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NLRB Decision Gives Employers More Freedom to Address Offensive and Abusive Conduct – JD Supra

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

On July 21, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) issued a long-awaited decision giving employers more freedom to discipline employees who engage in abusive, obscene or profane conduct in connection with their work. In General Motors, LLC, 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020), the NLRB rejected three context-specific rules formerly used to assess whether an employees inappropriate conduct is protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act). Instead, the NLRB will now assess that conduct under the Wright Line standard, which is used to evaluate all other claims of discriminatory conduct under the Act.

Previously, when assessing whether an employer lawfully disciplined an employee who engaged in abusive, obscene or profane conduct in connection with activity protected by Section 7 of the NLRA, the NLRB applied one of three different circumstance-specific tests that focused on the context of the employees misconduct. One (the Atlantic Steel test) applied when the misconduct occurred during otherwise-protected workplace interactions with management. Another (the totality of the circumstances test) applied when the misconduct occurred on social media or during interactions with fellow employees. And a third (the Clear Pine Mouldings test) applied when the misconduct occurred on a picket line.

In General Motors, the NLRB disapproved of this context-specific analysis because it treated abusive and offensive conduct as analytically inseparable from activity protected by the Act. In contrast, the NLRB held that [a]busive speech and conduct (e.g., profane ad hominem attack or racial slur) is not protected by the Act and is differentiable from speech or conduct that is protected by Section 7 (e.g., articulating a concerted grievance or patrolling a picket line).

Now, when an employee engages in abusive or profane conduct, the Wright Line standard simplifies the analysis by utilizing the same two-step, burden-shifting framework that applies to all other claims of discriminatory conduct under the Act. The NLRBs General Counsel must first present sufficient evidence to establish a causal connection between the discipline and the employers alleged anti-union animus. Then, even if the General Counsel makes this showing, if the employer demonstrates that it would have taken the same action to address the employees misconduct in the absence of the employees protected activity, the employers action will not be overturned.

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, NLRB Chairman John Ring emphasized the Boards former context-specific standards could not coexist with antidiscrimination laws, which impose a legal duty on employers to protect all employees from discrimination and harassment. Employers are required to take prompt and appropriate action to stop harassing conduct, and the failure to do so has significant consequences, including the risk of legal liability. Accordingly, the NLRB will no longer give special protection to offensive language or conduct in the workplace and its General Motors decision eliminates the conflict with federal, state and local antidiscrimination laws and stops penalizing employers for complying with those laws. According to Chairman Ring, [t]his is a long-overdue change in the NLRBs approach to profanity-laced tirades and other abusive conduct in the workplace. For too long, the Board has protected employees who engage in obscene, racist, and sexually harassing speech not tolerated in almost any workplace today.

This decision, indeed, is a welcome change for employers, as they will be given significantly more leeway when disciplining both union-represented and non-union employees who engage in abusive conduct or offensive tirades. Previously, employers often had to tolerate egregiously inappropriate misconduct simply because it occurred on the picket line or was intertwined with the employees protected activity. Now, employers will have more predictability when disciplining employees for their abusive, profane or offensive conduct, and will be able to respond more effectively when employees engage in what the NLRB called obscene, racist, and sexually harassing speech not tolerated in almost any workplace today. For more questions on the Wright Line standard or any other labor-management issues, please contact any attorney on the Faegre Drinker Labor Management Relations team.

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NLRB Decision Gives Employers More Freedom to Address Offensive and Abusive Conduct - JD Supra

What Prince William Thinks of the New Finding Freedom Book About the Royal Family – Us Weekly

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Royally outraged. Prince William isnt pleased with the contents of Finding Freedom, the new book about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, a source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly.

In the book, out August 11, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand detail shocking developments in the behind-the-scenes relationships that led Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, to step back from the royal family earlier this year. While a spokesperson tells Us that the content is based on the authors own experiences as members of the royal press corps, and that the royal couple was not involved, William, 38, believes otherwise.

William thinks the book is their calculated way of controlling the narrative and that they took advantage of their entertainment contacts so theyd be painted in a favorable light, the source says.

Harry and the Suits alum announced their royal exit in January, less than two years after tying the knot in May 2018. Since taking a step down from their responsibilities as senior royals, the pair briefly relocated to Canada and has since settled down in Los Angeles with son Archie, 14 months.

While Harry and his brother were on thin ice before Finding Freedom stirred the royal pot, the book has only exacerbated their tension. An excerpt from the tell-all reveals that the former military pilot was pissed off with William, who wanted to make sure that Harry wasnt blindsided by lust before going public with his relationship with Meghan.

Even before the book came out, the bad blood between William and Harry was apparent, another source tells Us. But its taken a whole new turn.

In October 2019, Harry acknowledged that he and his brother were certainly on different paths in an interview for the ITV documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. With new details about the royal family dynamic emerging in Finding Freedom, William feels as though he and wife Duchess Kate are made to seem like the villains in Harrys life.

Williams the voice of reason and cant help thinking that Harrys ongoing resentment toward him, Kate and the rest of the royal family is a sign hes struggling to move forward with his life in L.A., the first source claims.

For more on the ins and outs of the royal family, watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.

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What Prince William Thinks of the New Finding Freedom Book About the Royal Family - Us Weekly

Religious freedom is no reason to deny people with disabilities the right to equality in the workplace | TheHill – The Hill

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Exactly 30 years ago today, on July 26, 1990, President Bush proclaimed proudly, With today's signing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, every man, woman, and child with a disability can now pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence, and freedom." But can they?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the first comprehensive law prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities. At least 61 million people more than 25 percent of our population has a disability. The ADA has resulted in better access for disabled people to frequent restaurants, movie theaters, sports arenas, shopping malls and schools. Local governments and private industry must ensure that buildings, buses and services are accessible and that effective communication access is provided for those who need it. Private and public employers now know it is illegal to refuse to hire or promote someone with a disability, and they must provide employees with reasonable accommodations, especially since most workplace accommodations cost very little.

But guaranteeing equality, independence and freedom for people with disabilities must go beyond enacting a law, especially when the law may be misinterpreted by the United States Supreme Court.

In 1999 the United States Supreme Court decided three cases known as the Sutton trilogy, which unduly limited the definition of disability in a way that was not intended by the bipartisan Congress that had enacted the ADA. These Supreme Court decisions resulted in the inappropriate dismissal of numerous cases in which employees were found unqualified as either too disabled to do the job or not disabled enough to be protected by the ADA. Congress reacted swiftly to remedy the courts misinterpretation of the ADA by enacting the ADAAmendments Act. The ADAAA made clear that courts should apply the definition of disability broadly and directed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to revise the applicable sections of the regulations to conform to the laws broad mandate. It is now time for Congress to act again and instruct the EEOC to amend its regulations to correct the Supreme Courts decision in the recent case of St. James School v. Biel. The Biel case is one of two consolidated discrimination cases decided by the Supreme Court this term that deny employees civil rights protection in the name of religious freedom.

In the Biel case, the Supreme Court held that Ms. Biel, a teacher who worked at a Catholic elementary school, was not protected by the ADA because she qualified for the ministerial exception, carved out by the Supreme Court in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church v. EEOC. Under Title I, which covers all employers of at least 15 employees, religious institutions are free to giv[e] preference in employment to individuals of a particular religion to perform work and to require all applicants and employees conform to the religious tenets of such organization. Yet nowhere does the law give religious institutions the right to deny employees protections under Title I.

Nonetheless, after Ms. Biel was diagnosed with breast cancer, she requested an adjustment to her work schedule as an accommodation so she could receive treatment. The school responded by firing her. She had argued that the ministerial exception did not apply to her since she had no religious leadership role and taught mostly secular subjects. Indeed, if Ms. Biel had taught the same subjects at any other private or public school, she likely would have been able to keep her job and get cancer treatment as an accommodation under the ADA.

The Supreme Court, in a majority opinion by Justice Alito, reversed the Ninth Circuit decision and ruled against Ms. Biel. In so doing, the court extended the ministerial exception beyond any prior court decision. Under Biel, religious institutions can now dismiss any employee, just because they have a disability. That is precisely the type of discrimination that the ADA was intended to eradicate.

With this decision, churches and all other religious institutions are free to discriminate against employees on the basis of disability, as well as race, age, sex or any other protected trait for reasons having nothing to do with religion. As Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, joined by Justice Ginsberg, this case expands the ministerial exception far beyond its historic narrowness. Justice Sotomayor continued by characterizing the decision as profoundly unfair, noting that the inherent injustice in the courts conclusion will be impossible to ignore for long, particularly in a pluralistic society like ours.

One may assume that the Biel decision will not affect many people. In fact, the case itself received little attention in the mainstream media. But the impact of the courts decision goes well beyond teachers with disabilities who work in Catholic schools. It means that anyone who works for any religious organization in almost any capacity is no longer protected by the ADA. It is also an affront to anyone with a disability who has ever looked for a job.

For people with disabilities, finding a job is not easy. Only about 19 percent of people with disabilities work compared to 66 percent of people without disabilities.Although people with disabilities constitute 26 percent of the population, they are more than twice as likely to be unemployed.

Just as Congress acted to correct the courts decisions in the Sutton trilogy of cases, Congress should act now to correct the courts misinterpretation in Biel of Title Is religious ministerial exception. Unless an employee has a leadership role in a religious organization, the employee should be protected under the ADA as well as all other civil rights laws.

Five years ago, President Obama observed that the 25th anniversary of the ADA is a cause for celebration but also a time to address the injustices that linger and remove barriers that remain. The Biel decision is an example of the courts unwillingness to fully protect the right to equality in the workplace for people with disabilities. It is now up to Congress to act again and correct the courts misguided decision that tramples on the rights of people with disabilities this time in the name of religious freedom.

Arlene S. Kanter is Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence, Director of the Disability Law and Policy Program, and Director of International Programs at Syracuse University College of Law.

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Religious freedom is no reason to deny people with disabilities the right to equality in the workplace | TheHill - The Hill

GE Sees Long Recovery Ahead After Progress on Costs, Cash – Bloomberg

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

General Electric Co. predicted slow gains in operations this year and next after the coronavirus pandemic battered results in the second quarter.

The jet-engine division has tracked early signs of improvement in flight departures on the path to a lengthy recovery, GE said in a presentation as it reported results. The company burned through $2.1 billion in industrial free cash in the second quarter, less than the $3.3 billion drain expected by analysts.

Its really about sequential improvement from here, Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp said on a call with analysts. The environment remains challenging. But with respect to those things that are within our control, we think health care is well-positioned to lead, the turnarounds in power and renewables continue, and were expecting a multiyear recovery in aviation.

Culp is trying to get GE back on track after the pandemic upended a turnaround he began after taking the reins in 2018. GE on Wednesday posted double-digit declines in orders across all its industrial businesses in the second quarter, with comparable sales drops in all units except renewable energy. Revenue in the aviation business plunged 44% as the virus gutted air travel and dimmed the long-term outlook for aircraft sales.

Covid-19 clearly put us back, Culp said in an interview. It will take us a little longer, just because of whats happened in aviation, in particular. But that said, I have more confidence today than I ever have that were going to see this transformation through.

The company has accelerated some aspects of its overhaul, he said. GE has reduced debt by roughly $9.1 billion this year, bolstered cash to $41 billion and taken steps to eliminate $2 billion in costs and preserve $3 billion in cash.

Negative order trends across General Electrics portfolio and high decremental margins are a stark reminder that it will take years for the company to achieve credit-protection measures more consistent with its Baa1/BBB+/BBB rankings.

Joel Levington, Director of Credit Research

Click here to read the research.

GE recorded a $1.8 billion unrealized pretax gain during the quarter on its plan to sell its stake in Baker Hughes over the next three years. The company will use the proceeds to pay down debt.

The companys shares dropped 4.1% to $6.61 at 10:49 a.m. in New York. GE tumbled 38% this year through Tuesday, while a Standard & Poors index of industrial companies fell 12%.

The second-quarter results generally matched investors low expectations, John Inch, a Gordon Haskett analyst, wrote in a note to clients.

It seems apparent that GEs fundamentals including cash flow challenges are likely to persist for many quarters/years with no obvious recourse as the company has largely sold what it can, Inch said.

(Updates with Culps comment in fifth paragraph)

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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GE Sees Long Recovery Ahead After Progress on Costs, Cash - Bloomberg

Quantum Physics Overview, Concepts, and History

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Quantum physics is the study of the behavior of matter and energy at the molecular, atomic, nuclear, and even smaller microscopic levels. In the early 20th century, scientists discovered that the laws governing macroscopic objects do not function the same in such small realms.

"Quantum" comes from the Latin meaning "how much." It refers to the discrete units of matter and energy that are predicted by and observed in quantum physics. Even space and time, which appear to be extremely continuous, have the smallest possible values.

As scientists gained the technology to measure with greater precision, strange phenomena was observed. The birth of quantum physics is attributed to Max Planck's 1900 paper on blackbody radiation. Development of the field was done by Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schroedinger, and other luminary figures in the field. Ironically, Albert Einstein had serious theoretical issues with quantum mechanics and tried for many years to disprove or modify it.

In the realm of quantum physics, observing something actually influences the physical processes taking place. Light waves act like particles and particles act like waves (called wave particle duality). Matter can go from one spot to another without moving through the intervening space (called quantum tunnelling). Information moves instantly across vast distances. In fact, in quantum mechanics we discover that the entire universe is actually a series of probabilities. Fortunately, it breaks down when dealing with large objects, as demonstrated by the Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment.

One of the key concepts is quantum entanglement, which describes a situation where multiple particles are associated in such a way that measuring the quantum state of one particle also places constraints on the measurements of the other particles. This is best exemplified by the EPR Paradox. Though originally a thought experiment, this has now been confirmed experimentally through tests of something known as Bell's Theorem.

Quantum optics is a branch of quantum physics that focuses primarily on the behavior of light, or photons. At the level of quantum optics, the behavior of individual photons has a bearing on the outcoming light, as opposed to classical optics, which was developed by Sir Isaac Newton. Lasers are one application that has come out of the study of quantum optics.

Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the study of how electrons and photons interact. It was developed in the late 1940s by Richard Feynman, Julian Schwinger, Sinitro Tomonage, and others. The predictions of QED regarding the scattering of photons and electrons are accurate to eleven decimal places.

Quantum physics is sometimes called quantum mechanics or quantum field theory. It also has various subfields, as discussed above, which are sometimes used interchangeably with quantum physics, though quantum physics is actually the broader term for all of these disciplines.

Causality in Quantum Physics - Thought Experiments and Interpretations

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Quantum Physics Overview, Concepts, and History

Quantum Physics Introduction Made Simple for Beginners

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Image by agsandrew / Shutterstock.com

In this quantum physics introduction for beginners we will explain quantum physics, also called quantum mechanics, in simple terms. Quantum physics is possibly the most fascinating part of physics there is. It is the amazing physics that becomes relevant for small particles, where the so-called classical physics is no longer valid. Where classical mechanics describes the movement of sufficiently big particles, and everything is deterministic, we can only determine probabilities for the movement of very small particles, and we call the corresponding theory quantum mechanics.

You may have heard Einsteins saying Der Alte wrfelt nicht which translated to English roughly means God does not roll dice. Well, even geniuses can be wrong. Again, quantum mechanics is not deterministic, but we can in general only determine probabilities. Since we are used to fairly big objects in our everyday life, quantum mechanics and its laws may at first seem strange and quantum theory is often considered to be complex. But for example electrons and photons are sufficiently small that quantum physics is needed, and on this website we will show you that understanding the basics of quantum physics is easy and fun.

In the following paragraph we will describe a thought experiment that we perform at two different length scales: With bullets as known from pistols (the large scale) and with electrons (the very small scale). While the experiment is essentially the same but for the size, we will show you how the result is very different. This will be your first lecture in quantum mechanics.

Consider first a machine gun that fires bullets to a wall. Between the wall and the machine gun there is another wall that has two parallel slits that are big enough to easily allow a bullet to pass through them. To make the experiment interesting, we take a bad machine gun that has a lot of spread. This means it sometimes shoots through the first slit and sometimes through the second, and sometimes it hits the intermediate wall.

If we block the second slit, all bullets that reach the outer wall will have come through the first slit. If we count the number of bullets as a function of the distance from the center of the outer wall, we will find a curve distribution that could be similar to a Gaussian curve. We can call this probability curve P1.

If we block the first slit, all bullets that reach the outer wall will have come through the second slit. The probability curve will be mirrored around the center, and we call it P2.

If we open both slits, all bullets at the outer wall will have come through either slit 1 or 2. What is typical for classical mechanics in this situation is that then the total probability distribution P can be determined as the sum of the previously-mentioned probability distributions, P = P1 + P2.

Now consider the same experiment on a much smaller scale. Instead of bullets from a machine gun we consider electrons that for example can stem from a heated wire that is parallel to the two slits in an intermediate wall. The electron direction will have a natural spread. The slits are also much smaller than before but quite a bit broader than a single electron.

Consider again the case that the second slit is blocked. For proper sizes of the slits and distance between the wire and the walls, the probability distribution P1 will be similar to before. Similarly, if we block the slit 1, we will for proper distances find a probability distribution P2 similar to before.

What do you expect will happen if we do not block any slit? Will we find a probability distribution P = P1 + P2 as before? Well, after all we said you may guess that this is not the case. Indeed, we will instead find a probability distribution that has various minima and maxima. That is, for x = 0 there would be the strongest peak of electrons, for a certain +-Delta x there wouldnt be any electrons at all, but for +-2 Delta x there would be another peak of electrons, and so on.

How can we explain these results? Well, the explanation is rather straight forward if we assume that electrons in this specific case do not behave as particles, but as waves. Waves? you may ask. Well, consider a plain of water, and the same wall as before and the same intermediate wall with a double slit as before. At the place where the machine gun or the wire where, consider a pencil punching periodically downwards into the water. If you do this, you will get concentric waves around the point where you punch the water, until the intermediate plain with the two slits.

Behind each slit, there will be a half circle of concentric waves, up to the point where the new waves from the two slits cross each other. There, the waves from the two slits can add up or eliminate each other. As a function of the periodic punching you will find points where the height of the wave is always the same. There will be other places where the wave is sometimes very high and sometimes very low. At the outer wall, these two phases will be repeatedly following one another. The places where there is a lot of variation correspond to the places where there are the most electrons. The places with no variation correspond to the places where there are no electrons on the wall at all.

So, why do electrons in this case behave like waves and not like particles? Well, this is the thing where you will not find a satisfying answer. You just need to accept it.

What if you do not believe this? Well, the thought experiment with the electrons is rather difficult to perform with the proper scale of all elements of the experiment. But there is another very similar experiment that you can do at home. Instead of the electrons you use the photons (light particles) from a laser which you can buy for a few bucks. You let the laser shine through a double slit, darken the room, and look at the outer wall. And boom! What you see is not just two light lines on the outer wall, but a pattern of light line, dark line, light line, dark line, and so on. The intensity of the lighter region becomes less far away from the center. It corresponds exactly to the result of our thought experiments with electrons.

Why does the laser experiment give the same result as the thought experiment with electrons? It is quite easy: Light particles, called photons, are also very small and therefore behave quantum mechanically. And like electrons, they behave like waves in this specific situation. As a side remark, research has shown that light behaves like particles in another respect: If one reduces the intensity a lot, one will find single light spots from single photons on the wall. This means the light behaves like particles as well. One therefore talks about the particle-wave duality of photons or electrons.

What do you wait for? Do the experiment, and you will become a believer of quantum mechanics, or more generally phrased, of quantum physics.

The pattern with maxima and minima is called an interference pattern, since it comes about by the interference of the waves through slit 1 and slit 2. It has been found that you only get this interference pattern if you do not by other means (some additional measurement instrument) watch through which of the two slits the electrons or photons pass. If you do measure which of the two ways the particles pass by any other means, the interference pattern goes away. You will then find the sum distribution P = P1 + P2 as in the classical experiment.

A measurement device for electrons would typically disturb the electrons. More precisely, their momentum p would typically change due to a measurement device, while the place x of its path would become known more precisely. In general, there will be some uncertainty left in the momentum and in the place of the electron. It was postulated by Heisenberg that the product of these uncertainties can never be lower than a specific constant h: Delta x times Delta p >= h. Noone ever managed to disproof this relation, which is at the heart of quantum mechanics. Essentially it says, we cannot measure both momentum and place with arbitrary precision at the same time.

We said that for proper distributions you will find a similar result P1 and P2 as in the classical case. However, for other sizes one can achieve an interference pattern even for the single slits. This is the case when the slit is so broad that one can achieve an interference of the wave stemming from one side of the slit with the wave stemming from the other side of the slit.

We said above that quantum physics becomes relevant for small particles whereby we mean that naturally, quantum effects are only seen for small particles. However,the theory itself is thought to provide correct results for large particles as well. Why is it then, that quantum effects (which cannot be explained with classical theory) become increasingly difficult to observe for larger particles? Larger compound particles in general experience more interaction both within themselves and with their surroundings. These interactions typically lead to an effect physicists call decoherence which simply put means that quantum effects get lost. In this case (for sufficiently large matter), quantum physics and classical physics yield the same result.

Now you may wonder: At which size does this happen?.While one doesnt naturally observe quantum effects in large particles, ingenious people have managed to specifically prepare test environments which showed quantum effects for an ever growing size of particles. Already 1999 an experiment showed a quantum superposition in particles as large as C60 molecules (original article). A2013 articlealready claims to observe quantum superpositions in molecules that weighmore than 10000 atomic mass units. The question of where the achievable limit lies, and whether one can be sure that experiments really demonstrate quantum behavior, is still of interest. That these questions are not finally concluded is also reflected in a more recent article on the American Physical Society site. In principle, if one would be able to somehow get rid of decoherence effects in specifically prepared systems, the theory itself imposes no upper size limits on where quantum effects could be shown.

The aspect of the length scale for quantum physics that we just discussed was the particle size which typically is on the microscopic scale. A completely different matter is the length scale of how far you can move or separate such particles afteran initial interaction, without loosing quantum effects. You can view the two-slit experiment as showingan interaction between particles at the slit. If you tried out the experiment yourself, you probably realized, that the distance between the slit and the wall were you observe interference patterns can easily be some meters not microscopic at all!

Other experiments prepare two particles in a special quantum superposition called entanglement which, by the way, lies at the heart of quantum computation and then separate these particles. In someexperiments, it was possible to show interactions between these particles despite a separation over many miles. Essentially, if one measures the state of one such particle, one can thereafter predict the state of the other particle (within errors), despite the large separation between the particles. A recent experimentdemonstrated this entanglement effect over extreme distances. Particles were sent to a satellite and back to earth a fairly large scale distance compared to the size of a human.

In this quantum physics introduction we told you that both photons and electrons behave as both particles and waves. This particle-wave duality is not understandable with classical mechanics. It results in us only being able to predict probabilities, while one classically can make deterministic predictions. You can easily test these results at home by performing the two-slits experiment with a laser pointer. Have fun! We hope you enjoyed this quantum physics introduction for beginners. If you havent read it yet, you should continue with our article What Everyone should Know about Quantum Physics. And if you want to learn even more, why not have a look at our article Best Quantum Physics Books for Beginners?

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Quantum Physics Introduction Made Simple for Beginners

Shining a light on the quantum world – MIT News

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

In the universe, there is the world we can see with the naked eye: trees, planes in the sky, dishes in the sink. But there are other worlds that reveal themselves with the help of a magnifying glass, telescope, or microscope. With these, we can see up into the universe or down into the smallest particles that make it up. The smallest of these is a world populated by particles smaller than an atom: the quantum world.

Physicists who probe this world study how these subatomic particles interact with one another, often in ways not predicted by behavior at the atomic or molecular level. One such physicist is Nicholas Rivera, who studies light-matter interactions at the quantum level.

Unfinished business

In the quantum world, light is two things: both a wave and a small particle called a photon. I was always fascinated with light, especially the quantum nature of light, says Rivera, a Department of Physics graduate student in Professor Marin Soljais group.

According to Rivera, there is still a lot we dont know about quantum light, and uncovering these unknowns may prove useful for a number of applications. Its connected to a lot of interesting problems, says Rivera, such as how to make better quantum computers and lasers at new frequencies like ultraviolet and X-ray. Its this dual nature of the work with fundamental questions coupled with practical solutions that attracted Rivera to his current area of research.

Rivera joined Soljais group in 2013, when he was an undergraduate at MIT. Since then his research has focused on how light and matter interact at the most elementary level, between quanta of light, also called photons, and electrons of matter. These interactions are governed by the laws of quantum electrodynamics and involve the emission of photons by electrons that hop up and down energy levels. This may sound simple, but it is surprisingly difficult because light and matter are operating on two different size scales, which often means these interactions are inefficient. One specific goal of Riveras work is to improve that efficiency.

The atom is this tiny thing, a 10th of a nanometer large, says Rivera. But when light takes the form of a wave, its wavelengths are much larger than an atom. The idea is that, because of this mismatch, many of the possible ways that an electron could release a photon are just too slow to be observable. Rivera uses theory to figure out how light and matter could be manipulated to allow for new types of interactions and ways to intentionally change the quantum state of light.

Inefficient interactions are often thought of as forbidden because, in normal circumstances, they would take billions of years to happen. The forbidden light-matter interactions project is something we have been thinking about for many years, but we didnt have a suitable material-system platform for it, says Soljai. In 2015, graphene plasmons arrived on the scene, and forbidden interactions could be explored.

Graphene is an ultra-thin 2D material, and plasmons are another quantum-scale particle related to the oscillation of electrons. In these ultra-thin materials, light can be shrunk so that the wavelengths are closer to the scale of the electrons, making forbidden interactions possible.

Riveras first paper on this topic, published the summer after he graduated with his bachelors degree in 2016, was the start of his longstanding collaboration with Ido Kaminer, an assistant professor at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. But Rivera wasnt done with light-matter interactions. There were so many other directions that one could go with that work, and I really wanted the ability to probe all of them, Rivera says, and he decided to stay in Soljais group for his PhD.

A natural match

That first collaboration with Kaminer, who was then a postdoc in Soljais group, was a pivotal moment in Riveras career as a physicist. I was working on a different project with Marin, but then he invited me to his office with Ido and told me about the project that would become the 2016 paper, says Rivera. According to Soljai, putting Kaminer and Rivera together was a natural match.Kaminer moved to the Technion in 2018, which was when Rivera took his first trip to Haifa, Israel, with funds provided by MISTI-Israel, a program within the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI). There, he gave a seminar and met with students and professors. That visit seeded some projects that were still working on today, says Rivera, such as a project where vacuum forces were used to generate X-ray photons.

With the help of lasers and optical materials, its relatively easy to generate photons of visible light, but making X-ray photons is much harder. We dont have lasers the same way we do for visible light, and we dont have as many materials to manipulate X-rays, says Rivera. The search for new strategies for generating X-ray photons is important, Rivera says, because these photons can help scientists explore physics at the atomic scale.

This past January, Rivera visited Israel for the third time. On these trips, [we make] progress on the collaborations we have with the students, and also brainstorm new projects, says Rivera. According to Kaminer, the in-person brainstorming is vital when coming up with new ideas. Such creative ideas are, in the end, the most important part of our work as scientists, Kaminer explains. During each visit, Rivera and Kaminer sketch out a research plan for the next six months to year, such as continuing to investigate new ways to control and generate quantum sources of X-ray photons.

When investigating the theory of light-matter interactions, the potential applications are never far from Riveras mind. Were trying to think about applications that could potentially be realized next year and in the next five years, but even potentially further down the line.

For Rivera, being able to be in the same place as his collaborators is a major boon, and he doubts the continued collaboration with Kaminer would be as active if he hadnt taken that first trip to Haifa in 2018. And the hummus isnt bad, he jokes.

When Soljai introduced Rivera and Kaminer five years ago, neither expected that the collaboration would still be going strong. Its hard to anticipate what collaborations will be successful in the long term, says Kaminer. But more important than the collaboration is the friendship, he adds.

The deeper Rivera explores the quantum aspects of light-matter interactions, the more potential avenues of exploration open up. It just keeps branching, says Rivera. And he envisions himself continuing to visit Kaminer in Israel, no matter where his research takes him next. Its a lifelong collaboration at this point.

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Shining a light on the quantum world - MIT News

HR association calls on unemployed to improve their career skills – Macau Daily Times

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Unemployed and underemployed residents should take this time to improve their professional skills while they wait for the job market to recover, Choi Chin Man, director-general of the Macau Human Resources Association, has said.Currently, the government is offering subsidized training programs through the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL). It caters to unemployed Macau residents or those in specific industries, including taxi drivers, tour guides, tour bus drivers and workers from the conferencing and exhibitions sector.Participants will get a maximum subsidy of MOP6,656 during the training and will be referred to employers by the DSAL upon completing the training. The training scheme is part of the governments economic revival effort in response to the global hit caused by Covid-19.In addition, the government is offering a salary subsidy of MOP15,000 in cash to each eligible Macau resident. The cash handout for this year has been brought forward, as well as two rounds of the consumer e-voucher which provides MOP8,000 in total to all registered Macau ID holders.With many residents wanting additional cash handouts and an increase in the spending value of the consumption card, Choi stated that his association considers expanding the subsidized training program for unemployed and underemployed residents to be a more suitable and preferable policy.The training policy, in Chois opinion, can equip people with new or upgraded knowledge, making them more versatile and adaptive.The subsidized training program is a very good [policy] direction, the director-general said. Receiving training means that they will have polished skills. In future difficult times, they have the skills to choose to change profession or career path.However, he stressed the group of underemployed residents should not be forgotten. Underemployment refers to the proportion of the labor force which is being underutilized in the job market because of their skills, experience or education, or because they are working part- time roles when they could be in full-time roles.According to the director-general, many underemployed residents are earning half or even one-third of their original salaries.They still need to pay their bills house mortgage, car loan, raise their children, Choi stressed.The DSAL has also initiated a scheme with the Higher Education Bureau to arrange internship opportunities for graduating or soon-to-graduate university students. The authorities are working with entities in both Macau and mainland China to offer these students internships for six to eight weeks. When they conclude their internships, the DSAL will pair them with hiring employers. AL

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HR association calls on unemployed to improve their career skills - Macau Daily Times

This is what personal finance apps should be doing to better serve older people (and maybe everyone) – MarketWatch

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Theres something curious about mobile and online personal finance apps and websites, sometimes called fintech. Theyre not used much by people over 50, especially low-to-moderate income older adults.

What Id tell my fellow 50-plusers: Its not you, itsthem the fintech designers and marketers.

Online bankinghas never been more important than it is now for older adults, Linda Peters, director of Older Adult Programs at the Northwest Side Housing Center in Chicago, said in a digital empowerment presentation at the recent National Council on Aging (NCOA) virtualAge & Actionconference. And yet, she added, there has been a huge digital divide between older adults and banking.

The sites really are not intuitive. Im not sure theyre designed for younger people. Its just that younger people are used to dealing with crappy websites, so they just keep going.

As thepandemichas temporarily closed some bank branches and made visiting open ones and ATMs a potential COVID-19 risk, however, its definitely pushing some people who were previously reluctant adopters to adopt online banking, saidThomas Kamber, executive director of Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) and a Next Avenue Influencer in Aging.

But as the nonprofit Financial Health NetworksFintech Over 50: Designing for Low-to Moderate-Income Older Adultsresearch report (sponsored by the AARP Foundation in collaboration with Chase JPM, +1.96% ) shows, fintech designers and marketers have done a pretty crummy job making their tools ideal for boomers, Gen Xers and the Silent Generation.

Thats especially true for the 56 million Americans over 50 with incomes under $45,000 or so, who could really use the help. According to the Financial Health Networks researchers, only 17% of low-to-moderate-income adults over 50 are financially healthy; 57% are financially coping and 26% are financially vulnerable.

You might like: As Trump and Biden trade age insults, older workers suffer

Its not as if people 50+ are tech Luddites. Most are active users of smartphones and other technology offering access to fintech solutions. Some 86% of adults in their 50s and 81% of those in their 60s have smartphones.

Older low-to-moderate-income adults, the Financial Health Network report said, prefer to feel fully in control over their money and personal information and will be most drawn to fintech companies that put them in the drivers seat. Theyre especially concerned about financial fraud; more than 3.5 million Americans 60+ were victims in 2017.

One reason so many older Americans still dont deposit checks through their bankssmartphone app: fear of what might happen if they do.

In my experience, theres distrust. How do I know my money is going to get to you as opposed to handing my check to a teller? said Donna Turner, chief operations officer at Zelle, a digital payments network owned by a group of major banks.

See: Why you should be using a VPN if you bank and invest online

The percentage of older adults using mobile checking to deposits has been on the rise during the pandemic, though. A June 2020 SYKES survey of 1,000 people 55+ found that 18% who do use mobile checking did so for the first time due to the pandemic. And Zelle says 55% of people 55 and older are using mobile banking more frequently since the start of the pandemic.

Fear also prevents some older Americans from using personal finance apps to manage their savings and investments.

Said Kamber: If youre using Google Maps and you make a mistake and go down the wrong street, you go down one block. If you use your retirement savings account and accidentally put money in the wrong place, you could lose thousands of dollars.

Kamber is somewhat annoyed by many in the fintech world.

There seems to be a war between user design and engineering and unfortunately, engineers have won. The sites really are not intuitive, he said. Im not sure theyre designed for younger people. Its just that younger people are used to dealing with crappy websites, so they just keep going.

A few highlights from theFintech Over 50report (noted in bold), based on Financial Health Networks focus groups with 90 low-to-moderate-income older adults, along with insights from experts about what those people said.

Many fintech solutions are designed for younger users and dont address the needs of users over 50 properly.

It is surprising, said Heidi Johnson, director of behavioral economics at Financial Health Network. The financial health needs of low-to-middle-income older adults are often serious and similar to those we all experience, with the challenges of building up short-term savings and that we might have to keep working.

Also see: The financial planning business is mostly white, but these investment advisers are trying to change that

Johnson and Kamber believe its less about designing money management tech tools specifically for older users and more about incorporating these users in the target audience. This population doesnt need super-tailored products, said Johnson. They just need to be included in solutions.

Even though older adults are catching up to younger generations technology use, the stereotype of the tech-illiterate older person persists. Many of the focus group participants, the report noted, seemed to have internalized this stigma of technological ineptitude and largely identified themselves as bad at technology.

Kamber said hes seen it a million times, adding that older people are treated condescendingly and in dismissive ways when theyre trying to learn technology. Then, he said, the worst thing that happens is you dont use the tools to manage your money and you then spend money you dont have.

Only a small number of the focus group participants had tried (or were aware of) more holistic digital financial management tools or more targeted offerings that could help them manage their most common financial challenges, such as insufficient short-term savings, unmanageable debt, inadequate protection from medical shocks, inability to retire fully and financial obligations.

I hear [older] people say: I got my smartphone to send pictures and share photos and for Google Maps, said Kamber. They dont think of financial management as one of the core killer apps.

Some of the focus group participants ran into challenges navigating within an application, losing their way after an inadvertent click or a transition to an unfamiliar page.

The focus group participants would sometimes respond by abandoning their task, closing an application or turning off a device just so they could find their way back to familiar territory.

Older people want good, clean design, said Kamber. Theyre like the Scandinavian design consumers of the internet.

Some participants were wary of automated bill paying or account transfers, which raised fears for lower income older adults who wanted the ability to monitor and control the flow of money in and out of their accounts closely.

For many of them, the researchers said, taking financial decisions out of their hands put them at risk of paying additional fees.

Many participants expressed an aversion to fintech products specifically targeted toward older users.

Instead, they said they desired a mass-market product that meets their specific needs, without marginalizing them for their age or demographic.

What could help make personal finance apps and tech tools better for people 50+? The Financial Health Network researchers, Johnson and Kamber have numerous recommendations for fintech designers, including these eight:

1. Have older adults as part of your initial focus groups when designing the products and services. Its extremely rare for the companies to do that, Kamber said. He estimates less than 2% of fintech online products are user tested with people over 60. Maybe less than 1%, he added.

And they have to do it in a way thats not tokenistic, Kamber said. That means not calling your grandmother and saying What do you want? and then going to a business meeting and saying: She wants big buttons. Companies instead need to invest enough energy so the information they get about older users is meaningful.

2. Use inclusive messaging, showcasing different ethnicities and backgrounds and framing aging in a positive light. Dont single out low-to-moderate-income older adults for their age, disability status or financial situation.

Said Johnson: When older adults see themselves reflected in marketing and as potential users, theyre much more likely to be interested in trying them out.

3. Make fees clear and tell users what the costs are upfront.Older adults with lower incomes are particularly sensitive to hidden costs and fees, the Financial Health Network researchers noted.

4. Let users test things out.Allow pre-adoption exploration of features by offering product demos and functional mock-ups online where people can browse them, the Financial Health Network report said.

5. Share information concerningfraud protectionand data security early in the users experience with the product.When asking for personal information, explain why, as well as how it will be used and protected.

Older adults who identify with historically marginalized communities, such as people of color, documented and undocumented immigrants and religious minorities often feel apprehensive when financial companies ask for personal information, the Financial Health Network report noted.

6. Let users hit pause on any automatic or recurring actions with their money.Those include auto-payment of bills or auto-contributions of savings. There may be months, particularly for low-to-moderate-income older adults, when they wont have the spare cash to automatically pay a bill on a certain date or move money from checking to savings.

7. Provide navigation signposts.The more the experience is clear, as well as intuitive, the better. Otherwise, older adults may give up because they feel lost.

8. Offer human support to help users when something goes wrong and provide training that covers the full range of the content.Tutorials should include things like a key for icons in the interface; learning materials and how to easily get software updates.

To help train older adults, Zelle has joined with Kambers Senior Planet program from OATS, offering people 60+ free classes about mobile banking and avoiding financial scams.

Also on MarketWatch: Apple, Google release technology for coronavirus-tracking apps

And programs like Capital Ones Ready, Set, Bank: Online Banking Made Easy can help. It works with groups like the Northwest Side Housing Center in Chicago and OATS to teach older residents how to use online and mobile banking tools.

Jamie Lutton, senior management of community development for Capital One COF, +2.34% , said at the NCOA conference that after taking its classes, 76% of seniors were more comfortable with online banking and 77% felt safer banking online. But, its worth adding, just 29% actually signed up for online banking afterward.

Johnson believes designers and marketers of personal finance apps and sites have a lot to gain by better serving low-to-middle-income Americans 50 and older.

Think about including them and designing products and services for them and you will be positioned to carry forward with them well beyond the pandemic, she said.

Performance in the Consumer Credit Market Holds Steady as Number of Borrowers in Financial Hardship Status Stabilizes – GlobeNewswire

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

CHICAGO, July 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) consumer credit snapshot found the percentage of accounts in financial hardship started to level off for credit products such as auto loans, credit cards, mortgages and personal loans during the month of June 2020. Some of this leveling off was due, in part, to accounts coming out of financial hardship status in June.

Accounts in financial hardship defined by factors such as a deferred payment, forbearance program, frozen account or frozen past due payment have largely kept delinquency numbers in check as consumers continue to navigate the ongoing impacts of COVID-19. TransUnions financial hardship data includes all accommodations on file at months end, and includes any accounts that were in accommodation prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accommodation programs have provided consumers with much needed payment flexibility as external triggers such as rising unemployment and a decrease in government relief funds have started to shape the future outlook of the consumer wallet.

In the early months of the pandemic, unemployment benefits and relief from the CARES Act gave consumers a bit of a cushion, leaving the consumer fairly well-positioned from a cash flow perspective, said Matt Komos, vice president of research and consulting at TransUnion. Lenders have been working with consumers during this time of uncertainty by extending financial hardship offerings that help them understand and manage their financial situation. These accommodations have been working as intended and have helped thwart a material breakdown in delinquency performance in the near-term.

Since the pandemic began in March 2020, delinquency performance has held steady, with credit products across auto, credit card, mortgage and personal loans all showing a recent month-over-month improvement in performance from May to June 2020.

Credit cards saw the greatest decline in delinquency over this period with borrowers 90+ days past due (DPD) decreasing from 1.76% to 1.48% month-over-month. This decrease also held true for accounts in 30+ DPD delinquency status an early indication that may signal consumer distress by decreasing from 3.06% to 2.66% from May to June (compared to 3.49% at 30+ DPD in June 2019).

Consumer balances for credit card also showed a 7.41% year-over-year decline from June 2019 to June 2020 as well as a monthly balance decrease of $43 since May. These decreases may signify that consumers are continuing to manage debt prudently and are paying down their existing card balances. At the same time, overall consumer credit lines have declined from $24,641 in June 2019 to $23,724 in June 2020, which is also down from $23,800 in May 2020.

These are signs of a credit market that continues to function despite the spike in consumer unemployment, said Paul Siegfried, senior vice president and credit card business leader at TransUnion. When there is uncertainty in the market, consumer credit performance is highly scrutinized and new accounts generally will not receive the same type of credit limit as they might have prior to a crisis. However, the longer individuals who are not in an accommodation program perform well, the more likely additional credit will be extended.

*Credit card delinquency rate reported as 90+ DPD per industry standard; all other products reported as 60+ DPD

Over the course of the pandemic a substantial segment of consumers have continued to make payments, but are also proactively engaging with their lenders to discuss payment options. TransUnions ongoing Financial Hardship Survey indicated that of consumers with a current financial accommodation on a loan, 32% are in favor of repayment plans that will allow for paying down debt gradually while continuing regular payments. A smaller percentage (18%) preferred paying off all postponed payments with a lump sum and 21% indicated they would like financial accommodations to be extended further.

By many accounts, we are still in the early phase of the pandemic, and there is some uncertainty still around the nature of the economic recovery we may experience. It will likely be months before the financial impacts of COVID-19 begin to materialize from a credit performance standpoint, and some of this will be dependent on any additional government actions. During this period of time, lenders will need deeper consumer insights to better calibrate risk across their portfolios and make more informed decisions, concluded Komos.

TransUnions June Monthly Industry Snapshot Report features insights on consumer credit trends around personal loans, auto loans, credit cards and mortgage loans. Additional resources for consumers looking to protect their credit during the COVID-19 pandemic can be found attransunion.com/covid-19.

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing a comprehensive picture of each person so they can be reliably and safely represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good.

A leading presence in more than 30 countries across five continents, TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people.

http://www.transunion.com/business

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Performance in the Consumer Credit Market Holds Steady as Number of Borrowers in Financial Hardship Status Stabilizes - GlobeNewswire

Be the Difference Clothing: One Woman’s Fashion Movement in Jersey City – hobokengirl.com

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

There are brands in the fashion industry that use their platforms to speak up about issues in society and then there are brands that were created specifically to inspire and create a dialogue around issues in society. Be the Difference Clothing, founded in 2014 in Jersey City, is one of those inspirational brands with an admirable mission and purpose. This company is known for conversation-sparking t-shirts with both light-hearted and powerful themes. Its more than fashion, its a movement. Joy, the mastermind behind the brand, uses clothing to send messages of encouragement and believing in love above all else. Read on to learn about how Joy is using her e-commerce brand to be the difference she hopes to see in her community.

Joy goes by her author name, Joy W. She was born in Hoboken, raised in Jersey City, and has no intentions of leaving, as she put it.

It is important to her to continue the discussion around important topics. While her t-shirt designs are great conversation starters, Joy also wanted to be a part of the conversations that can make a difference. She has spoken as a guest at several community events, including at Beloved Community Charter school about the importance of education. Joy also spoke during a Womens Empowerment and Vision Board Workshop about the importance of speaking things into existence, empowering other women, and the importance of never giving up. I was also able to speak during the Black History Month celebration in 2019, and 2020. I even received my first Certificate of Appreciation this year by the NU Lambda Lambda JC chapter. That was the dopest feeling, Joy tells Hoboken Girl.

Joy was inspired to make her first shirt Work Hard Snack Harder, after realizing that she would end her workout with chocolate and ice cream. It wasnt until she encountered a man on her way home that she decided to take her t-shirt making more seriously. After seeing someone under the influence of a substance bent over backwards swaying slowly in 20 degree weather, I knew I couldnt get out of my car to help, but that I could make a t-shirt. Addiction Kills The Family was my second t-shirt.

After the first two t-shirts, Joy made the decision to create a brand that sends messages of positivity. Most if not all designs or sayings are created to inspire and encourage the wearer, and those who see the designs. Some designs are inspired by personal experiences and others from situations I see or hear, she shared. The more we talk about our problems, the more we can become whole and really live out our lifes purposes.

I also donate 10% of all clothing sales to Haydens Heart {raises awareness for CHD}. I love babies, and this charity financially helps families who have children in hospitals, as well as hosts retreats for surviving parents.

Read more: A List of Hoboken + Jersey City Boutiques to Shop Online

Upon visiting the Be the Difference Clothing website, the first thing that pops up is a live chat asking if theres anything you need assistance with {a very helpful tool should you have a question about something}.

Some of her unisex t-shirts and hoodies read Im a survivor of ___, I will not be defeated, over oppression, honesty = freedom, follow your dreams, addiction kills, the grass is greener right here, hard work pays off, say no to workforce bullying, and rebuilding trust. Other t-shirts read a paycheck is not a passion, and all I need is love. Women also have the option of tank tops.

Children and infant clothing is also available. Some of the onesies read I love my dad, I will be a leader, my future is bright, power, and forever love. Sizes for onesies range from 3 to 12 months and 2T to 4T.

Joy even has socks with unique designs and quotes for $15 a pair. One pair has a leaf design in bright pink, orange, and yellow with a quote reading falling in love with the process. Another pair is sky blue with pink tulips and a heart in the middle with a quote reading love and peace across the middle.

I only make a limited amount of socks because we are all individuals and need to be reminded that its okay to be set apart, and it keeps me creative, Joy shared.

Joy has self-published two books of her original quotes. Quotes That Make You Say OH From Instagram to your Hand Part 1 and Quotes that make you say OH! From Instagram to your Hand Part 3.

Joy explains, One day, I was minding my business getting my hair done while watching Queen Sugar. One of the women there said more of us African American women should write more so that younger girls can see how versatile we as a culture can be. In my head, I was like I aint writing no novel and Im not an author, but I do like challenges. By the time I got home, I realized how Id been posting quotes on Instagram three times a day for the past year, so maybe that could be my contribution.

Her first book was self published in October 2018. I was in shock for a good six months, Joy explains. Later, she published her second book, which is actually part 3. Part 2 will never be published since I felt it didnt hit (meaning it didnt have enough mind bending quotes) hard enough, she tells us. Joy went on to publish part 3 in June of 2019. She intends to publish Part 4 by the end of July 2020. The quotes are 100% original. I didnt want to be like anyone else, and its more fun, and challenging to think outside of the box, she says.

See more: Local Spots in Hoboken + Jersey City Delivering Everything Under the Sun

Joy took her passion for public speaking and created a YouTube channel to begin a dialogue with viewers about both serious and light-hearted topics. In her series titled Hello World Talk Show, Joy has hosted inspirational segments, motivational lessons, cooking tutorials, advice on maintaining healthy relationships, workout videos, goal setting, how to cope with grief, and so much more.

I wanted to document everyday people sharing different life experiences so that anyone who may come across the episodes can know they are not alone nor do they need to struggle alone, she shared. Its an amazing idea knowing that someone can be going through a similar situation. I believe in humanity, when we grow together the world will flow together, and life will be better.

Joy is a versatile and creative person who finds genuine enjoyment from speaking to others about all aspects of life. She quickly pivoted her t-shirt brand into a movement, a fun way to bring awareness to serious issues, and also celebrate the happy things in life. From t-shirts, to books, and inspirational videos, Joy does it all. Through Be the Difference Clothing, Joy is doing her part to be the difference in the world.

Deals, News, + Everything Local

Victoria is a fourth-generation Hoboken native, BNR in the Mile Square and part-time in Jersey City. Through playing softball for fourteen years, playing the trumpet for the Hoboken High School Redwings Band, and graduating from New Jersey City University, these two cities have a special place in her heart. When she isnt Style Assisting or volunteering at Symposia Bookstore, Hoboken Fire Museum/Hoboken Historical Museum, shes exploring everything the Concrete Jungle has to offer. You can catch her at art exhibitions, local festivities, traveling, diving into a new book, thrifting or indulging in some form of arts and crafts.

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Be the Difference Clothing: One Woman's Fashion Movement in Jersey City - hobokengirl.com

SpaceX Starship factory and rocket prototypes weather Texas hurricane – Teslarati

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

SpaceXs South Texas Starship factory and the latest full-scale rocket prototypes built there have managed to weather their first hurricane and tropical storm.

Known as Hurricane Hanna, the Gulf of Mexico weather system made landfall just a few dozen miles north of SpaceXs facilities on July 25th with 90 mph (145 km/h) winds recorded. Thankfully, SpaceXs rocket factory and Starship prototype SN5 were spared from the worst of Hanna, which quickly devolved into a less threatening tropical storm eight hours after landfall.

Still, they were subjected to heavy rain, gusty winds, low visibility, and the threat of much worse conditions if Hurricane Hanna were to veer south. Originally planned on Saturday, July 25th, SpaceX was forced to delay Starship SN5s first full wet dress rehearsal (WDR) and Raptor engine static fire test, following a solid two weeks of delays unrelated to bad weather.

Weather, rocket, pad, and planet alignment willing, SpaceX may finally have a shot at static firing Starship SN5s Raptor SN27 engine, installed more than three weeks ago. As of now, Tropical Storm Hanna continues to fade away as it travels west over South Texas and Mexico. Ironically, testing Starship during extreme weather events could actually be a useful activity for SpaceX, given that the launch rates it may eventually need to squeeze out of Super Heavy and Starship will all but necessitate all-weather launch capabilities.

Nevertheless, for early prototypes like SN5, testing during a major storm would do more harm than good by confounding critical data and observations needed to inform future tests and improve newer prototypes. Along those lines, Starship SN5 is now scheduled to attempt a WDR and static fire test no earlier than Monday, July 27th with a window stretching from 8am to 8pm CDT (UTC-5). There is still a chance of moderate rainfall and thunderstorms but Boca Chica should be clear of Hanna-related storm warnings by the time Starships test window opens.

Plans change and Starship SN5s test plans have been exceptionally fluid, but if the rockets static fire goes off as planned on Monday and weather cooperates, theres a chance that SpaceX will attempt to hop the full-scale prototype just a few days later. According to NASASpaceflight.com, prior to Hurricane Hanna, a rapid static fire and ~150m (~500 ft) hop debut was reportedly in order for Starship SN5.

Meanwhile, SpaceX and its contractors are in the midst of constructing a massive new vehicle assembly building (VAB; also known as a high bay) required for the imminent start of Super Heavy booster prototype assembly. Work is also well underway on the assembly of Starship SN8, an upgraded prototype that could be the first to receive a nosecone, aerodynamic control surfaces, fully functional header tanks, and three Raptor engines. Those facilities and hardware have also made it through Hurricane Hanna unscathed.

Check out Teslaratis newslettersfor prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceXs rocket launch and recovery processes.

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SpaceX Starship factory and rocket prototypes weather Texas hurricane - Teslarati

Jesus and John Wayne exposes militant masculinity in the age of Trump – Baptist News Global

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Why Donald Trump? Why are American evangelicals so enamored of a president who could serve as a poster boy for the seven deadly sins?

Kristen Kobes Du Mez, a history professor at Calvin College, isnt buying either of these explanations. In Jesus and John Wayne:How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, she explains why. The majority of white American evangelicals support Trump, she says, because he embodies the kind of militant masculinity they have learned to love.

Du Mezs first hint that a radical shift had taken place in the world of white American evangelicalism came when students directed her attention to John Eldredges Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Mans Soul. First published in 2001, the book sold more than 4 million copies in the United States alone. Men are brimming with testosterone, Eldredge explained, because God needs warriors. Men are dangerous, unpredictable, combative and aggressively sexual characteristics that fitted them for lives of adventure and leadership. Instead of repenting of these traits, Eldredge said, Christian men should embrace them.

In 2015, as she watched evangelicals lining up behind the strutting embodiment of the militant masculinity celebrated in Eldredges book, Du Mez decided to take a closer look.

I first became aware of Du Mezs project shortly after writing a piece for Baptist News Global in October of 2016 called Jesus and John Wayne: Must we choose? When I Googled Jesus and John Wayne, the first item up was a 1980s song by that title by the Gaither Vocal Band that portrayed American evangelicals as living in a healthy tension between the fierce masculinity of John Wayne and the radical grace of Jesus. Evangelical enthusiasm for Donald Trump, I argued, suggested that that militant masculinity of John Wayne had eclipsed the spirituality of Jesus.

Du Mez came across my article because she was thinking along similar lines. Her book includes a couple of references to my article and uses one of my best lines as a chapter title: The unspoken mantra of post-war evangelicalism was simple: Jesus can save your soul, but John Wayne will save your ass.

Since the 1960s, Du Mez notes, male blue-collar work such as construction, manufacturing and agriculture had been in decline while sectors open to educated women such as health care, retail, education, finance and food service were rapidly expanding. At the same time, American culture still associated masculinity with working-class jobs. By the 1970s, American men were in the throes of an identity crisis.

The militant masculinity described in Jesus and John Wayne is organically related to what scholars now call white Christian nationalism. Evangelicals had been on a roll in the wake of the Second World War with new churches springing up everywhere and liberals and conservative Christians agreeing that God had given America a leadership role to play in the world. America was great, it was widely believed, because America was good.

But in the 1960s, the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and second-wave feminism shattered American confidence. If the country was as imperialist, racist and misogynistic as her critics were claiming, the goodness of America was cast in doubt.

While Protestant mainline churches wrestled with issues of race, gender and imperialism, evangelicals, with few exceptions, clung to the myth of white Christian nationalism. Because racism was a personal and spiritual failing, the solution lay with the Christian gospel, not public policy.

Americas anti-communist crusade was ordained of God and therefore noble. The quagmire of Vietnam simply indicated that Americas latest crop of young men had gone soft.

Most significant for Du Mezs thesis, evangelicals charged that the feminist call for equal rights was a tacit rejection of biblical revelation. God created men and women with complementary, but very different, emotional attributes. Men and women were different, evangelicals typically argued, because they were built for distinct vocations.

Du Mez acknowledges that a small but valiant evangelical left has been wrestling with racism, sexism and imperialism for half a century; but she regards this movement as a minority report within the larger evangelical world. The prevailing evangelical response to these challenges has been to double down on white Christian nationalism.

In 1972, Phyllis Schlafly launched her crusade against the Equal Rights Amendment by insisting that the very notion of womens oppression was ludicrous.

Meanwhile, Marabel Morgan sold 10 million copies of The Total Woman, an account of how she revived a troubled marriage by transforming herself into a submissive servant-temptress. Morgan introduced a model of masculinity in which to be a man was to have a fragile ego and a vigorous libido. Men were entitled to lead, to rule and to have their needs met all their needs, on their terms.

Next, Du Mez moves to Bill chain-of-command Gothard, a controversial figure who established the intellectual foundation on which others would build. Gothard channeled the Christian Reconstructionist thinking of Rousas John Rushdoony, a brooding, cantankerous writer who characterized the Civil War as a religious war in which the South was defending Christian civilization. Rushdoony, Du Mez later explains, took his leading ideas from Robert Lewis Dabney, the 19th century Southern Presbyterian scholar who supplied a theological justification for slavery.

The only answer to the problems facing America, in Rushdoonys view, was the imposition of Old Testament law. At the heart of this project, Du Mez argues, was the assertion of hierarchical authority.

Drawing on Rushdoony, Gothard taught that God used natural hierarchies to regulate life. Wives must submit to husbands, children must submit to their parents, and employees must submit to employers. In this way, Du Mez says, proponents of biblical law married traditional gender roles to unrestrained, free-market capitalism.

Gothards hierarchical philosophy ordered Christian marriage on a military model in which a wife owed her husband total submission, requiring approval for even the smallest household decisions.

In 1970, child psychologist James Dobson offered a more palatable patriarchal vision in his influential book, Dare to Discipline. The authoritarian contours of Dobsons philosophy would become increasingly apparent over time. The explicitly military cast of his thinking became more apparent once he moved his Focus on the Family enterprise from Pasadena, Calif., to Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1991. Like megachurch pastor Ted Haggard, Dobson exported his patriarchal theology into the American military using the Air Force Academy north of town as a Trojan horse.

What started as a backlash against hippies, antiwar protestors, civil rights activists and urban minorities, evolved into a veneration of law enforcement and the military.

Meanwhile, Du Mez asserts, military men were refashioning Christianity in their own image, and offering their own brand of militant evangelicalism for broader consumption. Soon military men like Oliver North and Jerry Boykin were emerging as Christian exemplars.

With evangelicals in the vanguard, Americans had come to see the military as a bastion of traditional values and old-fashioned virtue, Du Mez suggests. Within this genre, real-life military warriors continued to bring an aura of authenticity that mere pastors couldnt match.

And if warriors were being valorized, the traditional war is hell mantra began to fade. If the military was a source of virtue, Du Mez says, war, too, attained a moral bearing even preemptive war.

What started as a backlash against hippies, antiwar protestors, civil rights activists and urban minorities, in other words, evolved into a veneration of law enforcement and the military.

Du Mez notes that the heroes venerated by the cult of militant masculinity were much more likely to be drawn from Hollywood, pop culture and current events than from the Bible. John Wayne, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Oliver North, Douglas MacArthur and George Patton were frequently held up as exemplars. When Mel Gibsons Braveheart was released in 1995, William Wallace, the movies hero, was embraced as the prototypical Christian warrior.

The purity culture that took the evangelical world by storm in the 1980s and 1990s defined the role God had in mind for girls and women. Christian girls were to remain pure, saving themselves for marriage and ensuring that they did not create temptations for men. According to Eldridges Wild at Heart, a woman sinned when she tried to control her world, when she was grasping rather than vulnerable, when she sought to control her own adventure rather than share in the adventure of a man.

Men and women who kept themselves pure until marriage, the reasoning went, would be rewarded with what one writer called mind-blowing sex. Wives also could expect the protection of a godly husband.

The evangelical aversion to the LGBTQ movement flows from the same logic. Same-sex attraction isnt part of Gods plan and therefore constitutes rebellion against the revealed will of God.

Du Mez argues that over time, a common commitment to patriarchal power began to define the boundaries of the evangelical movement itself, as those who ran afoul of these orthodoxies quickly discovered. When Russell Moore announced as a never-Trumper, he was forced to embark on a post-election apology tour in order to keep his job as president of the Southern Baptists Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

The subheading of Jesus and John Wayne suggests that the cult of militant masculinity corrupted American evangelicalism. Du Mez identifies three ways in which a renewed focus on patriarchy shifted the focus of a faith.

First, references to pop culture and American political and military history abound in the body of literature she is describing, while biblical references recede into the background.

Second, when the Bible is quoted, the erotic poetry of Song of Songs and the violent visions of Revelation receive outsized attention. Song of Songs is used to justify the frequent allusions to testosterone-driven male sexuality found in this literature. The visions of Revelation demonstrate how the suffering Messiah turned into the conquering Messiah. New Calvinist pastor Mark Driscoll captured the tenor of the movement when he argued that Jesus was a hero, not a loser, an Ultimate Fighter warrior king with a tattoo down his leg who rides into battle against Satan, sin and death on a trusty horse. Tim LaHayes wildly successful Left Behind series, Du Mez points out, ends in a violent bloodbath ushered in by Christ himself.

Third, Du Mez argues, traditional virtues such as the fruit of the spirit and the Sermon on the Mount are either overtly rejected by these authors or categorized as feminine virtues that dont apply to men.

Du Mez notes how the shifting fortunes of American politics and foreign policy influenced evangelical teaching. On the whole, she says, conservative evangelicalism flourished when the White House was in the hands of a Bill Clinton or a Barack Obama and floundered somewhat during the Reagan and two Bush administrations.

As Religious Right organizer Ralph Reed once said: Part of politics is having the right friends, but an important part of politics is having the right enemies. For decades, evangelicals had used communism as the right enemy, but with the collapse of Soviet Communism that became problematic. The Promise Keepers, a movement which Du Mez discusses at length, provided a softer version of evangelical patriarchy than Dobson and Gothard represented. Marital submission was seen as mutual and the responsibilities of Christian fatherhood, as opposed to male prerogatives, were emphasized.

The Promise Keepers even experimented cautiously with racial reconciliation, inviting Black preachers like Tony Evans and E.V. Hill to address their overwhelmingly white mass rallies. They even asked civil rights icon John Perkins to provide a critique of white evangelical racism in a widely distributed publication. But as Bill McCartney, the retired football coach who sparked the movement, has admitted, few white participants were ready to address the subject of race.

This experiment with soft patriarchy ended with 9/11. The communist boogie man was quickly replaced by the Islamist terrorism, and charlatans like Ergun and Emir Caner, Walid Shoebat, Zachariah Anani and Kamal Saleem were soon marketing themselves as Islamic terrorists redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Long after the distortions and misrepresentations perpetrated by these imposters had been thoroughly vetted, they were still featured speakers at evangelical churches and conferences.

Were evangelicals embracing an increasingly militant faith in response to a new threat from the Islamic world? Du Mez asks. Or were they creating the perception of threat to justify their own militancy and enhance their own power? The question answers itself.

Invariably, Du Mez observes, the heroic Christian man was a white man, and not infrequently a white man who defended against the threat of nonwhite men and foreigners. Gods call to wild, militant masculinity was not extended to Black, Middle Eastern or Hispanic men. Their aggression, she writes, is seen as dangerous, a threat to the stability of home and nation.

Du Mez anticipates the obvious critique that she is mistaking a fringe element for normative evangelicalism. The brand of militant masculinity described in Jesus and John Wayne may exist in some quarters, critics will argue, but American evangelicalism is too theologically and sociologically diverse to be reduced to white Christian nationalism and militant masculinity.

Du Mez admits that men like Rushdoony and Gothard were initially viewed as fringe actors within the American evangelicalism. But evangelical opinion leaders almost never got into trouble for pushing the envelope on patriarchy. Only for those deemed too inclusive did danger lurk. As militant masculinity took hold across evangelicalism, she says, it helped bind together those on the fringes of the movement with those closer to the center, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish the margins from the mainstream.

Du Mez is fully versed in the theological complexity within the American religious community. But her purpose is to reckon with the fact that 81% of self-identifying evangelicals voted for Donald Trump. Few of these people, she points out, read theological tomes, and few are biblically literate. They take their ideological cues from Christian television, the titles prominently displayed in Christian bookstores, the lyrics of contemporary Christian music, the opinions expressed on conservative talk radio and Fox personalities like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson. And it is this web of ideas, she argues, that defines the parameters of the possible for evangelical pastors.

Concerns over (biblical) inerrancy gave way to a newly politicized commitment to female submission and to related culture war issues.

Du Mez uses the struggle for control of the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s to illustrate how, for American evangelicals, social issues trump theology every time. Large numbers of Southern Baptists even denominational officials lacked any real theological prowess and were in fact functionally atheological, she suggests. Which is why, concerns over (biblical) inerrancy gave way to a newly politicized commitment to female submission and to related culture war issues.

And it was this commitment, Du Mez argues, that allowed the New Calvinists within the SBC to participate in post-denominational networks such as the Gospel Coalition. Within a generation, she says, Southern Baptists began to place their evangelical identity over their identity as Southern Baptists. Patriarchy was at the heart of this new sense of themselves.

In similar fashion, Du Mez suggests, militant masculinity allowed evangelical opinion leaders to paper over theological disagreements. Evangelical authorities were all over the board on the contested subject of eschatology, but it didnt matter. The authors chronicled in Jesus and John Wayne patched over a long-standing division within conservative Protestantism by subordinating theological clarity to a shared desire to reclaim the culture for Christ by reasserting patriarchal authority and waging battle against encroaching secular humanism, in all its guises.

The crumbling foundations of white evangelical militant masculinity were exposed to the world in the years leading up to the election of 2016. One prominent evangelical leader after another stood accused of sexual assault, gross abuse of power or covering up for their evangelical friends. Toward the end of Jesus and John Wayne, Du Mez chronicles the imploding careers of C.J. Mahaney, Mark Driscoll, Darrin Patrick, John MacArthur, James McDonald, Bill Gothard, Ted Haggard, Andy Savage, Doug Phillips, Jack Hyles, Darrell Gilyard and Paige Patterson in excruciating detail.

The rapid implosion of dozens of the men who placed militant masculinity on the evangelical map should have served as a wake-up call. Instead, evangelical icons like Al Mohler and John Piper rushed to the defense of their fallen brothers, making excuses and blaming victims.

The evangelical cult of masculinity links patriarchal power to masculine aggression and sexual desire, Du Mez explains, and men assign themselves the role of protector. But immersed in these teachings about sex and power, evangelicals are often unable or unwilling to name abuse, to believe women, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to protect and empower survivors.

In other words, President Trump is just another exemplar of militant masculinity who gets a mulligan. Trump might not have been the best Christian, Du Mez concludes, but as a Christian nationalist he could more than hold his own.

Because militant masculinity is a defining feature of white Christian nationalism, it wont be renounced anytime soon. Jesus and John Wayne isnt a book about what more authentic expressions of Christianity might look like; its a book about what American evangelicalism has become in the age of Trump and how it got that way.

But by so thoroughly exposing a faux religion rooted in power and privilege, Du Mez poses a provocative question: What would white American evangelicalism look like if we had listened to the civil rights marchers, anti-war protesters, gay rights advocates, and second-wave feminists instead of shutting them out and shutting them down?

Why dont we find out?

Original post:

Jesus and John Wayne exposes militant masculinity in the age of Trump - Baptist News Global

March postponed, but Black Lives Matter rally goes on – The Salem News

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

BEVERLY The original plan was to march from Beverly to Marblehead to protest the stealing of Black Lives Matter flags in those two communities. The threat of thunderstorms nixed that idea, but about 75 people still found a way to get their point across on Tuesday.

Holding signs and chanting Black Lives Matter, the crowd gathered in the heat for nearly two hours during a rally outside Beverly City Hall as several speakers implored North Shore residents to support the growing movement for racial justice.

We came here to send a message here on the North Shore that racism, that white supremacism, that bigotry will no longer be accepted nor ignored here on the North Shore, said the Rev. Andre Bennett, the main speaker at the event. We will no longer be complicit here on the North Shore. Beverly, we refuse to be silenced.

Organizers had intended to stage a seven-mile march from Beverly City Hall to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Marblehead to show solidarity in wake of recent acts of thefts and vandalism to Black Lives Matter banners on the North Shore. Instead, the event remained at Beverly City Hall, where six speakers took turns addressing the crowd.

Several of the speakers pointed out inequities in the country regarding the treatment of Black people, from incidences of police brutality to disparities in income between Black and white people.Salem resident Hawa Hamidou, a student organizer from Solidarity North Shore, said the North Shore is an area segregated by race.

White communities and tucked away in quiet streets while BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) communities are cramped, over-policed and stereotyped as a ghetto and dangerous, she said.

Beverly resident Awa Diop, who teaches middle school, said she was not an activist but felt compelled to speak at the rally.

I am an introvert, Diop told the crowd. I take no pleasure speaking publicly. I seek no attention. I seek no special treatment. But today, this introvert had to roar.

Diop said her students have taught her to celebrate and affirm each others humanity.

When you say Black lives matter, you affirm my humanity, she said. When you affirm my humanity, you affirm your humanity.

Naisha Tatis, a Beverly High School student who organized a Black Lives Rally march in Beverly in June, urged people to go out and vote.

I know its a scary time. I know were in the middle of a pandemic, Tatis said. But I dont want to live through another four years of this. So lets make a change.

As the rally progressed, two men carrying Police Lives Matter flags yelled at the speakers and tried to interrupt them. At one point, Bennett called for a police officer as one of the men moved closer to the speakers. An officer spoke to the man, who then moved back to the sidewalk.

Bennett - a Peabody resident, youth minister at Zion Baptist Church in Lynn, and president of the board of the Essex County Community Organization - said he has been trying to harness the energy of young people across the North Shore to stage rallies. He said he has taken part in rallies in Peabody, Salem, Saugus and Boston over the last two weeks, and more than I can count over the last two months.

Theres definitely movement happening across the Commonwealth, Bennett said. People are hungry for change and to see the success of the movement. People are very cognizant that history will record us one way or the other, and the vast majority of people want to be on the right side of history.

Bennett said the crowd was smaller than at other rallies on the North Shore, but he attributed that to the heat and the threat of thunderstorms. The march from Beverly to Marblehead has been rescheduled for next Friday starting at 4 p.m. at Beverly City Hall.

Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535 or pleighton@salemnews.com.

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March postponed, but Black Lives Matter rally goes on - The Salem News

Black Lives Matter, ACLU say Seattle Police violated court order with violence in protests – KUOW News and Information

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County and the ACLU of Washington are asking a federal judge to hold the city of Seattle in contempt of court, pointing to police use-of-force during last weekend's protest against racial injustice.

The Black Lives Matter-ACLU complaint alleges police violated a preliminary injunction by indiscriminately using pepper spray, blast balls and other crowd control measures against people who were not involved in violence, and by targeting legal observers and journalists.

U.S. District Judge Richard Jones has given the city until noon on Wednesday, July 29 to file a response to the complaint. The city must explain why it shouldn't be held in contempt of a preliminary injunction Jones issued in June, barring the use of crowd control measures against people protesting peacefully. That was after police used tear gas and other weapons at multiple protests.

But this past Saturday, officers again used pepper spray and blast balls on protesters in Capitol Hill. A legal observer told KUOW that she saw the weapons employed against people who were not being violent.

A spokesperson for Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said, Well review the claims, investigate the assertions, and respond accordingly.

The Black Lives Matter-ACLU complaints lists several statements from people who said they were not engaged in violence, yet were hit or injured by police, without warning.

The Seattle Police Department said in statements this weekend that some people in the crowd threw fireworks and other projectiles at them and that nearly 60 officers were injured.

But Annika Carlsten, a public defender in Snohomish County who acted as a legal observer with the National Lawyers Guild for Saturdays protest, said some of the officers injuries may have been caused by their own blast balls.

You can see in the videos, it's the explosives that they're throwing at the crowd that is bouncing back at them, Carlsten told KUOW. I saw several officers drop explosives onto them themselves as they're doing things.

She said the police actions escalated the tensions, and that officers responding to the actions of a few in the crowd wound up using pepper spray and other weapons on people who were protesting peacefully. Carlsten said she was hit by a blast ball in the leg.

Dozens of people were arrested in the clashes Saturday. Construction trailers at the site of the new youth jail were burned, and windows were broken at businesses and the East Precinct building.

In a separate action last week, another federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against a Seattle City Council ordinance that would have gone further than Jones order.

Judge James Robart said the ordinance, which would have gone into effect over the weekend, may interfere with the federal consent decree that governs police use of force in Seattle. He left open that either side could prevail in the case.

In response to the Black Lives Matter-ACLU complaint, Judge Jones gave the city until noon Wednesday to respond.

Read the Black Lives Matter-ACLU complaint below:

Black Lives Matter, ACLU say Seattle Police violated court order with violence in protests - KUOW News and Information

Letter: Thank God black lives matter in the United States – Seymour Tribune

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Thank God black lives matter. Thank God black lives matter in the United States.

Thank God we have a mainstream American culture that is not just tolerating a multi-racial society but is accepting it and thriving in it; hence, the increasing blending of races in our country is to be honored, promoted and preached: from many, one: e pluribus unum.

Thank God immigrants the world over have recognized Americas racial tolerance and opportunities for prosperity by voting with their feet and seeking entrance to this good country, the least racist nation in our world. Thank God today America welcomes more immigrants than any other nation on Earth. These good immigrant folk know they can enter this nation and are proud that they can become Americans. We, as a nation, are, too.

Thank God for those who have come forward locally, and peacefully, to rally and say that black lives matter. And having vigorously asserted this principle these good folk are implying a corollary principle: any moral policy or need that promotes the well-being of our black citizens must be supported. If you query inner-city black law-abiding citizens what their central need is, safety is number one. Why? Because black lives matter! Query them further as to what factor provides that safety and they will tell you, having more police presence. More police, better policing, yields an increased feeling of safety for law-abiding inner city citizens. Black lives matter!

But, wait. Arent police supposed to be a danger to the black community? Arent black citizens literally risking their lives whenever they leave their homes due to police targeting?

Race activists tell us its open-season on blacks.

However, utilizing verifiable data from the Washington Post (as presented by Heather MacDonald in the June 2, 2020, edition of the WSJ), proves that the lives of law-abiding black citizens are clearly not under threat by police. Deaths at the hands of police are a response to criminal and life-threatening behaviors. Out of a population of 330 million people and 375 million annual police contacts with the public, the following deadly outcomes resulted in 2019:

1,004 suspects were killed by police (reacting to a threat of violence).

370 of these deaths were white suspects (All were armed, save 19.)

235 of these deaths were black suspects. (All were armed, save 9.)

The message for all races in America is that police are no threat to you, at all, if you choose to obey the law. Put another way: dont commit crimes, and dont threaten police when confronted as a suspect and you will remain eminently safe when in contact with the police. The message to race activists is to stop slandering police, those whose mission is to carry out the true meaning of black lives matter: preserving black lives.

The recent terrible and needless police-caused death of Mr. George Floyd is a tragic and disturbing injustice. It is also an exceedingly uncommon police event. Though unseen on television nightly news, the murders of 7,407 black citizens (not by police) in 2018, with comparable numbers last year and this year, are tragic and unjust, too. These are exceedingly common events, and these people (even small children), because they are not police victims, remain nameless.

Because black lives matter, who will protect future at-risk black citizens? Who?

Not the mendacious race activists!

Alan Winslow is a resident of Seymour.

Originally posted here:

Letter: Thank God black lives matter in the United States - Seymour Tribune

Meet the Young Activists Leading New Yorks Black Lives Matter Protests – New York Magazine

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

From left, Nia White, Chelsea Miller, and Nialah Edari. Photo: Erin OBrien

Three weeks ago, Carlos had an internship in finance lined up for the summer and was planning to channel years of social activism, beginning in middle school, into a job in impact investing. But as protesters flooded the streets of New York, the 21-year-old Dartmouth student put his internship offer on hold and headed out to join them.

Many of the people who have led marches across the city during recent weeks have been even younger than Carlos. Some have not yet cast a ballot in an election and many have no activist experience at all. But now, they all have dedicated their lives to building and sustaining a movement that has already sparked monumental changes across the country. Here are just some of the young activists who have spurred thousands of New Yorkers into action.

Nia White leads a protest on Juneteenth. Photo: Erin OBrien

As they watched stories about looting and violence take over mainstream coverage of New Yorks first wave of protests following George Floyds killing by Minneapolis police, Nialah Edari and Chelsea Miller felt they had to find a way to counter the narrative and highlight the core goals of the movement. Within a day, the two friends, both Columbia University graduates, had organized a protest for May 31, marching from Washington Square Park to One Police Plaza, in honor of the 99th anniversary of the burning of Black Wall Street.

Building on the momentum of that first demonstration, they founded Freedom March NYC, a nonviolent-protest movement focused on reforming the criminal-justice system and mobilizing young people in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

Activism and community advocacy are not new to the trio: Miller was one of the youngest interns in the Obama White House, working on criminal-justice reform and urban economic opportunity; Edari was the Midwest regional director for the National Action Networks Youth Move program; and Nia White worked with the nonprofits WeBelieve and Black Womens Blueprint from a young age.

Nia grew up in Brooklyn and saw the effects of the very systems and policies Freedom March NYC is arguing against. Ive always been surrounded by violence either in the sense of seeing it around my neighborhood or violence in the sense of it being within my own block, she said. Police were inside of the schools, and my mother had to take us to schools that were 40 minutes to an hour away in order for us to get the best education.

Miller sees this moment, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, as ripe for further change.

We completely reimagine how we go to the grocery store, how we interact with family, how we go to school, how we go to work, she said of Americas pandemic response. Similarly, we need to reimagine what it looks like to navigate a system where we address racism as a pandemic and we learn to renavigate and restructure and reallocate resources to tackling this that starts with anti-racism.

Haniq. Photo: Erin OBrien

Ndeh and Haniq, who both asked to be identified by their first names, met on May 30 as they marched throughout Brooklyn, eventually finding themselves up front, leading fellow protesters. The day, they said, was remarkable, with hundreds of people walking through the borough for more than ten hours. But when police cracked down, protesters scattered, shattering the sense of solidarity.

The following day, Ndeh and Haniq joined with several other demonstratorsto form the Freedom Actualization Tribe, offering a space where activists could come together to share ideas. They decided candlelight vigils would best highlight the mournful, communal nature of the movement. Amid a weekend of violence and looting, they sat down in front of Barclays Center on the night of May 31 and invited passerby to come join them.

Our demonstrations are very focused on the idea of communalism. We sit in a circle. We light candles. We invite people to enter the circle to be a part of something that feels like a family, like a village, like a tribe, Ndeh said.

They came back, almost every evening, at 7 p.m. On the night of June 1, a group of demonstrators marched toward them on Atlantic Avenue, yelling at them and calling for violence. His voice never rising above conversational, Ndeh reasoned with the marchers and eventually convinced many of them to join the Tribe.

This was exactly what the group had hoped to accomplish: to bring the conversations that they were having among themselves to the streets and encourage demonstrators to consider different perspectives.

All the people we talk to, they come from so many different backgrounds, Haniq said. I feel like Ive learned more just from talking to people than I have in a lot of the years I spent in school.

Night by night, the vigils grew larger and a community cropped up in the space between the subway stop and the police barriers guarding the Barclays Centers doors. The pavement was decorated with chalk drawings, and drips of wax speckled the sidewalk. Local residents came to recognize members of the group, waving as they passed by. Sensei, a 9-year-old who has become friends with the Tribe, rode his skateboard around the space most of the day, helping them with supplies and logistics.

Members of the group say they do not want to prescribe goals for their organization, as that would be falling into old ways. I think we can agree that what we want to do is encourage evolution. And there is no way that you can define evolution, Haniq said. We see life as a big canvas. And we know that our lives will only contribute to that canvas, potentially in a very minuscule way. But we want everyone to realize that you can contribute, you should contribute, and you should be free to contribute.

Jzabelle. Photo: Erin OBrien

Demonstrators of all stripes have followed NYC Revolutionaries thousands of them. Megaphones in hand, shouting chants and doling out encouragement, the group runs marches like a well-oiled machine. Walking slowly, keeping media and bikes to the front of the crowd, the group often marches up Fifth Avenue (good acoustics) from Washington Square Park (great gathering place), stopping in Bryant Park (center of midtown Manhattan).

Those following the group might be surprised to learn it formed just a few weeks ago. After checking out a demonstration in Foley Square, Onni made a group chat with her friends Jzabelle and Leyla, who all asked not to be identified with their last names, and some other people shed met protesting. As the group picked up more members, its leaders decided to form NYC Revolutionaries. Now the organization which has a full-time staff of seven leads protests three times a week and has raised thousands of dollars for supplies and logistics.

Onni is a professional roller-skater, and Jzabelle recently graduated from college with a degree in fashion marketing. Both women grew up in New York and were primed for this movement by witnessing the violence and disenfranchisement experienced by communities of color throughout their childhoods. Jzabelle recalls encountering a protest over the death of Eric Garner at the hands of an NYPD officer while walking with her family in Manhattan in the summer of 2014. I remember thinking, Wow, this is so cool, she said, People in my generation are actually attempting to make a difference, like the people that we read about in history books.

Leyla is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and moved to New York four years ago with her mother for a fresh start. Shes now studying applied social sciences at St. Johns University and plans to work with youth communities.Growing up, she felt her community was deprived of many of the resources afforded to wealthier neighborhoods in the area. She and her friends wanted to make music, but there was nowhere to record. They wanted to practice sports, but there were no facilities. Leyla herself wanted tutoring and places to study, but she didnt have access to those, either.

I kind of realized that if I want to see the change, I might as well try to make it myself, she said.

From left: Elon Reid, Ashanti Clarke, an unidentified protester, Nacala Spiegler-Frederick, Dequane Nealy, an unidentified protester, and Obrian Rosario at Borough Hall on June 8. Photo: Emmy Freedman

Scrolling through Instagram on Tuesday, June 2, Lucas Klugers eyes jumped from one black square to the next. Clearly, young people were willing to hop on a social-media trend, but how could they be held accountable for their support of Black Lives Matter in real life? Thinking of the youth leaders behind the climate-change walkouts, Lucas had an idea. Soon, he and a few fellow seniors at Brooklyn Technical High School had set up an Instagram page called @nycstudents4justice, announcing a march the following Monday from Fort Greene Park to Borough Hall.

One thing we definitely established when we were putting it together was that people who are non-POCs people in my position should take a step back and facilitate, Lucas said.

He reached out to several friends whom he thought could organize and lead the protest, including Ashanti Clarke. The morning of June 8, Clarke assembled bags filled with necessities a water bottle, a granola bar, gauze, and a slip of paper with a bail-fund number that she could hand out to protesters.

I see in the media a lot of these protests have turned out violent because of the cops antagonizing and stuff like that, and even peaceful protesters getting arrested, Clarke said. So I was nervous, especially because there were many Black teens present but luckily nothing of that sort happened and it turned out well.

In the early afternoon on June 8, students began to gather at Fort Greene Park holding signs and water bottles, grouped together with classmates that they hadnt seen in person in months, since the coronavirus pandemic moved classes online. More than 1,000 people of all ages showed up, including some teachers.

Dequane Nealy doesnt usually like big crowds, but watching hundreds of people file into the park ready to march for justice, he knew hed have to use his voice to help give people direction.

Having a lot of people looking directly at me listening to every word I say, its definitely nerve-wracking, Dequane said. But being in the moment and knowing that this was something I really wanted to fight for and believe in, it all kind of washed away.

Knowing that white and Asian students make up a large proportion of Brooklyn Techs population, Nacala Spiegler-Frederick thought it was important that she get involved with organizing the demonstration; she felt a protest for Black lives should be powered by Black students such as herself. Shes also mindful of ensuring that the entire spectrum of the Black community is represented in the broader Black Lives Matter movement.

Even though we can all recognize that George Floyd was Black and he was part of the Black community, he was a cisgender male, Spiegler-Frederick said. A lot of women and a lot of trans people and a lot of queer people that are being killed, unfortunately, by the police and by others theyre all hate crimes. I think people are limiting themselves and just thinking about race. There are so many intersections.

During the protest, a helicopter circled overhead snapping photos. When Elon Reid saw one of the shots hours later, she was shocked at how successful the group had been at mobilizing their peers.

I guess the trauma that comes with being born after 9/11 and having to live through Sandy Hook and just a lot of things that have happened makes you feel like your voice is not going to be heard by people in D.C., and people just dont care what you have to say thats obviously not true, Elon said.

Elon said she wants to warn fellow students about the importance of voting the upcoming presidential election and hopes more young people will move beyond the performative activism taking place on social media.

NYCStudents4Justice has continued organizing demonstrations, with its most recent event held on July 18. The group members all of whom are recent high-school graduates encouraged attendees to wear their caps and gowns or prom attire to pay tribute to the Black students, such as Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin, who were killed at the hands of police before they were able to graduate.

Yahshiyah Vines. Photo: Emmy Freedman

Treon Cort and Yahshiyah Vines both became activists at an early age: Corts older sister encouraged him to join her at a protest against school shootings in D.C. several years ago, and Vines began demonstrating after losing a loved one on July 4, 2016. The main reason why I feel so affected by this is because my cousin was killed by an off-duty police officer, so I felt the need to go out and protest and be out on the ground, Vines said.

Vines had received positive feedback after speaking at rallies in the past, so when people began protesting the killing of George Floyd, he and Cort decided to plan a demonstration of their own.

This younger generation is the one thats really gonna be affected by whats going on right now, so we were like, Lets show the world how the youth does it, Vines said.

The two friends set to work creating a poster that shed light on the funding discrepancies between the NYPD and city schools and called on others to join their march for unity and justice on June 6. It was shared by the Instagram page @justiceforgeorgenyc, which currently has more than 230,000 followers. On the day of the protest, they werent sure what to expect; 25,000 people showed up to Grand Army Plaza and marched over the Brooklyn Bridge.

Leading protesters through Brooklyn, Corey and Vines called on people to text a number that would send a message to lawmakers asking them to repeal 50-a, a statute that has shielded police misconduct records from public view for 44 years. Just three days later, New York lawmakers finally voted to repeal it. The young men say its repeal is one of their proudest moments, indicating that protests such as theirs can, in fact, have an impact.

Take action, be on the right side of history, Vines advised his friends, who are now organizing protests of their own. You want to tell your kids you were fighting for justice, you were fighting for equality, you were fighting to change the world.

Jace Valentine. Photo: Dulce Michelle Marquez

Jace Valentine started identifying as an activist when she was a sophomore at Brooklyns New Utrecht High School; after graduating in 2019, she continued to advocate on behalf of students and work to replace NYPD officers stationed in schools.

Instead of having law enforcement with guns on their hips, have a counselor whos there to support students when they see something is happening, Valentine said. Also [focus on] prevention, so that these things will never escalate to this point where there will need to be a fight or some form of aggression.

Now shes making sure her message on education equity is heard at protests. Shes been speaking regularly at public events, including a rally in Washington Square Park on June 6 that attracted 15,000 people. She also offers support to younger people who may be speaking before a large crowd for the first time.

I just want to ensure that this is not just a hashtag that fades off in a few weeks, Valentine said. I remember when it was Trayvon Martin, it was such a big movement, and then after it sort of died down. I want to ensure that we keep the pressure on and keep pushing.

Carlos. Photo: Erin OBrien

Carlos, a 21-year-old Dartmouth student who asked to be identified by his first name, finished his last final on Monday, June 1, as he was simultaneously coordinating rallies in New York. Teaming with other organizers, he began to wonder how established groups could be integrated into the movement.

How can we pull in the nonprofits and the organizations in the community that have been doing work in housing for years? Carlos said. How can we pull in folks that have been doing food insecurity for years? And how can we bring all of these different groups together to really mobilize as one?

In the past three weeks, Carlos and his collaborators (the network remains intentionally unnamed) have organized marches, helped demonstrators get supplies, publicized events, and done what they can to keep the marches they attend safe and orderly. They encourage disobedience, but not violence.

While speaking at marches, Carlos will often ask demonstrators to turn to one another and acknowledge those around them. This interconnectedness, he argues, is the strength of the movement, and what will ensure its continuity.

The core belief that black lives matter, and of this movement its an inherent belief in each other. Its an inherent belief that the world can and must be better. And thats so powerful, he said. Its so hard to hold on to this belief, despite routinely being beaten and killed and murdered and lynched. As youre protesting police brutality, you experience more of it, and you still continue to have this faith and conviction that the world can be better for everyone.

Update: A previous version of this piece said Carlos declined his internship offer. After several weeks of protesting, he decided to start his summer internship after all, concluding that change is also needed in other environments, like the workplace.

Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world.

Meet the Young Activists Leading New Yorks Black Lives Matter Protests - New York Magazine

Popovich continues to be vocal about Black Lives Matter, says anyone offended by it is just ignorant – San Antonio Express-News

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich continues to voice his opinions on the Black Lives Matter movement while at the NBA bubble in Orlando.

In a virtual interview with reporters on Saturday, Popovich, who is preparing for the league's upcoming restart, was asked by KENS 5 reporter Tom Petrini what the social justice movement means to him.

"It's no different for me than it is to anybody else who cares about justice and who can be empathetic to the fact that justice has been denied to a group of people for far too long. And enough is enough," he said. "Everybody's tired of it, especially the group that has been degraded and savaged for so long. People who don't understand Black Lives Matter or are offended by it are just ignorant."

READ ALSO: I dont want to die: Gregg Popovich explains why he still wears a mask in the NBA bubble

Popovich has expressed many times that he and other coaches and players will continue to use the re-launch as a chance to shine a light on social injustices. Last week, he said on TNT's "The Arena" that everyone at the bubble has a responsibility to keep the conversation going.

"It's a necessity considering what's going on in our country and hopefully the realization by many people mostly white who begin to understand what it's been like for the black population," he said on TNT. "... It's an opportunity to make sure this momentum does not stop."

In June, Popovich also ripped President Donald Trump for what he says was his lack of national leadership in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died while in police custody. He was also among the more than 1,400 athletes, coaches and executives who signed a letter in June urging Congress to pass a bill to end qualified immunity, which shields police from lawsuits over their conduct.

RELATED: Former Spur reveals the day that Popovich said the team almost replaced him

The Spurs restart the regular season Friday in Orlando against the Sacramento Kings.

Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre

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Popovich continues to be vocal about Black Lives Matter, says anyone offended by it is just ignorant - San Antonio Express-News

Here’s why Elon Musk is a massive nickel backer – The Next Web

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

On an investor call earlier this week, Teslas CEO Elon Musk begged precious metal miners to dig up more nickel. But why?

Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way, Musk said on the call yesterday, Reuters reports.

While Tesla did turn an unexpected profit last quarter, its a rare occurrence for the company. Despite this, Musk is still keen to keep Tesla on a path of swift growth rather than rationalize the EV maker into a profitable business.

However, that growth wont come without its challenges, namely the availability of resources like precious metals used in battery manufacturing.

The real limitation on Tesla growth is cell production at affordable price, Musk said, adding the company would expand its business with Panasonic and CATL and possibly with others.

[Read: Germany drafting EU proposal to introduce pan-European tolls to use motorways]

Teslas primary battery technology was traditionally based on a blend of nickel cobalt aluminum. However, as the company shifts away from using cobalt over ethical mining and cost concerns, its placing a greater emphasis on the need for a steady supply of nickel.

Using nickel in battery cells helps to make them energy dense. In other words, this means batteries can be smaller, lighter, and overall use fewer resources for the same comparative kWh power rating.

It means batteries, the most costly component in an EV, could get cheaper. This gives EV makers with two options: reduce the price of their vehicles, or increase their range for the same cost.

The precious metal has been a crucial component in pretty much all modern batteries.

It was used in nickel cadmium cells, nickel metal hydride batteries that were widely used in portable electronics devices like cameras, Walkmans, and power tools in the 1980s.

The Toyota Prius, that could be considered one of the forebearers of modern clean vehicles, used nickel metal hydride batteries as part of its hybrid drivetrain.

Now, modern lithium-ion batteries, like those used in Teslas, laptops, and phones, are the most popular choice for EV makers the world over, and they still rely on nickel as a main component. In fact, batteries based on nickel cobalt aluminum chemistry like those Tesla use can be up to 80% nickel, according to the Nickel Institute.

It boils down to basic economics: the more nickel thats available the cheaper it should become. When 80% of an EV battery is made up of the stuff, its easy to see how much that could impact the overall cost of a battery.

[Read: Tesla battery cooling fault coverup heats up as feds get involved]

Those in the EV and battery industry are watching Tesla closely right now. Having made significant improvements to its vehicles range and efficiency in recent years, its Long Range Model S now goes over 400 miles on a charge the company is next expected to announce a million mile battery.

Last month, one of Teslas battery suppliers, CATL, announced that it was already producing power units robust enough to deliver electricity for over 1 million miles of motoring, but Musk remained silent.

Tesla is expected to make announcements on its battery tech developments in September at its battery day event.

Read next: Asteroids may be the reason Earth is covered in water

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Here's why Elon Musk is a massive nickel backer - The Next Web

These Scientists Are Testing an Experimental COVID Vaccine on Themselves

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Danzig

Using just a pipette and a magnetic stirring device, a ragtag group of scientists is attempting to fast track the development of a COVID vaccine.

An impressive scoop by the MIT Technology Review: Using simple lab tools, a ragtag group of scientists cobbled together its own grey-market COVID-19 vaccine — and instead of jumping through the usual hoops for a clinical trail, they’re testing it on themselves.

The group calls itself the Rapid Deployment Vaccine Collaborative (Radvac.) Led by celebrity Harvard geneticist George Church, the team set out to find “a simple formula that you could make with readily available materials,” as Preston Estep, Church’s former graduate student at Harvard and leader of the project, told MIT Tech.

The group came up with a vaccine, which consists of bits of protein that match the coronavirus, but aren’t able to cause disease. They even posted a white paper detailing how to cook it up yourself. Similar approaches have been used to make other vaccines, as MIT Tech points out, including for hepatitis B and HPV.

The group quickly found several volunteers who were willing to squirt the makeshift vaccine up their noses using a pump, which they believe could create a local immunity in the tissues of the airway.

Despite not making any claims about the effectiveness of their vaccine, Radvac has now given materials to dozens of friends and colleagues. In fact, Estep told MIT Tech that he’s lost track of how many people have taken it so far.

In sum, it’s an extremely deviant approach compared to the staid world of conventional pharmaceutical research. Unsurprisingly, that’s alramed some skeptics.

“It’s not the best idea — especially in this case, you could make things worse,” George Siber, the former head of vaccines at Wyeth, a Pennsylvania-based pharmaceutical company, told MIT Tech. “You really need to know what you are doing here.”

The project could run into trouble with the Food and Drug Administration, according to MIT Tech. Money may not be changing hands and each user has to sign extensive disclaimers, but regulators could still crack down on the group.

The post These Scientists Are Testing an Experimental COVID Vaccine on Themselves appeared first on Futurism.

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These Scientists Are Testing an Experimental COVID Vaccine on Themselves

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