Explained: The Idea Of An Observatory On The Moon To Detect Gravitational Waves – Swarajya

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Cosmic events of unimaginable magnitude are unfolding everywhere in the universe.

The news of these developments come to us, here on Earth, in a variety of forms.

For the scientific community, it is a matter of being at the right place at the right time and hopefully with the right equipment to receive this news of developments happening in distant reaches.

Two astrophysicists have proposed an idea that seeks to assemble this trio of right factors in order to detect objects and events hidden from plain view, in many cases even electromagnetic view.

Scientists Dr Karan Jani and Professor Abraham Loeb have suggested that a gravitational-wave observatory be put on the Moon to improve our ability to look deeper into space.

The Moon, they say, would make an excellent base for detection of gravitational waves.

The idea of gravitational waves originated in Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.

It remained a prediction for a century (indirect evidence in 1974) until in 2015, it was confirmed with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) gravitational waves were detected from 1.3 billion years ago after two spiralling black holes had crashed into each other.

Since then, gravitational-wave detectors in the United States and Europe have been chasing gravitational signals from remote locations underground.

Together, they have detected scores, some 50 of them, in the last five years.

Future projects like the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer promise to help refine our abilities to probe further.

However, gravitational-wave detectors based on Earth, and even space, may not be enough in our quest for some of the more mysterious objects in space.

They have limitations that could be reduced or done away with if the detector was instead put to work on the Moon.

Gravitational-wave observatory on the Moon

The Laser Interferometer Gravity-wave Observatory (LIGO) and VIRGO experiments have been doing a fine job at detections in the 10-1000 Hz spectrum.

Future labs are set to shine a light on lower frequencies around 5 Hz in the case of Earth-based observatories and down to milli-Hz in the case of the space-based Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA).

However, theres much to gain from tuning the frequency down further, to a spectrum of deci-Hz to 1 Hz.

The Moon is apt for this range.

This frequency range tends to be too low for Earth-based detectors and too high for space missions, write the authors in their paper.

The universe offers a rich set of astrophysical sources in this regime.

Detection of gravitational waves in this low-frequency domain could help one of the authors of the paper, Dr Jani, verify the existence of a cosmic object of his passion.

I am very interested in intermediate-mass black holes. They are smaller than the monster black holes found at the centres of galaxies, and are a mysterious class with no confirmed existence. But with gravitational waves, we can detect any black holes, says Dr Jani.

The low 0.1-5 Hz frequency range opens the doors to detecting these intermediate-mass black holes.

In addition, its possible to explore 30-80 per cent of the observable universe with the proposed Gravitational-wave Lunar Observatory for Cosmology (GLOC), vastly expanding the search area.

The Moon is apt for detection

The Moon lends itself better to detection of gravitational radiation in comparison to Earth.

For one, it is much quieter there than where we are.

Thanks to that, the lunar detector will not have to deal with geological rumblings on the Moons surface, which is especially important in the case of low-frequency detection.

For less than 10 Hz, we start to have seismic noise on Earth that couples with the detector. The Moon is at least 1,000 times quieter than Earth, says Dr Jani.

On the Moon, the size of the observatory can be scaled up.

Currently, the LIGO detectors have two arms at a length of 4 km each.

The arms are made up of over a metre-wide steel vacuum tubes arranged in an "L" shape and protected from the environment by concrete.

Dr Jani and Professor Loeb propose expanding the arms out 10 times to make the arm length 40 km on the Moon.

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Explained: The Idea Of An Observatory On The Moon To Detect Gravitational Waves - Swarajya

HSBC aims to double number of black staff in top jobs – Macau Business

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London-based HSBC bank aims to double the number of black staff in senior leadership positions and improve hiring strategies for minority candidates following the George Floyd protests, according to a company memo seen by AFP on Wednesday.

Black employees told chief executive Noel Quinn they felt overlooked for career opportunities and uninspired by the lack of senior role models, through to being on the receiving end of everyday slights which left them unable to be their true selves at work.

Quinn said in the memo: Our black colleagues feel that HSBC has not been strong or vocal enough as an organisation on matters that concern them.

The banking giant will improve reporting of its ethnicity data and set specific goals to broaden the diversity of senior leadership, according to the memo.

Its initial plan is to at least double the number of black employees in top jobs by 2025, and to work with an external executive search firm to engage black and ethnically diverse talent for leadership roles, the memo said.

The bank also aims to increase the representation of ethnic minority people on shortlists for mid-career roles and enhance their hiring strategies for graduate programmes.

The Black Lives Matter movement has rightly created more urgent demand for action. These are the initial steps that we as a Group will take in response, said Quinn.

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No indication new coronavirus is seasonal: WHO – Macau Business

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The spread of the novel coronavirus does not appear to be impacted by seasonality, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, warning against false beliefs that summer is safer.

Season does not seem to be affecting the transmission of this virus, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters in a virtual briefing.

She pointed out that some of the hardest-hit countries are currently in the midst of different season.

While it is summer in the United States, which with nearly 148,000 deaths and close to 4.3 million cases is the hardest-hit country, the second most affected country Brazil, which counts more than 87,000 deaths, is in winter.

And yet, she said, there seems to be this fixed idea about this virus being seasonal, and that COVID-19 will come in waves.

This is because people are mistakenly viewing the pandemic through a flu lense, because that is the way the flu behaves.

What we all need to get our heads around is this is a new virus and even though it is a respiratory virus and even though respiratory viruses in the past did tend to do these different seasonal waves, this one is behaving differently, Harris said.

Instead of expecting the virus to behave like other viruses that are more familiar, she said people should look at what is actually known about how to stop transmission of COVID-19.

What works, she said, is physical distancing, hand washing, wearing a mask where appropriate, always covering up sneezes and coughs, staying home when experiencing symptoms, the isolation of cases and quarantining of contacts.

But at the moment, we arent doing that, because people seem to have it fixed in their heads that there is this seasonal thing and there seems to be this persistent belief that summer is not a problem, Harris said.

Summer is a problem. This virus likes all weathers, but what it particularly likes is jumping from one person to another when we come in close contact, Harris said.

Lets not give it that opportunity.

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Tech titans in the spotlight at US antitrust hearing – Macau Business

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US lawmakers will grill the chiefs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google Wednesday about how they wield marketplace power in what promises to be a rare political spectacle.

The House of Representatives hearing comes amid rising concerns over Big Tech dominance, which has become even more pronounced during the coronavirus pandemic.

The unprecedented joint appearance before the House Judiciary Committee features Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google and its parent firm Alphabet.

The CEOs of four of the worlds most powerful companies will testify remotely, less than 100 days before the US election.

It will be the first time Bezos has testified before a congressional committee.

The worlds richest man will paint online giant Amazon as an example of US entrepreneurship.

I believe Amazon should be scrutinized, Bezos said in prepared remarks posted online, defiantly adding that when you look in the mirror, assess the criticism, and still believe youre doing the right thing, no force in the world should be able to move you.

Zuckerberg called social media colossus Facebook a proudly American company in prepared marks ahead of the hearing.

Our story would not have been possible without US laws that encourage competition and innovation, he said.

But, he is to say, the rules of the internet need updating.

Pichai will highlight how Alphabet is helping America remain a technology leader in the face of growing competition.

Cook will say scrutiny is reasonable and appropriate but that Apple will make no concession on the facts.

Apple does not have a dominant position in any market, and the iPhone faces fierce competition, according to Cooks prepared remarks.

The hearing is part of a congressional probe into online platforms and market power and takes place against a backdrop of antitrust investigations in the US, Europe and elsewhere.

The Street will be laser focused on this next step in the Big Tech vs. Beltway UFC battle, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in a recent note to investors.

Will this be a grandstanding event with minimal substance or a potential Fort Sumter moment for the anti-trust momentum against tech stalwarts? he wrote, referring to the opening salvo of the US Civil War.

Avery Gardiner, an antitrust expert at the Center for Democracy & Technology, said the hearing will offer a timely focus on key issues around competition and concentration of economic power.

People are feeling frustrated with the way our society is organized, and antitrust is one tool to go after powerful companies, she said.

Current US antitrust laws make it difficult for enforcers to target companies simply for being large or dominant without also showing harm to consumers or abuse of market power.

Because of that, the real purpose of the hearing is theatrical, and tied to the politicians electoral interests, said Christopher Sagers, a law professor specializing in antitrust at Cleveland State University.

The tech company chiefs will stress how they benefit consumers, particularly during the pandemic, and face competition particularly from China.

The antitrust debate is being muddied by rising techlash over a range of issues from privacy to economic inequality to political bias.

Social media giants face attacks for allegedly using their dominance to stifle conservative views a claim made by President Donald Trump.

Facebook has also been accused of failing to curb hateful content promoting violence, including posts from Trump.

Any effort to use antitrust laws to enforce free speech would run into constitutional concerns, raising the specter of a government censor, according to Sagers.

My fear is that members of Congress will have a hard time sticking to antitrust, and well hear a lot of questions about privacy, content moderation, worker conditions, said Gardiner.

Facebook could come under scrutiny for its acquisition of nascent rivals, which critics say squelches competition and increases its dominance of social media.

Smaller rivals have long complained about competing against the giants: Yelp argues that Google favors its own sites while Spotify says Apple Music has an unfair advantage.

Experts say there are limited remedies under existing law and precedent to deal with tech platform dominance.

Antitrust enforcers face a delicate task because it is not illegal to be big, said Gardiner.

Investigators must identify abuse of market power, which is difficult to define, she said.

Even then, it may be hard to craft a remedy in the public interest because of the benefits offered by the tech platforms massive scale.

You dont want to have to check 11 different social media sites for pictures of your kids on Halloween, Gardiner said.

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Romanian watermills face renovation or ruin – Macau Business

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In a small Romanian village, Alois Nemecek is not ready to give up grinding grain yet, but he might be one of the last to run a watermill.

The young ones left for work in the Czech Republic, and some people have already started buying their bread, says the resident of the village of Garnic.

The tiny community, inhabited by a Czech minority, is located in Banat, a region along the Danube river in western Romania that is home to some 250 watermills, about 150 of which are still functional, according to the NGO Acasa in Banat (At home in Banat).

In Garnic, about 15 families owned each of the 10 watermills, and took turns using them.

As in many other parts of Romania, emigration has decimated the population of a village founded nearly 200 years ago by settlers from Bohemia, and only around 230 inhabitants remain, surrounded by forests and fields.

At least four million Romanians are estimated to be living abroad, with many having left the EUs poorest member of almost 20 million people in search of better jobs.

Nemecek counts the days hell still be able to carry grain bags between the mill and his home, where his wife bakes bread for them to eat and occasionally trade.

I cant work like before, says the 65-year-old, a man of imposing stature with smiles to spare.

A few hundred metres (yards) downstream, Iosif Kapic, 57, continues to grind corn for his calves and pigs at another mill once or twice a week.

Im the last one; everyone else left, he said.

Pointing to the oak structure that straddles a stream and is surrounded by vegetation, he adds: This mill is 150 years old. I just replaced the tiles, but the wood and grindstone are the original ones.

Owing to a lack of use however, several Garnic mills have already become soulless buildings, with blocked water channels and crippled wheels.

Striving to keep the ancestral occupation alive, Acasa in Banat has launched a project to renovate them in hope of attracting tourists.

In mid-July, around 60 volunteers cleaned up the Camenita river that runs through Garnic, replaced tiles, reinforced foundations and treated the wood with flax oil from four mills.

Our goal is to keep the mills alive, the organisations vice-president, Nicoleta Trifan, tells AFP.

Her group hopes the project will be beneficial for the villagers who will be able to earn a little more money, for example by selling organic flour to tourists.

This is a fantastic heritage, we hope that other communities will follow our example to showcase it Tourists are now more than ever in search of authentic experiences, she adds.

The presence of holidaymakers could indeed encourage Vencl Srameks family to bake bread again, as they did until a few years ago, the 72-year-old says.

Nothing compares to the taste of homemade pita, the villager recalls wistfully.

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Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand Announce Initial Partners for $100 Million, 10-Year Commitment – Nike News

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Your source for the latest NIKE, Inc. stories

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July 29, 2020

On June 5, Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand committed to donate $100 million over 10 years to directly impact the fight against systemic racism. These donations will focus on three priority areas:

As part of bringing this commitment to life, Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand today announced three initial partners that will receive donations to support their efforts to combat Black voter suppression.

Im all in with Jordan Brand, the Jordan family and our partners, who share a commitment to address the historical inequality that continues to plague Black communities in the U.S., saysMichael Jordan. There is a long history of oppression against Black Americans that holds us back from full participation in American society. We understand that one of the main ways we can change systemic racism is at the polls. We know it will take time for us to create the change we want to see, but we are working quickly to take action for the Black communitys voice to be heard.

Partners were selected based on their ability to take action that can create impact now. Donations of $1 million each to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted People and Families Movement (FICPFM), and $500,000 to Black Voters Matter to support reformative practices that drive real change in the Black community.

Donations of $1 million each to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted People and Families Movement (FICPFM), and $500,000 to Black Voters Matter to support reformative practices that drive real change in the Black community.

The $100 million commitment was just the start. We are moving from commitment to action. Our initial partners can directly impact the social and political well-being of the Black community, saysCraig Williams, President of Jordan Brand. We will have a disciplined focus on social justice, economic justiceand education, as the most effective ways for us to eliminate the systemic racism that remains in society.

The work of these partners will focus on cities and states where Black people are underrepresented in registration and turnout numbers, relative to their share of the overall population.

Im all in with Jordan Brand, the Jordan Family and our partners, who share a commitment to address the historical inequality that continues to plague Black communities in the U.S.

Through the existing Jordan Wings Program, Jordan Brand has been focused on providing access to education, mentorship and opportunity for Black youth. These existing commitments will continue in parallel to these efforts, with increasing grants to U.S.-based Wings partners who are fighting to help youth overcome the obstacles of systemic racism in Black communities.

Black Voters Matter (Capacity Building Institute) has been successful in supporting policies that expand access to the ballot, including the restoration of voting rights to people who have been incarcerated, and the development of network of grassroots organizations that activate Black voters. Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand will support Black Voters Matter in its efforts to register and turn out voters in the upcoming elections. For more information, visit bvmcapacitybuilding.org.

Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted Peoples and their Families Movement (FICPFM)FICPFM supports formerly incarcerated individuals who are returning to society, to promote civic engagement, help them meet voter registration eligibility requirements and shift the dominant narrative on who convicted people and their loved ones are. Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand will support FICPFM to help restore the rights of disenfranchised voters. For more information, visit ficpfm.org.

LDF, which was founded by Thurgood Marshall before he became the first Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, is the nations premier civil rights law organization. It employs litigation, advocacy and public education to advance its mission to achieve racial justice, equality and an inclusive society. Over the past 80 years, LDF has fought for structural changes to expand democracy and eliminate disparities. Through its many transformative cases, such as Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the separate but equal doctrine that underpinned legal segregation, LDF has changed the very fabric of American democracy. Today, LDF fights to expand and protect civil rights so that our nations promise of racial equity and justice can become a reality for all Americans. For more information, visit naacpldf.org.

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Scottie Pippen downplays Michael Jordan rift after ‘Last Dance’ – ESPN

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Scottie Pippen says he has talked with Michael Jordan since "The Last Dance" documentary aired in the spring, and he downplayed any rift between the retired Chicago Bulls stars.

"Why would I be offended by anything that happened 30 years ago?" Pippen said.

Jordan widely praised Pippen in the documentary that chronicled the Bulls' 1990s dynasty as the best teammate he ever had. But Jordan called out Pippen in the second episode for making a "selfish" decision to delay offseason surgery on a ruptured tendon in his ankle until after the start of the 1997-98 season. Jordan said in the documentary he didn't understand Pippen's decision.

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There were reports that Pippen was unhappy with his portrayal in the documentary, but he said Tuesday, "I wasn't upset about it." The documentary also included Pippen's refusal to enter Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals in the final seconds.

"It didn't bother me at all," Pippen said. "It was an opportunity for our younger generation that hadn't seen or knew anything about basketball in the '90s."

The series aired over five consecutive Sunday nights in April and May and included never-before-seen footage from the 1997-98 season, when the team chased its sixth championship in a span of eight years.

Pippen, 54, won six NBA championships with the Bulls, was a seven-time All-Star and won two Olympic gold medals. He's now an NBA analyst, primarily for The Jump, an ESPN studio show.

He picked the Los Angeles Lakers as the favorite to emerge out of Florida the NBA champion.

"If you wanted to pick one, I'd say whichever team LeBron James is on," Pippen said. "The fact that his experience, his ability to pull a team together, the ability to be dominant -- he's the most dominant player in the game right now with Kevin Durant not being in the game. "

The documentary was a ratings winner when sports was on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. ESPN and Nielsen said that the final two episodes of 'The Last Dance" averaged 5.6 million viewers.

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Jordan: We’re all buzzing to be back – Blackburn rovers

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Rovers Ladies captain Saffron Jordan says the team are enjoying their return to training and are now fully focused on building on last seasons seventh place finish.

With the new FA Womens Championship campaign set to get underway on September 5/6, Rovers have stepped up their preparations by moving into Phase Two of training, whilst still adhering to the COVID-19 protocols.

And Jordan, who scored six goals in 2019-20, revealed it has been a welcome change to finally get back on the grass over the last few weeks.

It feels like forever since any of us played with each other and I had to reintroduce myself to a couple of people, she joked.

Its been strange, but our General Manager put it all [in place], weve had an itinerary and everything has run very smoothly. The girls have cooperated and everything has been up to scratch.

Its just like being a young kid at Christmas again, everyone is buzzing about, from a distance obviously, but theres a buzz around the camp and its really good to get back into it and be out on the pitch playing.

A period of lockdown brought challenges for the team, who were initially in limbo over whether the 2019-20 season would restart.

Jordan added: It was frustrating, but we kept in touch with a lot of Zoom calls. Our Strength and Conditioning Coach sent out programmes and we all kept up to date with it, had competitions sending in our times and what distance we did over the week.

So it was interactive even though we werent actually interacting, just to keep up over the off-season.

As long as it was, that part kept us going, [gave us] a bit of momentum and now were back in, it has all been worth it.

The Rovers skipper also reflected on the Blues first season in the second tier and talked targets for the campaign ahead, both individually and as a team.

How well we did last season, it cut off at the wrong time because we were coming into good form and getting a lot more comfortable with the standard of the league.

For our first season, finishing seventh was not bad at all. I think we would have snapped anyones hands off [for that] at the start of the season.

But this year, we want to build on it and improve. I think weve got some new players coming in who are going to add some strength into the numbers.

And a lot of the returning players are consistent and they know what it means to play for Blackburn Rovers.

I just always want to improve, thats my main target and helping the team to the best of my ability, thats my main focus.

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27th anniversary of death of James Jordan in Lumberton – WBTW

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LUMBERTON, N.C. (WBTW) Thursday, July 23, 2020 marks 27 years since the shooting death of James Jordan, NBA star Michael Jordans father, in Lumberton. Former Robeson County D.A. Johnson Britt spoke with News 13s Lacey Lee on his memories of the trial.

Its the one case that will stay with me forever, Britt says.

Jordan was traveling from Charlotte to Wilmington when he stopped on the side of the road in Lumberton to take a nap. Thats when Larry Demery and Daniel Green shot, killed and robbed Jordan.

They resorted to committing crimes and they went on a string of robberies this being the third string, Britt continues.

Demery and Green took all of Jordans possessions including his phone and NBA rings gifted from his son, Michael Jordan. The two then dumped James Jordans body in a swamp in McColl. His body was found there 11 days later.

This is a case that its legacy will live with this community literally forever. You know when you go places and they ask you where are you from and you say Lumberton, North Carolina and they go, why do I know that? and thats when you say, thats where James Jordan diedand its not a good legacy in that sense but thats what a lot of people remember us by, Britt says.

Both Demery and Green were convicted of 1st-degree murder and armed robbery and each got life sentences. However, Britt says Demery is eligible for parole. Count on News13 for more updates.

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The Black Lives Matter movement explained | World Economic …

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Following high-profile police killings of black men in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis, fatal attacks on officers by anti-police gunmen and more recently protests in North Carolina after the police shooting of Keith Scott, a black man the United States is being forced to confront its deep-rooted problems with race and inequality.

A strong narrative is emerging from these tragedies of racially motivated targeting of black Americans by the police force. It is backed up by a new report on the city of Baltimore by the Department of Justice, which has found that black residents of low-income neighbourhoods are more likely to be stopped and searched by police officers, even if white residents are statistically more likely to be caught carrying guns and drugs.

In the background, a campaign called Black Lives Matter celebrated its third anniversary. The movement, perhaps best known by its hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, grew in protest against police killings of black people in the United States. It has now crossed the Atlantic, with events and rallies held in the United Kingdom.

What is Black Lives Matter?

The movement was born in 2013, after the man who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, was cleared of his murder. A Californian activist, Alicia Garza, responded to the jurys decision on Facebook with a post that ended: Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter. The hashtag was born, and continued to grow in prominence with each new incident and protest.

The formal organization that sprung from the protests started with the goal of highlighting the disproportionate number of incidences in which a police officer killed a member of the black community. But it soon gained international recognition, after the death of Michael Brown in Missouri a year later.

Black Lives Matter now describes itself as a chapter-based national organization working for the validity of black life. It has developed to include the issues of black women and LGBT communities, undocumented black people and black people with disabilities.

According to this article in the Washington Post, 1,502 people have been shot and killed by on-duty police officers since the beginning of 2015. A cursory glance at the numbers reveals nothing to indicate racial bias: 732 of the victims were white and 381 were black (382 were of another race).

In fact, on the surface, these figures suggest its more likely for a white person to be shot by a police officer than a black person. But proportionally speaking, this isnt the case.

Almost half of the victims of police shootings in the US are white, but then, white people make up 62% of the American population. Black people, on the other hand, make up only 13% of the US population yet 24% of all the people killed by the police are black.

Furthermore, 32% of these black victims were unarmed when they were killed. Thats twice the number of unarmed white people to die at the hands of the police.

After adjusting for population percentage, this is the picture: black Americans are two and a half times more likely than white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers.

However, we have to count for distortion of the data, for various reasons. Firstly, it is collected through the voluntary collaboration of police departments with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, so not the full picture. Also, police departments dont always identify a shooting if an officer has been involved. Additionally, police-involved shootings that are under investigation are only counted once the investigation has concluded, so many recent incidents are not being counted.

Dont other lives matter too?

The slogan Black Lives Matter, created as a riposte to the institutional racism that lingers on inside the American justice system, has met with its own controversy. Objectors have taken it to mean black lives matter more. The All Lives Matter campaign, for instance, is one among several groups that have sprung up to argue that every human life, not just those of black people, should be given equal consideration.

In the wake of the mass shooting of five police officers in Dallas in July, a new campaign has taken root. Blue Lives Matter, a national organization made up of police officers and their supporters, places the blame for what they see as a war on cops squarely at the feet of the BLM movement and the Obama administration.

But while the data tells a more positive story that the average number of police officers intentionally killed each year has in fact fallen to its lowest level during Barack Obama's presidency hate crime is still a daily reality in the US, and many feel that state-wide policies to curb it should be extended beyond the black community to include the police themselves. Police officers are a minority group, too, former police officer Randy Sutton, a spokesperson for the Blue Lives Matter campaign has been quoted as saying.

Back in Dallas, Chief of Police David Brown has been praised for his efforts to increase transparency and community-friendly policing. He has been credited with a reduction in police-related shootings and fewer complaints about the use of force by police officers.

In 2015, the Black Lives Matter movement launched Campaign Zero, a group lobbying for changes to policies and laws on federal, state and local levels.

"We must end police violence so we can live and feel safe in this country," the group writes on the Vision Zero website. "We can live in a world where the police don't kill people by limiting police interventions, improving community interactions and ensuring accountability."

What next for Black Lives Matter?

So far, the media has focused on the campaigns events and protests on the street, but Black Lives Matter has also been involved in campaigning to change legislation.

As recently as August this year, the movement released more than 40 policy recommendations, including the demilitarization of law enforcement, reparation laws, the unionization of unregulated industries and the decriminalization of drugs.

Its efforts prior to that have had some success. One example is the creation of a civilian oversight board in St Louis City, which reviews and investigates citizens complaints and allegations of misconduct against the police.

Building on the legacy of the civil rights and LGBT movements, Black Lives Matter has created a new mechanism for confronting racial inequality. The movement also draws on feminist theories of intersectionality, which call for a unified response to issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and nationality.

Have you read?Barack Obama: standout moments from his presidency5 things to know about the US election

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Black Lives Matter — Manifesto in Ten Points | National …

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Black Lives Matter has delivered a ten-point manifesto of what they want. I have to say, it isnt as bad as I expected. In fact, some of it makes a lot of sense. For example, they ask for the end of broken windows policing, the end of for-profit policing practices such as civil asset forfeiture as well and the end of the police use of military equipment.

What I am, however, surprised about is that the list doesnt at all mention ending the failed Drug War even though many of their demands are to end policies (like the ones mentioned above) that are by-products of the Drug War. It is even more surprising since manyhave noted how the black community suffers disproportionately from the policy.

I find this essay from John McWhorter extremely compelling and moving about the disastrous results the Drug War has had on Black families. Far from finding excuses for the decisions made by those who choose employment in the illegal drug market rather than lower-paying jobs in the legal labor market due to the incentives created by the Drug War, McWhorter explains the consequences and the vicious cycle that follows. He writes:

The War on Drugs destroys black families. It has become a norm for black children to grow up in single-parent homes, their fathers away in prison for long spells and barely knowing them. In poor and working-class black America, a man and a woman raising their children together is, of all things, an unusual sight. The War on Drugs plays a large part in this. It must stop.

I know this is a controversial issue among conservatives, even though acknowledging that the Drug War has failed and needs to be scaled back is different from condoning the use of drugs.National Review even called for legalization of Marijuana back in 1996, long before the New York Times did in 2014.

That being said, no matter what conservatives think about the policy, it remains strange that it doesnt appear on the BLMs list of demands.

Less surprising, but important, is a failure to ask for the end of minimum-wage policies. Over at Cafe Hayek, Don Boudreaux posted a great discussion between George Mason Universitys Walter Williams and the Hoover Institutions Thomas Sowell on, as Boudreaux writes, the minimum wage governments practice of ordering low-skilled workers to remain unemployed if, and for however long as, those workers are unable to persuade or entice employers to hire them at wages at least as high as the wage that government dictates. As Williams says during the interview:

The minimum-wage law has been, and continues to be, one of the most effective tools in the arsenal of racists everywhere around the world.

It is worth also reading the article published a few months ago over at the TNR about the racist origins of the minimum-wage laws. While the intentions behind the law have changed dramatically, it doesnt mean that the policy has become low-income-worker friendly. As we know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Even less surprising is the absence on the BLMs list of the need to reform Social Security. As I have mentioned before Social Security redistributes money from blacks and other minorities to white people. You would think that considering the stakes, BLM would put it on their list.

All this goes to say that while the list wasnt as bad as I expected, it fails to address important policy changes that would really make a difference.

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Sebi allows acceptance of client securities as collateral by way of title transfer till Aug 31 – Devdiscourse

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Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday allowed co-existence of the current title transfer collateral mechanism and the new pledge and re-pledge process till August 31. The decision has been taken in view of the prevailing situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and partial lockdowns in various areas of the country.

Besides, the regulator received representations from stock brokers regarding changes to the systems and software development. In a circular, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said the mechanism of pledge and re-pledge will be implemented with effect from August 1.

Trading members (TMs) or clearing members (CMs) need to align their systems and accept client collateral and margin-funded stocks by way of creation of pledge and re-pledge in the depository system. It further said TM or CM will also be allowed to accept client securities as collateral by way of title transfer into the client collateral account as per the present system.

"The system of parallel acceptance of the client securities by way of title transfer shall be available only up to August 31, 2020, and no further extension shall be granted," Sebi said. Funded stocks held by the TM or CM under the margin trading facility will preferably be held by them by way of pledge with effect from August 1.

It further said trading or clearing member may continue to hold funded stocks in respect of margin funding in 'client margin trading securities account' till the end of August. The regulator reiterated that trading or clearing member will have to close all existing demat accounts tagged as client margin or collateral by August 31.

Earlier in the day, the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) has written to Sebi and the finance ministry seeking them "to consider granting extension of implementation of Sebi circular for the next two months and allow the existing system of crediting the funded stock to earmarked funded stock DP account". In February, Sebi had issued stringent norms to prevent misuse of clients' securities that are available with trading and clearing members, and depository participants.

It had banned transfer of clients' securities to demat accounts of trading and clearing members. Under the framework, TM or CM will accept collateral from clients in the form of securities, only by way of "margin pledge", created in the depository system, with effect from June 1. This was extended to August 1.

Sebi said depositories should provide "margin pledge" for pledging clients' securities as margin to the TM or CM. The latter should open a separate demat account for accepting such margin pledge, which should be tagged as 'client securities margin pledge account'. "For the purpose of providing collateral in the form of securities as margin, a client shall pledge securities with TM, and TM shall re-pledge the same with CM, and CM in turn shall re-pledge the same to clearing corporation (CC).

"The complete trail of such re-pledge shall be reflected in the demat account of the pledgor," Sebi had said..

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Sebi allows acceptance of client securities as collateral by way of title transfer till Aug 31 - Devdiscourse

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UGA professor founds racial equality education project – Red and Black

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University of Georgia College of Education professor Bettina Love founded the Abolitionist Teaching Network to advocate at the intersection of racism, education and abolition.

The movement aims to abolish an outdated education system that doesnt support children of color abolition refers to getting rid of systemic racism in educational systems, Love said.

The projects mission is to develop and support educators to fight injustice within institutions and communities. The network brings together abolitionists, community organizers, educators, parents, social workers, counselors, lawyers and health care providers to take direct action for educational freedom.

The goal is to interrupt racism through multiple measures such as choosing Black authors, selecting resources that are authentic and multifaceted, and advocating for the election of Black people to school boards, said Brandelyn Tosolt, an associate professor in the College of Education at Northern Kentucky University and a co-founder of the ATN.

Other possible measures are changing dress and behavior policies to eradicate anti-Blackness in these codes, and removing police forces from schools, Tosolt said.

When people hear the word abolition, they hear something that is so radical, and in a way, it is, but what they dont understand is that we are advocating to be treated as humans, Love said. We are advocating for a school system that works for all children, not just Black or Brown children. But what we are going to do first and foremost is start with those kids who have been marginalized and neglected for centuries.

Tosolt describes abolition as a process as much as its an outcome. She said the teachers in the ATN work toward abolishing an unjust education system every day.

Tosolt works with a doctoral program for educators where she prepares them on how to be anti-racist and to create environments that center the experiences of Black, brown and queer people in educational institutions.

In order to help teachers become abolitionists, Love hopes to teach and support educators through webinars, conferences and direct action. After the COVID-19 era, board members hope their organization allows for Black liberation to take place.

Our work is to help teachers dream. We want them to dream about what it would look like to create a classroom that centers Black joy and love for students. We will help these teachers ask questions, have conversations and brainstorm together, Tosolt said.

Bettina Love, UGA professor and founder of the Abolitionist Teaching Network

The projects activist and residency program is where activists work with a community and individuals. Love said they are going to put a person on the ground who understands the implications and is going to do the grunt work.

We want to be in solidarity with one another and direct action is the main aspect of the project, Love said. We are not fighting for a solution that is just putting a bandaid on the problem.

The project has multiple online workshops. Tosolt plans to lead a workshop called Cultivating Co-Conspirators, Workshop for White people, which will help people develop a practice of co-conspiratorship being allies for marginalized communities.

Tosolt said she hopes to aid white members to unlearn their whiteness by recognizing the whiteness embedded in their institutions and teaching them to use their privilege to get rid of their privilege.

We are planning an entire year of programming around supporting teachers doing this work in local context, Tosolt said.Our big focus is to create teachers and educational activists and help them adjust these ideals to their own classrooms because every state has their own systems.

As a UGA professor, Love said she hopes the ATN will help teachers in Athens start to reckon with racism.

My concern is that this project will be a network and hub where teachers throughout Clarke County organize and understand that they can use us as a resource to disrupt the current oppressive educational system thoughtfully, Love said.

The project will be a resource that helps train and educate faculty and staff. The ATN board is currently taking a year to recruit and fundraise. Love and her team raised $54,000 since July 6, the day they began the project.

Love also hopes ATN becomes a national and local model of how to destroy current systems that do not serve children of color. Starting in 2022, ATN will hold a yearly conference in Atlanta to gather radical minds around the issues that impact schools and communities.

We are not interested in reform or small measures that do not target the root of the problem, which is racism and whiteness that is deeply embedded within education, Love said.

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UGA professor founds racial equality education project - Red and Black

Protesters say they will continue getting in ‘good trouble’ – Yes! Weekly

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*Editor's note: When this article went to print, eight protesters were arrested on July 28, two more were arrested bringing up the total to 10 arrests on July 28, and 55 total arrests in July. The online article has been updated with the most up-to-date information.

This past weekend, through planned acts of civil disobedience, 25 protesters were arrested by the Winston-Salem Police Department on charges of impeding traffic. In groups of three to five people, protesters consecutively walked out and linked hands as they stood and knelt in the crosswalks waiting peacefully to be arrested by a fleet of bike patrollers. Some held up their fists, while the rest of the group held signs that read: Answer our demands, Ban the hogtie, and Notify the public of all jail deaths. On July 24, (Day 10), a group of at least 40 protesters walked from Bailey Park up to the corner of Fourth and Liberty Streets, where a historical marker notated North Carolinas first sit-in victory.

The marker states:

On February 8, 1960, Carl Wesley Matthews began the citys sit-in demonstration alone at lunch counters near this site and was soon joined by students from Winston-Salem Teachers College, Atkins High School, and Wake Forest College. The nonviolent protest led to a desegregation agreement signed May 23rd by the City and local businesses. Mr. Matthews, the leader, was the first Black served at a desegregated counter on May 25th. The protest ended in a record 107 days.

(On July 28, 10 more protesters holding flowers were arrested on charges of impeding traffic at the same spot as the arrests on July 24.)

I think that it is indeed ironic, said Citlaly Mora, communications strategist from the ACLU of N.C. regarding the arrests next to the historical marker celebrating 107 days of civil disobedience. We are seeing the hypocrisy not only in Winston-Salem but all the movements that we have going on in the United States that are really shining a light on the history and resilience of civil disobedience movement, yet how little things have changed when it comes to suppressing the right to protest.

Mora pointed out that Winston-Salem and Greensboro both have strong roots in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

Now, when we have movements building up with something that intersects race and how we police people, and who is a victim of police brutality. Again, we are seeing some type of suppression that really put it on its face and really shows that some of the reforms we have seen have been hollow and not an accurate representation of our appreciation of civil disobedience, Mora said. The John Neville case exemplifies how we report jail deaths, what counts as in-and out-of-state custody, what authority the sheriff has and who they report to, and their accountability. Those are still unanswered questions and concerns that need to be addressed, but it points to a larger issue that we have in N.C. with how we police, report and are transparent with the public, who essentially is funding these resources and law enforcement.

On July 24, after marching in a square around the crosswalks for about 30 minutes, the first two demonstratorsCalvin Pea, co-founder of The Unity Coalition; and Hannah Campbell, co-founder of Triad Abolition Projectwalked out into the street and wandered around peacefully while carefully dodging passing cars as the rest of their comrades chanted: Answer our demands. The 13 others that were arrested walked out in groups of three to five and followed Campbell and Peas peaceful lead.

Campbell wrote in a text message that she sought out like-minded folks wanting to work toward abolition because of how the prison industrial complex [PIC] and capitalism have affected her life and family. And because I see the immediate need for abolition echoed in the gaping holes the PIC leaves in our communities here in Winston-Salem, she wrote. Its personal.

It felt pretty surreal to be arrested for civil disobedience at such a historical marker in our city, Campbell continued. Knowing and seeing so immediately that folks came before me, though, gave me the strength and wherewithal to stand in that street. But it also illuminated for me just how long this fight has been and will continue to be.

Campbell said that she is grateful for Rep. John Lewis and activist Yvette Boulware, who made good trouble long before us, and who have shepherded us to continue to make good trouble to demand good change.

Pea said that his second arrest was easier than the first time around despite him getting the full tour on July 24.

The first time, it was apparent for whatever reasonthey kept me in longer (they took me in first and let me out last), he said. The same thing happened, but they gave me the full tourbooked me, had me pull up my bottom lip, my upper lipthe whole nine. It was an experience, but honestly, the joke is on them because I got to go in and meet some of the inmates who know about us on the outside fighting this fight.

According to the police report, there were no subsequent violations or injuries after the 15 protesters were arrested. Each group of protestors standing in the middle of the intersection was notified that they were violating the law by impeding traffic and to go back to the sidewalk. The listed protestors refused to comply.

Rev. Chad Armstong III was the man on the microphone for most of the day on July 24 and said that it was a productive day for the movement.

It seems to be that momentum is growing; community support is growing, he said. It seems to be that the visibility of the John Neville case is growing, which is obviously the intention and goal of what we are doing.

Armstrong said the demonstration location was not initially planned, but rather something that one of the other group members came up with right before the march began.

What was kind of tough was to see that there was the police and sheriffs department there who as ironically as they did, chose to arrest peaceful protesters in the space and spot where the City of Winston-Salem has erected a historical marker to civil disobedience and peaceful protests, Armstrong said. As a lifelong resident of the city and knowing its history, it was hard for him to see law enforcement make arrests in that spot.

For there to be the celebratory space of historical marker in once instance, but the degradation of that in the sense of responding to peaceful protesters in that wayit is kind of tough to process, he said. What was interesting, for me, was to hear one of the cops ask a question as to why we were forcing them to deal with this, which actually was posed to one of our organizersone of the cops whispered to one of our organizers, why are you making us deal with this?

Armstrong said that since the WSPD allegedly used an LRAD as an intimidation tactic on July 8, and because of their show of force with the 55 arrests they have made of peaceful protesters (so far) in July, they have intertwined themselves with the sheriffs department in this.

These protesters are protesting the sheriffs department, and what happened in a building that is operated by taxpayer dollars, Armstrong said. The tough part about it is, Chief Catrina Thompsons statement that she made in taking back the relationship that she seemed to try to garner with peaceful protesters is very confusing. Not for just one activist group, but for, I am sure, all of the local activist groups in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County community.

Even though Armstrong said #OccupyWSNC isnt shooting to break the 107-record set by Matthews in 1960, he said demonstrations and direct actions would continue if Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough and District Attorney Jim ONeill continue to remain silent by not answering questions or meeting the demands of the protesters. Armstrong said he hopes the community educates themselves about the Triad Abolition Project, The Unity Coalition, and the details surrounding what ONeill characterized as John Nevilles avoidable death and that the public did not know any details about it until seven months after it happened.

On July 25, in a strategic move, the occupiers took the movement to the heart of downtownin front of numerous outdoor diners of the citys Streatery and there, 10 were arrested on charges of impeding traffic. After marching around the crosswalks, garnering attention from diners with a microphone, cardboard signs, and chants, a group of four walked out on a crosswalk, hands linked facing a bike patroller. Six more followed suit.

It was a really fortunate thing to happen because the catch of all this happening during a pandemic, is that you cant really be as disruptive or you cant be as visible in the downtown area because businesses arent open right now, Pea said. Ideally, you have people who are out there trying to go about their day, as if we are not in the middle of the biggest Civil Rights movement in world history. Disruption, at least when it comes to protesting, involves reminding them, very clearly, that we are in some unprecedented times right now, and it is not the time to be enjoying yourself casually.

Multiple times during the march, Armstrong apologized to diners, gave downtown business owners a shout out and encouraged diners to leave a big tip for their servers.

Pea said that #OccupyWSNC has bail funds, community support and that the movement is happening strategically with every decision that is made.

We even have some of the police officers individually wondering, whats the point? They realize that the city is letting this go on, Pea said. It is not checkers; it is chess.

It is kind of funny that [WSPD] decided to stop protecting and supporting protesters as soon as we started asking questions about our city and our community and our law enforcement, Pea continued. I know we have the upper hand. We inherently have the moral high ground. There is no arguing that.

Chloe Brewer and Molly Southern were two of the demonstrators that were arrested on both Friday and Saturday.

I didnt know what to expect, but I had my friends and comrades with me, Brewer said. Brewer has been with the occupation since its first day, and she said she is part of the movement because she morally objects with policing.

It is based and was started in racism, and that is not cool. I am lucky enough where I dont go to school right now, and I have nothing else to do, and I know what my future holds for me, she said. I am lucky I can get arrested for this cause twice in two days. I know that my family is proud of me, and my friends are here standing with me.

We are getting in good trouble, and my family understands that this is something I believe in, she added.

Southern said she was held longer than any other protesters with the same charges on July 25, and she alleged that she was targeted. I think they saw me and Chloe out there, and they probably decided right then, one of you to make an example of you, Southern said. Which is exactly what happened, I got booked and was in there for five hours, I think. They wouldnt tell me what was happening. My mistake, I forgot to write down anyones [from #OccupyWSNC] number. So, I didnt have any contacts with anyone on the outside.

Southern alleged that even though she made bail, they kept her inside for an additional hour without any explanation of why. She said she wasnt scared or intimidated, though because she knew her comrades were out there waiting for methey are taking care of me, she said, I am doing this for a just cause, and I dont regret it at all.

Southern said that it felt good to be on the right side of history.

To be able to say that what we are doing is [getting in] good trouble, that feels really good and one of the things that make it really, really worth it.

Santino Ortiz, a former Marine, was also arrested on July 25. He said as a veteran, he was disappointed with the WSPD.

I think it is disappointing that they want to violate our First Amendment rightsI spent five years of my life defending the constitution and defending peoples rights to do this, Ortiz said. This is absolutely the most American thing you can do! So, it is just disappointing that our police want to supersede our constitutional rights. Inside the detention center, he said most of the officers were cordial, except for one, who kept talking about how ridiculous it was and how we were wasting their resources, preventing them from fighting real crime. When that cop said that, I spoke up and said, Excuse me, I spent five years in the Marine Corps, and I dont think our First Amendment rights are ridiculous. One other cop spoke up and said, I agree that you for your service.

Ortiz said this arrest isnt stopping him.

He said he would keep raising his fist and marching. Another person arrested on July 25 was Richard Hughes, who said that the strategy of going to the Streatery to protest was to cause a productive disruption and spread awareness.

We want people to know about the similar George Floyd case that we have right here in our own backyard, Hughes said. I will do this as many times as I need to until we get that justice.

Hughes feels that an explanation is owed to the public when someone dies on the taxpayers dime.

Something has to be said, you cant just cover this up and expect anyone not to ask questions; you owe us at least something tangiblesomething that provides substantial answers, and that is what we want, he said. Just do the right thing. For Bobby Kimbrough to be a Black man knowing what we face with police brutality, out of all people, he should understand.

John Bowhers, who was also arrested on Saturday, said he saw nothing but support at the Streatery from folks dining outside. He said it was necessary to march there and be in front of people otherwise, it is really easy to fall complacent and go about your day and not remember there are people whose lives are in danger every day right in the same city as you are. While he was being arrested, Bowhers was dressed in a suit and tie. I just figured I should represent myself in the way that I feel professionally, Bowhers said of his outfit. And to make it clear that someone who wears a suit and tie to work is also passionate about this cause. I treat this occupation very much like a job. I think that one thing I really appreciate about this group is the professionalism that everyone has brought to the table. I think that makes an organization strong, and I wanted to reflect that.

He has been at #OccupyWSNC since Day 1, and he feels that it is providing the right kind of visibility to sustain the movement.

I am learning a lot about the idea of abolition, anti-racism, and admittedly, I am getting up to speed with all of that myself, he said. I think more people need to take more time to read something that might make them feel uncomfortable. Actually, put some serious thought into something that doesnt align with their beliefs and see if they can consider the other side of the argument.

Bowhers described the occupiers as a group of kind and compassionate people who are really in this to see that the world could become more of a peaceful place.

I believe that this group of people is leading the thought process that we can help take care of each other without this potentially violent force that is supposed to be keeping us safe.

Desiree Dedolce was also arrested that same night, and she said she noticed that her bond was double the amount it was for others the day before. She believes this was an intimidation tactic to try and financially deter protesters from continuing these acts of civil disobedience. She said she hopes the sheriff and D.A. would come to Bailey Park to talk so that we wont have to do this again tomorrow.

I think there are a lot of people who look at us in the streets blocking traffic and that what we are doing is wrong, Dedolce said. I heard a lot of people say I can get behind it if you are peacefulwell, we have been peaceful, and it has obviously not worked out. And it is a shame that we have to escalate it this much just to get attention, but that is what its come to, so we wont give up until we get some answers.

In response to the 25 arrests this past weekend, Mora said that arresting peaceful protesters, especially during a pandemic, is not a wise thing to do.

Nothing should be punitive; everything in law enforcement should be for the protection of people. Arresting people, placing them in jail, poses a risk to them as doing quite the opposite.

Mora also commented that the use of bail is problematic in itself, so is raising the bail on peaceful protesters arrested on charges of impeding traffic, especially when there is clearly no risk to the community.

They shouldnt be making it higher and less affordable for people, especially when they are not posing a threat to people, and they are just protesting and expressing their rights.

Watching the arrests go down during the Streatery, one citizen said she was moved by one of the chants from the demonstration.

It wasnt a clich chant, said Capri Isles, a Winston-Salem resident of one year. I felt the true pain from the protest, because this is what democracy looks like says so much. This is what we stand for. This is what it looks like, yet we are not getting a fair chancewe are not getting the information that we need. That man was killed, and they tried to hide the information? I didnt even know about it until during the protest! I was Googling and figuring out who they were talking about.

Isles said it was sad to find out that John Nevilles death happened almost eight months ago, and that the public wasnt notified when it happened.

When I saw the protests, it moved me to know that there were people of all colors standing up for what is right, she added. I felt a pain in my heart to see people getting arrested like they were. I had to stop myself from really crying. It was sad seeing people get arrested for standing up for what is right.

Isles said that she didnt live in Forsyth County when Sheriff Kimbrough was elected into office. Isles said after learning about the death of John Neville, she would not be voting for Kimbrough.

Bailey Pittenger, a co-founder of TAP, said she continues to ask for transparency and accountability from the sheriff and D.A. When asked what she thought of the increase of detention center nurses, medical training for 50 detention officers on Aug. 1, the revised policy of duty to intervene that public information officer Christina Howell told YES! Weekly last week. Pittenger said she remains suspicious of policy changes that arent announced publicly.

We are asking for transparency and accountability in terms of all of our questions being answered. So, making policy changes away from the public eye, and not fully explaining why they would do that, or how it will impact things or even getting more details of what medical training is like for 50 detention officers and special response team members, Pittenger said. This never should have happened in the first place. They should have always put priority over the health of John Neville and our other brothers, sisters, and siblings incarcerated there.

Pittenger said she has been studying the sheriffs use of force policy alongside the medical examiners report, and she noticed a couple of things that were peculiar to her.

The use of force policy does say that IRB should have been in effect for any incarcerated members who have a serious bodily injury while in custody. I have not seen IRBs for any of the detention officers that have been involved, she said. The use of force policy also states that an IRB is done in addition to the SBI investigation, so I am just not seeing anything adding up still. I think going back to all those questions we very intentionally ask in terms of transparency and accountability need to be addressed, and our demands need to be addressed.

In response to the 25 arrests this past weekend, Pittenger said that TAP and occupiers are following in the footsteps of the recently fallen freedom fighter, Rep. John Lewis. That message, good trouble means that we will, or we have been standing in the street as direct, nonviolent action, she said. It is a statement toward the five that was first arrested on July 8, who really should not have been. But that message doesnt seem to be really getting across. Knowing that history and John Lewis is so important. He is also the one that said, be on the right side of history, we have been using that phrase here for weeks now, and seeing him pass recently, is overwhelming.

When asked if she was burned out from the occupation, Pittenger said not at all, in fact, she feels an urge to be present every day until demands are met, and questions are answered.

I dont have to buy groceries anymore because I just eat here, and the camaraderie is amazing, she said. It doesnt feel like a drag ever. I want to be here with these people, and I want to keep pushing. I dont see us stopping until our demands are met, and we are all on the same page.

Pittenger said even though she has sent countless emails, she has still not heard anything from the D.A. or sheriffs office. Pittenger said she is in touch with the ACLU of N.C. every day and that for now, Triad Abolition Project is only asking the ACLU of N.C. for amplification to attract more bodies to Bailey Park and more awareness of what is happening with #OccupyWSNC.

I have personal hope that we will see policy change that involves this community, and that is not done secretly, Pittenger said. I think that the voices in this group will be absolutely heard.

In regards to the significantly higher bonds set on Saturday than the day before for several protesters, Pittenger said she believes this to be an intimidation tactic.

Forsyth County Bail Fund posted on social media that they almost spent $28,000 just this week, and that is ridiculous and that the bail system needs to go away entirely, she said. In terms of our specific bail bonds increasing and two of our demonstrators being heldthey are definitely picking and choosing who they want to intimidate. Yet, when Molly was being held, we had the biggest show of people at the jail that night, still at Bailey Park dancing and waiting. They can intimidate, but it is really just really not doing anything but pushing us to continue the work that we need to do.

YES! Weekly emailed Mayor Allen Joines asking if he was aware of the #OccupyWSNC demands surrounding the death of John Neville, as well as his response to the arrests on charges of impeding traffic this weekend, his response to those same arrests so far in July, and his response to what some demonstrators called ironic that protesters arrests happened next to the historical marker celebrating civil disobedience and North Carolinas first sit-in victory.

Mayor Joines emailed back the following response:

We support peaceful, lawful protests. The Police supported 35 demonstrations before announcing that they would be asking demonstrators to follow city and state ordinances. The Police are enforcing those ordinances. The issues and demands regarding Mr. Neville deal with the Sheriffs Office and the District Attorney and not the City of Winston Salem.

Numerous attempts were made to contact D.A. Jim ONeill, but YES! Weekly has not received an email or call back. YES! Weekly also emailed Howell to see if Sheriff Kimbrough had a response to the #OccupyWSNC movement. Howell wrote in an email that all questions regarding John Neville would need to be directed to the D.A.s office.

We have very simple demands, and we are not asking for much, Brewer said when asked if she had anything to say to Sheriff Kimbrough, D.A. ONeill, or Chief Thompson.Very simple things like ban the hogtie because it kills people and notify your taxpayers when the death of an inmate happens at the hands of an officer.

When asked the same questions, Dedolce said that the WSPD needs to start practicing what they preach.

They made public statements saying they were on our side and would protect us, but once we turned the mirror around onto the jail here and the detention center and what happened there, they immediately decided that what we were doing was unlawful, she said. I would invite them to have a conversation with organizers our tax dollars are paying them, and they owe it to their community to come out and answer these questions that we have. The questions that we have are not only in regards to justice for John Neville or his family, but every single person in that detention center or will be in that detention center.

Pea said that the sheriff and D.A. already know what they need to do.

For anybody who thinks we are doing this willy-nilly, or that we dont know what we are doing, who arent taking us seriously, he said. Just know that we are willingly sending our comrades and ourselves into a place where people are unjustly killed. This isnt a game; we are not playing around; we are not joking. As much as we go in there with a plan, we go in there knowing that the man in the custody of the folks that work this building who handles uswe go in there knowing they killed him in December.

On Day 13 of the #OccupyWSNC movement, John Nevilles children, Kris and Brienne, showed up to the occupation to pick up the painting of their father by artist Robert Talley AKA Bobby Danger. While they were there, they offered words of encouragement to the occupiers and thanked them for all their efforts and support.

It is very humbling, and it fills my heart to know that so many people are working for the same cause, Kris Neville said. I was seeing all of this and people gathering together, and I never thought anybodyall of this is happening for my family? This is for my dad up there? It didnt seem real at first. It also didnt seem fair. I hate that people have to do this because of what happened. I really wish things could have been different. But it is definitely another catalyst for change for the future. It sucks, but it seems like gruesome shit has to happen for change to actually be made. It sucks for people to have to die for other people, especially locally, to wake up and realize they cant ignore the issue anymore. As someone who has existed in white spaces for most of my life, I have been with people who have absolutely ignored the issues because they had the privilege to do so, and never had to live their lives fearing what was going to happen the next day. They can safely get in their car and drive somewhere, and not have a worry in the world. But I dont have that same thing; I am always looking for copsconstantly checking my mirror. If anything happens, I never think of calling the cops. First, I always call my mother and friendsI am always praying that I never have to be in the situation or emergency because I dont want to have to rely on a system that doesnt really support me at its core. It is really great seeing everyone joined here today; I appreciate each and every one of youeven if I dont know your names. It really means a lot, a lot more than you will ever know to both of us and the rest of my family.

I am not even an emotional person, but this is tearing me apart, and not in a bad way, Brienne Neville said with tears in her eyes. It is a level of appreciation that people dont really understand because the truth is, we really have been alone in a way for seven months. We have been trying to cope with it; we have been trying to get our own answers, we have been trying to go about it in a way that would honor our dad, as opposed to acting crazy and dishonoring him, and just showing everything that we are trying to build up. As you know, it is not only you guys but the kids in Raleigh who slept in the freaking street all night to make sure that the bill did not get passed. The power of these thingsdont think that it is lost on us because we are not here with you guys every day. We watch, we just cant be here in the way that we want to. But we appreciate that you are not only here but arent afraid to ask questionsthat you care enough to make it about others and not yourselves. You are not here for the glory; you are not here just to make demands or just to go to jail so you can say you got arrested for fun...No one told you that you had to do that, each of you from your own hearts said, something is wrong, and we are going to make a stand for it; for us and for the men and women in therethat is powerful. Dont ever think that what you are doingeven if others dont say thank you, we thank you. We just may not know how to say it. We have spent months trying to edge our own grief, so to speak, trying to get to the cusp. And all of a sudden, we were thrown back into it. We are not upset about that, per se, because without this, the changes would never happen, the possibility of change would never happen. But it has been an emotional roller coaster; it has been a whirlwind for all of us.

We hear people who say that racism doesnt exist; slavery doesnt exist, but slavery still does exist because we are slaves to the system; we are the same slavesdifferent master, Brienne added. Systemic racism is the new masterthe way they dont want you to speak out even if you are white, or Hispanic. They dont want you to speak out because they want you to fall in line and follow an agenda that is not even for you. I applaud you for being brave enough to have your own thoughts and to speak out on your own thoughts. Dont ever let anyone tell you that you are not doing the right thing, because if you believe in something firm enough getting yourselves arrested for it that is powerful. Dont ever stop.

Campbell said the support of John Nevilles children is more than enough fuel for the journey.

I know well all hold tight to that as we continue pushing for transparency and accountability from our officials in this particular case.

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Protesters say they will continue getting in 'good trouble' - Yes! Weekly

Doomed Marriage heats up Monday night with unfiltered adult talk – The Korea Herald

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The 90-minute program was divided into two parts with actors reenacting real situations faced by married couples sent to the shows website in the first half and an actual married couple sharing their issues in the second half of the program. The five panel members then took side with either the husband or wife, with the winner given 1 million won ($833).

In 2020, things that are more dramatic than any television drama are happening in the real lives of married couples. There are many diverse methods by which couples cheat on each other, and the divorce trend is changing rapidly, said Sky Channel producer Jeong Eun-ha at Mondays press conference before the first show.

Jeong hoped many people could relate and find consolation in hearing the honest problems of the married couples in their 30s and 40s shown on the program.

The five panel members of Doomed Marriage come from different backgrounds.

Actress Choi Hwa-jeong shares her insight from a single womans perspective and years of listening to the stories of other couples. Model and comedian Hong Jin-kyung shares her thoughts as a woman married for 17 years, while comedian Lee Yong-jin, who got married last year, represents the viewpoints of a newlywed man. Psychiatrist Yang Jae-jin, who is single, brings his professional insight, while actress Lee Sang-ah, who has been married and divorced three times, sheds light on the realistic aspects of marriage.

During the premiere, the shows panel members expressed surprise at the R-rated talk in the show, with Lee Sang-ah wondering if the show could actually air given its highly sexual nature.

Its 2020, and its about time this kind of program was made. Despite that being true, I think a lot will be said since we are a pioneering program, said Yang.

The first episode illustrated why the panel had expressed some apprehension about the adult content in the show.

Actors reenacted a case of a husband who cheated on his wife of two years with a colleague at work. The wife found out after a year and began gathering evidence of the betrayal. The story takes a turn when the wife confronts the co-worker, but the co-worker threatens to report tax evasion by the husbands company if the wife stands in the way of the affair. The story ends with the husband asking the wife to allow his affair until he settles his financial problems, and the wife asks the panel what she should do, as she requires financial stability to support her sick daughter.

The real-life story angered the panel at some points, but also made them think about the financial aspects and realities of marriage. Yang also pointed out how people engaged in extramarital affairs have been getting bolder since the abolition of the adultery law in 2015 and with divorce settlement fees remaining much lower in Korea than in other countries.

In the second part of Mondays show, a newlywed comedian couple appeared to discuss the biggest issue in their marriage. The female comedian expressed anger at the husband for not trying his best to have a baby, but the husband claimed he was doing the best he could.

Doomed Marriage airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on Sky Channel and Channel A.

By Lim Jang-won (ljw@heraldcorp.com)

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Doomed Marriage heats up Monday night with unfiltered adult talk - The Korea Herald

Rising from the ashes – The Catholic Weekly

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Reading Time: 7 minutesPeople attend Pope Francis celebration of Mass at the baseball stadium in Nagasaki, Japan.PHOTO: CNS/PAUL HARING

It is now 75 years since the United States dropped the second atomic bomb ever used in wartime on Nagasaki, resulting in a death toll of up to 70,000 by the end of 1945.

The Hiroshima bombing will be remembered on 6 August and the Nagasaki bombing on 9 August.

Of the dead at Nagasaki, approximately 8500 on the day were Catholics representing 60 to 75 per cent of their own community and over 10 per cent of the total.

Over the last 12 years, I have studied the immense implications of the Nagasaki bombing on the citys Catholic community through interviews with survivors, the community and local researchers.

Together with Yuki Miyamoto, an ethicist at Depaul University in Chicago, I have collated some discussion about how the 75th anniversary of the bombing would be impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

In late 2019 I attended Mass with the people of Urakami, a northern suburb of Nagasaki, Catholics who had travelled from around Japan, onlookers, and Pope Francis, the second Pope to visit Japan after John Paul II in 1981.

The Mass was celebrated at the baseball ground in Urakami Valley just 200 metres from Ground Zero.

The evening before, I visited a hot springs overlooking the valley and couldnt help but visualise where the 12 survivors were at 11:02am on 9 August 1945, according to their subsequent interviews.

Oral historians write about palpable emotion in the interview. As I surveyed the scene, the emotion I had experienced in the interviews welled up deep within.

This year, the closing ceremony of the Olympics was planned for Nagasaki Day, as the nations government played up the opportunity to move past adversity into the future.

The Olympics are now postponed, perhaps to be cancelled, and the ongoing COVID crisis will have a major impact on the commemorations of the atomic bombings.

Today, in Tokyo, coronavirus infections are an ongoing concern. Given the emerging and unexpected situation, to what extent will the COVID-19 crisis impact the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Probably partly a result of the Catholic presence there, reactions to the atomic bomb in the Nagasaki community are often summarised by writers as prayer and the understanding of the devastation as Gods providence.

But my new book argues that Catholic atomic bomb survivors of Nagasaki protest the bombing and have complex and culturally specific memories of its impact and aftermath.

Based on a collective biography of the 12 survivors, I consider the connections between individuals and their communitys history, and their consciousness of historic communal marginalisation.

What became quickly clear as I studied the community of Catholic survivors was that their survival of the bomb was understood in parallel to their communitys astonishing endurance of 250 years of persecution which began prior to the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603.

Their ancestors were the Hidden Christians of Japan who went underground, pretending to be Buddhist, in order to avoid maltreatment.

The decision of the Japanese Olympic planners to time the Closing Ceremony for Nagasaki Day had, I believe, dangerous implications, even if it was supposed to offer a sense of closure.

By remembering the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan would have brought to mind the Catholics devastated there, who were previously mistreated and made an underclass due to an Imperialist mindset which demonised the Other, colonialised and subsumed the nations neighbours.

I use the word dangerous (after Johann B. Metz) because memories can disturb, stoke emotions and unleash dangerous new insights about the past.

Dangerous memories question hegemonic power and those who oppress others for their beliefs. In particular, the subjugated experience such memories as dangerous, subversively resisting the prophets of historylessness, those who adopt victors justice and who would exclude the vanquished from history.

In my study of survivor narratives, I aimed to discover whether the Catholic narrative constituted such a dangerous memory for the wider Japanese community in the context of war-time militaristic and aggressive Japanese Imperial ambitions, also reporting on the human cost of the fateful United States decision to deploy the atomic bombs.

Both papal visits to Nagasaki (Pope John Paul II in 1981 and Pope Francis in 2019) occurred on days of inclement weather. Pope John Paul II visited in February.

When he arrived for an outdoor mass there was a rare snowstorm. Pictures of the rally show numbed but stoic believers on a white snowy field, patriotically waving Japanese flags.

Two of the survivors I interviewed, Ozaki Tomei and Mine Toru, had a personal connection to the now-canonised Pope.

The orphanage which took both of them in after the death of their mothers was founded by a Polish Franciscan priest-missionary, Maximilian Maria Kolbe (1894-1941), who gave up his own life on behalf of another, to eventually die in Auschwitz.

Ozaki became a brother in the Seibo no Kishi Knights of the Holy Mother order in Nagasaki and later travelled to Poland to meet the man whose life was saved by Kolbes actions.

Despite the freezing cold, the Nagasaki Christians went to an outdoor mass in the early morning snow and John Paul II is remembered for his strong message and his ability to deliver it in Japanese (and four other languages). War is the work of humanity, he told them.

War is destruction of human life; war is death. His speech influenced a gradual transformation of the religious communitys memory and interpretation of the bombing.

After the Pope stated that [war is the work of humanity], he said [we] must talk about it This was what changed, Kataoka Chizuko, a religious who is a past Principal of Junshin Girls University explained to me in an interview about the papal visit.

There were a whole lot of people who as victims [had experienced this pain of ours] [which] we hadnt talked about it, concealed within us.

However, the Pope urged that we had to work more for the sake of world peace, so if the Pope says so, even if it is painful, alright, our experiences should be added to the discussion I think this was the kind of change you see.

The Popes speech signalled a new paradigm for survivors when he said the bomb was a work of humanity.

Kataoka acknowledges an enormous difficulty in talking about traumatic experiences of the atomic bombing which is not only a personal matter, but is also related to earlier waves of ambivalence in the Nagasaki Church about atomic and nuclear weapons.

The Churchs official stance, especially in the strong Nagasaki archdiocese, was at best hesitant and I discuss in my book how a theology that the bombing may be understood as a part of the providence of God was at least at times damaging for survivors, struggling to even partially recover from the trauma they had experienced.

Pope Francis, though, was unambivalent in his message. Thirty-eight years later, central Nagasaki was shut down for the current Popes visit in late 2019.

I stood with the crowd 50 metres from the hypocentre Ground Zero cenotaph waiting for the cavalcade as we were soaked by a rainstorm.

Standing under an umbrella, Francis delivered a staunch anti-nuclear message. Eventually, the sun re-emerged for the mass and hundreds of local Catholics sang from high in the stands of the baseball stadium.

So how are we to understand painful events of the wartime past, even as like the rest of the world Nagasaki faces the deathly impact of the coronavirus?

The threat of nuclear war is still with us, as Francis pointed out so recently, lending an uneasiness to the upcoming anniversary.

Akira Kawasaki, a representative of Peaceboat Japan wrote to me that as the media directs its attention towards the COVID-19 crisis, it is disappointing for the hibakusha survivors who want to send a clear message about the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Seirai Yuichi, a novelist and previous director of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, agrees that the discussion of coronavirus appears to be stealing time from the discussion of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

Society may miss the opportunity for reflection which the 75th anniversary offers, he wrote in an email to Miyamoto and I.

Meanwhile, the growing tendency of politicians and commentators in Japan to act as if Japans wrong acts in the past did not happen (which I would argue are dangerous to the status quo) must be challenged and its crucial to remember the negatives of the past, Kawasaki noted in his email.

Importantly, commemorations in Nagasaki offer a model of inter-religious collaboration.Nagai Tokusaburo, the grandson of Nagai Takashi, the well-known Catholic doctor who assisted in Nagasakis recovery efforts, writes that despite the threat of a loss of focus on the commemorations, there are unique religious collaborations in Nagasaki aimed at praying for peace.

Nagai mentioned the shuukyousha konwakai, religious group discussions where those of different persuasions can meet together and consider peace.

Seirai also writes of the inter-religious ireisai memorial service held on 8 August which is attended by Buddhist, Christian and Shinto group representatives to pray for the victims of the atomic bombing and for peace.

Another individual told me that for the Nagasaki Catholic church, which experienced the catastrophic damage of the atomic bomb directly, the consoling of the spirits of those who died and memorial events are deeply important.

He also noted that despite John Paul IIs unequivocal words about the bomb as the work of humanity, a discussion about the atomic bombing interpreted as Gods providence continued into the present and that the believers continued to have disagreements over this issue.

Contributing to this article was Dr Yuki Miyamoto, who lectures at Depaul University, Chicago.

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Rising from the ashes - The Catholic Weekly

Murder on the Middle Passage by Nicholas Rogers review slavery and the British empire – The Guardian

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You are trapped in a net cast by a white man reeking of rum and smoke, and then dragged miles to the coast. You are processed, bound into chains, and led to vast wooden ships. You are packed into the hold and spend months on the ocean. You have little to eat, little to drink, little air to breathe. All around you there is coughing and fever. On deck, they make you dance to keep your muscles taut, to preserve your price at the market. If you resist, they will beat you; if you die, they will throw you overboard.

In time, you see land. You are paraded on the dockside, prodded and inspected. They feel your arms; they look at your teeth. One man says Yes. You are loaded on to a cart and driven over rough land along dirt tracks until you arrive at a house and fields. You suffer searing pain as a burning iron pushes into your skin. You are taken to a shed and thrown to the floor. You collapse and sleep, but the sun rises and then you work. You have not done this work before, but if you do it badly, they will whip you. If you complain, they will whip you again. If you refuse to work, or you fight back, they will kill you in front of the others. So, you work.

This was the life to which British planters and merchants subjected millions of African people from the late 16th century to the 1830s. These are the truths of slavery within the British empire. And yet, as Nicholas Rogers shows in his micro-history, Britons were capable of even worse.

The antagonist of Rogerss tale is John Kimber, a veteran of the slave trade who in 1791 skippered the Recovery, a near-200-ton ship, from Bristol to the slaving coast of west Africa. Kimbers first major crime on this voyage came at New Calabar in the Niger Delta. On finding that the locals would not provide him with either slaves or water, Kimber and his fellow British captains two more from Bristol, three from Liverpool bombarded the town. As Rogers tells us, the British sailors believed that a good volley of cannonballs would resolve outstanding contracts and force down the price of slaves. This prediction proved correct.

Back in London, the news of the attack caught the attention of the group of philanthropists who, since 1787, had been campaigning for the abolition of the trade that Kimber practised, under the political leadership of William Wilberforce. For Wilberforce, Kimbers actions were nothing more than bloody and inhuman butchery. It was during his brief investigation of the New Calabar outrage that Wilberforce learned of the murder onboard the Recovery that dominates Rogerss book.

It is trite to describe life on a slave ship as hell; as the historian Marcus Rediker has put it, there is no way to quantify horror. Even so, Rogers gives vital, awful details of the conditions that prevailed on British slave ships. There was piss and shit and blood, and plenty else besides. John Newton, the clergyman who wrote Amazing Grace and a former, repentant slave trader, recalled that when the women and girls are taken on board a ship, naked, trembling, terrified they are exposed to the wanton rudeness of white savages. He lamented how one of his sailors had seduced a slave down into the room and lay with her brutelike in view of the whole quarter deck. The former slave, merchant and adventurer Olaudah Equiano had also witnessed sailors gratify[ing] their brutal passions with females not 10 years old.

Kimbers victim in this case was a girl only slightly older. Since her enslavement and imprisonment on the Recovery, the girl had been raped, brutalised and inflicted with a severe case of gonorrhoea; of course, the blame for the spread of the disease was attached to the African women on board, not to the British sailors. When the girl would not dance with the other enslaved Africans, Kimber flogged her daily with whips and ropes. Soon, she was struggling to walk, suffering from a crooked knee. This presented Kimber with a problem: if the girl was infirm, she would fetch a much lower price when the ship docked at Grenada.

Kimbers solution was atrocious even by slaving standards. From the mizzen-mast of the ship he strung the girl up by her bad leg, then her other leg, and then by her arms. In each position he whipped her. The ordeal lasted half an hour, after which the girl crawled to the hatch, fell down the stairs into the hold, collapsed, convulsed and died. The bitch is sulky, Kimber concluded. There is no record of her name, her story, or her family; accordingly, and disturbingly, she is referred to as No-name throughout this book.

After denouncing Kimber in parliament, Wilberforce quickly brought charges of murder before the High Court of Admiralty, which was the only place to try a man for alleged crimes committed on the high seas. It is the result of this trial and its aftermath, rather than Kimbers brutality, that say most about Britains historical attitude towards slavery.

With the slaveholding West India Interest mustering an array of witnesses who spoke to Kimbers supposedly good character, the judge, Sir James Marriott, simply stopped the trial and directed the jury to find the accused not guilty. Even more perversely, Marriott immediately charged the prosecutions witnesses, two members of Kimbers crew who had testified against the captain, with perjury: one of them was convicted and sentenced to transportation.

As for Kimber, he tried to sue Wilberforce for damages but contented himself with lurking menacingly outside the abolitionists London home; only the intervention of the Earl of Sheffield put an end to the stalking. Growling, Kimber returned to the slave trade.

How could the British judicial system acquit a man of such crimes? How far did Kimbers monstrosity characterise British traders overall? Indeed, if Britain was the liberal bastion of abolitionism and philanthropy that is often imagined, how could such a killing not have caused a greater furore?

As ever, context is everything. The Haitian revolution had begun in 1791, jeopardising the future of slave colonies across the Caribbean; by the next year, the French Terror was in train; and the slave trade was still a vital artery running through the core of the British empire. To chastise Kimber and to prosecute men of his ilk was considered dangerous commercially, politically and strategically. These were the same concerns that would forestall abolition until 1807.

This was the cold and callous pragmatism that informed so much of British imperial policy; there was no room for sentiment here, and this is the world that Rogers exposes in recounting the death of a teenage girl. It is this history and not the triumphalist accounts of abolition and later emancipation that we must heed; it is this history that reveals the darker, shameful, but essential truths of our imperial past.

Michael Taylors The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery will be published by Bodley Head in November. Murder on the Middle Passage is published by Boydell & Brewer (16.99).

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Murder on the Middle Passage by Nicholas Rogers review slavery and the British empire - The Guardian

The Groundbreaking Scientist Who Risked All in Pursuit of His Beliefs – The New York Times

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I am a man of violence by temperament and training, Haldane once declared. He liked to claim that he was descended from Pedro the Cruel, the king of Castile and Lon. With his passion, his iconoclasm and his willingness to shock, his celebrity grew and grew. People liked his sensational stories of self-experimentation. (He continued his fathers physiological research; a fit of convulsions in one self-designed chamber of horrors broke his back.) They loved reading about his scandalous first marriage to Charlotte Burghes, a journalist, which made the British tabloids and almost got him kicked out of Cambridge, where he had taken a position as a reader in biochemistry. She was married when they met; her divorce was ugly; their own union was unconventionally loose. (His next marriage was to Helen Spurway, a biologist who was 22 years younger than he was.)

In lectures which drew large crowds and in pubs, Haldane tossed off important and futuristic ideas like firecrackers. He wrote a revolutionary paper that helped transform the way biologists think about the origin of life. His vision of what would become known as test-tube babies helped inspire Aldous Huxleys Brave New World. Haldane was a terrific writer in his own right. His political essays were like razor blades in print, Subramanian says. His science essays were superb. In one of his best, On Being the Right Size, Haldane writes, You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes. What a sentence. That last word shocks you every time and you can hear in it more than a hint of his genetic inheritance from Pedro the Cruel.

At his best, Haldane was a heroic example of the scientist as activist, humanist and idealist. He felt, as we now feel afresh in our century, Subramanian writes, that nations were held rapt by the wealthy, that they were warmongering and venal, that they placed the narrow interests of the powerful above the well-being of the powerless. Many of his views on class and race have aged well. But he picked petty fights wherever he went; and he championed the Soviet Union long after Stalin began slaughtering his people and murdering his geneticists. Haldane put himself through disgraceful intellectual contortions to defend Stalinist pseudoscience.

Marx thought a single theory would someday cover everything from the laws of physics to the laws of human progress: There will be one science. It was Haldanes great accomplishment to help make biology one science, with the modern synthesis. To do more, to explain the tragic messiness of history that kind of synthesis continues to elude us. Its hard enough to sum up the good and the bad in one human being.

A Dominant Character is the best Haldane biography yet. With science so politicized in this country and abroad, the book could be an allegory for every scientist who wants to take a stand. In the past few years, Subramanian writes, as weve witnessed deliberate assaults on fact and truth and as weve realized the failures of the calm weight of scientific evidence to influence government policy, the need for scientists to find their voice has grown even more urgent. Haldanes political principles were unbending and forthright, as Subramanian says, and his science illuminated all of life. In both these ways, for all his failings, he was deeply attractive during a time of shifting, murky moralities.

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The Groundbreaking Scientist Who Risked All in Pursuit of His Beliefs - The New York Times

23andMe and GSK Head to Clinical Trials With Cancer Drug – MSN Money

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Photographer: Cayce Clifford/Bloomberg A 23andMe Inc. DNA genetic testing kit.

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc and genetic-testing giant 23andMe Inc. have begun their first joint human clinical trial as part of a collaboration to leverage the Silicon Valley firms DNA database to develop drugs.

The companies said that they enrolled their first patientthis month in early-stage trials for a drug that targets human tumors. The drug is an antibody that works to block CD96, a proteinthat plays a role in modulating the bodys immune responses. The theory is that blocking it will help control the activity of another molecule in the body called CD155 that is often over-expressed in malignant human tumors.

GSK took a $300 million stake in 23andMe in 2018in a deal to share its data and collaborate on drug development.The idea was to comb DNA data and health information volunteered by 23andMes more than 12 million customersto hunt for clues as to the role genetics playin different diseases and then translate those insights into potential new drugs.

This is a new way of thinking about drug development, Hal Barron, GSKs chief scientific officer and president of research and development, said in an interview. And the concept is coming to bear.

There is much enthusiasm in the pharmaceutical world for the pathway that these companies are targeting. Prior to teaming up, both had their own programs to explore CD96. 23ndMe tapped into its database to validate GSKs approach, using an algorithm that compared potential drug targets to a data set that included genetic information along with other health data shared by customers in order to identify genetic patterns.

Its an important target, Barron said. Hopefully well find out in the clinic that it helps patients fight cancer, and maybe even aids the immune system in eradicating it. That would be the ideal situation.

The two companies have nearly 30 programs underway exploring potential drug targetsin oncology, immunology, neurology, cardiovascular and metabolic disease. The vast majority are still in the early stages of validating those molecular pathways; for a few, drug discovery efforts are already underway.

What has surprised me the most is how well this approach has worked, how productive its been, said 23andMe Chief Executive Officer Anne Wojcicki.

Identifying a molecular pathway that plays a role in a disease is only part of the hurdle in developing a drug. Even once its clear that a target is involved in a disease, altering it could have other negative health impacts or simply be difficult to design a drug due to the intricacies of human biology.

While its unlikely all thosewill make it to clinical trials, Barron said thatusing genetics to find potential drug targets will hopefully lead to a higher probability thoseultimately result in effective medicines.

23andMe launched its therapeutics program five years ago, and its become an increasingly large focus of the company. In January, it licensed an antibody it had developed to treat inflammatory diseases to Spanish drugmaker Almirall SA. The company is individually pursuing other drug candidates, some of which it may put through clinical trials itself rather than licensing out to other companies.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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23andMe and GSK Head to Clinical Trials With Cancer Drug - MSN Money

i2i Expands FQHC Business, Adding Several New Customers – Tullahoma News and Guardian

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FRANKLIN, Tenn., July 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the last few months, i2i Population Healthhas implemented solutions with several new Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to support their quality improvement needs and enhance the care they provide to their communities.

i2i has long been a valued partner of FQHC organizations, serving over a quarter of those established across the nation. "This market segment remains a key focus for our company as it hits the heart of our mission in Serving Others for Healthy Communities. FQHCs serve some of the most vulnerable, underserved of our population. It's their dedication and compassion that we mirror in the support we provide, and the end goal is the same while we continue to drive mutual success better health for every patient," states Justin L. Neece, i2i Chief Executive Officer.

Three of the most recent implementations of i2i solutions are Carevide in Northeast Texas, Palms Medical Group in North Florida, and Fresno American Indian Health Project (FAIHP) in Fresno, California.

COVID-19 brought about new demands for health care organizations, requiring flexibility in technology with the ability to provide data quickly and precisely. In this light, the pandemic reinforced the value of having the right data, at the right time, to provide the highest quality care for patients. With priorities including enhanced quality reporting, expanded analytics capabilities for care-gap tracking and chronic care management, and implementing a single source of truth to improve quality and care coordination efforts, i2i solutions will serve these health care organizations by providing the accurate and timely data they need to improve outcomes.

Carevide began implementation of i2i's solution platform in April 2020, Palms Medical Group in May 2020, and FAIHP in June 2020.

About Carevide Carevide is a Community Health Center in Northeast Texas offering family medical, dental, pediatric, school-based, behavioral health, and women's health services, with locations serving Greenville, Bonham, Cooper, Farmersville, Sulphur Springs, Commerce, and Kaufman. With over 41 years of experience providing health care services, Carevide is a complete medical home with continuity of care, Class D pharmacies, health education, social services, eligibility services, and translation services. All medical sites at Carevide are recognized as a Patient Centered Medical Home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Carevide provides services to all patients, including those with private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, and uninsured patients on a sliding-fee discount based on family size and income. Carevide's mission is to improve the health and lives of those they serve with a commitment to patient-centered excellence in all that they do. To learn more, visit their website atwww.Carevide.org.

About Palms Medical Group Palms Medical Groupis a not-for-profit health care provider committed to bringing quality, affordable primary care and preventative services to their community. They take great pride in offering a full range of evidence-based, healthcare services for all stages of life. With multiple locations throughout North Florida, Palms Medical Group gives patients the care they need, when and where they need it. In addition to primary care, Palms offers pediatric care, behavioral health, and dental services, as well as complementary alternative medicine such as chiropractic care. As a federally qualified community health center, Palms provides care to both insured, including Medicare and Medicaid patients, and uninsured patients. No one is denied medical care because of lack of insurance or income.

About Fresno American Indian Health Project The Fresno American Indian Health Projectis a culturally sensitive health access and advocacy program designed to enhance the health and well-being of the American Indian community in the City of Fresno, CA. The Health Project provides public health services and access to free & low cost quality health care. The primary program services are comprehensive case management, public health nursing, providing access to health services and prevention education.

About i2i Population Health i2i is the nation's largest population health technology company serving the underserved, safety net market. With 20 years of experience spanning 37 states and 30 million lives, i2i has consistently ranked as a category leader of KLAS' annual software review. The i2i platform powers an advanced data integration and aggregation engine that publishes normalized clinical and administrative data through a unique quality management and care coordination application. Driving improved outcomes in quality program performance is a core competency of i2i. The results are demonstrative through an expansive base of clients in the Federally Qualified Health Center, Community Hospital, Managed Care Health Plan, and Government market segments.

For more information about and the latest news from i2i Population Health, visiti2ipophealth.comor follow@i2iPopHealthon Twitter, and@i2i Population Healthon LinkedIn.

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i2i Expands FQHC Business, Adding Several New Customers - Tullahoma News and Guardian