Brexit breakthrough: Leaver predicts Macron will back down as UK heads for win-win deal – Express

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CEO of campaign group The Freedom Association, Simon Richards, argued a Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU was likely to be agreed. While speaking to Jonathan Saxty with Brexit Watch, Mr Richards claimed the French President Emmanuel Macron would eventually concede in the Brexit trade talks. The Brexiteer added President Macron and other EU member state leaders would complain but eventually agree to an equally beneficial trade deal with the UK.

Mr Richards admitted Boris Johnson and his negotiating team may also complain about the agreement of a trade deal but would have ultimately succeeded in their Brexit trade deal goals.

Mr Richards said: "If I were a betting man which I am not despite making money in 2016 on Brexit.

"If I were a betting man I would still say the likelihood is that there will be a deal, a deal that works for both sides."

The Brexiteer outlined how this would likely happen and how the EU would attempt to save face.

DON'T MISS:Boris must make TWO crucial changes to make UK a Brexit powerhouse

He said: "What usually happens is that you would likely get Emmanuel Macron saying 'That David Frost and those Brits were so tough.

"'The Brits got a completely outrageous deal but we did the best for the EU.'"

Mr Richards hinted the UK may apply a similar attitude after trade talks have concluded.

He said: "Equally I think you will get David Frost and Boris Johnson saying those French people drove a hard bargain.

"But at this point, everybody is happy then."

Mr Richard also argued in favour of a no deal Brexit and insisted the UK would be perfectly fine trading off World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

He continued: "That said, I would have no problem whatsoever with having a no deal, WTO terms.

"Personally I would quite like that, I think that would be my preference.

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"In that scenario, you are just not beholden to anybody and then you can build on that from day one.

"I think there is a mistake in thinking that everything has to be absolutely just-so from midnight at the end of the year.

"These things can be done in bits, in my view."

Both the UK and EU have admitted little progress has been made in the Brexit trade deal talks but insisted they will continue to press on in hopes of securing a trade deal.

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Brexit breakthrough: Leaver predicts Macron will back down as UK heads for win-win deal - Express

Sterling to dip this year as Brexit uncertainty swirls – Reuters poll – Reuters

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LONDON (Reuters) - Sterling, which was approaching a five-month high on Wednesday, is expected to lose some of those gains this year amid Brexit and coronavirus fears before recovering in 2021, a Reuters poll found.

FILE PHOTO: Pound coins are seen in this photo illustration taken in Manchester, Britain September 6, 2017. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

The pound registered its biggest monthly rise in more than a decade in July, although its ascent was mainly due to a weaker dollar after a surge in U.S. coronavirus cases and unease about the upcoming presidential election.

But fears of a second wave of infections in Britain, already the hardest-hit European country, have capped the pounds advance and according to a new study published on Tuesday a resurgence of the pandemic could be twice as bad as the initial outbreak.

Also containing sterling strength is a weak economy and growing pressure to strike a Brexit trade deal before a transition period ends in December, prompting traders and investors to be wary of the pounds prospects.

The July 31-Aug. 5 poll of around 60 foreign exchange strategists said the pound would dip to $1.29 in a month and to $1.28 in three months before returning to current levels in a years time. It was trading around $1.31 on Wednesday.

The dip is because it seems like the uncertainty over Brexit will continue until we get to around September or October, so until we know what is going on it cant trade as well, said Jordan Rochester at Nomura.

I lean towards a deal, but it doesnt mean the same euphoria for sterling as it used to. The deal will be bare bones - it might be that in Q1 we are still adjusting to a new trading agreement and you do see all of the foretold Brexit border chaos.

Illustrating the murky outlook, the 12-month forecast horizon was wide - from $1.18 to $1.44.

Reuters polls since the June 2016 referendum to quit the EU have consistently said the two sides would eventually agree a free-trade deal, but talks have been troubled.

Without an agreement, trade and financial ties between the worlds fifth-largest economy and its biggest trading partner would collapse overnight, spreading havoc among markets and businesses.

Against the euro, little movement was expected. One euro was worth around 90.3 pence On Wednesday, and the poll suggested it would be worth 90.0p in a month and 89.0p in a year.

Reporting by Jonathan Cable; polling by Sarmista Sen and Khushboo Mittal; editing by Larry King

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Sterling to dip this year as Brexit uncertainty swirls - Reuters poll - Reuters

The Alt-Right’s Last Gasps – The Dispatch

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White Noise opens with an awkward Halloween party attended by a collection of alt-right personalities, hosted by Lucian Wintrichbest known for his brief stint as a White House correspondent for the far-right blog Gateway Punditin Washington, D.C. Theres a knock at the door; Wintrich hops up from the couch, brimming with excitement as Lauren Southern, the renowned Canadian anti-immigration activist, makes an appearance. The two embrace. Southern is wearing a black cape, pale makeup, and cheesy plastic vampire teeth. Im the IRS, she quips.

Its an oddly human moment for a group of characters that are almost exclusively portrayed as a sinister monolith: The superabundance of documentaries, investigative articles, books and internet shorts on the alt-right that have materialized in the years since Donald Trumps rise to power are, as a general rule, sensationalist and partisan affairs. Conventional treatments of the coalition of activists, commentators, writers and internet personalities tend to paint the predominantly internet-based movement as an ominous cult of evil with enormousand ever-increasinginfluence in the American political arena.

But White Noise takes a different approach. The new documentary features 27-year-old Atlantic filmmaker Daniel Lombroso following a handful of the alt-rights most notorious figures for the better part of four years, providing an intimate portrait of a collection of lost, desperately unhappy young menand, to a lesser extent, womensearching for meaning in a fringe ideology. While most of the mainstream coverage of the alt-right spends little, if any, actual time with its adherentsprevious documentaries like Age of Rage give the significant majority of airtime to anti-fascist activists and Southern Poverty Law Center intellectualsLombroso seeks to understand the alt-right as it is; made up of real people rather than a faceless force of darkness.

Viewers gain not just a richer understanding of the profound ugliness of the movements devotes but also of the conditions responsible for producing such ugliness: a sense of loneliness in an age of interconnected mass culture, and a yearning for community in an increasingly atomistic world. Acolytes of the alt-right are often portrayed as larger-than-life supervillains; White Noise reveals them to be broken, deeply isolated individuals.

Besides Lauren Southern, Pizzagate promulgator Mike Cernovich and white supremacist Richard Spencer are the main subjects of the documentary, although other major figures make tangential appearances. The three prominent personalities each represent a different subgenre of the alt-right: Spencer stands in for the dyed-in-the-wool white nationalists, Cernovich for the Trumpist conspiracy theorists, and Southern the hard-right grifters. All three have taken on outsize roles in our political discourse; but in Lombrosos documentary they become more visibly human.

What is notable about the film, then,is less its explosively disturbing momentsthe Nazi salutes in Washington, D.C., on the heels of Trumps victory, the deadly chaos of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesvillebut rather the dreary routine of the piteous lives lived in the empty spaces in between them.

In White Noise, Spencer is not the leader of a neo-fascist insurgency on the brink of conquering America, but a divorced outcast who, at the age of 42, has moved back in with his mother. One sees Spencer lurching from one failure to another, a man perpetually frustrated by his inability to be loved by a world that has rejected him. For every Charlottesville, there are 100 speeches given to mostly empty rooms, events canceled at the last minute by venues horrified by Spencers ideology, and profanity-laden public humiliations at the hands of strangers.

2018 has been one of the hardest years of my life, he tells Lombroso. Ive had a failed marriage, multiple lawsuits, I cant raise money the way that I had been, Im being treated like a terrorist. Ive never been put through this s**t. And its just awful.

Spencers desperation is a consistent fact of life for the documentarys cast of characters. Cernovich, also divorced, is revealed to be living off of his ex-wifes paycheck. (Its pretty alpha, he argues, to get paid alimony by a woman.) Like Spencer, Cernovich has been made out to be a cunning political savant by mainstream commentatorsdescribed as someone to reckon with whose influence reach[es] the highest seats of power by the SPLCbut he leads something of a dismal, bleak existence: Im not someone who likes myself particularly much, he confesses at one point. Im not somebody who wakes up and thinks, I really like me. I really like this person.

Southern, for her part, seems to be increasingly uncomfortable with the ideology she publicly promotes as the film wears on, visibly cringing when her then-boyfriend informs her that his primary motivation for raising a family is the fact that us Europeans, we have responsibility to reproduce, and awkwardly dodging alt-right provocateur Gavin Mcinness drunk sexual advances. (Southern was 23 at the time; Mcinnes was 48, and married with three children).

In this way, the documentary is about more than the alt-right; its an examination of the ugly underbelly of our technological age. Its characters are, after all, all creatures of the internet, and their followers are disproportionately composed of isolated young people searching for a sense of belonging in an online ecosystem of forums, YouTube channels and message boards. As an especially disturbing phenomenon, the alt-right is unique; but as a manifestation of the widespread inclination to find purpose in a political community, its merely one particularly vile manifestation of a universally felt impulse.

Above all else, White Noise is a sort of unsympathetic eulogy for a dying movement; a portrait of a cohort whose brief moment is decidedly over. Over the four-year span of the film, we see its peak as well as its sorry declinewhile watching its proponents attempt to reconcile themselves to a country far less receptive to their ambitions than they had once hoped.

Nate Hochman (@njhochman) is an ISI summer fellow for The Dispatch.

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The Alt-Right's Last Gasps - The Dispatch

Dreams PSVR Review: A Messy, Unmissable VR Playground In Need Of An Overhaul – UploadVR

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Media Molecules Dreams is finally ready for VR prime time. Does the ambitious creation platform hold up? Find out in our Dreams PSVR review!

Whats nice about reviewing Dreams five months on from launch is how much its been demystified. Theres little need to critique the games audacious creation tools and sharing systems with the caveat they might never take off; this pudding already has enough proof. Seriously, just go and check out some of the highly-rendered puddings.

Its still tough, though, to wrap your head around the enormity of Dreams. How do you stamp a score on whats essentially a YouTube-style platform of interactive experiences? Its a trickier task still when you factor in VR.

Lets try not to complicate it too much, then; if you have any interest in VRs weirder, more experimental side (which, given the very nature of the platform, theres a good chance you do), you absolutely cannot miss Dreams, even with some significant reservations for the creation mode.

Dreams brings a welcome bit of DIY to the VR scene. It allows anyone to get out there and make the game theyve always wanted to see, pending their patience with the modest learning curve and their readiness to accept adapting their vision to the games fuzzy-paint aesthetic (which is customizable but never fully escapable). The tangible bit of all this is the tools themselves. On a flatscreen, Dreams intelligent UI, existing templates and logical progression got me up and running with some pretty basic game concepts in just a few sessions. You get pretty much the same suite of tools and tutorials in VR which, in practice, actually might be the most disappointing aspect of the Dreams VR experience.

Let me explain; VR creation apps are some of the best, most wholly unique experiences you can find in headsets. The intuition of 3D painting in apps like Tilt Brush has led to the creation of entirely new works of art and simple apps like Googles Blocks can also get you up and running in this field in no time.

In terms of pure functionality, Dreams offers everything those apps do and much, much more. This toolset has the power to make entire games with deep mechanics. Again, Media Molecule has more than proved this platform is capable of that.

But, rather than go back and overhaul the Dreams learning and building experience for native VR support as you might have expected it would the developer settled on an awkward halfway house. When you first boot up Dreams, some of the games most basic on-ramping instructions will only be shown on a virtual screen, with your controllers (either two Move controllers or the DualShock 4) represented as a floating creature known as an Imp. In normal VR, navigating using the Imp is simple, but trying to negotiate 3D space on a flat screen in these tutorials is beyond clunky. Then, when you head into the Workshop, where the bulk of the games tutorials rest, youll be greeted with this message.

Oh.

There are some additional videos to guide you through VR specific elements but, largely speaking, Dreams tutorials are not designed with the platform in mind, and thats a real shame. Yes, theyre fantastic for flat-screen creation, but VR support would have been best served starting from scratch with native guidance that properly communicates how much VR enhances the Dreams experience. Yes, you can still do everything you can do in the flat screen version and people already familiar with the tools will easily adapt, but this should be better at introducing new players to the weird and wonderful world of VR.

Dreams PSVR Review Indie vs Inspiration

Dreams has a strange sort of allure to it in that, many people want to see their favorite games and films paid tribute to within it but the real magic behind it is originality. VR puts an interesting spin on all that; if youve ever wanted to see what PT or Star Wars or Resident Evil or practically anything else might be like in VR, youll more than likely find it here. Heck, we could see a Halo VR tribute on PSVR in the future, which is a mind-blowing proposition. Media Molecule might scoff at the idea, but its built a dream (sorry) platform for VR in that sense. How branded content evolves against original ideas with the inclusion of VR will be fascinating to watch.

Problems also persist with the games control schemes. I had hoped that a switch to VR would make creation with the PlayStation Move controllers a much more palatable affair given the additional context of 3D space. And that is the case to some extent, but the Move controls are also plagued by the confusing button layout, which Media Molecule doesnt virtually replicate when youre making finger-tying shortcuts. Moving the camera around, too, is incredibly sensitive and begging for analog sticks to properly master. As such, the DualShock 4 surprisingly remains the best way to create in Dreams, but even then brushes up against the limited positional tracking.

But creation is only one part of the Dreams VR experience.

Ive already revisited one of the all-time scariest games, P.T., piloted an X-Wing, and admired that stunning Unreal Engine 5 demo inside my headset with Dreams. More importantly, Ive discovered some brilliantly-fleshed out original concepts too that have amazed, delighted and surprised. On the flip side, its had me nauseous, confused and often bewildered.

Its a messy little thing, but thats sort of the point.

Navigating Dreams hub of user-generated content in VR isnt so much a rollercoaster as an exhilarating and oddly amusing dash through a minefield. Theres strong curation from Media Molecule itself, but the real magic requires a risky dive into its ever-expanding pool of creations. Youll find a dizzying array of fantastic ideas varying in quality of execution, endless memes, hastily-abandoned prototypes and tacked-on VR support. Even Media Molecules own VR showcase, Inside The Box, wrestles with control schemes and ideas with only some success, and many of the existing non-VR creations that have enabled support are strangely scaled, breaking every rule in the book of VR design. If you thought Five Nights At Freddys VR was disturbing, wait until youve played a broken fan tribute with muffled screams recorded through a PlayStation camera.

Dreams PSVR Review Comfort

Dreams offers a wealth of comfort options that are all enabled by default and, more importantly, will let you filter out experiences not necessarily optimized for VR. The game will boot you to Cinema Mode when framerate suffers and Media Molecule offers plenty of comfort tips. That said, itll still be hard to spend entire sessions in the game without coming across intense content, but there are ratings in place to help guide you.

Theres plenty of comfort options to shield you from the worst offenders, of course, but it can only do so much. Every time you click on a new game, youre rolling the dice, but the reward is often worth the risk. In one play session I found Hard Reset, a moody, atmospheric 6DOF exploration game that, even if it wasnt built for VR exclusively, seemed to possess a powerful understanding of immersion.Bionic Revolution, meanwhile, promises a simple VR shooter that frankly plays better than some SteamVR shovelware.

This all sort of speaks for itself its a better review of the game than myself or anyone else could write up. You might have to shovel through a lot of misses to find the hits but, when you do, Dreams absolutely sings. And the chances are youll have a lot of fun wading through the former category anyway. On a platform thats still in need of a lot of content to sustain it, Dreams offers a hugely compelling hub of VR intrigue that youll want to return to time and again. Even if its creative elements arent as strong as newcomers might hope, this limitless playground is more than enough reason to dive in.

Its true, though, that the game does have certain technical constraints in VR, especially from what Ive played on a standard PS4. While theres no extra limits on the size of your creations, dynamic rendering can reduce them to a blur, for example, and the game will boot you to PSVRs Cinema Mode if it runs into framerate hitches. Still, its no secret that Dreams released at the tail end of a generation with a long roadmap ahead of it and, as exciting as it is in its current form, I cant help but wonder what the future holds on other systems, where VR support is likely to shine even brighter. Media Molecule is interested in a PC version and, of course, PS5 looms too.

Until then, we have an immensely promising foundation. A strong community is already cropping up around Dreams PSVR support; one thats free to experiment and tinker in ways that big-budget games might not be able. VR is often described as a wild west of game development, and in many ways Dreams is the epicenter of all of that.

Dreams creative mode might not integrate with PSVR as naturally as hoped, but its cemented position as a hub of invention makes it an easy recommendation. Paired with the platforms inherent comfort issues, its sprawling, untamed ecosystem can prove to be a minefield to navigate, but for every unwelcome rollercoaster ride (literally and figuratively), theres another wish waiting to be fulfilled or something genuinely original to discover. The only way to truly judge Dreams is by the strength of its creations and those already speak for themselves; if you want to embrace VRs experimental side, you shouldnt miss it.

Dreams is available now on PS4 for $39.99. The VR support comes as a free update. For more on how we arrived at this score, check out our review guidelines. What do you make of our Dreams PSVR review? Let us know in the comments below!

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Dreams PSVR Review: A Messy, Unmissable VR Playground In Need Of An Overhaul - UploadVR

Military Alliances, Partnerships Strengthened Through Defense Strategy Execution – Department of Defense

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In a rapidly changing world, the United States must defend its interests and values against new threats and new competitors, especially from China and Russia. But it can't do it alone. Instead, the U.S. must strengthen relationships with existing partners and allies while also building new partnerships.

Strengthening alliances and attracting new partners is one of three lines of effort central to the National Defense Strategy laid out in 2018. It's something Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper has been focused on since he took office last year. The secretary said developing a coordinated strategy for American allies and partners is among his top priorities.

"These like-minded nations are an unmatched advantage that China and Russia do not have," Esper said.

Over the past year, with encouragement from the United States, NATO has enhanced its readiness by continuing to secure pledges from alliance members to increase their defense spending. About two-thirds of NATO nations have pledged to increase defense spending to 2% of their gross domestic product by 2021, but all have increased spending to some degree already.

In the Indo-Pacific region, the department has strengthened alliances and partnerships by deepening interoperability, expanding deterrent networks, and executing maritime security and awareness operations.

Also in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. conducted a record number of freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea over the past year, more than any other year since 2015, to deter China's malign behavior. For example, in July 2019, the USS Nimitz conducted exercises with the Indian navy in the Indian Ocean. That exercise, Esper said, demonstrates a shared commitment between the two nations to support a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

In November 2019, the United States also participated in its first joint military exercise with India a partnership Esper called "one of the all-important defense relationships of the 21st century."

In the Middle East, the United States has led a coalition of more than 80 partners to ensure the enduring defeat of the ISIS physical caliphate. And in September, the United States joined a group of nations to establish the International Maritime Security Construct, in which the U.S. partners with eight countries, Lithuania being the most recent. The goal of the group is to maintain order and security in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

When it comes to foreign military sales, the department has improved policy and practices by lowering costs and introducing competitive financing opportunities, which have increased U.S. competitiveness and improved interoperability among partners.

In fiscal year 2019, the department maintained sales of more than $55 billion for the second consecutive year, which increased the three-year rolling average for sales by 16 percent. Additionally, the department improved the time it takes to respond to partner nation requests by 17%.

Also, the State Department recently approved a possible sale of 105 F-35 aircraft to Japan and the sale of All Up Round MK 54 lightweight torpedoes to Belgium. And in Asia, the United States may also allow the sale of eight MV-22 Osprey aircraft to Indonesia.

Efforts involving arms sales to partner and allied nations not only increase interoperability between the U.S. military and the militaries of partner and allied nations, but also mean that the U.S. military and those nations will work together in ongoing training and technical assistance as part of the deal.

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Military Alliances, Partnerships Strengthened Through Defense Strategy Execution - Department of Defense

@theMarket: The Economy Versus the Stock Market – iBerkshires.com

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By Bill SchmickiBerkshires columnist03:57PM / Friday August 07, 2020

It is a tale of two markets. One represented by stocks, which has experienced a "V" shaped recovery, while the other (the economy) appears to be describing a "W." Can the two continue to diverge?

The short answer is "yes," as long as the Federal Reserve Bank continues to support the financial markets with unlimited stimulus. "Stocks are the only game in town," as one investor put it. "Bonds are yielding me less than nothing after inflation, and commodities are just too risky."

That sums up the present state of affairs facing investors.

The fact that earnings have been absolutely dismal in the latest quarter meant little to the markets. Earnings forecasts have been reduced to such a low point that the majority of companies have had no problem beating estimates. Some companies, especially in the technology space and stay-at-home stocks, have actually thrived during the pandemic.

I wish that could be said for the overall economy, but the coronavirus doesn't care what kind of economic models we fashion. Everyone hoped that by this summer the virus would have done its damage and moved on, but containing the virus has proven much harder than we imagined.

Despite the on-going virus burden, U.S. employers added 1.8 million jobs in July. That was an upside surprise. Average hourly earnings month-over-month were up 0.2 percent (versus -0.5 percent expected), which was good news as well. The service sector led the gains in the non-farm payroll report.

The only downside may be that the stronger than expected employment data may remove some of the urgency for an immediate compromise on a new stimulus package between the two parties. This week, investors had been hoping Congress would give the economy another jolt of stimulus, but so far nothing has materialized. Both Democrats and Republicans say they are getting close, but also add that they are still "trillions of dollars apart" from a compromise on a workable bill. Friday (today) was the self-imposed deadline for a deal, but after a marathon session on Thursday night, the politicians had nothing new to report. I do believe that in the end the two sides will hammer out a deal. It is just too important to the economy for our legislators to fail.

In the meantime, President Trump is trying to alleviate some of the suffering this stimulus delay may be causing Americans. He has said that he will try and implement executive orders for payroll tax cuts, assistance with both student loans and evictions, as well as unemployment benefits. An announcement may be forthcoming shortly on this subject.

As for the markets, we have reached a point where the S&P 500 Index is positive (up 2.3 percent) for the year. That is no mean accomplishment, given the ongoing burden of the pandemic. We have the Fed to thank for that, as well as the federal government's fiscal stimulus programs. As long as the central bank's monetary policy remains accommodative, we should be in good shape. But that does not mean that stocks can't go down.

One risk to the markets may be the on-going tech war between China and the United States. Readers should read yesterday's column, "Tensions with China may heat up," on the issue. President Trump escalated the pressure on Chinese companies by signing two new executive orders on Thursday. He has prohibited U.S. residents from doing business with the Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat apps, beginning 45 days from now. On Friday, he added sanctions on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and 11 other individuals for implementing "Beijing's policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes."

He worries that these Chinese companies are gathering personal information on Americans that may present a security risk. In addition, an influential group of U.S. regulators said stock exchanges should set new rules that could a trigger a delisting of Chinese companies. The president's Working Group on Financial Markets insisted that Chinese companies must be required to allow access to their audit work papers.

So far, we have been dealing with a "Teflon" market where bad news simply rolls off the averages and only good news is discounted. There is a risk that this tech war could escalate and test that concept. If I were you, I would expect China to retaliate against our actions fairly soon. If investors get spooked, it could cause a short-term decline in the markets.

Bill Schmick is now the 'Retired Investor.' After working in the financial services business for more than 40 years, Bill is paring back and focusing exclusively on writing about the financial markets, the needs of retired investors like himself, and how to make your last 30 years of your life your absolute best. You can reach him atbilliams1948@gmail.comor leave a message at 413-347-2401.

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@theMarket: The Economy Versus the Stock Market - iBerkshires.com

How film festivals around the world have adapted to the limitations of the Coronavirus pandemic – Firstpost

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Many film festivals are offering a mix of virtual and physical events in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, film festivals have had no choice but to reinvent themselves this year. While Cannes and Telluride have been cancelled, here is a lookat other upcoming events that have made a digital shift this year or chosen to showcase films both physically and online.

(Click here for LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak)

Toronto International Film Festival(10 -20 September)

TIFF is one of the largest festivals of North America, but this time it has drastically scaled down its plans and scrapped together 50 films or TV series from around the world, leaning on projects set to debut on streaming services or television this fall.

Spike Lee'sfilmed version of David Byrnes Broadway theatrical concertAmerican Utopia,an HBO release, will open this years festival.

Other films in the lineupinclude the 90-year-old WisemansCity Hall, a portrait of Bostons City Hall; Regina Kings drama about a young Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, titledOne Night in Miami; Herzog and Clive Oppenheimers Apple TV+ meteorite documentaryFireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds; Pieces of a Woman, Kornel Mundruczos family drama with Shia LaBeouf; and Glendyn IvinsPenguin Bloom, with Naomi Watts.

Venice(2 - 12 September)

Venice will be the first film festival to hold a physical event ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be smaller than usual andwill split into three sections - Venezia 77 (the main competition), Out of Competition, and Horizons. It will drop the Sconfini section (for arthouse and genre films) to give more screening time to main-section films, writes IndieWire.

Venetian director Andrea Segres documentaryMolecole, Daniele Luchettis drama Lacci,Chlo Zhao's Nomadlandand Pieces of a Woman, the English language debut of Hungarian filmmakerKornel Mundruczo, are scheduled to be screened at the festival.

Mumbai Film Festival

The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2020 has been postponed to next year as cinemas remain shut. The festival will soon release its selection of Indian films later this month.

MAMI has already launched virtual initiatives like Knowledge Series Dial M for Films, where Indian industry figures discuss their journey in films and more, as well as MAMI Home Theatre, a curation of films brought to audience directly online.

The academy has also launched Word to Screen Market, Young Critics Lab and the Industry Programme.

Authors, publishers and the literary community engage directly with content creators to option stories for films, TV and the digital medium via Word to Screen. This year, the initiative will take place online and focus on digital workshops with publishers and content creators.

Meanwhile, Young Critics Lab will promote young writing talent, who will be mentored by Baradwaj Rangan and Mike McCahill. The Industry Programme announced last year, but its online version will bring together creators from all over India to talk about the challenges they face and share their learnings.

BMO IFFSA Toronto (6 -16 August)

One of the largest South Asian film festivals of North America, the virtual edition of BMO IFFSA will feature 100 films in 16 languages.Some films part of the lineup are Pearl of the Desert (Maru ro Moti), Gamak Ghar, Moothon, Bebaak, Eeb Allay Ooo!, and Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost.

On the opening day, a tribute to the late Irrfan Khan will take place with actors filmmakers like Gurinder Chadha, Shoojit Sircar, Hansal Mehta and actors like Vijay Varma will be speaking.

Nandita Das, Gitanjali Rao, Javed Akhtar and journalist Nandini Ramnath, composers Madan Gopal Singh and Naren Chandavarkar will be taking virtual masterclasses.

BFI London Film Festival(7 - 18 October)

This year's edition will mostly be an online fare with limited in-person events over 12 days. 50 films from fiction, documentary, animation genres, artists moving image, and restored classics from the worlds archives have been selected for virtual premieres. Every film will be presented with an introduction or a QnA with the makers. Films will include subtitles and audio descriptors for viewers with special needs.

As UK is also opening its theatres, 12 screenings are scheduled to take place across the region's cinemas. LFF is also dropping a jury and instead letting the audience choose winners for four categories : Best Fiction Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Short Film, and Best XR.

The full schedule of LFF will be announced on 8 September.

New York Film Festival(25 September - 11 October)

The 17-day long New York Film Festival will also be adapting to the current scenario to ensure the safety of the festival attendees. The event will offer a mix of physical and outdoor virtual screenings this year, but Deadlinereports that the organisers,Film at Lincoln Center, will also look into the prospect of an in-person festival. Films will also be showcased at the city's two drive-in theatres.

NYFF has also announced an updated structure Main Slate, Currents, Spotlight, Revivals, and Talks. The program will have 100 features as well as panel discussions. The virtual screenings will only for US residents, but the talks will be open to a global audience.

Sundance (21 -31 January, 2021)

While Sundance was successfully held prior to the coronavirus lockdown, its 2021 edition will be seeing some changes. According to the festival director Tabitha Jackson, it will take place in Utah and "in at least 20 independent and community cinemas across the U.S. and beyond." Besides having a smaller scale than usual and following social distancing practices, Sundance also plans to be accessible online.Salt Lake Tribunal states that the organisers are looking to cut the festival short by seven days.

Rotterdam(27 January - 7 February, 2021)

Rotterdam also plans to implement changes in its programming structure forthe 50th edition of the festival. According to Deadline the organisers will bring in the amendments in accordance with the shift in circumstances over the next six months.

Screen Daily, in its report, had said that the new director Vanja Kaludjercic hopes to make the festival digital friendly due to the pandemic. Films may be screened in Rotterdam and other cities in Netherlands.

Berlinale (11 - 21 February 2021)

Mariette Rissenbeek, the executive director of Berlinale, and the new artistic director Carlo Chatrian, had told Deadline that the event will be a physical one with all the necessary hygiene and social distancing measures in place.

Locarno Film Festival(5 - 15 August)

The Swiss film festival has foregone in-person attendance and replaced it with a new format, Locarno 2020 For the Future of Films, to support the independent filmmakers.

As part of its Films After Tomorrow initiative, the festival will see 20 titles that were affected by the coronavirus lockdown - 10 international and 10 from Switzerland, writesVariety. The films include Axelle RopertsPetite Solange, Lucrecia Martel'sZama, Lav Diaz'sWhen the Waves are Gone,

The Journey of the Fesitval's History will see features from previous editions of the festival screened online.The program will be free in Switzerland, while it will be available outside of the country on thestreamer MUBI.

*

There is along list of important films that will be presented at these festivals.

Here is a look at some of them.

Nomadland

A still from Nomadland | Image from Twitter

Chloe ZhaosNomadland, starring Frances McDormand, will premiere across the major fall film festivals in an alliance forged by the Venice, Toronto, and New York festivals.

Nomadland, Zhaos follow-up to her acclaimed 2018 filmThe Rider, is the first movie announced in the new partnership that has brought together the falls biggest movie launch pads, which typically compete against each other for world premiere rights.

Spring Blossoms

Image from Twitter

The French language film marks Suzanne Lindon's directorial debut. The official logline states that Spring Blossoms follows a Parisian teenager, who "contemplates the pitfalls of growing up too fast when she falls in love with an older man." Arnaud Valois, Frdric Pierrot, and Florence Viala are also part of the cast.

American Utopia

Spike Lees filmed version of musician David Byrnes Broadway theatrical concertAmerican Utopiawill kick offthis year's TIFF.The show features Byrne and 11 musical artists from around the world performing songs from the 2018 album of the same title, as well as Talking Heads hits. HBO will premiereAmerican Utopiathis fall.

Ammonite

Image from Twitter

Ammonite, the Kate Winslet-Saoirse Ronan romantic drama is set in 1840s England. The narrative charts the intense romance which developed between an infamous fossil hunter, Mary Anning (Winslet) and a young woman Charlotte Murchison (played by Ronan). The first look of the film was revealed at Cannes 2019.

Steve McQueens anthology at NYFF

Three original films by Oscar-winner Steve McQueen will debut at NYFF. The12 Years a Slavedirector will get the opening night slot for the 1980s-set music romanceLovers Rockin addition to two other premieres for films in his anthology series.

McQueensSmall Axeanthology is comprised of five films telling stories about Londons West Indian community from the 1960s to the mid-1980s.

The other two films premiering areMangrove, withBlack Pantheractor Letitia Wright, which tells the true story of a group of Black activists called the Mangrove 9 who clashed with police in the 1970s, andRed, White and Blue, another true story about a man, Leroy Logan, who joins the police to try to inspire change from within. John Boyega stars.

The five films will premiere later this year on Amazon Prime Video in the US and on BBC One.

The Human Voice

Pedro Almodvar will make his English language debut with The Human Voice, a 30-minute adaptation ofof the original stage play by Jean Cocteau. The short is described as "a very free adaptation of the original stage play by Jean Cocteau, with which Pedro Almodvar has been dreaming of for decades. It tells the story of a desperate woman (Tilda Swinton), who waits for the phone call of the lover who has just abandoned her."

Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds

Werner Herzog, whose last project was Family Romance, LLC, along with geoscientist and director Clive Oppenheimer explore how shooting stars and meteorites can tell about the origins of life on the planet. The documentary, the third collaboration between the duo, has been acquired by Apple TV+

One Night In Miami

Image from Twitter

Oscar winner Regina King makes her directorial debut with the film adaptation of Cassius Clay-Malcolm X playOne Night in Miami.The film is a take on Kemp Powers' debut play, which finds young boxer Cassius Clay, activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke and football star Jim Brown hanging out together at a Miami motel.

The Disciple

National award-winning directorChaitanya Tamhanes new Marathi filmThe Disciplewill be showcased at both Venice and TIFF.Tamhane's127-minute long feature stars Aditya Modak, Arun Dravid, Sumitra Bhave, and Kiran Yadnyopavit.

Alfonso Cuaron recently come aboard as an executive producer of the film. The Disciple "examines a lifetime journey devoted to the art of Indian classical music," states the official log line.

Bruised

Image from Twitter

Halle Berry is all set to step into director's shoes with the mixed martial arts film titledBruised.The Oscar-winning actress will also produce the film and will star in it.In the film, Berryportrays a disgraced MMA fighter who has to face one of the rising stars of the MMA world and deal with the return of her 6-year-old son to the mother he deserves.

Pieces of a Woman

Image from Twitter

Pieces of a Women is about a grieving woman (Vanessa Kirby) who is thrust into an emotional inner journey by trying to come to terms with the loss of her baby after a home birth goes wrong, while dealing with herhusband (Shia LaBeouf) and estranged mother.

Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.

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How film festivals around the world have adapted to the limitations of the Coronavirus pandemic - Firstpost

Austin nutrition expert talks Quarantine-15 and helping recovering COVID-19 patients eat healthy – KXAN.com

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Rocket center launches mission to save space camp – Theredstonerocket

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Alabamas number one tourist attraction for seven straight years is in danger of closing.

Like virtually every aspect of society in 2020, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and its Space Camp have felt the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The center announced July 28 that it must raise $1.5 million to keep its museum open past October and to reopen Space Camp in April 2021.

In response, the center has launched the Save Space Camp campaign. This seeks donations from the Space Camp alumni that span across the world, residents of Alabama and anyone wanting to help save the space institution. More information can be found at http://www.savespacecamp.com.

The news reverberated nationally last week with PBS, the New York Times and CNN among news sources reporting on the possible closure. Camp alumni weighed in across social media platforms with testimonies of how important Space Camp was in their formative years. But to local residents many of whom grew up attending camps, working as counselors, visiting its IMAX theater and enjoying an authentic German meal at Thursday night biergartens the center is also a part of the fabric of Huntsville. It is difficult to imagine a Rocket City without a rocket center.

There are so many great things about the Space & Rocket Center, Madison resident Susie Jordan said. I was a Space Camp counselor, and in the movie, SpaceCamp (1986), that was mostly filmed on-site. So many visitors, students and teachers know the value of such an outstanding hands-on museum that host multiple camps for children and adults from all over the world. They even host a Space Camp for deaf children. I truly hope this star attraction in Alabama can be saved.

On March 13, the center was forced to close due to the pandemic. Although the museum reopened in May and Space Camp in June, visitor numbers plummeted and the camps only saw 20% of its normal summer attendance. Space Camp will close again in September because of decreased international visitors and the cancellation of school trips this fall due to many school systems moving to virtual platforms. The center reported that these factors led to a loss of two-thirds of revenue in 2020 and widespread staff layoffs.

The center began lighting the vertical Saturn V replica Thursday night to mark the progress of the fundraising campaign. As the campaign progresses, the lights will rise on the Saturn V. The center said they have received donations from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and 26 countries.

The center was the vision of Wernher von Braun, the Father of Rocket Science and first director of Marshall Space Flight Center, who approached the Alabama state legislature with the idea of the Army and NASA working together to create a facility celebrating the space program. It was built on land donated by the Army and serves as the official NASA visitors center in Huntsville. It is the home to such pivotal space travel artifacts as Von Brauns own aforementioned Saturn V rocket and the Space Shuttle Orbiter Pathfinder. The rocket center is a Smithsonian affiliate and generates $120 million in annual revenue for Alabama.

Since 1982, more than 900,000 alumni including 12 astronauts have graduated from Space Camp. Redstone worker Kate Pimmel is one.

It took me five years mowing lawns to make enough money to go to Space Camp in 1991 and I went back to be a counselor after college, Pimmel said. Space Camp is a singular experience that helps people realize they each have special talents that make their team better. It is phenomenal to watch a trainee gain confidence, realize their worth and then take off and thrive on a team. From students to parents and educators who attend Space Camp from all over the world, they all take that experience back with them into their classrooms, families and careers. Space Camp means friendship and teamwork and instilling a confidence and excitement for science and technology that our world will always need.

Dreams come true every single day at Space Camp and I fervently hope it will continue.

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Donald Trump attacked by Joe Biden for ‘shameful’ comments that he would ‘hurt God’ if elected – ABC News

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Joe Biden says it is "shameful", and "beneath the office he holds" for Donald Trump to claim the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee would "hurt God" if he were elected US president.

Earlier this week Mr Trump claimed Mr Biden was "against God", despite Mr Biden frequently discussing how his Catholic faith has guided his actions as a public official.

"He's following the radical left agenda: take away your guns, destroy your second amendment, no religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt God," Mr Trump said.

"He's against God."

After the address Mr Trump went on to deliver a campaign-style speech at a factory in nearby Clyde, Ohio. He did not explain further what he meant.

With Mr Trump trailing Mr Biden in four recent polls in Ohio, the US President is fighting to win voters in the traditional swing state as the coronavirus pandemic threatens his chances of a second term.

Mr Trump's accusation could solidify support from his party's sizable conservative Christian bloc and also damage voters' view of Mr Biden, the first Catholic vice-president in US history.

John Kennedy was the first and only Catholic elected US president when he won in 1960.

In a statement on Thursday night, Mr Biden said Mr Trump's attack was "shameful" and that faith had been "the bedrock foundation" of his life.

"It's beneath the office he holds and it's beneath the dignity the American people so rightly expect and deserve from their leaders," Mr Biden said in the statement.

"However, like the words of so many other insecure bullies, President Trump's comments reveal more about him than they do about anyone else.

"They show us a man willing to stoop to any low for political gain, and someone whose actions are completely at odds with the values and teachings that he professes to believe in."

More than three-fourths of Americans practise Christianity or another religion, according to non-partisan think tank the Pew Research Centre.

Mr Trump has been hurt politically by his response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has recently killed on average more than 1,000 Americans each day.

While he speaks very little about his own Presbyterian faith and rarely attends church, Mr Trump works closely with evangelical Christians and puts their causes of restricting abortion and preserving gun ownership at the top of his policy agenda.

After a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut killed 20 children in 2012, Mr Biden pushed for some restrictions on gun ownership, but he has not called for confiscating firearms.

He has said he would seek to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, let people who own assault weapons sell them back voluntarily, and expand background checks.

The second amendment of the US constitution gives Americans the right to keep and bear arms.

Reuters

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Donald Trump attacked by Joe Biden for 'shameful' comments that he would 'hurt God' if elected - ABC News

Why isn’t ventilation part of the conversation on reopening schools? – STAT

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Like every other parent with a school-age child, I want schools to reopen in the fall including the one Im attending.

On the best of days, my son can be described as spirited. After four months of being cared for by his grandparents, he is practically feral. He needs the physical and social outlet that school provides, and I need the anatomy lab to reopen because human dissection is an irreplaceable part of my medical education.

But I am also an epidemiologist, and after reading the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions guidelines for school reopening and the various accompanying news coverage and think-pieces, I cant convince myself that following its rules will keep my family or yours safe.

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Why? Because the primary way Covid-19 is transmitted is through respiratory droplets that careen through the air, and yet the capricious nature of air circulation and the lack of filtration systems in our already underfunded public school systems is absent from the conversation.

Since New York state started reopening, I have received emails from my medical schools working group about the plan to bring us back to campus. Its plan is to follow the basic script seen in school reopening strategies all over the country: frequently sanitized high-touch surfaces, 6-foot distances, unidirectional hallways, reduced capacity elevators and classrooms, health questionnaires, and contact-free temperature checks upon entry (more on that in a minute).

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My school is not negligent, but like many other educational institutions, its efforts are dangerously misdirected. We are collectively engaging in what Derek Thompson describes in the Atlantic as hygiene theater, in which organizations looking to reopen focus intensively on arduous decontamination strategies to mitigate surface transmission even though that is not the primary route for Covid-19 transmission, and some scientists argue that there is no direct evidence the virus spreads this way at all. Id also like to add temperature checks to the hygiene theater playbill, as they too fail to successfully screen potential Covid-19 carriers, but have somehow made their way onto every screening list Ive seen.

Why is this happening? The CDC is supposed to determine the national priorities for American health.

Of the eight bullet points in its staff safety section, four address surface transmission. The three bullet points dedicated to respiratory droplets warn people to stay 6 feet away from each other, cough into their elbows, and wear a mask.

The current CDC guidance about ventilation is as follows, Ensure ventilation systems operate properly and increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible, for example by opening windows and doors. But if opening windows or doors increases the risk of asthma, or falling out the window, the guidelines go on to advise that they should be closed. That is all the guidance has to say. It does not mention air filtration, or the fact that we have pretty good data to suggest that without addressing air filtration and circulation, the 6-feet rule does not prevent transmission indoors.

Here are the things that caught my attention as an epidemiologist as schools played Tetris with classroom furniture and agonized over hybrid schedules.

On May 6, Erin Bromage, a microbiologist at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, published a widely read article detailing the role of air circulation at three major indoor transmission events: a call center in South Korea, a restaurant in Guangzhou, China, and the infamous choir practice in Washington state. Each of these events taught us that transmission happens when you spend significant time indoors. Being 50 feet apart with a low dose of the virus in the air, over a sustained period, was enough to cause infection and in some cases, death. This happens because infectious particles from individuals are pushed by the ventilation system to the other side of the room. Bromages post appeared 127 days before the first day of school in New York City.

HEPA filters are able to effectively capture particles the size of SARS-CoV-2. The CDC currently recommends their use for this purpose in hospitals, but their capacity to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in other public buildings remains under-explored. Though the CDC has stayed silent on the use of HEPA filters outside hospitals, on May 25 a group of ENT doctors made the case for installing them in doctors offices where aerosol generating procedures are being performed, because of evidence they can help prevent the spread other infections such as SARS-CoV-1, measles, and influenza. That was published 108 days before the first day of school in New York City.

On May 27, a group of 36 scientists from around the world in a variety of fields penned an article in the journal Environment International titled, How can airborne transmission of Covid-19 indoors be minimised? As they wrote, Here, in the face of such uncertainty, we argue that the benefits of an effective ventilation system, possibly enhanced by particle filtration and air disinfection, for contributing to an overall reduction in the indoor airborne infection risk, are obvious. Its obvious to me as well, and deserves to be our primary concern in reopening schools, far more urgently than distance or Lysol. That was 106 days before the first day of school in New York City.

McKinsey & Company reviewed research regarding airborne spread of SARS-CoV-2 and on July 9 posted an article suggesting possible upgrades to existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. A key recommended change was to increase the number of times HVAC systems exchange air per hour, which would push the infectious particles outside and prevent them from being blown across the room. This article appeared 63 days before the first day of school in New York City.

When I mentioned these possibilities to a friend who teaches in the New York City schools, she replied, Dont worry about our HVAC systems. Theyre all broken.

Instead of using limited time and funding to engage in hygiene theater, we should be investigating how to address ventilation. Or at the very least, be honest with the public about some institutions inability to make interior spaces safe.

As a result of months of misapplied focus on surface disinfection, the importance of air circulation and the potential use of filtration is missing from the national debate on school reopening. My sons school and mine are both concerned with delivering our education safely. My sons preschool director was worried sick about not being able to adequately decontaminate on a daily basis because she loves both the kids and her school.

It shouldnt be her responsibility to research ventilation theory and filtration techniques and air flow patterns. Its not my job as a medical student to Google these things trying to get enough information to decide what to do about my sons school, and mine, starting imminently. And its not up to the administrators at my school, who I know have been working around the clock these last few months, to figure this out.

This is supposed to be done by the CDC. Here we are, about a month before public schools are supposed to begin, and the CDC is still failing to signal the crucial importance of addressing ventilation.

We need to include air circulation patterns and filtration options in the conversation. If were not willing or able to fund necessary upgrades to school ventilation systems, lets admit that. Until we have that public discussion, I am not comfortable exposing my family to schools. Because if I cant trust that the people making these decisions are reading the literature, how can I trust them with my familys health?

Alexandra Feathers is an epidemiologist and first-year medical student at SUNY Downstate.

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Why isn't ventilation part of the conversation on reopening schools? - STAT

A UT undergrad helped build the app that will assist students coming back to school this fall. Here’s what it can do. – UT News | The University of…

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Henry Rossiter was planning the trip of the lifetime when the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping across the United States, forcing people into isolation.

It was one of the many things in his life upended by the virus.

A UT computational engineering senior, Rossiter, 21, had planned to spend the summer mountain biking, completing an engineering internship and celebrating his last year in college. It didnt turn out that way.

Instead, the undergraduate who has a computer science background, has logged long hours working to build a mobile application that will help students and faculty safely return to campus this fall.

The app, called Protect Texas Together, will allow people to track their symptoms, record COVID-19 test results, get connected to medical resources and potentially, in the future even assist in contact tracing.

It will be available in the Apple App and Google Play stores starting in mid-August.

Rossiter says the change in plans was worthwhile. We have been pressed to develop this app in less than a month, which is fairly unusual in the app development world, he says of the team, which includes computer scientists, medical experts and engineers. Its been turbulent to say the least. But I hope we can minimize the spread of COVID on campus this fall.

As of this week, the United States has seen more than 4.6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, roughly 450,000 of those in Texas. While the rate of new cases appears to have peaked in Texas in mid-July, the national rate continues to climb.

On Aug. 26, students will return to the UT campus to put some semblance of their lives back together. The university is one of many across the country and the world that will rely on technology to help that process.

A number of companies have put out mobile applications to help with things such as symptom tracking and contact tracing, which is the process of figuring out who is at risk for developing COVID-19 based on the people they have interacted with something normally done through interviewing.

Rather than adopt another companys technology, UT decided to develop something in-house so the application would fit its specific needs, says Cameron Craddock, associate professor of diagnostic medicine at Dell Medical School and project lead. It will allow the school of 51,000 students and an additional 25,000 faculty and staff members to navigate issues such as privacy more assuredly than it would be able to using someone elses technology.

The problem we are facing at UT is immense, Craddock says. And weve just seen an outstanding outpouring of UT talent to help address this problem pretty quickly.

The app, which will be available in Spanish and English, will have a symptom diary, where users can keep track of things such as fevers and coughs. If they are later diagnosed with an illness, they will have that information on hand to discuss with medical professionals.

The app uses an algorithm to determine, based on ones symptoms, whether it is safe to come to campus, then issues a digital day pass to that person if they are cleared.

It will also allow students, faculty and staff to get connected to health resources, find a testing location and track county and state COVID-19 statistics.

Additionally, the app will include a feature to help individuals record which rooms, including research labs and controlled access facilities, they have entered. This will help facilities and health teams identify spaces that potentially need to be decontaminated or isolated if someone working there tests positive for COVID-19. It will also assist with contact tracing to know who is in rooms at the same time.

Its really about helping members of the UT community do things that we know are important for staying healthy. In this case, that means having everybody check their symptoms on a regular basis and keep themselves at home if they have any symptoms, says software engineering professor Christine Julien, who is part of the development team.

Rossiter has been working to make the interface as user-friendly as possible. He is one of four undergraduates on the team and is leading front-end development. Three graduate students are also working on the app.

The project isnt a part of Rossiters computational engineering academic plan, but hes taken it up on the side because he sees the benefits of the technology for society.

I was eager to apply the computer programming skills I learned in school to solve real-world problems, he says. I enjoy seeing the impact that the technology I engineered has made.

Though the first iteration of the app will not include contact tracing, later versions likely will have that functionality. The development team is working on a plan that allows users to consent to having their location information stored within the app. Then, if people test positive for COVID-19, they will be able to pull up that data and see where they have been, so they can easily and confidentially share that information with medical professionals.

Ensuring privacy is the most important thing, Julien says. It would also be nice to get more data and information, but we would never do that if it meant we had to sacrifice individual users privacy in any way.

UT community members were able to move so quickly in building an app because they were already designing the technology infrastructure as part of the UT grand challenge Whole CommunitiesWhole Health.

The multiyear project has researchers working closely with local partners to understand more about the physical, environmental and emotional health of families living in Central Texas, particularly those who are part of historically marginalized communities. And technology is a huge component of the study.

The research team plans to retool the mobile application in the coming months for the grand challenge so it can study the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on local communities. The app could send surveys directly to peoples phones, as well as show other health and behavioral information that participants want to know about.

The last time the U.S. has undergone a pandemic that involved social distancing to this scale was 100 years ago, so we have very limited information about the effects that had on people, Craddock says. The notion is to try to collect as much information as we can about what peoples experiences are so that 10 years from now, we can use that information to understand the impact that social isolation and the pandemic had on society.

Low-income and marginalized communities have been hit especially hard by the virus, largely because of underlying systemic conditions that contribute to poor health and health care inequities. At the same time, unemployment, stress and alcohol use have increased globally. New graduates are entering one of the worst job markets since the 2008 recession. Rossiter will likely be among them.

Its a turbulent situation at a turbulent point in my life, he says. Honestly, I dont really know what I am doing a week from now, so three months from now its impossible to say.

I just want to see the software I develop have a positive impact on society.

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A UT undergrad helped build the app that will assist students coming back to school this fall. Here's what it can do. - UT News | The University of...

Overview of gambling software regulation in Ukraine – Lexology

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On 14 July 2020, the Parliament ofUkraineadopted the Law "On State Regulation of Activities on Organizing and Conducting Gambling" (the "Gambling Law"), which introduces state regulation of gambling in Ukraine.

The Gambling Law sets up licenses for the following types of gambling activities: organization and operation of casinos (onsite and online); organization and operation of sports betting (onsite and online); organization and operation of slot machines rooms; issuance and operation of lotteries; organization and operation of online poker games (the " gambling operating license").

In addition, the Gambling Law specifies a separate license for provision of services in gambling sphere. This license is narrow in scope and gives right to provide a gambling software only (the "gambling software license"). It does not cover the provision of facilities for gambling. Therefore, any business that provides facilities for gambling has to obtain a gambling operating license even when it holds a gambling software license.

What is gambling software?

According to the Gambling Law a gambling software is a computer software designed for use in the connection with remote gambling (including online gambling) and solely in connection with a gaming machine used by a gambling operator in the provision of facilities for gambling.

The Gambling Law defines "online" and "offline" systems which are used by gambling operators to provide gambling activities.

Both systems consists of a range of hardware and software that:

Every online system or slot machine must include random number generator to ensure a random nature of the prize.

Who needs a gambling software license?

According to the Gambling Law any commercial undertaking, a resident of Ukraine, has to obtain a gambling software license, if it provides/supplies a gambling software directly used for determining the result of a game, including but not limiting to case, when it provides a gambling to Ukrainian Internet gambling operators or to non-resident operators with foreign operating gambling license.

The language of the Gambling law is vague enough to provide definite criteria for determining with reasonable certainty about who exactly has to obtain a gambling software license.

For example, it is not clear who in the supply chain must obtain a license. Whether it is only a final supplier or all other suppliers in the chain? For example, must a company holding intellectual property rights in a software obtain a license, if a contracting supplier of a software is its affiliating company? Moreover, it is not clear what "provision/supply" of a software means within the scope of the law. Whether it means the provision of legal right to use software or giving actual access to a software, or both?

Nevertheless, the current version of the Gambling Law does not require a gambling software license for manufacturing, installing or adapting a gambling software.

Given the above, the Gambling Law does not provide clearly defined answer to the question who exactly needs to obtain a software gambling license.

Technical standards

All gambling software must meet software technical standards, if it is made available to customers via Internet under a gambling operating license.

In particular, online systems must:

License term and fee

A license is issued by the Commission on the Development and Regulation of Gambling Activity in Ukraine for a period of 5 (five) years. The license fee is equivalent to 300 (three hundred) minimum wages and set at EUR 46,000 for 5 years.

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This Gambling Stock Is Poised for a Bull Run — and It’s Not DraftKings – The Motley Fool

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Since the return of live sports, gambling revenues have been historically strong. Events such as the National Football League draft enjoyed record gambling marks. This points to pent-up demand and bodes well for companies trying to carve success in the field.

With legalization decisions delegated to states, 22 have approved legislation to allow the activity since 2018. COVID-19 destroyed tax revenue streams which could incentivize more states to follow suit. Regardless, sports gambling is set to enjoy long-term growth. DraftKings is a popular pick within the space, but Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN) is best positioned to thrive.

Image source: Getty Images.

Penn National Gaming is a regional casino company operating in 19 states. COVID-19 has certainly been tough for the entire industry, but Penn's credit and equity market activity hasboosted its cash position to $1.4 billion. This is vital to continue investing aggressively in sports gambling.

While Penn does have physical sports books at its casinos, its main initiative is establishing a dominant presence in digital sports gambling. How?

Earlier this year, CEO Jay Snowden announced a 36% stake in Barstool Sports, with warrants to acquire another 14%. Together, the two companies plan to release a digital sports betting app this year called Barstool Sports Book. Online gambling alone is set to grow to $103 billion by 2025, powered by an 11.5% annual growth rate. Furthermore, there is a black-market industry worth $150 billion for legal competition to convert. Penn and Barstool together are positioned to thrive in this promising growth area.

Today, Barstool Sports attracts 66 million monthly active users (MAUs). By comparison, the average team in the NFL -- the largest sports league in the world -- averages roughly the same number of monthly viewers. Engagement among Barstool MAUs is equally impressive. One-third of Barstool's audience is made up of daily users. For comparison: BuzzFeed's daily audience checks in at a relatively high (but still inferior) 23%.

Before the merger, Penn's customer base was older than the typical sports gambler. Barstool quickly fixed that problem. The sports media platform reels in 27% of Gen-Z Americans monthly. Additionally, the Barstool community consumes more entertainment and is more tech savvy than the average American. Perhaps most importantly, Barstool users gamble on sports abundantly with nearly half doing so weekly. The gigantic following Barstool Sports enjoys is nothing short of ideal for growing Penn's piece of this growing field. The two companies seem to be a match made in heaven.

Importantly, gambling does not rely on fans in the stands as a prerequisite for occurring. This means Penn should recover more quickly than sports alternatives, such as The Madison Square Garden Company,which relies on fans for revenue. The NFL, Professional Golfers' Association, Major League Baseball, and several college football teamsalready have confirmed cases. This will likely delay spectators at events, but regardless, the events are continuing and gambling can as well.

Today, 90% of Penn's physical properties are open once more with occupancy restrictions. Its properties cater to drive-in gamblers and not fliers, which is ideal in the current pandemic environment. No single state represents more than 15% of Penn's total revenue. This geographic diversity is enviable as new COVID flare ups force some states to close. While long-term growth for Snowden's organization will come from sports gambling, these casinos are still important cash-flow generators for the company.

Sports gambling will surely be a growth story for years to come. Together, Penn National Gaming and Barstool Sports are uniquely positioned to make a large mark. With a new sports gambling app debuting later this year and Penn casinos quickly opening, this is my favorite gambling play. For investors wanting exposure to the space, give this one a look.

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Sports Betting Alternatives – Why You Should Stop Betting on Sports – BestUSCasinos.org

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I enjoy sports in many different ways. I like to watch them, I used to play many different sports, and I like to bet on them. Im not alone in these things, especially when it comes to gambling on sporting events.

The sad fact is that most people who gamble on sports should quit. This is because most sports gamblers arent doing what they need to do to win money over time.

Heres a list of seven reasons why you should stop gambling on sports. And theres also some information about what you can do to improve your odds of winning if youre not ready to quit.

I want to share a secret about gambling on sports with you. Using the point spreads published by the big sportsbooks, you could break even in the long run by flipping a coin to pick winners if you didnt have to pay vig.

When you make a bet using a point spread, there are only three possible outcomes. You can win or lose or tie. When you win, you receive your original bet back plus the amount you won.

When you lose, you dont get anything back, resulting in a loss of your original bet amount. When you tie, in most cases you get your bet back.

If youre able to bet $100 to win $100, all you have to do is win 50% of the time to break even. And you can win 50% of the time blindly picking sides of the point spread to bet on.

The main problem is you cant bet with the sportsbooks on an even basis. You have to be more than you can win. This is generally 10%, so you have to bet $110 to win $100.

Most sports gamblers cant beat the extra charge, called a vig. If youre not beating the vig, you should stop gambling on sports.

The main reason why most sports gamblers cant beat the vig is because they dont spend enough time handicapping events. The problem is that just putting in more time isnt always enough. Handicapping sports games is a challenging skill to develop.

Heres what most sports gamblers do: They look at the lines at the sportsbook and either bet on their favorite team, quickly guess which team to bet on, or spend a couple minutes looking at the standings and a few stats, and then they make a wager.

All of these tactics are basically the same as flipping a coin or throwing darts to pick a team to bet on.

You have two options when it comes to betting on sporting events. You can either dedicate enough time and effort to each game to give yourself a realistic chance to profit, or you should simply bet on the team you want and not worry about anything else.

The reason why I say you have two choices is because if youre not handicapping games correctly, theres no reason to even try to get an edge. Youre not going to get an edge any way except thorough evaluation and handicapping.

While its true that some of the top sports gamblers in the world place wagers on a wide range of sporting events, the truth is that youre not good enough to do this. You cant make profitable wagers on every sport offered by the sportsbooks.

You have to pick one sport and/or area to focus on if you want to have any realistic chance at profit. You cant bet on everything if you want to win.

Many sports gamblers are what I call action junkies. They feel like they have to have action on games every day, so they basically bet on everything.

You cant afford to be an action junkie. If getting action is more important than winning, you should simply give up on the idea of being a winning sports gambler.

I mentioned in a previous section that you can either properly evaluate sporting events or forget everything and just pick whatever team you want. Its a complete waste of time to do anything in between the two extremes.

Hope and luck are two of the most dangerous words a sports gambler can use. Anytime you hope something happens or rely on luck, its a sure sign that you either need to quit betting on sports or you need to invest more time evaluating the games you want to place bets on.

Every sports gambler hopes that they get lucky. But almost all of them lose. Forget about hope or luck. The best sports gamblers never have to rely on hope or luck, because they develop sports betting systems that help them secure long term profits.

If you arent using a dedicated bankroll for all of your sports gambling activities you either need to start using one immediately or stop gambling on sports.

This might sound like a harsh or extreme statement, but professional sports gamblers use a bankroll. Amateur sports gamblers dont use a bankroll. Some professional sports gamblers make a profit, and very few amateur gamblers make a profit.

Using a dedicated bankroll wont make you a profitable sports gambler, but its one of the things you need to do if youre serious about winning.

Your bankroll is a tool that helps you win. A dedicated sport gambling bankroll helps you track your profits and losses and helps you determine proper bet sizing.

Advantage gamblers have found ways to make a profit. Gambling on sports is one of the ways that some professional advantage players make a profit. But its not necessarily the easiest way. In this section and the next section youre going to learn about two options that might be better than gambling on sports.

Poker strategy is more straightforward than sports gambling strategy. Poker strategy is still complicated, and most players never learn enough to be profitable. But its easier for many gamblers to learn how to beta poker games than it is to learn how to beat sportsbooks.

The truth is that if youre willing to do the work and put in the time you can use any of the 3 gambling areas to make a profit. But you have to pick one and stick with it. If gambling on sports isnt working out for you, consider focusing on poker.

If sports gambling and poker arent working out for you, blackjack might be the answer. In fact, if you can learn a few advanced blackjack strategies and how to get away with them, its a good reason to stop gambling on sports.

Real money blackjack is easier than handicapping sporting events and learning poker strategy. Its still not easy, but if youre willing to put in enough time and practice you can learn how to win as a blackjack player.

You just need to learn 3 things to be a winning blackjack gambler.

The rules and strategy are simple. You can even get a card that lists all of the best strategy plays and use it when you play. But it doesnt take long to memorize blackjack strategy. This leaves learning how to count cards.

You can find articles about counting cards on this site or by reading a good book or two. Once you know how it works, all you have to do is practice.

Should you stop gambling on sports? In the end this is a decision that youre going to need to make. If youre not profitably gambling on sports yet, are you willing to do what you need to do to change your results?

If youre not willing to make changes, you should probably stop gambling on sports and find something else to do. Poker and blackjack are both options that some gamblers use to make profits.

If you still want to gamble on sporting events after reading the 7 reasons why you should stop, then its time to get busy. Learn more about handicapping sporting events and start putting in more time and effort. This is the only way to start making money gambling on sporting events.

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Ron Cunningham: Single-family zoning is an instrument for segregation – Palm Beach Post

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Whats the difference between Trump conservatism and Gainesville liberalism?

When he killed Obama-era fair housing rules, Donald Trump bragged that he did it so suburbanites wont be "bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood."

But we Gainesville liberals arent comfortable demonizing the poor. So when we want to torpedo affordable housing, we call it a sneaky plot to benefit greedy developers.

That certainly took care of GNV Rise, a modest proposal to incentivize lower-cost housing construction in Gainesville that died in the face of nearly hysterical opposition from neighborhood associations.

That was in 2018, and virtually nothing has happened on the affordable housing front since.

But, listen, things are going to come to a head pretty quickly.

Call it the looming clash of the moratoria.

Theres a good chance the city will impose a development moratorium in an attempt to head off the spread of student housing into historic black neighborhoods like Fifth Avenue and Pleasant Street.

A time out period of, say, a year, would give the city time to engage in better neighborhood comprehensive planning, advocates say.

Maybe so. But another moratorium is going to be lifted a lot sooner than that the stay on evictions of people who have lost their jobs to the coronavirus crisis and can no longer pay their rent.

When that happens, homelessness is going to explode, both locally and nationally.

And "people of color" will be "especially vulnerable" to the coming eviction crisis, reports CNBC.

"We know evictions have always had a disproportionate impact on tenants of color due to discrimination and lack of wealth," John Pollock, of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, told the network.

Weve been talk, talk, talking about Gainesvilles affordable housing shortage for years.

And the fall of GNV Rise is a textbook example of why Gainesville remains all talk and no action.

Essentially we expect our commissioners to achieve goals that, on their face, appear to be mutually exclusive.

Lower housing costs so that everybody can afford to live in Gainesville.

But protect existing residents from policies that, homeowners perceive, will hurt their property values.

You would think a progressive university city like ours would be up to solving that conundrum, right? But town-gowns can be just as obstinate when it comes to deciding who should be allowed to live where.

"My own city of Berkeley, renowned for its progressive values and liberal politics for 50 years has suppressed new housing of all kinds and now has an almost unsolvable problem of affordability and homelessness."

This from Dorothy Walker, founding president of the American Planning Association in an important Streetsblog essay.

"The fact is, local control over land-use decisions has obstructed efforts for racial justice and social equity in housing since the beginning of our profession," she argues.

If you think a one-year time out will finally give Gainesville "equitable development," you havent been paying attention. Itll do no good unless we are willing to confront, and change, long entrenched zoning and land use restrictions that "perpetuate classism and racial segregation," as Walker puts it.

Single-family residential zoning, for instance, is the most rigidly enforced, and effective, instrument for segregation in American society.

Trump understands that, and he intends to use that ugly truth to his advantage.

We Gainesville liberals probably get it too. But greedy developers.

Ron Cunningham is former editorial page editor of The Sun. Read his blog at http://www.floridavelocipede.com. Email him at rondarts2008@gmail.com.

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Ron Cunningham: Single-family zoning is an instrument for segregation - Palm Beach Post

The Problem With the Judeo-Christian Tradition – The Atlantic

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Derek Thompson: Three decades ago, America lost its religion. Why?

Yet the Judeo-Christian tradition excluded not only Muslims, Native Americans, and other non-Western religious communities, but also atheists and secularists of all persuasions. American Jews themselves were reluctant adopters. After centuries of Christian anti-Semitic persecution and philo-Semitic fantasies of Jewish conversion, many eyed the award of an honorary hyphen with suspicion. Even some anti-communist politicians themselves recognized the concept as ill-suited to Americas postwar quest for global primacy in a decolonizing world.

The mythical Judeo-Christian tradition, then, proved an unstable foundation on which to build a common American identity. Today, as American democracy once again grasps for root metaphors with which to confront our countrys diversity and its place in the world, the terms recuperation should rightfully alarm us: It has always divided Americans far more than it has united them.

Although the Jewish and Christian traditions stretch back side by side to antiquity, the phrase Judeo-Christian is a remarkably recent creation. In Imagining Judeo-Christian America: Religion, Secularism, and the Redefinition of Democracy, the historian K. Healan Gaston marshals an impressive array of sources to provide us with an account of the modern genesis of Judeo-Christian and its growing status as a linguistic battlefield on which conservatives and liberals proffered competing notions of America and its place in the world from the 1930s to the present.

Before the 20th century, the notion of a Judeo-Christian tradition was virtually unthinkable, because Christianity viewed itself as the successor to an inferior, superseded Jewish faith, along with other inferior creeds. A good example of this comes from Reverend Ezra Stiles, president of Yale College and the most important intellectual in the early American republic, who wrote of religious freedom in 1785:

The most ample religious liberty will also probably [be obtained here] The United States will embosom all the religious sects or denominations in Christendom ... The Baptists, the Friends, the Lutherans will cohabit together in harmony That liberal and candid disquisition of Christianity which will most assuredly take place in America, will prepare Europe for the first event, with which the other will be connected, when, especially on the return of the Twelve Tribes to the Holy Land, there will burst forth a degree of evidence hitherto unperceived, and of efficacy to convert a world A time will come when six hundred millions of the human race shall be ready to drop their idolatry and all false religion, when Christianity shall triumph over superstition, as well as Deism, and Gentilism, and Mohammedanism.

Religious freedom meant freedom for Christians. Jews might be accommodated, though not necessarily with full equality, on a temporary basis until their eventual conversion. Like many other founding-era leaders, Stiles actually exhibited deep curiosity about Jews and Judaism. He spent six months attending services at the Newport, Rhode Island, synagogue to learn from a rabbi, Haim Isaac Carigal. The experience inspired Stiles to institute a short-lived Hebrew-language requirement for all Yale College freshmen. Yet he held to a theology of replacement in which Judaism would yield along with other faiths to a world unified in Christianity. Nor was he alone in this conviction. True, Western thinkers spoke of Athens and Jerusalem, but the latter was exclusively embodied in the Christian Church, not the rabbinic tradition. If anything, the shared patrimony of Judaism and Christianity was more a point of theological friction than a site of secular reconciliation.

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The Problem With the Judeo-Christian Tradition - The Atlantic

Politics & Other Mistakes: The C word – Daily Bulldog

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Al Diamon

In the complicated debate over how to correct injustices heaped upon Maines Indigenous People, theres a word nobody dares to use.

No, not the former name of whats now known as the Washington Football Team. (Too bad they didnt rename it Washington Team Football, because then the initials would have accurately reflected that organizations long history of racism, sexism and inept sports management.)

The term that everyone is tiptoeing around as the Legislature considers a massive revamping of the states relationship with its tribes isnt one of those unacceptable epithets concerning race or sex. So why isnt anyone courageous enough to come right out and say it?

Because its really about that other thing that makes folks squeamish:

Money.

Obviously, thats not the word nobody will use. People of all ethnicities talk about money all the time. The innocuous collection of syllables that cannot be uttered in public is less about cash itself than the grubby business of how to get it.

So naturally, its in all the parties best interests to avoid the shunned word, and put the emphasis in the debate on something more principled. Unfortunately, that means other serious issues are being employed by the participants as camouflage to obscure what none of them wants to mention.

Change must be made in our education, judicial and law enforcement institutions, Donna Loring, a Penobscot Nation elder, wrote in a June newspaper op-ed.

Hard to dispute that.

In February, Maulian Dana, the Penobscots tribal ambassador, told the Portland Press Herald, Indigenous nations are not special interests, and these are equal rights, not special rights.

Amen to that.

According to a story in the Original Irregular, Bert Polchics, a Penobscot Nation member, told the Carrabassett Valley selectmen last month, We need to be able to control our own destinies. [O]ur ways are not to create harm in any way, to endanger or to destroy. Were trying to protect and make things better.

Everybody get on board. But before the love train leaves the station, make room in the caboose for that thing that isnt being talked about:

The C word.

The 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act gave the tribes that were parties to it lots of land. But it also put lots of restriction on how that land could be used. Native Americans couldnt simply decide to build a nuclear waste dump. They couldnt unilaterally start selling recreational marijuana. And they couldnt legalize gambling.

Which brings us finally to the dreaded C word. Readers whose moral principles prevent them from watching TV shows preceded by warnings that theyre for mature audiences should forego the remaining paragraphs. Because the C word is:

Casino.

Buried in the 22 proposed changes to Maines laws governing its relationship with the tribes is a section allowing gambling on all Indian land. But any clods so lacking in social graces that theyd actually bring up that point should be prepared to be buried in self-righteous indignation.

Were not here for casinos, Michael-Corey Hinton, a lawyer for the Passamaquoddy Tribe told a legislative committee in February. We are here to restore our sovereignty and our ability to self-govern.

Then he added, Under federal law, that would include the right to game.

Hinton wasnt talking about partridge.

I live in an area of western Maine almost entirely surrounded by land the Penobscots bought under the Settlement Act. If this legislation is approved, theres a good chance Ill have a gambling emporium for a neighbor. Ive got no problem with that. Except for one thing.

Maine needs to revise its gaming laws not only to allow Indian casinos, but also to permit any other reasonably qualified entity willing to pay a hefty licensing fee and a ridiculous tax on profits to offer slot machines and table games. For too long, gambling policy has been set by referendums, rather than sensible regulations.

Either everybody should be able to operate a casino, or nobody should.

Thats just a matter of a phrase that also begins with C:

Common sense.

Raise the stakes by emailing me at aldiamon@herniahill.net.

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Politics & Other Mistakes: The C word - Daily Bulldog

Small Midwestern Colleges Have Been Through It All. Can They Make It Through The Pandemic? – KBIA

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The image of a small Midwestern college is one of quiet, peaceful campus nestled in a rural town.

Some now fear the global pandemic could silence many small schools altogether.

The coronavirus upended higher education this spring. Colleges had to lock down and refund thousands of dollars of tuition to students.

On the heels of financial struggles in higher education, the pandemic could land a death blow to smaller colleges dotting rural Missouri and Illinois. Over the past several years, economists have made dire predictions that many small colleges, possibly up to half, will go bankrupt and close in the next decade.

We get concerned about it. However, we've been fortunate that we see more folks wanting to be here, said Don Lofe, interim president at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.

Through the Civil War, world wars and plenty of economic downturns, colleges like Westminster have continued to graduate students. But over the past two years, about a dozen small colleges have closed for good. Among them is MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois. After 174 years, the coronavirus pandemic was one punch on the chin too many.

School leaders argue they still hold a valuable position in the higher education landscape: a robust liberal arts education rooted in small class sizes, strong student support services and idyllic settings.

I still believe personally, and I think a lot of people do, that there is a need for traditional college education, said Dan Westhues, a board member at William Woods University, also located in Fulton.

Higher education financial experts are less rosy on the outlook.

Forbes magazine gives colleges letter grades based on their financial health. Numerous small schools in Missouri and Illinois earn poor marks. Westminster and Williams Woods get Cs. Culver-Stockton College, Hannibal-LaGrange University and Quincy University all have Ds.

These organizations are going to tell you We're going to survive, but they're not in large numbers, said Gary Stocker, a college administrator-turned-analyst.

Stocker worked at Lindenwood University and Westminster College before starting College Viability, a website aimed at tracking and presenting college financial data to worried college officials and curious parents.

And you see some really, really ugly numbers, he said.

Many of these colleges rely too much on endowment spending and alumni donations, rather than strong student bodies to pump in tuition dollars, Stocker said. They have little cash on hand and endowments too small to weather strong headwinds.

These small rural colleges are not profitable enough year in and year out to be able to have long-term viability, Stocker said.

Itll also be harder to promote the picturesque college experience if colleges have to remain locked down and there are no in-person classes or athletics another big recruitment tool for some small schools.

We feel we provide a unique experience, said Lofe, the head of Westminster. Many colleges are going to say that, but we've been able to demonstrate that with actions. For instance, athletics, the other experiences we have on campus.

COVID-19 also upended finances for colleges. Having to send students packing in March and issue refunds was a major expense. Federal aid programs enacted by Congress in the spring helped cover some of the losses.

I would just tell you this, we managed it well, Lofe said. Our college is very stabilized right now with respect to financial matters. But throughout the years, like many colleges, revenue streams have caused issues as well as the demographics that are changing, as you know, with respect to available students in the population to go to college.

Ryan Delaney

/

St. Louis Public Radio

Westminster College Board of Trustees Chair Jim Morton and Interim President Don Lofe on the campus in Fulton, Missouri, in July.

Fewer high school graduates and the growing sticker shock of a private college education will mean schools have to evolve or possibly die out.

I don't expect a mass extinction of small private colleges, but we may see several years' worth of closures in just a few weeks or months, so I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the small private colleges in the Midwest end up closing, said Robert Kelchen, a Missouri native and associate professor of higher education at Seton Hall University.

While Westminster boasts being around since the Civil War, Culver-Stockton College can brag that it survived a tornado shortly after graduation in 2003.

Douglas Palmer is the new president of Culver-Stockton in Canton, Missouri. Any big aspirations he had when he accepted the job in February, before the pandemic, may need to wait.

I would not expect that many colleges and universities in the area or even in the country are going to be doing a whole lot of hiring or investment in capital projects until we're through this crisis, he said.

He first must focus on maintaining an enrollment of 1,100 students and paying the people who educate them. I think it's been harder here, and I think it will continue to be hard.

Recruiting traditional students to rural pockets of the Midwest, even with appealing tuition discounts and scholarships, is getting harder, said Westhues, the William Woods board member. And so we certainly have seen that over the years, but I think that's actually kind of a decent thing because what it's forced us to do is be creative, and it's forced us to evolve.

William Woods is investing in online programs and degree completion for older adults. Westminster is focused on expanding recruitment and supporting students. It also wants to find a new niche, such as cybersecurity, that "will be a strong selling point."

But going after nontraditional students will have to balance with the core product.

"The liberal arts education gives you the ability to think, think just not analytically, but creatively. And those are words but they're really, I believe in those very strongly," Lofe said. "And I believe this type of education, this type of institution provides that."

Stocker and other industry watchers advocate for mergers of small colleges to reduce costs. Health care provides an example. What were once dozens of small hospitals run by religious orders around the region are now operated by a single hospital system.

Still, the worst-case scenarios many predicted for colleges and universities this fall so far dont appear likely. Some estimates this spring suggested fall enrollments would be down by up to 20%, with students perhaps choosing to stay closer to home or take a gap year.

But as of now Westminster, William Woods and most other small colleges say students are planning to return when campuses reopen this fall, even if it won't be for a typical semester.

Follow Ryan on Twitter: @rpatrickdelaney

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Small Midwestern Colleges Have Been Through It All. Can They Make It Through The Pandemic? - KBIA

Transformation through healing justice, community and art | ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact – ASU Now

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August 7, 2020

Arizona State University graduate Kamra Sadia Hakim is an artist and entrepreneur with a vision to create inclusive spaces for marginalized communities throughActivation Residency, an artist residency and cooperative based in New York.

Hakim first became inspired to create change while earning a bachelors degree in global studies in 2015 from The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

My program at ASU was fantastic because I was all over the world by the age of 18, said Hakim, who uses they/them pronouns.

I pursued global studies because I knew that I wanted to make a global impact, but I didn't necessarily know how that would take shape. My service learning trip in Johannesburg (South Africa) and Zambia with theONE Campaignset me off to be a worldly person early on in life by expanding my capacity for human interaction, cultural adaptability and inclusion."

In their sophomore year, Hakim added a minor in social transformation and became exposed to issues on topics including feminism, the patriarchy and white supremacy.

To wake up to all of that information at a young 21 I was taken aback. Having access to queer and feminist studies really started to change the way in which I moved through the world. It also gave me access and more permission to my own personal queer and trans identity. From a fundamental level, ASU definitely equipped me with the confidence that I needed to be able to do this work.

Kamra Sadia Hakim

After ASU, Hakim earned a masters degree in global affairs from New York University and pursued several internships and roles, including as an arts professional development coordinator at Columbia University.

In 2018, Hakim created Activation after being moved by the experiences they had at music festivals and creative retreats, and seeing the lack of creative opportunities available for Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals.

By frequenting these festivals and retreats, I was really inspired by the level of community involved and the feeling of coming together around the arts, Hakim said. I found that a lot of healing experiences happen when folks come together for something that they really care about to share wisdom, knowledge, talents, expertise and gifts.

Initially, Activation was promoted as a weekend-long residency for working class and underserved artists. The original group of 20 artists gathered at the Outlier Inn, located in Woodridge, New York, sharing meals together and leading workshops based on their practice.

After what Hakim said was an overwhelmingly collaborative, heartwarming, emotional and transformative experience, they wanted to expand the programs reach. In the second year of the program, Hakim served over 60 artists through the residency program, this time partnering with community organizers to incorporate programming and conversations around race, class, gender and sexuality.

Geodesic dome at the Outlier Inn. Courtesy of Activation Residency.

People got to grapple with white supremacy and internalized homophobia while being in a community space that felt safe enough to have those difficult conversations, Hakim said. We had a conflict around race come up in real time and we had to come together as a community to create solutions for those problems, which is something that you don't really see in this work.

Over the years, Activations mission has remained the same but has grown exponentially with the help of successful online fundraising and community support. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and an increased awareness of the injustices BIPOC and LGBTQ individuals face, Hakim has received a recent influx of support. Since the end of May, Hakim has raised over $150,000 to support Activation projects through social media fundraising.

Hakim also launched aco-op fundthis year that has raised over $10,000 since the end of April. Funds from the monthly-contribution program are redistributed to community members in need.

Folks really love Activation and the work were doing. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had around 1,800 followers on Instagram and now we have more than 9,000, Hakim said. I think the conversation around funding and redistributing wealth has rapidly changed.

When protests against the killing of George Floyd began, Hakim collected funds for necessary supplies like water and hand sanitizer and passed them out to protesters in New York. After experiencing an influx of new followers and an increase in monetary support, Hakim seized that momentum and created online workshops and other digital programming to expand Activation's impact.

The big thing has been figuring out ways to keep the Activation magic alive online, Hakim said. We've had some really beautiful Instagram live and Zoom programming, which was kind of unexpected for me. Online programming can be tedious and the Zoom fatigue is real. I just didn't think it was going to work, but we ended up recreating that soft and healing but challenging and rigorous atmosphere that Activation has in real life in our online programming. It has been so touching to see the human to human connections we've been able to achieve in the virtual sphere.

The funds raised over the past few months will be used to hostRespite as Resistance, a care and healing program for BIPOC, LGBTQ, disabled and immigrant activists, organizers and artists. The fall program will incorporate COVID-19 health and safety precautions including physical distancing, required mask wearing, gathering in outdoor spaces and small cohorts of eight to 10 people.

NK and Asha Grant lead a Praise the Lorde Sunday in the dome at the Outlier Inn. Courtesy of Activation Residency.

I think folks are being galvanized to go hard and fight for the struggle without realizing that part of moving through oppression is caring for ourselves, Hakim said. I feel like my job in the revolution is to center care and provide folks with the opportunity to care for themselves and be cared for by other community members.

Hakim hopes to continue to increase Activations reach, and is fundraising for a variety of ongoing projects, includingFarming Futurity, a permaculture farm and healing space on 15 acres of land in upstate New York that will provide short-term residencies for artists and community members who want to explore transformative justice healing arts.

As a Black person who grew up poor and is also trans, this is the kind of liberation that people like me have fought for forever and ever, Hakim said. So in a lot of ways, I feel like I'm living my dream and that is a motivation enough for me to continue to do the work.

Top photo:A group of artists sit on the ground in anticipation of a Family Constellation at Activation Residency. Courtesy of Activation Residency and Tonje Thilesen.

Communications Specialist and Lead Writer , The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

eballi@asu.edu

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Transformation through healing justice, community and art | ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact - ASU Now