big grant from the Ford Foundation. University Industry Centers, National Science Foundation Centersall the stuff that Carnegie Mellon does spectacularly well.

At the same time, I was immersed in Pittsburgh. I was literally talking to the mayor. The mayor tells funny stories about me. Former (Pittsburgh) Mayor Murphy says he often introduced me by saying, Richard came to our office talking about the role of universities, and the knowledge and innovation in these research centers. We thought he was from the moon; we thought he was just completely bonkers.

But I was puzzling over what Id call the Pittsburgh paradox. Why, when I looked at Stanford, M.I.T. and Carnegie Mellon, did they look like analogous institutions? Why was Carnegie Mellon producing fantastic research? It was actually, at that point, not (yet) spinning off as many companies into the local environment at the rate of M.I.T. in Boston and Stanford in the Silicon Valley.

The people I was meeting at Carnegie Mellon were going to lead those companies. The head of research at Microsoft was a Carnegie Mellon guy, and the head of research at Apple was a Carnegie Mellon guy. People who were going to what ultimately became Google were from Carnegie Mellon. I see all this flow of people, but Pittsburgh hadnt developed that high tech industry complex. Why?

So I went off to do a sabbatical at Harvard. By this time, I had gotten notorious enough. I hadnt written The Rise of the Creative Class, but I was a young scholar, about 38, 40, and I was invited by a very eminent guy named Harvey Brooks. Harvey was the Benjamin Franklin Pierce Professor of Physics and Applied Engineering, who had really established that unit at Harvard. He was a scientist and engineer and had gone off to establish the Program for Science, Technology and Public Policy at the Kennedy School at Harvard.

He had recruited the former head of NASA to join him. He had recruited the former head of science at IBM, Lewis Branscomb, whose father, Harvey Branscomb, was the president of Vanderbilt. I mean, it was like a Whos Who of America. There were Nobel Prize winners that were populating this, and they brought me up there because they looked at Pittsburgh. Plus, Florida is an interesting guy. But look at whats happening in Pittsburgh and the rise of Pittsburgh around Carnegie Mellon. Is that a case that we could use to talk about the role of science and technology university research, to revitalize an older Rust Belt industrial city?

I was writing up my book chapter when I got to the story that I told in The Rise of the Creative Class. I read a story in The Boston Globe which said Lycos (a Search Engine), one of the startups out of Carnegie Mellon, founded by two Carnegie Mellon people, was moving to Boston. I said, Whoa, why?

A lot of us had paid attention, a lot of people in the Office of Technology Transfer and Commercialization (at Carnegie Mellon); I, and others, had paid a lot of attention to Lycos. When we began to really dig into it, Lycos was moving to Boston to get access to a talented pool of people that they said were already living in Boston, not just techies.

There were marketing people and management people and all the people that they needed for the businessthe whole ecosystem necessary to grow a company. Thats what tipped me off. I went back to my students in the fall and said, How many of you will live in Pittsburgh when you graduate? Only one hand went up.

Well, (I asked the students), where do you want to go? I want to go to Silicon Valley. I want to go to New York. I want to go to Austin. I want to go to the North Carolina. I dont like Pittsburgh. Its not for me, it doesnt fit meblah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but you know all that stuff. But then, why? Why do you want to go there? Well, because its a place I can make friends. I could have friends if there were more people like me. And that started the train of thought.

Nobel Prize winner Herb Simon had always told me, If you find a question nobody else asked, if youre lucky enough, go with that freaking question, Richard. So the question I said is, weve studied the location of industries and firms for a century, but we really havent studied from an economic geography point of view, from an urbanist point of view, the location decisions of people. That was my motivating question. Why do we as people choose to live in the locations we do?

And what are the factors that bear on this? And out of that, out of like three or four years of really horrific hard work, I came up with what we now know as The Rise of the Creative Class. It really was steeped by my experience with Pittsburgh and trying to answer that question.

What happened since? I can never get away from the heartland. I went off and I lived in Washington, D.C. for three years. That was fun. I developed my relationship with Brookings, with The Atlantic, which ultimately led to the formation of CityLab. George W. Bush got elected, an opportunity happened in Toronto.

I always liked Toronto. Its close to my wifes family in Michigan. My wifes family is in the Detroit suburbs. It came with a big research budget to move up to the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. By the way, there were Carnegie Mellon people who had been clueing me in about Rotman.

They had a dynamic young leader named Roger Martin. They had hired a few people, not from SUPA, not from the Heinz School, but from what was then GSIA, the business school, now the Tepper School at Carnegie Mellon. So it came with a $10 million dollar funding program for ten years. And I couldnt turn it down. So I ended up in Toronto, which is where I am now.

Bonk: Just a sidebar: Marshall McLuhan was always a big influence on me. He had mentioned in some of his books that Canada was a great place to look at the United States in particular and look at ideas because its involved in a big part of things, but its also removed.

Florida: Ill tell you right now that the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, it is surreal. It is. Ive always said, quoting McLuhan, that moving to Toronto has helped me learn more about the United States than I ever thought I would because of exactly what you said. You see the two countries in sharp relief.

But, boy, when you look at the dysfunction in our country now and you look at the way we pulled apart compared to the Canadians and Torontonians that have pulled togetherI just want to say this: Canada is a very divided country. It has a very liberal Prime Minister who would be very, much further left than Clinton or Obama. We have a Premier, which is our equivalent of a Governor, whos a kind of a Trumpist populist. His brother was Rob Ford, the crack mayor of Toronto. And we have a mayor in John Tory who wouldnt be elected in Pittsburgh. He would be a Republican. Hes a conservative. But he is a business conservative, kind of like Mike Bloomberg. Some of them literally hate one another. Yet everyone has worked together and now weve almost eliminated the virus.

One other thing Ill say: Theres another Pittsburgh-Toronto connection that bears mentioning on this podcast in the times we live. Toronto is now known alongside Pittsburgh as one of the great artificial intelligence capitals of the world and in many respects, maybe now in some segments more than Pittsburgh, even though Pittsburgh was the birthplace, with Raj Reddy and Herb Simon and Alan Newell.

Theres a fellow named Geoff Hinton. Geoff was at Carnegie Mellon as a professor. Hes a Brit who is pretty left-leaning as many Brits are. In 1980, he saw the United States going off on a wrong track. It elected Ronald Reagan, rightly or wrongly, and more than that, he saw defense funding becoming the principal source of funding for artificial intelligence.

He said, before the University of Toronto was what it is today, Im leaving the United States. Im moving to Toronto. This one guy, Geoffrey Hinton, moving from Carnegie Mellon to the University of Toronto, created the artificial intelligence scene there. Hes an expert in machine learning and deep learning. He and his students who now are all over Canada. Some in Montreal. Some in Edmonton, Winnipeg City, Calgary. When you hear about Canada or Toronto, and artificial intelligence, it all goes back to one guy, Geoffrey Hinton, who moved from Carnegie Mellon to the University of Toronto.

Toronto shows you what the heartland could be. Its a mosaic, not a melting pot. More than half the population was born offshore. It has a similar geography. By the way, the neighborhood that I live in looks like a Pittsburgh neighborhood, except the neighborhood I lived in Pittsburgh was more beautiful because Pittsburgh had more money at the time.

But, it does really feel like home. Even though I would have said as a kid, Ill probably end up staying in New York or living in Boston, or maybe Ill try San Francisco, Ive ended up living, when you think about it, from Ohio State and Columbus, to Pittsburgh for 17 years, thats 20. And now another 13 years in Toronto. Thats a big numbermore than three decades of my life in the Great Lakes region of the world. Its kind of amazing to me.

Bonk: And you found it to be a place where reinvention is taking place. Now, Toronto has an extraordinary urban reputation. Pittsburgh has also benefited from its rethinking, the 2009 G20 being held in Pittsburgh, and acting as a model. Youve been in all these places, so it seems in a way, that youre a leading indicator. It seems youre always ahead of the curve.

Florida: The funny thing about this is, if you looked at the Amazon HQ 2 list, which I did with some criticism, I thought Amazon should look for a great city. I just didnt like the subsidy packages, the incentive packages mayors were giving out.

Every city Ive lived in was on the list. I went to graduate school in New York Cityon the list. Taught at Ohio StateColumbus was on the list. Taught at Carnegie MellonPittsburgh was on the list. Taught at George Mason and lived in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. was on the list. Was a visiting professor at Harvard and M.I.T.Boston was on the list. And finally, because I live in Toronto, we have a winter place in Miami Beach, and Miami was on the list as well as Toronto.

Pittsburgh has been the most formative of all of them. Of all the places Ive lived, Pittsburghs transformation underpinned it all.

Although I think many Pittsburghers would disagree with me on this, I think that my work has been most influential on Pittsburgh of any place Ive ever lived. Now people say Florida; thats not true. When I was talking about the need to focus on talent, Pittsburgh was building giant convention centers and stadiums, focusing on industrial incentives and not really thinking about talent.

And when I was saying with my students. And this was really driven by students at that time, like yourself and others, saying, what would make me want to stay in Pittsburgh is, if the neighborhoods were brought back, and if Oakland was an exciting place. If the neighborhoods around the university were a second downtown and there was this quality of place or amenities, I was really channeling them.

I think Pittsburgh has delivered on that. Toronto had the wind at its back economically. But when I look at the expansion of bike lanes and green space, the transformation of Pittsburgh has been bigger. One of the best cities for bikes. One of the best cities for open space. One of the best cities for X. We were all pushing for that. But were all saying it would never happen, right? In many ways, I think I was lucky to be in Pittsburgh and lucky to develop those ideas. They were part of the Zeitgeist. In many ways, Pittsburgh has delivered on a lot of what I was trying to talk about and think about.

Bonk: Thats why this conversation is so important. When we were thinking about Pittsburghs future, you have probably spent more time thinking about Pittsburgh on so many different levels, that to have this opportunity is to almost take this time machine to look back at it from 2020.

I have to admit, having been in Pittsburgh the last 13 years, I didnt think it was going to make as much rapid progress as it has. Its been gratifying to me personally. My question now, though, is where we go from here.

Pittsburgh has made this extraordinary progress. You were a driver. Your ideas affected you and Pittsburgh in ways that even you didnt anticipate. But now were at a jumping off point.

I always said Pittsburgh was going to make a comeback. I knew in my bones growing up in western Pennsylvania that all those base elements you talked about were there. It was only a question of, if they could be catalyzed. The question I have is, how high of a bounce?

Weve made this bounce to Pittsburgh in 2020, which is much better than it ever was. Things are going well. Obviously, COVID is a challenge. Well touch on that. But the question is, how much further can it go and how is that put in the context of other great cities? So with that, maybe I can segue into this question about what would make Pittsburgh the most ideal city in the world, or the best city. If you can, put that in context with your other urban experiences, not only in America, but internationally.

Florida: I think Pittsburghs transformation is remarkable. Its more than either of us would have expected. And I think thats noted in the United States and globally. The fact that it was an Amazon HQ 2 finalist, whether or not it would win. I didnt think it would win; its too small and it didnt have the air connections. But whether or not it won, it was recognized as one of the 20 most important headquarter cities in the United States, if not the world.

So, its back. Its attracting people. Its attracting innovators. Its attracting artists. Pittsburgh, to my mind, is in the same group of cities where, when I was writing The Rise of the Creative Class, you might have said Boston was an up and coming city at that point, where 10 years ago you said Nashville. Pittsburgh is like that now, but better because its in the Midwest; its not in this kind of Sunbelt.

So I think its back at baseline. And I think it has a big upside. What I would pose for Pittsburgh is be the best smaller city in the world. Bar nonethe best, most innovative, most inclusive, most resilient, healthiest.

Back to COVID-19. Pittsburgh Medical Center, UPMC, the incredible medical complex. The focus on Health Technology, Urban Technology, surveillance technology, artificial intelligence technology coming out of Carnegie Mellon. The affordability of this city, the social cohesion, the way it pulled together in the wake of numerous tragedies, including the terrorist attacks on the temple in Squirrel Hill.

Look, Pittsburgh should pose the goal to be the best small city in the world. Its not going to be London or New York or Paris. It doesnt have to be. But it could be the best smaller city. Whats the population of the metro now? About 2, 2.5 million. Thats what it should be. It should be the best small metro in the world. There shouldnt be a better one. That scale should be wonderful because once you get the 5 million, you have to grow differently. You need to really grow around transit and trains and highways. Cars dont work and you get congested and you need much higher density in terms of multifamily, tower living.

I think Pittsburgh could be the best, the most livable, the most sustainable. And I would echo the most racially and economically inclusive. Mayor Peduto is an old friend of mine from my Pittsburgh days. Hes put an emphasis on inclusive innovation. I think this idea of a shared prosperity, harking back to the union movement, the steelworkers, to people who struggle, who literally fought pitched battles in the streets of Homestead in along the Monongahela River. I think Pittsburgh should be the model of the best, the most equitable, the most inclusive, the healthiest, the safest and most resilient small city in the world.

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast: Richard Florida, Author, The Rise of the Creative Class - pittsburghquarterly.com

Scream queens: Remembering the short-lived queer villains of horror – The Independent

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It was the late 1970s, and the burgeoning gay rights movement had become too important for Hollywood to ignore. A decade earlier, the Stonewall riots had led to a wave of political progress sexual orientation was becoming a new factor in anti-discrimination laws across the United States; pride marches and grassroots gay and lesbian organisations were born; and collective demand for equality reached fever pitch. In tandem with the real world, cinema got queered, too. In 1980, three major movies were released that featured openly queer leads. They also happened to be murderers and psychopaths.

In William Friedkins erotic thriller Cruising, Al Pacino is a rookie cop who ventures into New Yorks leather scene to catch a gay killer targeting other gay men. In Brian De Palmas Dressed to Kill, a transgender psychiatrist embarks on a series of sordid murders, with two plucky straights tasked with unravelling the mystery. And in Gordon Williss Windows, a vulnerable young woman is stalked by her lesbian best friend, who secretly watches her through a telescope and pays a man to sexually assault her.

All three are sleazy metropolitan nightmares, with naive heterosexuals terrorised by the queer unknown. They were also picketed during their respective productions, before being engulfed by controversy upon release. At a time when positive representation was most needed, these movies were awash in negative portrayals of queerness. But in the intervening decades since their release 40 years ago, its possible to view them in another light. Theres a strange power to these films, primarily because depictions of deliciously evil and unambiguously queer villainy are so rare. Two have been reframed as cult classics: Cruising and Dressed to Kill are today typically regarded as transgressive queer thrillers awash in deliberate luridness, their modern appreciation speaking to the ebbs and flows of queer acceptance. They also showcase how stagnant queer representation in the mainstream has tended to be in the decades since.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

In 1979, months after the assassination of Harvey Milk, Californias first openly gay elected official, this trio of movies were seen as a matter of life and death. Cruising is not a film about how we live, it is a film about why we should be killed, wrote Arthur Bell in New Yorks Village Voice newspaper. He would urge gay New Yorkers and allies to disrupt production of the film and play loud music during the shooting of street scenes. A San Francisco-based activist group known as Women Against Violence in Pornography and the Media similarly called for a boycott of Dressed to Kill and Windows, with both films accused of glorifying violence against women and demonising the lesbian and transgender communities.

Considering all three films were written and directed by straight men, and the idea of queer equality was at the time so frightening to conservative America, few of their narratives were particularly surprising. After all, the country was built on a rigid understanding of sex and gender, and anyone existing outside of a repressed value system tended to be feared. If the cinema of the 1970s, from Dirty Harry to Death Wish, had instructed audiences to fear the black, working-class male, the 1980s seemed to pick the LGBT+ community as the new boogeyman.

This demonisation, says Dr Jon Mitchell, senior lecturer in American Studies at the University of East Anglia, was a continuation of the instincts hardwired to the American psyche. The US has a long history of constituting itself against otherness, he explains. Whether its the Puritans with the devil and witches, the US against the Soviets, or militia groups against the new world order. The sexual psychopath was just one in a long cast of villains.

Sexual bohemia: Al Pacino in Cruising (Lorimar/Kobal/Shutterstock)

Elements of the outrage channel the times. At a moment in which the most vocal opponents of gay rights would talk of the leather-clad deviance of queer sex, Cruisings exclusive focus on gay kink which would serve as an introduction to queer sex for many viewers at the time wasnt a particularly everyday depiction. The terrible screenplays for both Windows and Dressed to Kill also meant their respective villains were confused creations. In Windows, its sole lesbian character seems to believe a straight womans sexuality would change if she is assaulted by a man. And Dressed to Kills ignorance reduces transgender identity to a kind of split-personality disorder, the films villain being at the mercy of male and female psychological personas who are fighting for control.

They traffic in problematic tropes, says Mitchell of the trio of films. Theres the dead gay, the sexual psychopath, the pervert, the paedophile. This isnt to say that the film-makers were doing it deliberately but theyre there to appease the cultural sensitivities of the conservative zeitgeist.

Of the three films that appalled queer audiences in 1980, only Cruising could be considered a genuine work of art. While theres a detached, almost anthropological quality to Friedkins dramatisation of gay sexuality, theres also something richly empathetic about his approach, too. The leather bar at the centre of the film is presented as a space of sexual bohemia, with a freedom to dance and drink and explore that is cruelly absent from the rigid confines of the heterosexual world depicted elsewhere. The spectre of Aids on the horizon the first reported case was declared just over a year after Cruisings release adds to the films unexpected sense of melancholy, even if only in hindsight.

Hacky: The original theatrical poster for Windows (United Artists)

Theres also a curious subtext to Pacinos character, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the killers victims, and who immediately returns home to have sex with his girlfriend at the end of each undercover shift. When he articulates to a superior his concern about being in too deep while undercover, it can easily be read as a sexually confused man shocked to discover what gets him off. The films famously ambiguous ending, with Pacino appearing to transform into what he most fears (either metaphorically or literally), only accentuates his characters potential queerness.

While their hacky scripts prevent them from being genuinely great movies, Windows and Dressed to Kill have their virtues. The former is visually gorgeous, as Willis, a celebrated cinematographer whose work includes The Godfather, Manhattan and Klute, filled the screen with vivid blacks and crisp shots of autumnal Brooklyn. The latter, meanwhile, is nicely aware of its own griminess, its narrative failings eclipsed by De Palmas stylish showmanship. Its arguably the filmmaker in his aesthetic prime, full of OTT split screens, killer trans women in designer shades and porn star body doubles. Not a single person involved seems to take it seriously, which entirely rescues it.

Despite many of their failings, what is shared by all three movies is their embrace of outwardly queer villainy. Dangerous in 1980, its almost novel today. Queerness has always existed in horror genre antagonists, but historically it has been buried in the subtext. James Whale, one of Hollywoods first openly gay directors, imbued his films with subtle queer themes, notably the zany flamboyance of Bride of Frankenstein. Few could argue that Rebeccas Mrs Danvers, a tyrannical housekeeper fixated on the beauty of her former mistress, was anything other than a coded queer villain, while Psychos Norman Bates, a fey murderer who dresses up as his dead mother, was a gay, Freudian nightmare.

Cruising, Dressed to Kill and Windows are upfront about it all. Their villains are villainous literally because theyre queer, individuals pushed into madness by rejection and hostility from objects of affection, from family or society at large. Viewed in 2020, theyre like something out of an alternate universe. Only Dressed to Kill still seems potentially destructive. One of the great sadnesses of its 40th anniversary is that many of its baffling misunderstandings of trans identity are suddenly relevant again. Even a decade ago, when trans people werent being so regularly villainised in the mainstream press, Dressed to Kill could have been described as harmless, its messaging so obviously ludicrous. That no longer seems the case.

Coded: Joan Fontaine and Judith Anderson in Rebecca (United Artists/Kobal/Shutterstock)

It is, of course, for the greater good that American cinema shifted away from this kind of representation. By 1982, a year into the Aids crisis, major studios were producing films like the forgotten coming-out comedy Making Love, as well as the lesbian track-and-field drama Personal Best. More sensitive portrayals of queer life came later, via the moving Longtime Companion (1989) or the heavy-handed Philadelphia (1993), about a homophobic lawyer taught the error of his ways by a kindly gay man dying of Aids. Instead of being demonised, queer characters were humanised by their physical and emotional proximity to straight ones the message evolved into we are all the same, ironing out much of the complexities or nuance.

It was progress, but also a vague form of assimilation. The queer sitcoms of the 1990s followed suit, with gay characters almost indistinguishable from their straight counterparts be it the upper-middle-class domesticity of lesbian couple Carol and Susan on Friends, or Will of Will & Grace, a gay man depicted as respectable and elegant, whose relatable neuroses were so often contrasted against the loud, delusional queeniness of Sean Hayess Jack. Complex depictions of queerness, of a kind that could be sexy, violent or difficult, were confined to the fringes of film-making, via indie pioneers like Gregg Araki, Cheryl Dunye, Rose Troche and Todd Haynes.

On-screen queerness has become more nuanced in recent years, particularly via queer storytellers from Lena Waithe and Mae Martin to Jeremy O Harris. It remains elusive, though, to see queer villains of overt evilness in something that would ever touch a multiplex, studios often fearful to present queerness as anything other than resolutely good.

Even something as woeful as Windows seems radical as a result, awash with such extreme levels of ill-judged bad taste that it becomes glorious. Like Cruising and Dressed to Kill, it is offensive and shocking and deeply trashy. And nothing could be more queer.

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Scream queens: Remembering the short-lived queer villains of horror - The Independent

Where Virtual and Augmented Reality Stand in 2020 – Variety

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In the mid 20th century, prognosticators foresaw a near-future where ordinary people would traverse the skies in flying cars and jetpacks.

That future never came, but something similar occurred in the middle of the last decade: tech pundits and industry boosters told us that hundreds of millions of people around the globe would soon be donning virtual reality goggles to play games, watch 360-degree videos and live sporting events, remotely interact with friends and relatives as if they were in the same room, and tour art museums, historical landmarks and far-off lands from the comfort of their couches.

Reality Check, the new 21-page special report from Variety Intelligence Platform (VIP), explores the hype machine behind virtual and augmented reality, and how investors, particularly in the entertainment space, may have jumped the gun too soon and projected outlandish expectations onto a medium that still has plenty of significant, unexplored potential.

The initial wave of investments in VR and AR following Facebooks acquisition of start-up Oculus VR in 2014 was a seemingly great sign for the gaming and tech spaces, with up to an estimated $2.3 billion in funding for VR and AR companies in 2016 (per Digi-Capital).

But something happened on the way to VR and ARs happy Hollywood ending.

The first wave of consumer VR headsets was greeted with underwhelming sales and complaints about eye fatigue, motion-induced nausea, blurry visuals, and a dearth of quality content. When AR smart glasses hit the market, the results were similarly disappointing, with price tags too high for the average consumer and entertainment applications that clearly werent ready for prime time.

By the late 2010s, it looked like virtual reality might join flying cars on the ash heap of techs broken promises, but the success of the Oculus Quest, released in 2019, is a rejuvenating sign of VRs commercial potential when the customer experience is prioritized.

However, the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has spelled trouble for the industry, with consumers tightening their pockets and worldwide location-based VR outlets shutting down out of necessity.

As this report reveals, the future of VR may still shine bright and glossy, but the time for whimsical fantasizing is over, as this future wont be exactly what we envisioned, it wont necessarily wear a headset, and it certainly wont unfold across the timetable we were hoping for.

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Where Virtual and Augmented Reality Stand in 2020 - Variety

Curiious and Inner-City Arts Recognised for Game-Changing Virtual Reality Education Platform – PRWire

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Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles, CA, August 6, 2020 A world-first educational Virtual Reality partnership between Inner-City Arts, a leading provider of quality arts education for underserved children in Los Angeles, and Curiious, an immersive communication company from Sydney, has finished 2nd in the Best of the Best segment for the California By Design TV series.

The first-of-its-kind VR platform, IQ, was developed by Curiious. Virtual Reality is typically designed for full individual immersion, but the IQ platform uniquely allows students to interact with each other live in the virtual environment and undertake a shared learning experience for the first time. It also allows teachers to synchronise a set of headsets, enabling them to monitor the classroom on a device such as a tablet, which acts as a virtual whiteboard; what the teacher annotates onto the tablet appears within the VR environment in real time.

Thanks to the generous support of Irwin J. and Patti Jaeger, Inner-City Arts deployed the Curiious IQ Creators Toolkit and enabled its students, using VR headsets, to design communities on Mars and immerse themselves in co-created 360-degree animations.

The partnership was highlighted as part of the California By DesignTV series, culminating in the Best of the Best program which aired on Saturday, August 1 on CBS 2 and CBS 5, and can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/yT5vC2BAB1M?t=1078

Its [using] new educational methodologies, and it's challenging students to think creatively and collaboratively in new ways, said California By Design Judge Caroline Flagiello on the program.

Were extremely proud of this recognition, and its a remarkable start to our adventure with Inner-City Arts, said Brett Heil, founder of Curiious. Its a tremendous achievement and validation of all of the incredible work our team has put into the IQ platform and the programs that Inner-City Arts has used so effectively.

The partnership remains in the running for the Peoples Choice award (votes can be lodged here). Voting closes August 9 US time, with the winners to be announced August 10.

Next for Curiious and Inner-City Arts, taking the VR environment beyond the four walls

The response to the platform from students, teachers, and now California By Design has emboldened the two organisations to take the platform to other communities, with Curiious able to now deploy the platform via the cloud using Microsoft Azure.

The continued partnership between Inner-City Arts and Curiious will support our collective goal of expanding access to students by removing location barriers, shared Collette Alleyne Williams, Inner-City Arts Chief Education Officer. Students will explore creativity in a way that fosters the development of 21st Century skills and social-emotional learning, building their confidence, understanding of their emotions, self-control, and ability to improve decision-making skills. Inner-City Arts will utilise VR as a delivery tool to enhance the creative process and discovery that exists in all studios across all art forms.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Inner-City Arts campus has moved its classes online, with virtual attendance of the schools art-based classes further vindicating the two organisations plans to enable remote access to the Curiious IQ Creators Toolkit and its social and emotional learning (SEL) capabilities, including Curiious SEL programWISE,for Inner-City Arts students and, soon, to other institutions and partners both in the US and abroad.

With VR there is no need for everyone to be within the four walls, and our goal is to enable remote access to these shared learning experiences, said Curiious Heil. The pandemic has highlighted the need for engaging remote learning, but were looking at this capability in spite of the pandemic, not because of it.

"We are evolving and changing globally in so many ways," said Steve Sobalvarro, Media Arts Teaching Artist at Inner-City Arts who has been educating young people since 2001. "It is my belief that our approach to education must follow. Working with Curiious and their VR software presents new and innovative ways for educating my students. The ability to control and annotate on top of 360 videos and the power to customise and create content that can be viewed and shared in VR are very exciting. These engaging and entertaining experiences for my students will continue to open doors to uncharted approaches to creativity, learning, and collaboration."

ABOUT CURIIOUS

Curiious is an Immersive Learning Company which focuses on setting new benchmarks in learning and measurement. For more than 20 years it has used creativity & technology to solve problems, grow businesses and challenge communication. With offices in Sydney and Los Angeles, they create outcome-driven immersive experiences, backed by the latest technology, innovative design and strategic thinking to captivate, inspire and educate audiences. http://WWW.CURIIOUS.COM

ABOUT INNER-CITY ARTS

Founded in 1989, Inner-City Arts is a learning oasis in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Under the guidance of professional teaching artists, Inner-City Arts students are immersed in a safe and supportive environment where they may engage in a variety of visual and performing art forms in a studio setting. Services include core classes during the instructional day for grade K-8 students, after school and weekend workshops for teens, and creativity based professional development training for educators. Children who attend Inner-City Arts develop skills that are highly valued in the 21st century workforce such as collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.

http://WWW.INNER-CITYARTS.ORG

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Those wishing to support Inner-City Arts efforts to help youth and families with creative arts learning can get involved at http://www.inner-cityarts.org/get-involved.

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Curiious and Inner-City Arts Recognised for Game-Changing Virtual Reality Education Platform - PRWire

5 Best virtual reality headsets 2020 from Oculus Rift S and Valve Index to PS4 VR – The Sun

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VIRTUAL reality (VR) is growing at an unprecedented rate.

From design to medical applications, this technology is becoming cheaper and more powerful by the day, allowing for new horizons to be explored.

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Of course, gaming is still at the top when it comes to VR use, and several games are bringing this tech to the next level.

As this technology evolves, it also becomes more affordable, compact, and easier to use.

Whether you're interested in virtual reality for games or other applications, however, finding the right headset is not always an easy feat, as flag-ship headsets' prices can still be quite prohibitive.

Using our experts' knowledge and user rating around the web, we have selected the best virtual reality headsets for your money.

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CPU: 4 Kryo 280 Gold (ARM Cortex-A73 based) @ 2.45 GHz + 4 Kryo 280 Silver (ARM CortexA73 based) @ 1.9 GHz. Memory: 4 GB x2. Storage: 64 GB, 128 GB. Display: PenTile OLED 1440 1600 per eye @ 72 Hz. Graphics: Adreno 540. Sound: Integrated stereo speakers, 2 3.5 mm headphone jack. Input: 6DOF inside-out tracking through 4 built-in cameras. Controller input: 2nd generation Oculus Touch motion tracked controllers. Camera: 4 cameras. Connectivity: USB Type-C, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi. Online services: Oculus Store. Weight: 571g

If your goal is to enjoy a virtual reality experience free from wires and without the need for powerful computers, look no further than the Oculus Quest.

The first truly all-in-one gaming headset, the Oculus Quest packs some interesting specs at a record-low price.

The tag price of 499.00 may seem daunting, but in the realm of high-specs VR headsets, that's actually a pretty good deal, as you won't need to spend anything else on an expensive PC.

No cables or external sensors also means you can charge your Oculus Quest in minutes via the provided USB-C cable and start playing straight away.

Put on the headset, create manual "gaming boundaries" with the help of the Quest's sensor cameras, and you are ready to go.

The headset will warn you if you're leaving the area, so you can rest assured you're not going to smash your TV while playing Beat Saber.

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Display: 5.7" OLED, 100 field of view. Graphics: 1080p RGB (960 1080 per eye; 90120Hz refresh rate). Sound: 3D audio through headphone jack, and available microphone input. Input: Positional tracking with 9 LEDs via PlayStation Camera. Controller input: DualShock 4 controller, PlayStation Aim, PlayStation Move. Camera: PlayStation Camera. Online services: Play Station Network. Weight: 600 g.

Coming down to only 249.00 but requiring a PlayStation 4 system, the Sony PlayStation VR is undoubtedly the best VR headset for console gaming.

With a responsive refresh rate and excellent head tracking, the PlayStation VR is an excellent competitor in the real of high-specs VR headsets.

It also has access to Sony's numerous PS exclusives and will be also compatible with the upcoming PS5 console.

The main downside of the PS VR headset has been for a while the fact that it required different sensors to work properly, such as PlayStation Camera and Move controllers.

However, Sony has recently started releasing bundles including these accessories for anyone who wants to start experiencing virtual reality.

Do you own a PS4? Then the PlayStation VR is probably the best headset for you.

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Display: Display of inserted smartphone. Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2 BLE private profile. Lens (interpupilary distance (IPD) / eye relief): 62mm (fixed) / 10mm. Controller input: Motion Controller. Online services: Play Store. Weight: 345 g.

Before exploring the two most expensive and high-end VR headsets on the market, it is useful to mention here the Samsung Gear VR, as it is the best mobile headset by a long shot.

Of course, with the Oculus Quest changing the perception of VR on-the-go, it is uncertain if smartphone-powered VR headsets will retail their crown over the mobile VR market.

However, the biggest flaw of smartphone-powered VR headsets so far has been the lack of dedicated controllers, which made the gaze-based navigation frustrating at best.

The 2017 version of the Samsung Gear VR introduced a handy motion controller that works remarkably well.

Combined with the extremely low tag price of 114.49, this makes the Samsung Gear a good and cheaper alternative to any other mobile headset.

Of course, you'll have to have a decent Samsung smartphone to utilise the full power of this headset.

The Samsung Gear VR is compatible with most Samsung phones, including the Galaxy S9, S9+, Note8, S8, S8+, S7, S7 Edge, Note5, S6 Edge+, S6 and S6 Edge.

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Display: Fast-switch LCD 25601440 (12801440 per eye) @ 80 Hz. Sound: Integrated speakers. Input: 6DOF inside-out tracking through 5 built-in cameras. Controller input: 2nd generation Oculus Touch motion tracked controllers. Camera: 5 cameras. Online services: Oculus Store. Connectivity: Display Port 1.2, USB 3.0. Weight: 500 g.

A glance at the specs above will give you an idea why the Oculus Rift S is a great headset.Like its predecessor, the Rift S requires a high-end PC to truly shine.

The VR experience is somehow encumbered by the presence of cables on the back of the headset, but the trade-off is definitely worth it, as the Oculus Rift S packs in some spectacular graphics.

However, the headset only reached the second place in our list because it's only an incremental update when considering its predecessor Oculus Rift.

In fact, while the Rift S is easier to set up, has a wider game library than the Rift at its launch and has an improved resolution, it is a downgrade when it comes to audio and refresh rate.

5. The best PC VR headset: Valve Index

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Operating system: Windows, Linux. Display: 28801600 (14401600 per eye) LCD @ 80Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, or 144Hz. Sound: Integrated headphones, 3.5mm audio jack, built-in dual microphone array. Controller input: Valve Index Controllers (formerly known as Knuckles controllers). Camera: Front-facing 960960 stereo cameras. Connectivity: DisplayPort 1.2, USB 3.0 expansion port. Online services: Steam. Weight: 809 g.

The king of commercial virtual reality on the market, the Valve Index is the next-gen VR headset that everyone has been waiting for.

Extremely-high quality display, tracking of all fingers via motion controller and a wider field of view are only some of the best VR features this headset has to offer.

A consistent upgrade from the HTC Vive, the Valve Index also has an extensive game library via Steam.

With a price of almost 400, the headset is not cheap, but it is the only way to access the world of next-gen virtual reality.

As you might have noticed from the prices above, virtual reality headsets greatly vary in price, depending on a series of factors. The most obvious one is the distinction between mobile and desktop-powered VR headsets.

The first ones are usually cheaper, starting from a few quid for a Google Cardboard (which you can make yourself if you feel so inclined), to a little over 100 for the Samsung Gear VR, our pick for best mobile-powered VR headset.

If your smartphone is not compatible with the Samsung Gear VR, there are a series of mid-range mobile VR headsets you can check-out on Amazon.

In the middle between smartphone-powered and PC headsets are the standalone ones. A still quite niche category of which the Oculus Quest is the undisputed best.

Virtual reality headsets can be used for a variety of things. While gaming applications are still the most widespread by far, there are many apps today aiding people in various tasks.

For example, shoppers are using virtual reality experiences to visualise items of clothing and try them on.

VR is also used in healthcare, to train surgeons before they operate on humans, and to treat patients who suffer from anxiety and other mental conditions.

Finally, virtual reality is widely used in education, to deliver interactive learning experiences on a larger scale, and to reach rural areas which otherwise would have no access to education.

Of course, you can also watch movies in virtual reality. The quality of the footage itself will have to be high-quality to avoid blurry images, and the resolution of your headset will play a fundamental part in delivering an optimal experience.

That being said, in order to be able to watch something from "within the scene", the footage you're watching needs to be recorded using a 360 camera. YouTube is full of such videos, and you'll be able to experience them yourself with any VR headset.

If the video you're trying to watch was not filmed with a 360 camera, however, what you'll get is more or less a traditional "cinema" experience.

Many headsets have integrated software to play videos, and if you try to watch a regular movie, it will play in front of you, as if you were standing in front of a giant screen.

Not as immersive as with a 360 video, but definitely worth a shot if you have a good VR headset.

As mentioned earlier, you can assemble a complex system to enjoy virtual reality's capabilities to the fullest.

In addition to your headset and controllers, you'll be able to add further sensors for more accuracy in your control of the virtual environment, a sound system to enjoy truly directional sounds, and much more.

However, if you usually play virtual reality in a small space or if you can't be bothered setting up a complex system, you can always use a mobile VR headset and jump into the action immediately.

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This article and any featured products have been independently chosen by The Sun journalists. All recommendations within the article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click a link and buy a product we may earn revenue: this helps to support The Sun, and in no way affects our recommendations.

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5 Best virtual reality headsets 2020 from Oculus Rift S and Valve Index to PS4 VR - The Sun

Inception review the virtual reinvention of virtual reality – The Guardian

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With Christopher Nolans new film Tenet doomed to arrive like Achilles racing the tortoise in Zenos paradox, approaching and approaching, forever closing the gap but never quite here, it is an interesting time for his adored cerebro-tech thriller Inception to get a re-release on streaming platforms. Its a measure of Nolans towering prestige that a film made a mere 10 years ago can be eligible for classic reassessment status, but theres also something disconcerting about it.

Rightly or wrongly, Nolan fans and the industry generally had been encouraged to believe in Tenet as the morale-boosting new dawn for post-Covid theatrical life the flagship for cinema as challenging, spectacular entertainment. So, inevitably, it looks as if Inception is somehow being offered as second best, or as a warmup act hustled hastily on stage to keep the audience quiet because the (similar) main event is still stuck in traffic miles away.

Well, Inception is still very impressive; looking back, I see that I found its tech and technique dazzling, but the narrative inert. Yet maybe that was not doing justice to how staggering its fantasy set pieces were.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays a brain-hacker of the future called Cobb, an industrial-espionage mercenary who specialises in invading plutocrats dreaming minds to steal commercially sensitive information. He builds detailed, complex imaginary worlds to seduce the dreamers into letting their subconscious guards down, with the help of a supercool crew of forgers: Eames (Tom Hardy), Ariadne (Ellen Page) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Now a Japanese CEO Saito (Ken Watanabe) wants to hire Cobb to implant a destructive idea inside the head of a rival, Fischer (Cillian Murphy). To do it, Cobb devises a triple-decker dream, a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream. But the memory of his late wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) will keep invading this synapse-world.

For me, despite all the Kubrickian brilliance that Nolan often conjures, there is frequent narrative claustrophobia, and I still think that it is only at the level of waking life that real drama and jeopardy exist. But those imagined worlds are breathtaking and in the decade since Inception came out, Ive seen nothing else come close. It is impossible not to gasp when Cobb takes Ariadne for coffee in Paris, and then shows her how malleable and adaptable an imagined city can be. As for DiCaprio, it is a slight shame that Nolan cant release in him the comic mischief and vulnerability that Scorsese and Tarantino know how to find, but that, arguably, isnt the point here. It is a thriller and DiCaprio is the films sleekest and sexiest piece of kit.

Watching this, I found myself realising how much Ive missed seeing Page in the top flight of movies over the past decade, and also noticing how Hardy can sometimes look as pudgy as some bloke in a pub, and sometimes snap mysteriously into shape, athletic as a future Bond. With this film, Nolan virtually reinvented virtual reality.

Inception is in cinemas from 31 July.

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Inception review the virtual reinvention of virtual reality - The Guardian

Attend Virtual Franchise Trade Shows Thursday, August 6th and Thursday, August 20th From Your Desk – PRNewswire

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FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Sign up for a free registration to attend the Virtual Reality Franchise Expo (VRFE) at http://www.franexpousa.com taking place this Thursday, August 6th between 11:00am-5:00pm EDT and/or on Thursday, August 20th.

Entrepreneurs from around the world can access hundreds of franchise concepts online and interact live with franchise executives to discuss how to get back in business after the pandemic ends.As an added benefit, many of these companies will be offering full tours in Virtual Reality accessible online or with FREE VR Headsets that they can request when signing up.

Coronavirus agility is being demonstrated by The Great American Franchise Expoas it pivots from a traditional trade show format to an Online Virtual Reality Trade Show.Rightfully claiming the title as the original and largest Virtual Reality Franchise Trade show in existence, The Great American Franchise Expo has been the innovator in using Virtual Reality in franchising since 2017.Virtual Reality (VR) is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment seeing all in 360-degree multiple images.Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside an experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed and able to interact with 3D worlds. By simulating as many senses as possible, such as vision, hearing, touch, even smell, the computer is transformed into a gatekeeper to this artificial world. The only limits to near-real VR experiences are the availability of content and cheap computing power.

"Our platforms have been extensively developed and tested over the past 2 years," says Abel Beyene, Director of The Great American Franchise Expo. "We are able to combine Virtual Reality with human interaction in a trade show.People can use their smartphones from home and 'take tours' of hundreds of franchise companies."

SOURCE Great American Franchise Expo

https://www.franexpousa.com

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Attend Virtual Franchise Trade Shows Thursday, August 6th and Thursday, August 20th From Your Desk - PRNewswire

FeetSaber Mod Transforms Beat Saber Into ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ – Virtual Reality Times

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Beat Saber has often been compared to a Dance Dance Revolution for Virtual Reality and now new mod is transforming that description into reality. Known as FeetSaber, this app literally transforms Beat Saber into a DDR.

The Beat Saber gameplay has been described as easy to learn hard to master but the games vast community of modders and track makers have largely contributed to making the game one of the top selling virtual reality titles of all times.

The new FeetSaber mod has been created by the modder Naluluna which attaches tiny lightsabers to the players feet, lowering the notes to the ground thereby transforming the game into a fairly convincing dancing game. The YouTuber omotea attached Vive Trackers to their feet and hips and used the normal controllers, LIV and the Virtual MotionCapture software to capture themselves using the mod as a full avatar.

FeetSaber is part of the NalulunaModifier Beat Saber mods suite built by Naluluna. The suite also features other zaney mods such as Badminton, Vacuum Saber and Boxing.

You can use the Beat Saber mod manager Mod Assistant to try out FeetSaber. Check out the bottom of the creators GitGub page to find the latest download link for the NalulunaModifier suite which contains the FeetSaber mod. You must use additional motion trackers such as Vive Tracker or securely attach your usual VR controllers on your feet in order to play FeetSaber.

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FeetSaber Mod Transforms Beat Saber Into 'Dance Dance Revolution' - Virtual Reality Times

Jin Air to introduce virtual reality headsets for IFE in 2H2020 | CAPA – CAPA – Centre for Aviation

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CAPA publishes more than 400 global News Briefs every weekday, covering all aspects of the aviation and travel industry. Its the most comprehensive source of market intelligence in the world, with around 50 per cent of content translated from non-English sources. The breadth of our coverage means you wont need any other news sources to monitor competitors and stay informed about the latest developments in the wider aviation sector.

Our daily News Briefs are only available to CAPA Members. Membership provides access to more than 400 News Briefs every weekday, with quick links to our Analysis Reports, Research Publications, Data Centre and more.

Its easy to keep your News Briefs relevant by customising your email alerts based on topic, region, sector, frequency and more. Once youve saved your settings, you can stay up-to-date wherever you are, by quickly scanning our News Briefs online or via the CAPA mobile app.

Membership also provides full access to our Analysis Reports, in-depth Research Publications and comprehensive Data Centre. Premium CAPA Members can also access add-ons such as our exclusive Fleet Database, Airline Cask Data tools and more, to enjoy the full capabilities of our global platform.

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Virtual Reality Content Creation Market Size, Historical Growth, Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast To 2026 – Bulletin Line

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The Virtual Reality Content Creation market study now available at MarketStudyReport.com, is a detailed sketch of the business sphere in terms of current and future trends driving the profit matrix. The report also indicates a pointwise outline of market share, market size, industry partakers, and regional landscape along with statistics, diagrams, & charts elucidating various noteworthy parameters of the industry landscape.

The latest report on Virtual Reality Content Creation market is fabricated to provide details pertaining to companies operating in the industry space with competitive edge by scrutinizing the historic market dynamics while elaborating on major developments over this period. The study further enables the leaders to frame vital business expansion strategies by highlighting growth opportunities and ongoing trends in the market.

Request a sample Report of Virtual Reality Content Creation Market at:https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/2522665?utm_source=bulletinline.com&utm_medium=AG

Information pertaining to growth parameters and prospects which influence the market growth graph over the forecast duration is entailed in the report. It also contains thorough investigation of challenges and restraints prevailing in the market sphere and how to overcome them.

The study extensively compares the past and present trends to evaluate the growth rate of the market over the analysis timeframe. It also elucidates the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on global as well as regional markets and outlines the tactics to help the industry players minimize the damage.

Important Pointers from Table of Contents:

Product Scope:

Application Terrain:

.

Ask for Discount on Virtual Reality Content Creation Market Report at:https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/2522665?utm_source=bulletinline.com&utm_medium=AG

Regional Spectrum:

Competitive Hierarchy:

Conclusively, the report examines Virtual Reality Content Creation market segmentations while focusing on other important aspects such as supply chain and sales channel which specifies data about upstream suppliers, raw materials, vendors, and downstream buyers existing in the industry.

For More Details On this Report: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-virtual-reality-content-creation-market-size-status-and-forecast-2020-2026

Related Reports:

1. Global Ultrasonic Technology Market Size, Status and Forecast 2020-2026Read More: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-ultrasonic-technology-market-size-status-and-forecast-2020-2026

2. Global Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Simulation Tools Market Size, Status and Forecast 2020-2026Read More: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-computational-fluid-dynamics-cfd-simulation-tools-market-size-status-and-forecast-2020-2026

Read More Reports On: https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/at-75-cagr-laser-diode-market-size-set-to-register-990-million-usd-by-2024-2020-08-05

Contact Us:Corporate Sales,Market Study Report LLCPhone: 1-302-273-0910Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150 Email: [emailprotected]

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How about using a digital avatar on a virtual campus? | – University Business

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If video chats have gotten you through COVID and online learning so far, you might consider creating a digital avatar to meet virtually with colleagues or teach remote classes.

You can do that onor intheVirBELAplatforms virtual reality campus, which has been in use at the Stanford Graduate School of Business for the past five years.

Users create a customized avatar, a digital version of themselves that can travel the grounds of a virtual campus.

The avatar can enter buildings for administrative meetings, class sessions and lectures, student group activities and other events.

More from UB: 4 COVID-era strategies for reopening facilities, including bubbles

Avatars can collaborate in break-out groups, participate in outdoor and indoor team-building sessions, and have other less formal interactions.Avatars can also drop into eachs offices says Alex Howland, president of VirBELA.

We see people get immersed in the environment and forget about the technology, Howland says.

Colleges and universities can design their own campus or us a generic space.

Administrators can also set up counseling centers and financial aid offices and offer other student services inside the virtual campus, Howland says.

Social elements, such as events and clubs, much of that can be augmented here, Howland says. You can take connections here and have them impact back into the real world.

UBs coronavirus page offers complete coverage of the impacts on higher ed.

Interested in technology? Keep up with the UB Tech conference.

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How about using a digital avatar on a virtual campus? | - University Business

$2 million awarded to nanotech pioneer Nelumbo Inc. for efficient refrigeration solution, supporting a robust food supply chain – Stockhouse

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HAYWARD, Calif., Aug. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nelumbo, a pioneer in the field of advanced materials and surface modifications, announced that it has been awarded $2 million in funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC) through their Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC). The EPIC program invests in scientific and technological research to accelerate the transformation of the electricity sector to meet the state’s energy and climate goals.

The California Energy Commission is proud to provide EPIC funding to support entrepreneurs like Nelumbo that are working to reduce energy use and provide benefits to ratepayers,” said CEC Vice Chair Janea Scott. Nelumbo has created an advanced anti-icing material to improve the energy efficiency of industrial refrigeration systems. Cutting edge technologies like Nelumbo’s have the potential to create energy savings while advancing California’s clean energy goals.”

The purpose of this solicitation is to fund applied research and development projects that enable cost-effective decarbonization of California’s food and beverage processing industry. Nelumbo has proposed to achieve this by advancing its anti-ice materials for deployment on industrial scale refrigeration systems.

Supporting a reliable food supply through advanced anti-icing technology

Industrial refrigeration systems rely on refrigerants for air heat exchangers to create temperature-controlled space. In doing so, the evaporation of the refrigerant removes heat from the air resulting in condensate and frost formation on the heat exchanger coils. Ice and frost formation foul the coil and diminishes the ability of the coil to cool the air, necessitating the ice to be melted off by an energy-intensive defrost process which accounts for over 20% of energy consumption of these refrigeration systems. These defrost cycles must occur though, or else temperatures will rise, and food quality will suffer.

"Recent events have highlighted exactly how critical the robustness of our food supply chain is,” said Nelumbo CEO Liam Berryman. We are pleased to work with the CEC to demonstrate a solution that can be impactful at any scale and to any system. We see this project as an expansion step into a range of new sustainable opportunities in cooling."

Nelumbo has already demonstrated its anti-ice materials on residential refrigerators as well as residential and commercial-scale heat pumps. With this funding, Nelumbo will optimize their materials for industrial substrates and scale manufacturing processes required for commercial adoption.

The CEC has always been a leader in sustainability and energy innovation, and we couldn’t be more excited to have their support on this project,” said Cody Oliver, Director of Manufacturing at Nelumbo and Project Lead for this CEC solicitation. Industrial refrigeration is a prime application for our materials and the massive, complex components provide an opportunity for us to showcase the versatility and scalability of our manufacturing processes. With the provided funding we will be able to accelerate development and seize an opportunity to have a tremendous impact on the State’s energy consumption, grid reliability, and greenhouse gas emissions while also improving food quality and reducing waste.”

About Nelumbo

At Nelumbo, we are committed to providing society with material solutions to resource scarcity and climate change. We see advanced materials as vastly underutilized, with opportunities to revolutionize the built environment and every manufactured good. To facilitate this change, we have created cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable processes to drive the broad adoption of advanced materials in everyday products.

Nelumbo

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$2 million awarded to nanotech pioneer Nelumbo Inc. for efficient refrigeration solution, supporting a robust food supply chain - Stockhouse

Occupation of Portland – The Spokesman-Review

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Donald Trump and his staff have finally gone beyond a point of no return for me. The occupation of Portland, Oregon by some type of federal police violates several amendments in the Bill of Rights, most noticeably the Fourth Amendment. The violation is The right of people to be secure in their person which are the beginning words of this amendment. People are being detained by federal authorities attired in black with no visible identification on the clothing. The Presential staff claims these persons are border patrol or homeland security. If this is so, why are they not in their uniforms? Additionally, they use unmarked vehicles.

The protesters have the right to assemble by the First Amendment. The Tenth Amendment states that powers not specifically given to the Federal Government is reserved for the states. Policing of the civilian population has historically been one of the powers in the hands of the local governments. The Ninth Amendment fully quoted here: The enumeration in the constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. This means the Federal Government can not mock or denigrate the protesters as has been done, they have the right to continue their rights as outlined above.

Finally, the black clad individuals remind me of actions by some of the most repressive regimes in the past such as lead by Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Stalin and Pinochet.

David Daugharty

Cheney

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Occupation of Portland - The Spokesman-Review

Ruth Hospitality : RUTHS HOSPITALITY GROUP, INC. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (form 10-Q) -…

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Forward-Looking Statements

In response to the business disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, we havetaken the following actions.

- Due to the government mandates regarding limited or no in-restaurant dining

due to COVID-19, we are leveraging our Ruth's Anywhere program to enhance

revenue in restaurants that have open dining rooms or in markets where

take-out and delivery sales are sufficient to cover the costs of management

staffing those locations.

- Where the Company is re-opening restaurants, it is doing so with the safety

and wellbeing of its guests and team members as the top priority.

- We suspended all new restaurant construction and non-essential capital

- We made significant reductions in ongoing operating expenses, including

curtailing operations in restaurants where take-out and delivery is not

viable and furloughing a significant number of team members in the field and

- We have been in discussions with our landlords to reduce or defer our rent

- In March, we entered into a Second Amendment to our Credit Agreement, which

increased our borrowing capacity to $150.0 million and relaxed the leverage

covenant restrictions to 4.0 times Bank Adjusted EBITDA through the first

quarter of 2021. We borrowed the remaining available amount under the

Revolving Credit Facility as a precautionary measure in order to increase

leverage covenant restrictions during the first and second quarters of 2021

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

entered into a fourth amendment to its Credit Agreement, which limits the

amount by which the monthly liquidity covenant escalates from the net cash

proceeds of an equity offering.

- We completed a common stock offering which resulted in approximately $49.6

million of net proceeds, net of underwriting discounts and commissions. The

Company used $9.8 million to pay down debt.

- The Company permanently closed five Company-owned restaurants and terminated

leases at two of the seven locations that were under construction.

Unless the context otherwise indicates, all references in this report to the"Company," "Ruth's," "we," "us," "our" or similar words are to Ruth'sHospitality Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Overview

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2019provides additional information about our business, operations and financialcondition.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Results of Operations

Second Quarter Ended June 28, 2020 (13 Weeks) Compared to Second Quarter EndedJune 30, 2019 (13 Weeks)

Other Income and Expense. During the second quarter of fiscal year 2020, werecognized other income of $3 thousand. During the second quarter of fiscal year2019, we recognized other income of $13 thousand.

Twenty-six Weeks Ended June 28, 2020 Compared to Twenty-six Weeks Ended June 30,2019

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Overview

Senior Credit Facility

The Fourth Amendment changes the amount of net cash proceeds from equityissuances that the Company must retain in order to meet certain liquidityrequirements.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources and Uses of Cash

The following table presents a summary of our net cash provided by (used in)operating, investing and financing activities (in thousands):

(14,114 )Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $ 90,560$ (1,914 )

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of June 28, 2020, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Edgar Online, source Glimpses

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Ruth Hospitality : RUTHS HOSPITALITY GROUP, INC. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (form 10-Q) -...

Inside the Beltway: Trump’s media accountability survey – Washington Times

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President Trump continues to bypass major pollsters. He has been conducting his own surveys for a while. A news and entertainment guy himself, President Trump has been polling his followers about campaign issues, popular sentiment and media performance since his campaign days in 2015. This week is no exception. Mr. Trumps campaign issued a new 25-question Mainstream Media Accountability Survey on Thursday and it is specific, indeed. A few sample questions reveal the campaign is still very much in touch with the concerns of Trump voters:

Do you believe the mainstream media actually cares about working Americans?

Do you trust the mainstream media to tell the truth about the Republican Partys positions and actions?

Do you believe the media is engaging in a witch hunt to take down President Trump?

Do you believe political correctness has created biased news coverage of both illegal immigration and radical Islamic terrorism?

Do you believe people of faith have been unfairly characterized by the media?

Do you believe the media wrongly attributes gun violence to Second Amendment rights?

Do you agree with President Trumps media strategy to cut through the medias noise and deliver our message straight to the people?

OVERWHELMED BY THE NEWS

Thanks to the internet, 24/7 broadcasting and social media, the restless, ever-changing news is a nonstop presence in our lives, often amped up with opinion and shrill delivery. Does it make you jittery? A gigantic new poll of 20,045 U.S. adults agree with you.

Americans feel that the news media is not working for them due to the sheer volume of news, news mixed with opinion and their increased perceptions of bias in news, says the wide-ranging survey from Gallup and the Knight Foundation, which notes that news consumers often feel overwhelmed and unable to sort out the facts.

Some respond by digging deeper into the issues, sometimes they disengage from the news entirely, others cultivate skills that help them parse the news.

Some numbers: 62% say its harder to be well-informed because they must sort through information to determine whats true and important. The most frequent cause of this, cited by three fourths of the respondents, is the jumbled mix of news and non-news followed by the relentless speed of the news cycle and the increase of news organizations now able to deliver news anytime, any place and in multiple formats. Both were cited by 63%.

In response to feeling overwhelmed by the abundance of news sources in the current media environment, a plurality of Americans (41%) say they only pay attention to one or two trusted sources, while 1 in 3 (31%) try to consult a variety of sources to see where they agree. About 1 in 6 Americans (17%) opt for the most extreme response, saying they stop paying attention to news altogether, while 8% rely on others to help them sort out what they need to know, the poll analysis said.

GOP CONVENTION: SAFETY FIRST

Not so long ago, 50,000 attendees, 15,000 journalists and 8,000 volunteers were expected to attend the three-day Republican National Convention, which begins Aug. 24. The coronavirus pandemic put a huge damper on that plan. The important part of the big show, however, is still intact for the pared down event in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Six delegates from each state and territory are planning to attend, for a total of 336 delegates, organizers said in a new advisory.

All must have a COVID-19 test beforehand, there will be symptom tracking, temperature checks, required social distancing and masks, plus on-site health personnel and telemedicine consultations if needed.

The plan, says medical adviser Dr. Jeffry Runge, is based on evolving scientific evidence and guidance issued by the Presidential Coronavirus Task Force, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases. President Trump likely will give a virtual convention acceptance speech from the White House.

ON THE RADAR

A new interest group has arrived: Conservative Clergy of Color is an alternative voice in a pivotal time.

We started Conservative Clergy of Color because, frankly, we were fed up with Black Lives Matter and the liberal media always controlling the narrative on race, said chairman Bishop Aubrey Shines in a statement.

Black Lives Matter is run by self-proclaimed Marxists and wants to openly dismantle our country and its values. We stand for the Judeo-Christian principles and traditions that helped build our country, and we want to highlight those values along with positive black success stories that dont involve violence, the pastor said.

America was built by the likes of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, the Tuskegee Airmen and other African Americans of character and faith. None of them burned anything down to make positive changes in our country, unlike the mobs who have upended Americas cities. Conservative Clergy of Colors campaign uses the example of these great leaders as the model on which we move our country forward.

WEEKEND REAL ESTATE

For sale: Skyspace, a steel, concrete and glass desert sanctuary built in 2009 on two hillside acres near Las Vegas, Nevada. Five bedrooms, eight baths, floor-to-ceiling windows, detached floating dining room; custom kitchen, wine cellar, media room, elevator, subterranean indoor basketball court; 12,991 square feet with Zen garden, resort-style pool, Jacuzzi with ice plunge, outdoor kitchen, mountain views, much more. Priced at $10.5 million through Isluxury.com/property/1437.

POLL DU JOUR

50% of U.S. voters say President Trump is conservative; 64% of Republicans, 45% of independents and 55% of Democrats agree.

25% are not sure what ideology Mr. Trump favors; 7% of Republicans, 27% of independents and 24% of Democrats agree.

15% say he is moderate; 20% of Republicans, 21% of independents and 8% of Democrats agree.

10% say he is liberal; 9% of Republicans, 7% of independents and 14% of Democrats agree.

Source: A Yahoo/YouGov poll of 1,507 U.S. adults conducted July 28-30.

Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.

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Inside the Beltway: Trump's media accountability survey - Washington Times