A collection of zines produced by high school students during last years Zines for Progress project at the WolfsonianFIU. (Full zines can be found at zines.wolfsonian.org)

Students from eight local high schools are finding their voices on social issues and expressing their creativity through the WolfsonianFIUs Zines for Progress community outreach program.

Zine artists combine creative writing, journalism, photography and art to produce small-circulation, self-published works often dealing with controversial or niche topics that may not make it into mainstream media.

Zines came about during the punk scene in 1970s London when musicians had their friends help design art for their album covers and the information in the sleeves. From there, the trend of self-publishing grew.

The idea was to give voice to marginalized, unconventional and controversial points of view and experiences, and I would say in certain cases there was definitely a tone of anarchy and an attempt to subvert the dominant paradigm, said Zoe Welch, who oversees the Zines for Progress program at the Wolfsonian. While some of those sentiments are still present in zines today, the works can also be fun and are traded among artists.

To start the process, Welch visits visual and language arts classes at the eight participating schools to discuss the Wolfsonian and to help students brainstorm their zines. The students then take a field trip to the museum to view its collection of modern art and start working on their zines under the direction of Miami artist Deming Harriman.

I think art education is extraordinarily important, because you have the emotion and the creativity and the ability to do something that is yours, Harriman said. These kids are smart, and they are bombarded with all these issues that they care about and have opinions about, and the Zines project is an outlet to express that. They get to research topics that theyre upset about and passionate about and educate themselves more.

Miami artist Deming Harriman works with seniors in a creative writing class at G. Holmes Braddock High School to help brainstorm ideas for their zines.

Heather Cook, the head of education at the Wolfsonian, said the project, which is in its second year and is funded by a gift from Wells Fargo, is an important creative outlet to hundreds of kids in our community who are finding their voices on the challenges that face their generation.

The project encourages students to research social issues present in todays society and find ways to visualize through art the information they learn, helping them engage more deeply with the content.

The creative process is a much more organic way to learn. In class, we talk about congruency between the idea, the image and the message. It really helps promote critical thinking, said G. Holmes Braddock High School teacher Caridad McCormick, whose twelfth grade creative writing class is participating in Zines for Progress this year.

Alicia Lores and Jin Milan, Braddock seniors in McCormicks class, are working on a zine that discusses ageism. They want to find ways to express the prejudice many people of older generations feel toward Millennials through their art.

It comes from our own personal experiences, said Milan. If youre young, you dont know anything about life and youre not entitled to an opinion.

We recognize that a lot of the time theyre not intentionally patronizing their kids, added Lores. For example, the 18-year-olds sit with kids at dinner because they cant talk about adult things. Its not intentional. They just still see us as children. But it is a form of prejudice that needs to be acknowledged, because once you acknowledge it, you can begin to fix the problem.

The two are using photos of adults with their eyes crossed out to symbolize a sense of blindness to the younger generations plight; and they want to include interviews with their parents and family, as well as comments from social media, in articles they intend to write on the subject. The two will also create a playlist of music to accompany their zine to set the tone for the reader.

I am so impressed by the sophistication of kids today, said Welch. I dont remember having such a strong handle on the world, and I dont remember being as interested in my own education when I was a teenager as these kids are.

Lores and Milan were grateful for the opportunity to work on their zine one-on-one with a professional artist while at the Wolfsonian.

Its been very useful to work with Deming, said Milan. Weve gotten lot of ideas just from being here with her and having her look at our work.

At the close of the program, students will have the chance to showcase their work alongside that of professional zine artists at the Miami Zine Fair, which takes place during the O, Miami Poetry Festival in April. Their work will also be digitized and included in the Wolfsonians zine collection.

Said McCormick, Theres so little students can do without worrying about the test or the score or the outcome, and this is just giving them space to be free and be themselves, while making it an academic experience at the same time. Believe it or not, we can still do both.

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High schoolers create 'zines for progress' with WolfsonianFIU - FIU News

Approaching a week until Virginias first baseball game, Brian OConnor is closer to answers for the 16th-ranked Cavaliers biggest questions.

When will UVa decide on its weekend rotation? Soon.

What day will Adam Haseley move from center field to the mound? Sunday.

Who are the other starting options? Daniel Lynch, Evan Sperling, Derek Casey and Noah Murdock.

And, as a bonus, whats the confidence level in this mostly unproven staff? High.

OConnor will officially begin his 14th season as Virginias coach on Feb. 17 against Liberty in Charleston, South Carolina. Unlike past years, theres no certain ace to throw on that afternoon. Such a role will have to develop over the next few months, as is the case with many of the pitching jobs in 2017.

For now, though, the competition has been great, OConnor said Tuesday at Davenport Field. This last weekend in the scrimmages I thought we started to turn the corner a little bit. Theres a lot of guys that are throwing the ball really well, throwing strikes.

Haseley, a junior left-hander with 11 career wins and an ERA of 1.86, is the most polished of the bunch. But hes also an everyday outfielder with a career .275 batting average, seven home runs and 56 RBI.

The plan is for Haseley to play his position twice a weekend and then begin the third game of every series as a pitcher.

As for Haseleys rotation mates, OConnor will likely make that announcement early next week.

The candidate pool is intriguing.

Lynch, a sophomore lefty, is coming off a trying freshman season that included six weekend starts, but also bouts with sickness and injury. He went 1-3 with a 5.49 ERA.

Coming out of the gate last year, he pitched a great ballgame opening week for us, OConnor said, nodding to Lynchs five shutout innings and nine strikeouts against Appalachian State on Feb. 19. And he had a tough time sustaining it for a lot of different reasons. Strength level is one, and then he got sick and things like that. He had some back issues and some different things that made it tough for him.

But I still think he gained some valuable experience. He is way more improved now. Hes stronger, hes more confident. Hes throwing the ball more aggressively. I really like what I see.

Sperling has been with the program for two years, but is still seeking his first pitch in a Cavalier uniform. The 6-foot-6, 215-pounder had Tommy John surgery before touching Grounds and then went through two knee surgeries while redshirting last spring.

He joins Casey, now 21 months removed from Tommy John, as talented options with limited college rsums. Casey, a redshirt sophomore with a career 4-1 record and 3.06 ERA, hasnt pitched in a game since April 2015.

Theyve been around here for a year or two, and theyve learned, OConnor said. So they are a year wiser and things like that.

Derek Casey did pitch half a season for us. So they know whats going on, they know whats expected. Even though they havent been in a whole lot of situations, they have been there and have witnessed it.

But I use the word uncertainty. I think the talent is there, I think the skill level is there. They just havent had to do it yet.

Sperling told reporters last week he feels stronger than before.

It feels great, feels like youre part of the team again, Sperling said. You kind of feel isolated when youre hurt and you cant do much, but I feel good and I can contribute a lot.

Murdock, a 6-8 freshman righty from the Richmond area, was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 38th round of last Junes MLB Draft. Initially, OConnor said, Murdock could be a mid-week starter or come out of the bullpen, can be a swing guy for us.

Inexperience at starter is going to expected to be blended by veterans out of the bullpen. OConnor mentioned senior Alec Bettinger, juniors Jack Roberts, Bennett Sousa and Tommy Doyle (closer) as key pieces to potential mound success in the seasons early months.

I think theres real value in the first part of the season where you have guys coming out of your bullpen who have experience, OConnor said. It gives you a good feeling. Early in the season, these guys [starters] arent going to go out and throw seven or eight innings. So whos going to come in?

OK, youve played five innings, youre tied, youre up a run or youre down a run, whos going to come in to throw the next two or three innings? Thats critical.

Andrew Ramspacher covers UVa football, men's basketball and baseball for The Daily Progress and Cavalier Insider. Contact him at (434) 978-7250, aramspacher@dailyprogress.com or on Twitter @ARamspacher.

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Cavaliers' pitching rotation a work in progress | Cavalier Insider ... - The Daily Progress

President Barack Obama delivers remarks during a BET event on the South Lawn of the White House on Oct. 21 in Washington.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The era of Barack Obama is over. Eight years of liberal governance yielding a surprisingly comprehensive list of achievements. A stimulus program that stanched the bleeding of the Great Recession and set the stage for an extended period of job growth and rapid innovation in key sectors of the economy. A bailout of the automotive industry that rescued millions of jobs and saved an entire region from economic ruin. A health reform law that, despite its flaws and problems, patched critical gaps in the U.S. health care system and extended coverage to millions of Americans. A financial reform law that established strict new requirements for banks and made consumer financial protection a key priority of the federal government. And an ambitious plan to reduce carbon emissions and spare the world from the worst consequences of global climate change. Within each of these, you could find smaller programs that brought outsize impact, seemingly modest initiatives that, if they happened under any other Democratic president, would be praised as major achievements.

Jamelle Bouie isSlates chief political correspondent.

Or at least, thats the argument New York magazines Jonathan Chait makes in his early retrospective on the Obama presidency, Audacity: How Barack Obama Defied His Critics and Created a Legacy That Will Prevail. And in the wake of recent eventsthe election of Donald Trump, his inauguration, and his rapid move to implement an ethno-nationalist, plutocratic agendaits almost a comforting argument. As Chait writes, Barack Obamas presidency represented one of those great bursts. It was a vision and incarnation of an American future. His enemies rage against and long to restore a past of rigid social hierarchy or a threadbare state that yields to the economically powerful. But he, not they, represents the values of the youngest Americans and the world they will one day inhabit.

There is no doubt that some portion of Obamas presidency will endure. Republicans are just now, for example, beginning to see the massive political challenge involved in repealing the Affordable Care Act and upending the health care system as it presently exists. But Chait, in his optimism, understates the force of backlash, of the fierce reaction that always meets progress and often overtakes it, both as it exists and as it can exist. And his confidence that Obamas legacy will survive gives short shrift to how backlash isnt just a bump on the road to a better future. It is a lived experience, one that can consume entire liveswhole generationsbefore the arc of the universe begins to move back toward progress.

Whats missing from Chaits analysis, put simply, is a sense of tragedy. In that hes not too different from Obama himself, whose soaring invocations of a more perfect union often understated the costs of backlash, even as he acknowledged the possibility. Given his place in the landscape of political journalism, however, its no surprise Chait makes the same omission. Writing from first the New Republic and later New York magazine, Chait has long been a strong defender of the Obama administration and Obama-style liberalism, not just from the right, but from the left as well. Wary of the dogmatism (and increasingly illiberalism) that now defines movement conservatism, Chait also critiques what he sees as the same when it emerges on the left (or more precisely, to his left).

You could see all of thishis affinity for Obama and support of mainstream liberalism, his optimistic view of the present course of American life, and his wariness toward left-wing critiquesin his 2014 exchange with the Atlantic magazines Ta-Nehisi Coates that ranged over topics including welfare reform, the New Republics racial history, the notion of a culture of poverty, and the question of racial optimism. In that debate, which he recapitulates in somewhat veiled form at the beginning of Audacity, he endorses Obamas view of racial progress against Coates more skeptical and circumspect position. It is one thing to notice the persistence of racism, quite another to interpret the history of black America as mainly one of continuity rather than mainly one ofprogress, wrote Chait, a line echoed in the book, as he contends that Obama made substantive progress on advancing racial equality. The growing awareness of racism among liberals during his presidency gave new force and prestige to a belief that racism was endemic not only to [Americas] history but its very character, he observes. When liberals bring up the history of American race relations, they usually emphasize how little has changed, rather than how much.

Audacity is a work of triumphalism, hardly diminished by the outcome of the election.

Chaits self-positioning in the ecosystem of American politics isnt mindless contrarianism. It comes from a sincere belief that liberals (and the left more broadly) are too stubbornly fatalistic to see that Democratic presidents, and Obama in particular, make real headway on their goals and priorities, despite inevitable obstacles, setbacks, and failures. The American state of the present day has a dramatically more progressive cast than it did a half century ago, and it had a more progressive cast a half century ago than it did fifty years before, and on and on. Yet the progressives who produced these victories have lived them as deflating failures. They have made the same errors of perception again and again, writes Chait.

Audacity is his attempt to correct this error. To show progressives that their pessimism and fatalism is unfounded, and to show thatpace their view of the presentObama was a success. A huge one. Obama presented a new vision of America, to the world and to itself. And he had, to a degree hardly anybody recognized at the time, made his vision of a new America real, writes Chait. But heres where the problems begin. Its not that Chait doesnt have a pointalthough, this point may have been stronger had Hillary Clinton prevailed in the presidential contestbut that he overcorrects, understating the real political and policy failures that marked Obamas tenure. He fails to tackle the more sophisticated critiques of the administration, from both the left and the right, typically aiming his counterarguments at Obamas weakest critics instead.

And so, on the recession and housing crash, Chait spends his time dueling with tendentious and partisan opponents like Amity Shlaes and Charles Krauthammerwho slammed any stimulus as unnecessary and harmfulrather than critics like journalist David Dayen, who argues that the administration dropped the ball on housing relief in a way that prolonged economic pain, undermined the recovery, and contributed to the discontent that nearly derailed Obamas presidency at several points, and may yet derail his legacy.

You could lodge a similar complaint about Chaits own treatment of heath care reform in this book. For as much as the Affordable Care Act has been a successand Chait details all the ways that is truehe gives short shift to glaring problems like inadequate subsidies (premiums and deductibles are still too high for many millions of Americans) and the absence of actual universal coverage. Chait is correct to argue that all major social programs are inadequate at the start (Social Security was threadbare and designed to appease Southern segregationists in the Roosevelt coalition), but that doesnt erase the impact of what that means in the moment for actual people.

This gets to the general problem with triumphalist narratives, and Chaits brand of triumphalism in particular. A teleological framing of history tends to discount what it actually means to live through and experience setbacks. The eight-year administration of Ulysses S. Grant saw genuine progress for black Americans. They secured voting rights and won federal protection from racist vigilantes; they elected leaders to the House and Senate, and built thriving communities for themselves. This was dismantled in fairly swift fashion by a backlash of conservative politics and while vigilantism. One way to look at this is to say that, in the long run, Grants legacyand that of those black Americanssurvived. The story since that period has been one of slow progress built on those gains and experiences. But the other way to describe it is as a long twilight, where black Americans struggled under the weight of oppression until circumstances and events allowed them to recover and reassert earlier gains. Yes, there was progress, but at the cost of generations of pain and suffering.

Chaits triumphalism, his teleological view of American history, discounts what it means to experience that twilight. Put in more concrete terms, the fact that Obamas accomplishments will likely endurethe fact that Donald Trump cannot blot them from the recordwill not console the Americans who see family deported, who see children killed by unaccountable police officers, who see the richest Americans siphoning the nations wealth for themselves. Even if we recover from the policies of the Trump administrationeven if a new liberal era emerges in responseit wont change what ordinary people suffered through; it wont restore the loss.

Audacity is a work of triumphalism, hardly diminished by the outcome of the presidential election. And in its confident defense of the mainstream liberal consensus, it fits comfortably into Chaits oeuvre as a writer and a thinker. Which is to say it suffers from the same overconfidence that led those same liberalsObama includedto discount the threat of Donald Trump. Committed to a teleology of progress, albeit open to the reality of historical irony, this liberalism lacks a visceral sense of the tragic. That sense of tragedythat sense that those inevitable reversals engender real pain for real peopleis vital. It puts confidence in its proper context, revealing thateven if we are right about the direction of the worldwe cannot forget the suffering that comes in those zigs and zags of history. Perhaps, if liberals like Chaitor even myselfwere more attuned to that possibility of profound loss, then maybe we would have better anticipated the present moment and all the pain it promises.

Rediscover the joys and surprises of great literature! Spend 2016 reading and discussing six great novels alongside Slate's books and culture columnist Laura Miller and her fellow Slatesters. Join us today.

Read the rest of the pieces in the Slate Book Review.

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The Cost of Progress - Slate Magazine

WASHINGTON

Greece, which has been struggling for years with high debts and painful rates of unemployment, is making progress toward reducing its massive budget problems and restoring economic growth, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.

But the IMF said the country's debts remain unsustainable over the long term.

The IMF predicts Greece's economy will reach long-run growth of just under 1 percent a year, unimpressive but an improvement on years when the economy was shrinking. And Greece will meet the IMF's target by reporting primary annual budget surpluses - which do not include interest payments - equal to 1.5 percent of economic output.

Since the financial crisis left it buried in debt and unable to issue bonds in financial markets, Greece has relied on international bailouts. Its eurozone creditors have forced it to make painful budget cuts that caused a deep recession. Unemployment is 23 percent. Most IMF directors said Greece doesn't need any more austerity. But they said the country should reduce pension payments and make more people pay taxes to raise money to help the poor and cut overall tax rates.

The country's debt is unsustainable at around 180 percent of gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, the IMF said. Most IMF directors say the country will probably need debt relief to pay its bills over the long term.

Greece is under pressure to conclude its latest bailout negotiations in time for a scheduled Feb. 20 meeting of eurozone finance ministers. That would allow the country to join the European Central Bank's bond-buying program, which would boost market confidence and make it easier for Greece to return to the bond market later this year.

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IMF: Greece's Debts are Still Unsustainable, Despite Progress - Voice of America

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump salutes as he arrives at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, on Monday. (photo credit:REUTERS)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus first summit with US President Donald Trump probably wont revolutionize the Middle East. But with America reeling from its disruptive new leader, and Israel recovering from the nightmare of extremists clashing with police officers at Amona, there may be an opportunity for a reset.

After eleven years as prime minister, Netanyahu should start taking some risks, to push Israelis and Palestinians beyond the status quo. The despicable violence at Amona demonstrates the dangers of kowtowing to a shrill, aggressive minority. There is no excuse for attacking Israeli security officers these hoodlums should be punished severely. Netanyahu should reduce the absurd million- shekel-per-family bribe he paid Amonas residents to leave, which didnt even buy him peace. Some of these funds should be redirected to compensate every security officer who participated in the eviction doubling the share for the 46 wounded officers. Every Knesset member who respects democracy should endorse a law demanding such adjustments; the settler movement must learn that their violent extremists hurt their cause.

By (finally) confronting the fanatic settlers, Netanyahu could strengthen his credibility for a second step: reviving the two-state solution by reimagining it. He should help Israelis accept four realities. First, right-wing Israelis must realize that the Palestinians exist; their national aspirations must be met somehow. Second, a Palestinian state already exists in many ways the Palestinian Authority controls territories which even the most ideological settlers never enter because Israeli law prevents them.

Third, left-wing Israelis must learn that contiguity is passe. In an age of missiles and instant communication, for a Palestinian people still deeply tribal and even more deeply divided between Hamasistan in Gaza and the PLOs West Bank kleptocracy, it is time to start thinking Hawaii or Singapore. Palestinians can fulfill their national aspirations through an archipelago of non-contiguous territorial centers, building on the Singaporean model of the thriving city-state. And fourth, culture counts; Palestinians must end incitement, delegitimization, terrorism and rule by dictatorship they even torture their own people! while nurturing a democratic culture of mutuality, accountability, non-violence, civil society.

The Israeli Left must first accept the last two propositions.

If extremists with what we could call their faultanalogiphilia, addiction to faulty, inflammatory analogies start yelling Bantustans and rationalizing Palestinian terrorism as justified given the occupation, this challenging plan will die at childbirth. Israelis must reconsider their encrusted positions which sustain an unsustainable status quo. Palapologists (i.e. Palestinian apologists) who claim Israelis would never accept such compromises should remember that the Jews accepted the 1947 UN Partition Plan, because half a loaf their clich was better than none.

After the Israeli debate, the conversation can go global to the Americans and President Trump; to Israels newly-recruited anti-Iranian allies the Saudis and the Egyptians (thank you Barack Obama); then, finally, to the Palestinians.

Abandoning contiguity will correct two mistakes Israelis and the Oslo peace processors keep making. The dynamics since the 1990s keep undermining moderates and boosting extremists. By disengaging from Gaza unilaterally, Ariel Sharon deprived PA President Mahmoud Abbas of any credibility for being less fanatic than Hamas and received no concessions or any sense of responsibility from the PA. Hamas declared victory, claiming that terrorism pushed out the Zionists. Similarly, Netanyahu should state explicitly: the reduced amount of land Israel is offering, compared to Ehud Baraks and Ehud Olmerts more sweeping proposals, is punishment for Palestinian incitement, terrorism and rejectionism.

Peace will only come when the reasonable Palestinian majority silences the murderous Palestinian extremists who usually dominate. Triggering a Palestinian backlash against the Palestinian fanatics for costing them land might reestablish the proper equation. Palestinians must learn: peaceful, reasonable compromises yield positive results; hateful and vicious attacks, verbal or physical, cost them land.

Beyond this, Israels security needs need addressing. The John Kerry-era conversation about the military presence Israel requires in the Jordan Valley should be revisited.

Beyond that, every passenger on every plane taking off and landing in Israel must be confident that no Palestinian with an RPG is waiting on some withdrawn-from Israeli high point overlooking Ben-Gurion Airport to shoot down the jet. Israel must also guarantee that the Palestinians dont use a renewed peace process and more autonomy to return to the rule-by-gangs that emerged in Yasser Arafats terrorist state. Back then, these criminals terrorized their fellow Palestinians indiscriminately while attacking their Jewish neighbors brazenly. Their crimes spilled over into a wave of car thefts in Jerusalem, Kfar Saba and other towns abutting the open, non-security- barriered borders. Palestinian thieves knew they only needed a few minutes to reach their territory and a virtual free pass.

In short, Israelis and Palestinians must reexamine assumptions, learn some Oslo lessons, and start adjusting to new realities. Trumps unnerving leadership-by-chaos might be useful here. The Palestinians perpetuating their reputation as the worlds brattiest nationalist movement are whining that the Trump people dont even bother to respond to us. Good. Obamas indulgent responsiveness toward them only escalated their demands. Its time to give the Palestinians terrorist dictatorship-in-formation tough love and the Israelis democratic state some love love. The Saudis and Egyptians are also fed up with Palestinian tantrums and want a recalibrated Middle East.

We know in the Middle East how to hunker down in our usual trenches; its time for new leadership, new thinking and new openness, among Israelis and Palestinians, the leaders and the led.

The writer, professor of history at McGill University and a visiting professor at the Ruderman Program at Haifa University, is the author of The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s, published by St. Martins Press. His next book will update Arthur Hertzbergs The Zionist Idea. Follow on Twitter @GilTroy.

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Can US disrupter-in-chief trigger some progress? - Jerusalem Post Israel News

Since taking over as coordinator two seasons ago, Keith Butler has had a vision of how he wants the Steelers to play defense.

It was on display in 2016.

On Nov. 20 at Cleveland, the Steelers turned a four-man rush out of their five-defensive backs sub-package into a sack and a forced fumble by linebacker Ryan Shazier that was recovered in the end zone by defensive tackle Javon Hargrave.

On Jan. 22 at New England, another four-man rush out of the nickel resulted in a Hargrave sack of quarterback Tom Brady and a subsequent punt.

There were many such examples throughout the season, particularly during the nine-game winning streak that delivered the Steelers from 4-5 to the AFC Championship Game.

But there werent enough of them against the Patriots.

We werent tight enough in coverage, head coach Mike Tomlin assessed after New Englands 36-17 victory denied the Steelers a berth in Super Bowl LI. We didnt apply enough consistent pressure to the quarterback.

The Steelers had demonstrated the ability to stick with receivers and assault pockets previously.

The next step will be to do so more consistently in 2017.

But the progress made by the defense in 2016 provided a foundation upon which to continue to build.

Early in the season the Steelers struggled with basics such as tackling and being in the right gap, and with mental aspects of the game such as not trying to do too much individually and compromising the scheme.

But improvement was evident in all of those areas as the season progressed despite losing defensive end Cam Heyward for the season in a 35-30 loss to Dallas on Nov. 13.

James Harrison started at right outside linebacker, Sean Davis started at strong safety and outside linebacker Bud Dupree made his 2017 debut the following week in Cleveland.

Soon thereafter, a lineup that had included Artie Burns starting at cornerback since Nov. 6 at Baltimore solidified and the defense sprouted teeth.

The Steelers amassed eight sacks on Nov. 20 in Cleveland. They picked off a pair of passes and came up with a couple of goal-line stands on Nov. 24 at Indianapolis. They held the Bills No. 1 rushing attack to 67 yards on the ground on Dec. 11 at Buffalo.

They were a different defense, reflected by their final regular-season rankings of No. 12 in total defense, No. 13 in rushing defense and No. 16 in passing defense.

The Steelers had been No. 21 in total defense in 2015 and No. 18 in 2014.

Projections for 2017 included Heywards return; Burns, Davis and Hargrave coming back as second-year pros rather than rookie starters; Shazier building upon a season that saw him emerge as the only player in the NFL with at least three sacks (three-and-a-half), three interceptions (three) and three forced fumbles (three); and linebacker Lawrence Timmons potentially playing next season as one of four players in Steelers history with at least 30 career sacks and at least 10 career interceptions (Joey Porter, Greg Lloyd and Mike Merriweather are the others).

Timmons will become an unrestricted free agent on March 9, as will Harrison.

The goal of the defense, no matter the eventual configuration, will be what its been since Butler took over in 2015.

Its always the same formula, Butler said before the Patriots game. We smash the run, try to put them in position to throw the ball and try to put pressure on Brady.

Theyll try to do so more often next season.

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Progress apparent on defense - Pittsburgh Steelers - Steelers.com

WASHINGTON (AP) Greece, which has been struggling for years with high debts and painful rates of unemployment, is making progress toward reducing its massive budget problems and restoring economic growth, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.

But the IMF said the countrys debts remain unsustainable over the long term.

The IMF predicts Greeces economy will reach long-run growth of just under 1 percent a year, unimpressive but an improvement on years when the economy was shrinking. And Greece will meet the IMFs target by reporting primary annual budget surpluses which do not include interest payments equal to 1.5 percent of economic output.

Since the financial crisis left it buried in debt and unable to issue bonds in financial markets, Greece has relied on international bailouts. Its Eurozone creditors have forced it to make painful budget cuts that caused a deep recession. Unemployment is 23 percent. Most IMF directors said Greece doesnt need any more austerity. But they said the country should reduce pension payments and make more people pay taxes to raise money to help the poor and cut overall tax rates.

The countrys debt is unsustainable at around 180 percent of gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, the IMF said. Most IMF directors say the country will probably need debt relief to pay its bills over the long term.

Greece is under pressure to conclude its latest bailout negotiations in time for a scheduled Feb. 20 meeting of eurozone finance ministers. That would allow the country to join the European Central Banks bond-buying program, which would boost market confidence and make it easier for Greece to return to the bond market later this year.

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IMF: Greece's debts are still unsustainable despite progress - The Seattle Times

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Audi, new champion of womens equity at work, has no women on their board, editor Judd Legum wrote on Twitter:

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No women sit on Audis Management Board, but its 14-person team of American executives includes two women.

Legum was not alone in his criticism of the ad; 25 percent of the comments on the ad across social media were negative, Business Insider reports.

The ad begins with a father watching his daughter in a race, asking himself, What do I tell my daughter?

Do I tell her that her grandpa is worth more than her grandma? That her dad is worth more than her mom? the narrator asks.

The father wonders how he can tell his daughter that despite her education, her drive, her skills, her intelligence, she still runs the risk of being valued less than every man she ever meets.

At the end, his daughter wins the race, and she and her father walk to an Audi right before the slogan progress is for everyone flashes across the screen.

The company decided to make a statement about gender pay equality on Twitter by saying, At Audi, we are committed to equal pay for equal work.

Despite what Audi claims in the ad, the gender pay gap is not wide.

According to the Daily Beast, the 23-cent gender pay gap is merely the difference between the average earnings of all men and women working fulltime.

The statistic does not take into account factors such asdifferences in occupations, positions, education, job tenure, or hours worked per week.

Once those factors are included, the wage gap is only a five-cent difference, and no one knows whether the cause is discrimination or some other hard-to-measure difference between the genders.

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Think Progress Editor Mocks Audi for Equal Pay Super Bowl Ad - Breitbart News

Deutsche Bundesbank has made progress developing a blockchain-based settlement infrastructure, but the system is not yet market ready.

Carl-Ludwig Thiele, a member of the Deutsche Bundesbank executive board, offered an update on the banks progress speaking at the G20 conference in Wiesbaden. His comments, Digitizing finance, financial inclusion and financial literacy, are available on the banks website.

Thiele noted the bank develops and operates large financial market infrastructures in line with technological advances. The bank needs to be aware of the potential benefits and risks of this technology early on.

Working with Deutsche Brse, the bank has developed a preliminary prototype for a blockchain-based settlement that has the following capabilities:

The projects goal is to learn the following: How the technology works, How reliable and secure blockchain-based transactions are, What factors impact the costs of blockchain-based transactions, How effective and efficient blockchain-based processes are, How current processes can be improved with blockchain technology.

Improving process efficiency is an overriding goal. A shared data pool across all entities concerned should enable standardizing and simplifying some of the more complex transaction monitoring processes.

A shared data pool combined with flexible access rights would, for example, provide the conditions whereby relevant regulatory reporting and internal audit requirements are addressed with less effort and are more securely designed.

Deutsche Bundesbank chose a concept based on a Hyperledger blockchain. The top considerations were: A closed or permissioned blockchain network, in which only authorized users can transact on the network. Responsibility and confidentiality. Future financial transactions will be governed by current standards in these two key areas. Hence, every transaction is encrypted, in addition to the transacting parties identities.

Also read: Industry report: blockchain technology will save banks billions

The study indicates blockchain technology can be adapted meet current financial system needs and requirements. And while the prototype works, further development for mass use presents challenges.

The test application allows for simulating large-volume delivery-versus-payment securities transactions.

The joint project has developed an elementary, though functional, blockchain-based application catering to the financial sectors basic requirements.

The bank is presently unable to know if the application can allow for mass use or whether this it is a viable option in terms of costs.

With this as our starting point, we aim to develop a technically more sophisticated prototype, capable of providing information on technical performance and thus allowing comparison with our present settlement infrastructure, Thiele said.

Image from Wikimedia.

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Deutsche Bundesbank Cites Progress With Blockchain-Based Settlement - CryptoCoinsNews

Team Ninja's SoulsGaiden-like marries the best of Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden with a little Bloodborne stirred in.

In case you missed the memo, FromSoftware is done making Dark Souls games. Unless studio president Hidetaka Miyazaki changes his mind, next month's Ringed City DLC is not only Dark Souls 3's final expansion, it's the last piece of Dark Souls content ever.

Rather than leave that bloodstain to dry, Nioh pays homage to FromSoftware's modern classic while driving the genre forward at breakneck speed.

Developed by Team Ninja, Nioh evokes Ninja Gaiden and Dark Souls with a little Bloodborne thrown in for good measure. The basics will be familiar to anyone who's at least dabbled in a Souls game. You'll creep through dozens of areas painted in shades of grim and bleak, fighting enemies using a bevy of weapons, resting at shrines that both heal you and reset enemies and traps, spending amrita instead of souls to upgrade attributes.

Instead of playing it safe and conforming to a winning pedigree, Nioh builds on FromSoftware's ideas by injecting them with the raw speed of its 3D Ninja Gaiden series. Every weapon has a light and heavy attack, but your character can switch between low, mid, and high styles on the fly, effectively giving you six basic strikes.

Besides amrita, you earn skill points that you can spend on skills unique to each weapon class. Specializing in kusarigama (a wicked sickle-and-chain combo) afforded me access to skills like a kick that drains enemy stamina, a flurry of strikes that chews through life meters, and a throat slice that deals massive damage to winded enemies who neglected their stamina.

Minding your stamina, known as ki, is paramount in Nioh, but Team Ninja put a twist on the mechanic. Every time you finish an attack, you'll notice a blue glow surrounding your character. Tap R1 at the right time and you'll recoup all the ki you expended in a flash. Performing a ki pulse is reminiscent of getting hit in Bloodborne and being able to reclaim lost hit points by counterattacking quickly, but you always regain at least a smidgeon of ki even if your timing is off, so you won't feel punished if you prefer defense over aggression.

Ki regeneration has the added benefit of dispelling portals of dark energy that spring up around certain enemies and bosses. You can fight in those pools, but you'll regenerate ki at a snail's pace while inside them, and the rate of regeneration usually means the difference between success and respawning at the nearest shrine.

All of this boils down to layered and rewarding combat. You're never hurting for ways to dispatch enemies, and the staggering amount of options at your fingertips encourages you to switch styles and strategies depending on who or what you're fighting.

You almost have to. Dark Souls let you get away with picking off enemies one at a time while their buddies stood gaping at the growing pile of corpses lying at their feet. Nioh's mobs know when their friends are dying. Sniping with your bow or rifle gives you enough time to kill one, maybe two before the rest of the pack is on their feet and stampeding toward you.

Nioh's two biggest departures from Dark Souls lie in how you explore its world and digest its story. Instead of reporting back to a hub after killing bosses or exploring vast and interconnected environments, Team Ninja went with more traditional levels. The notion of selecting missions at a map screen may seem jarring to players accustomed to world design that communicates story, but every individual level of Nioh I've played has been deftly interwoven and dense with nooks, crannies, and side routes.

I was surprised by how much I appreciated having a minimap as I played. The map itself is bare bones; it exists only to point you toward your main objective. You can ignore the marker and explore at your leisure; when you're ready to move forward, you'll know which way to go.

Instead of creating your own character and customizing every pixel down to the shape of your eyebrows, you play as a characterWilliam, who's based on a real samurai of the same name, minus all the supernatural elements. And get this: William talks. Cutscenes are sparsely used to move things along, but I was able to skip them without missing any gameplay beats, yet engaging enough that players interested in a more traditional narrative will enjoy them.

To call Nioh a copycat would be doing it a disservice. Combat is tight and layered with options, levels are gorgeously rendered and ooze atmosphere, and the story is entertaining enough to keep me interested yet can still be set aside when I'm more interested in perfecting my ki pulses.

If, like me, you've sunk thousands of hours into Souls games and were concerned that the genre would dry up after Dark Souls 3's conclusion, you owe it to yourself to immerse yourself in Nioh's samurai-fantasy world.

This review-in-progress is based on a PlayStation 4 disc provided by the publisher. Nioh will be available exclusively for PlayStation 4 for $59.99 on February 7. Refer to the Shacknews Nioh guide hub for tips on solving levels and honing your skills in combat.

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The SHARE Food Cooperative of Winston-Salem is making progress with plans to bring a co-op grocery store to one of the citys food deserts.

A now-vacant 8,000+-square-foot building has the attention of project leaders.

The building in the West Salem Shopping Center was a grocery store at one time, making it an ideal space for what SHARE hopes to do.

The vision is to establish some food markets in some food desserts, project coordinator Rev. Gary R. Williams said.Fresh food to people at a reasonable cost.

Eventually, SHARE would like to have multiple locations to address the numerous food deserts in the city, but for now its focusing on the Peters Creek Parkway location.

We said, Why dont we find an area where we wont have to do so much work on the area itself, but be able to set up the co-op and [allow people] to access it right away and then we would use it as a model to take to these other areas, said Rev. Willard Bass, co-founding project developer.

They should build one right here, or put one here, resident Aundra Thweatt said.

The goal is to create a model similar to the Renaissance Co-op in Greensboro, but the group will need city funding to move forward with the vision.

To meet the operational, administrative and consulting needs of the project, SHARE would need an estimated total investment of $100,000 from the city.

However, in the short term, SHARE will ask the city at an upcoming council meeting to consider providing $21,000 for a feasibility study.

The study will allow SHARE to determine if this location is best suited to address all of the co-ops needs.

36.099860 -80.244216

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3 Reasons Why Undermining the Paris Climate Agreement Would Be Bad for Business

As the World Economic Forum gathers for its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, the business case for the United States to continue its commitment to the Paris Agreement continues to grow.

The Republicans Plan for Medicaid: A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

Congressional Republicans claims that their Medicaid proposals will help states by giving them greater flexibility are a smoke screen for their plans to slash federal support for the program.

How Exxon Won the 2016 Election

With the help of President-elect Trumps Cabinet appointees, Exxon Mobil is seizing power and profit through the incoming administration.

Think Washington is corrupt? Its about to get a lot worse under President-elect Donald Trump.

By Ulrich Boser, Marcella Bombardieri, and CJ Libassi

Education

Here are five things that Americans need to know about attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions.

By Andrew Satter, Billy Corriher, and Jake Faleschini

Courts

On January 11, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee can provide a window into whose interests the State Department would serve under the leadership of Rex Tillerson.

By Gwynne Taraska, Cathleen Kelly, Michael Conathan, Shiva Polefka, and Avery Siciliano

Energy and Environment

Here are five things that Americans need to know about secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson.

By Andrew Satter and Carolyn Kenney

Foreign Policy and Security

Here's what we know about President-elect Trump's troubling ties to the Russian government.

Foreign Policy and Security

A state-by-state look at the annual GDP loss from losing DACA workers highlights the extreme economic damage of ending the DACA initiative.

Immigration

ThinkProgress (CAP Action)

As the opioid epidemic rages, cuts to health care and other social programs would inflict further damage on children, families, and communities.

By Eliza Schultz and Katherine Gallagher Robbins

Poverty

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that municipalities cannot regulate fracking waste, but many of the justices who made this decision received large campaign contributions from fracking companies and fossil fuel interests.

By Billy Corriher and Lauren Malkani

Courts

As states battle with municipalities over fracking regulations, oil and gas companies are spending big to elect the courts and legislatures that define the scope of local authority.

By Billy Corriher

Courts

A strong housing foundation is a key component of economic security.

By Michela Zonta and Sarah Edelman

Economy

2017 - Center for American Progress

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Progress Fire 32

4 days ago

Progress Fire 32 added 6 new photos.

::::LIVE-IN FIREFIGHTER SPOTS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE::::

The Progress Fire Company is currently looking for a few motivated individuals to fill open spots in our Bunk Room as Live-In Firefighters. The Progress Fire Company operates an Engine, Rescue-Engine, and Tower Ladder responding to nearly 800 calls a year with approximately 40 working fires a year. The Live-In program at Progress has been built on Pride and Tradition since the 1980s and has had a high success with members becoming career firefighters throughout the United States. The Progress Fire Company is located less than 10 minutes away from Harrisburg Area Community College and 15 minutes from Penn State Harrisburg. The first due area of Progress offers Live-Ins the experience of running incidents in a suburban setting just outside of Harrisburg City. Live-In Firefighters are entitled to the same rights as company members and have the chance over time to promote through the ranks of an Engineman, Truckman, Driver, and Line Officer. Preference is given to those looking to be College Student Live-Ins but we also accept those who want to move to the area and hold employment while being a Live-In. If you are interested please to send an email to liveinrequest@progressfire.com with your intentions, contact info as well as when youd be looking to move in and the Live-In Advisor will be in touch with you shortly after. High School juniors and seniors looking into the program it is never too early to let us know youre interested so we can meet with you, have you come by for a visit, and reserve a spot in advance depending on your graduation year. ... See MoreSee Less

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Progress Fire Company Harrisburg, PA

advancement, progress(noun)

gradual improvement or growth or development

"advancement of knowledge"; "great progress in the arts"

progress, progression, procession, advance, advancement, forward motion, onward motion(noun)

the act of moving forward (as toward a goal)

progress, progression, advance(verb)

a movement forward

"he listened for the progress of the troops"

progress, come on, come along, advance, get on, get along, shape up(verb)

develop in a positive way

"He progressed well in school"; "My plants are coming along"; "Plans are shaping up"

advance, progress, pass on, move on, march on, go on(verb)

move forward, also in the metaphorical sense

"Time marches on"

build up, work up, build, progress(verb)

form or accumulate steadily

"Resistance to the manager's plan built up quickly"; "Pressure is building up at the Indian-Pakistani border"

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What does progress mean? - Definitions.net

Wesell the entire line of more than 4,000 Progress Lighting Fixtures at the lowest product prices allowed online by the Manufacturer.

As an Authorized Progress Lighting Dealer, we offer the entire range of products from Chandeliers, Bath & Vanity and Ceiling Lights, to Pendants, Ceiling Fans, Track, Recessed, Outdoor and Landscape Lighting. All of our products are FIRST QUALITY,BRAND NEWand in original manufacturer boxes. Despite our "Outlet" name, we do NOT sell any factory seconds.

When you buy yourProgress Lighting from us, you'll receive superior customer service and support, free ground shipping on qualifying orders, no sales tax outside of MA, a 30 day return period from date of delivery on current non discontinued items and the full manufacturer's warranty.

Start your search by using the Shop By Category or the Additional Selections drop down menus at the top or any of the drop down boxes on the left, or if you have the item number, or a short keyword you can enter that into the search box at the top.

*Please see our FAQs & Store Policies or Returns and Replacements pages for full details.

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Home - Progress Lighting Outlet - Authorized Progress Dealer

Select Category... Accessories Chandeliers Bath & Vanity Bath Fans Ceiling Fans Close-to-Ceiling Commercial Outdoor Directionals Exit Signs Flex Track System Hall & Foyer Landscape Modular Fluorescent Outdoor Pendants Recessed-Accessory Recessed-Housing Recessed-Trim Sconces Step Lights Track Undercabinet Wall Bracket

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Select Finish... Aged Copper Antique Brass Antique Bronze Antique Nickel Architectural Bronze Autumn Haze Beige Beige Linen Beige Silk Black Black Alzak Black Chiffon Black Parchment Black/Silver Blue-green Bright White Brushed Nickel Burnished Chestnut Burnished Silver Cherry Classic Silver Clear Clear Alzak Cognac Copper Copper Bronze Creme Creme Chiffon Dark Green Espresso Faux Alabaster Fieldstone Forged Black Forged Bronze Frosted Gilded Iron Gold Alzak Green Heirloom Kraft Metallic Gray Metallic Grey Natural Brass Natural Decking No Finish Off White Oil Rubbed Bronze Pebbles Polished Brass Polished Chrome Polished Nickel Red Roasted Java Satin Aluminum Seabrook Silver Ridge Solid Copper Stainless Steel Textured Black Textured Graphite Textured White Unfinished Urban Bronze Venetian Bronze Verde Verde Green Weathered Bronze White White Floral Pattern

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