Tory MPs to scrutinise UKs relationship with China amid anger over Covid-19 response – City A.M.

Posted on by

Top Tory MPs have today launched a new research group aimed at reassessing the UKs relationship with China amid concerns over the countrys handling of the coronavirus crisis.

The China Research Group will gather and share information on Chinese foreign and industrial policy, as well as its ownership and development of new technologies.

Read more: China says Wuhan coronavirus death toll 50 per cent higher than previously reported

MPs said the new body would not be a campaigning group, but rather will aim to promote understanding, debate and fresh thinking on issues related to the countrys growing influence.

Tom Tugendhat, chair of the influential foreign affairs committee, will lead the group while Neil OBrien, a former economic adviser to Theresa May, will serve as secretary.

Tugendhat, in an exclusive column for City A.M., says we must come to terms with vast swathes of the global economy under the control of a Communist Party that prioritises its own political survival above all else.

Speaking to City A.M., OBrien said other European countries such as Germany were more advanced than the UK in their discussions about how to approach Beijing.

We needed to create the organisation were setting up in order to spur this thinking, he said. Coronavirus has crystallised our thinking that something is needed sooner than later.

The groups main areas of focus will be Chinas strategic investments around the world and the dominance of state-backed companies, as well as the countrys development and ownership of new technology.

The government has come under fire for its decision to allow tech giant Huawei to help build the UKs 5G networks amid allegations its technology could be used for spying by authorities in Beijing.

MPs have also raised concerns about the transferral of intellectual property from the UK to China, such as an attempt earlier this month to take control of British chipmaker Imagination Technologies.

Further issues such as Beijings soft power over third countries through its Belt and Road Initiative, as well as alleged corruption, will also be examined.

While the China Research Groups focus goes beyond the current pandemic, OBrien said concerns had been crystallised by Chinas handling of the Covid-19 outbreak.

A study by Hong Kong researchers this week revealed coronavirus cases in China may have been four times higher than official figures, with authorities accused of attempting to cover up the scale of the virus outbreak.

Tugendhat said Chinas long pattern of information oppression had contributed to the unfolding crisis, as well as its provision of faulty equipment.

The UK reportedly spent 16m on 2m Covid-19 home testing kits that were found to be ineffective and inaccurate.

We know that the Chinese government is not actually looking to help people, otherwise they wouldnt be sending out defective equipment, he told City A.M.

Instead what theyre trying to do is create a potemkin medical assistance programme which has the illusion of helping in order to boost propaganda.

Chinas ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming has denied a cover-up by his country, accusing western politicians of using gunboat diplomacy to bully China.

It comes after Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson society, warned China could be facing a reckoning for causing economic and health carnage around the world.

In a report published earlier this month, the foreign policy think tank predicted that lawsuits against China for breaching international health regulations could run up to at least 3.2 trillion from G7 nations alone.

Speaking on City A.Ms City View podcast, Mendoza said the crisis was sparking a sea change in public opinion towards China, with the security, supply chain and disinformation fallout outweighing trade benefits.

Read more: China using Covid cover to seize control of Imagination Technologies

Sometimes a crisis like this is the kind of way that you do see a realignment of political positioning, he said. Taken in the round, I think that will lead to a long overdue reassessment of how China is viewed.

Mendoza last night said the launch of the China Research Group was timed perfectly to reflect the wave of British public outrage.

Coronavirus has reminded that there are significant costs, and not just benefits, to deeper ties with China, he said.

It is right that MPs now debate these with a view to reshaping a new relationship that cast not only in economic terms, but also strategic and values ones.

See the original post here:

Tory MPs to scrutinise UKs relationship with China amid anger over Covid-19 response - City A.M.

From Celtic to African Gospel: discover the sounds of international cinema – CBC.ca

Posted on by

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent" - Victor Hugo.

The role of music in films; accentuating emotions, dialogue and even silence, creates an entire sensory experience for audiences.

To illustrate the breadth of music and its impact on films, we've listed a few genres of music from around the world, alongside a few select foreign films on CBC Gem that showcase these styles, which we hope will inspire you and take you on an immersive cinematic journey of your own.

If you're in the mood for something warm, breezy and uplifting, then Semba beats are what you need! A rhythmic form of music and dance from Angola, Africa, Semba originated from a creative culmination of African dance and colonial European influence.

Characterised by harmonies on the guitar accompanied by rhythms of the marimba, bass drums and rattles and shakers, Semba songs are usually sung in a witty rhetoric, the themes conveyed through the music are often related to everyday life and social engagements. The versatility of Semba enables an artist to convey a variety of emotions which is evident in its presence at events of celebration as well as at funerals.

In the film Rebelle (War Witch), Semba plays an influential part in bringing out the emotions in this war drama narrative where a child soldier is forced into civil war in Africa.

Listen to the soulful voice of Angolan music artist Artur Nunes in this trailer for the film Rebelle (War Witch)

A soothing feeling of being one with nature is the tranquility offered by Indigenous music. Indigenous music communities in Canada celebrate music as a part of daily life with music being central to spiritual and cultural beliefs. Traditional Indigenous music is composed from drums tambourine-shaped hand drums, water drums as well as large ceremonial drums, flutes and vocals.

In the 2017 Canadian historical drama Hochelaga: Land of Souls, father-son duo composers Gyan and Terry Riley paint a vivid musical score inspired by Indigenous influences.

Hochelaga: Land of Souls narrates the story of a Mohawk archeologist who finds the remains of Hochelaga his ancestral village under Montreal's Percival Molson Stadium.

Taking a trip back in time, classical music has stirred up strong emotions over centuries of storytelling. From concerto to opera, symphony to sonata, there's a classical style of music that may resonate for all.

Johann Sebastian Bach's chaconne (a repeated pattern of seven rising chords upon which the music is built), has been well illustrated in concerto style in the film The Red Violin (1999) which follows a single violin over the course of centuries, played by different people across continents, from Europe to Asia and finally North America.

Composer John Corigliano won an Oscar for The Red Violin's neoclassical score which featured celebrated violinist Joshua Bell and well-acclaimed conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen to execute it. Listening to the chaconne is a rich and layered experience that leaves you with a feeling of sublimity.

You can also listen to the entire soundtrack of The Red Violin on Spotify.

Another noteworthy style of classical music is opera. The 2011 historical film A Dangerous Method, directed by multiple-award winning Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg, features the musical score of leitmotifs from Wagner's third Ring opera: Siegfried on piano by the Oscar award-winning Canadian composer Howard Shore.

Here is Howard Shore's TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) interview on creating the musical score for A Dangerous Method.

A Dangerous Method showcases an adulterous affair between Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sabina Spielrien (Keira Knightley), a young Russian patient suffering from hysteria, who share a common love for Wagner's Ring cycle operas.

On a balmy summer evening, folk music from Middle Eastern countries spanning from is sure to lead you into a state of dreaminess. Melodic instruments such as the oud, flute, double reed and tambourine are significant to the music from this region.

The origins of Middle Eastern folk music can be traced back to the Bedouins singing a simple caravan song, the ud', during their desert treks in 7th century BC, reflecting the culture of enjoying music collectively rather than individually.

The soundtrack of the 2017 Canadian-Irish-Luxembourgian adult animated drama film The Breadwinner is mysterious, pleasant and melodic taking you on an enchanting trip to the Middle East. The film depicts the story of Parvana, a girl in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan who has to dress as a boy in a bid to find work and support her mother and her sister.

Catch a glimpse of the music from The Breadwinner in this scene.

Picture yourself in a lush green meadow listening to the distinct sound of bagpipes coming from a distance. If this is a visual that makes you happy, you'll definitely love the uplifting, peppy notes of Celtic music.

Originating from the countries of Ireland, Scotland and Wales; Celtic music can be traced back to the 1600s. Popular for dancing as well as sung as a ballad, Celtic music has a varied melodic composition made up of instruments such as the violin, lute, flute, harp and bagpipes to name a few.

The Irish family drama film A Shine of Rainbows entwines Celtic music in its screenplay to complement the rugged and picturesque setting of County Donegal (Ireland). The film is based on an orphan boy who is helped by an extraordinary woman to transform his life by conquering grief.

Canadian music composer Keith Power collaborated with The Henry Girls who were finalists on You're a Star, an Irish singing competition-based reality show. For Power, composing music for the film was inspired by his experiences growing up on the Atlantic coastline in Newfoundland where he was surrounded by the rich traditions of Irish folk music.

Listen to The Henry Girls live performance, as a warm up to Celtic music.

Soulful and heartwarming, African Gospel music is one of the few genres that will strike an instant chord with you. Euphoric and rhythmic, this spiritual music is rooted in responsive church singing.

Starting out in the early 20th century, Zionist churches in South Africa included African musical instruments such as the djembe, mbira (thumb piano) as well as lively dancing during their gatherings for worship.

The Soweto Gospel Choir is a South African singing group who have performed an ensemble for the historical drama Winnie (2011) that focuses on the life journey of Nelson Mandela's wife Winnie Mandela.

Listen to Bleed for Love by Jennifer Hudson and the Soweto Gospel Choir from the official Winnie soundtrack for a soulful experience.

Reggae tunes tend to transport us to a tropical destination with sunny skies, swaying palms, sifting sands and rolling waves. It's the perfect mood uplifter when you aren't having the best of days.

The term reggae originates from 'rege-rege' a Jamaican phrase which means "rags or ragged clothing". The African nyah-bingi drumming style and themes on love, peace and rebellion against extreme violence, poverty, racism, and government oppression are central to Reggae.

The 2012 feature drama film Home Again will take you to Kingston, Jamaica, following the lives of three young Jamaicans who grew up in Toronto, New York and London respectively, but are deported to Jamaica. Their journey covers the struggles they have to face for survival.

Home Again's soundtrack is reggae-driven, which is solely used for an ironic effect. The background score's uplifting beats adds a contrast to the hardships faced by the young protagonists.

Merry-making and celebrating life is well orchestrated by notes of Russian folk music. Lending to the invigorating style of music are instruments such as the fiddle, mandolin, accordion and a double bass balalaika to name a few.

Russian folk songs are based on two main themes calendrical events associated with harvesting and other farming rituals and the second being family life such as birth, death and marriage.

Canadian composer Howard Shore's musical prowess shines through in the 2007 crime drama film Eastern Promises. Even though the story is set in London, the Russian angle elevates the plot coupled with the folk music backdrop.

Here's a clipping from the film featuring Russian musician Igor Outkine on the accordion performing Dark Eyes a popular Russian romance folk song.

Need a reason to let your hair down and dance like no one's watching? Bollywood's foot-tapping beats will not be a let-down. Adding a layer of flavour to it are the energetic beats of bhangra a folk dance and music genre originating from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan celebrating the arrival of spring.

Bollywood Bhangra is a melange of traditional bhangra beats and Bollywood techno which is a genre that has gained popularity in recent years because of its lively appeal.

Dr. Cabbie's soundtrack emanates a collaboration of east-meets-west with Bollywood Bhangra infused with techno beats. Dr. Cabbie's plot is as colourful as its music, following the life of a doctor from India who migrates to Toronto in search of a job.

If we've set up the scene with the right tunes for you, continue this cinematic journey by streaming a variety of films on CBC Gem!

See the rest here:

From Celtic to African Gospel: discover the sounds of international cinema - CBC.ca

Three Robust Bitcoin Services Power Crypto Platform in Cuba Amid US Efforts to Isolate the Government – The Daily Hodl

Posted on by

Cubans are now able to download a digital wallet to store Bitcoin, integrate a cryptocurrency payment gateway on websites and buy and sell BTC on a peer-to-peer exchange. The three crypto services are powered by QBita, developed by Italian-Cuban entrepreneur Mario Mazzola. The company launched Cubas first peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) exchange earlier this month.

QBita is focused on enabling Cubans who have been impacted by US sanctions.

The US Treasury Department ramped up sanctions against Cuba in September of 2019, imposing more stringent measures to reduce access to money. The sanctions have placed a cap of $1,000 that one remitter can send to one Cuban national every three months.

According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin,

We are taking additional steps to financially isolate the Cuban regime. The United States holds the Cuban regime accountable for its oppression of the Cuban people and support of other dictatorships throughout the region, such as the illegitimate Maduro regime. Through these regulatory amendments, Treasury is denying Cuba access to hard currency, and we are curbing the Cuban governments bad behavior while continuing to support the long-suffering people of Cuba.

The team at QBita characterizes Bitcoin as a lifeline in light of the US blockade and Cubas inability to access fintech platforms.

Bitcoin in Cuba is a real necessity, to mitigate the problems of financial exclusion that the Cuban people suffer due to the economic and commercial blockade imposed unilaterally and illegally by the United States.

As a direct consequence of these sanctions, in 2019 Cubans still do not have access to many modern financial services such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Skrill, Stripe or other international electronic payment gateways.

The development of the QBita Bitcoin Wallet was inspired by the heroic resistance of the Cuban people, who face financial censorship from the powerful enemy of the North.

Qbitas new peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange allows users on the platform to buy and sell BTC from each other. The decentralized exchange is non-custodial, giving users full control of their own cryptocurrency and their own private keys. Website owners are also able to integrate the QBita wallet as a Bitcoin payment gateway for all types of e-commerce portals.

The company says users can be up and running with the click of a few buttons. Qbita runs a full Bitcoin node and is planning to introduce Lightning Network transactions later this year.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Julian Peters Photography

Originally posted here:

Three Robust Bitcoin Services Power Crypto Platform in Cuba Amid US Efforts to Isolate the Government - The Daily Hodl

How Poetry Can Bear Witness to Crisis and Revolution – The Nation

Posted on by

Carolyn Forch. (Photo by Harry Mattison)

In poet Carolyn Forchs memoir of her multiple trips to El Salvador in the late 1970s and early 80s, What You Have Heard Is True, which was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2019, she quotes 18th century Spanish painter Francisco Goyas Yo lo vi (I saw it), which accompanies his series of sketches The Disasters of War. The quote is a neat encapsulation of Forchs oeuvre as a poet, anthologist, memoirist, and witness to political revolution and upheaval. I saw it, Forch writes, and this, and also this. Its what shes been writing in her poetry (the title of the memoir comes from the first line of her famous poem The Colonel) since the 1970s. Her poetry not only is sometimes hauntingly beautiful but also can be painful, pointing out to the world a moment of oppression or violence. She has written of the consequences of poems, of poems as trace, poem as evidence. Her poems are necessary in that they point to somethingimperceptible nuance or the psychic toll of indescribable sufferingwe havent seen or can barely believe.1Ad Policy

Forchs most lauded early works were inspired by her travel to precivil war El Salvador, where she bore witness to violence, atrocity, and fear: Broken bottles embedded in walls to scoop the kneecaps from a mans legs or cut his hands to lace. After returning to the United States, she wrote up evidence of what she witnessed and toured the country to educate Americans about the consequences of interventionism. (At some points in the 1980s, US aid to El Salvadormost of it destined for ruthless and murderous armed forceswas over a million dollars a day.) In later poems she continued exploring the same themes of oppression and violence, from Lebanon to the Holocaust to the atomic bomb. As an anthologist, she developed the concept of poetry as witness, or poetry in extremis, collecting international poets work responding to the 20th centurys many unprecedented upheavals, starting with the Armenian genocide and going through the Bosnian War. She expanded that collection with another anthology, exploring English language poetry of witness from 1500 to 2001.2

Now in Forchs latest book of poemsher first in 17 yearsIn the Lateness of the World, the it she has seen seems to have expanded beyond singular events and moments. Her new poems are more reflective and broader in scope, as if she has gained a higher vantage point. The poems seem elegies less of individual moments than of life itself.3

Forch wrote the memoir and the new book of poems simultaneously, and they tug and lean on each other. Part of my soul went into my memoir, and another part went into the poetry book, she told me. In the memoir, I was reliving a past self. I was inhabiting the woman I once was. In the poetry book, Im the woman I am now. In the nearly two decades it took to produce both works, she survived canceran experience she has called terrifying and illuminating. But the new poems hardly seem autobiographical, as they explore landscapes of migrations and mourning and the creation of tenuous spaces of refuge throughout the world. And like the rest of her poetry, they have a broad range, from Greece to El Salvador to Hangzhou.4

Her work here is anchored to place and, at the same time, placeless. Take the beguiling and mesmeric opening poem, Museum of Stones, which begins:5

These are your stones, assembled in matchbox and tin,collected from roadside, culvert, and viaduct,battlefield, threshing floor, basilica, abattoirstones, loosened by tanks in the streets,from a city whose earliest map was drawn in ink on linen,schoolyard stones in the hand of a corpse,pebble from Baudelaires oui,6

We are unfixed here to time or to place; we are nowhere, but we are in a meticulously particular nowhere. The rocks, pebbles, and stones are far from concepts, metaphors, or abstractions. The specificity almost takes on an animism, a beating element that Forch captures in a crescendoing, rhythmic drama, spiked with occasional shards of human agency:7

stones where the bells had fallen, where the bridges were blown,those that had flown through windows, weighted petitions,feldspar, rose quartz, blue schist, gneiss, and chert8

These traces of humanity are traces of violence as well. The collapsing of the fallen bells and the blown bridges into a single poem is a different approach: a survey rather than an autopsy. The poem ends with the hope that this assemblage of rubblethis beautiful and frightening litany of dead mattertaken together, would become / a shrine or holy place, an ossuary, immovable and sacred.9

Though there is a timeless quality to Forchs latest book of poems, plunking from one global crisis to another, the book is also explicitly of the now. In The Boatman, one the most explicitly localizable of her poems, a taxi driver tells of when he was one of the 31 souls in a raft in the gray sick of sea. They are Afghan refugees crossing the Mediterranean to Europe, fearing death by drowning and being sent to camp misery or camp remain here. Few turns of phrase capture the choice between Scylla and Charybdis facing todays refugees fleeing Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Honduras, among other places. It is classic Forch. Are the abstractions of misery and remain here real places? Of course they are.10

Forch and I connected by phone in late March, a few weeks after the publication of her new book of poems. We spoke about the coronavirus precautions we were taking, then veered into politics and poetry and ended by talking about cooking. She gave me a one-pot pasta recipebrowned mushrooms in creamand a couple of days later, I made it. The following is an edited excerpt from our conversation.11

John Washington12

John Washington: You write in the last poem of In the Lateness of the World about the arrival of what has been, which seems like a neat encapsulation of the art of memoir. You also write, throughout your oeuvre, of hauntingthe past and people of the past appearing in ghostly forms in your work. Would you say these poems are in some way haunted as well? 13

Carolyn Forch: Yes, they are, not by ghosts in the supernatural sense but by presences, apparitions of memory, traces of the past still legible in the natural and built worlds, by silences, ruins, regions no longer inhabited, even regions of mind. You are right in saying that I am more interested in the presence of the past in the present than I am in the past itself, which is irrecoverable. The past itself can neither be remembered nor restored.14

JW: Staying on the ghostly track for a moment, is haunting a metaphor or perhaps just a simple description of what happens after a disaster? Your gaze seems pulled to existential disasters, not only in the anthology Against Forgetting but in your own poetry. 15

CF: It is not a metaphor and, in fact, resists becoming figural. We do not live after atrocity or trauma but in the aftermath of all that happened, all that remains with us, that scars and craters our memory, our consciousness, our vision of the world. I was born just after the Second World War and grew up in its silences and slow disclosures. The war ended, but the arms were not laid down. War flared again in our souls and in the world. Wislawa Szymborska wrote, War will no longer be declared / but only continued / and the shadow of eternal armament / darken the heavens. I have felt the pull of disaster as a centripetal force for as long as I can remember. This is the ground of Against Forgetting, and my awareness of this goes back to earliest childhood and has only become more acute with time.16

JW: Your experience, as well as that for plenty of other Americans, in El Salvadoror at least their consciousness of El Salvadorin the 1980s and 1990s was a politicizing or even radicalizing force. 17Current Issue

Subscribe today and Save up to $129.

CF: It was. During the period of the war, a lot of them got involved in the anti-intervention work, the sanctuary movement, Witness for Peace.18

JW: But are Americans reacting differently today to the situation and politics in Central America? There is another exodus of refugees, but it doesnt seem to be mobilizing the same spirit of political solidarity.19

CF: My experience in the early days of organizing on behalf of El Salvador is that many people had already been politicized during the Vietnam War, which had only ended in 1975, so by 1980 they had been, in a way, quiet, like a sleeping volcano. They had been marching and active against the war, and there was a lack of focus for their efforts, and Central America gave that back to them. So the solidarity movements grew like mushrooms all over the country. I thought it was going to be really challenging to persuade North Americans to be concerned, but it was not at all. I went to 49 states, and everywhere I went, communities were so immediately active that it was shocking to me. I think some of that came in the aftermath of Vietnam.20

And I think now the problem is you had that radicalization and politicization that happened during the war in El Salvador and during the contra war against Nicaragua, but thats now 35, 40 years ago. So there was a long period in between the present moment for refugees at our border and that movement that was organized 40 years ago. People were very active at the airports when the [travel] ban first went into effect, but theres been a really effective [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]Border Patrol lockdown. This administration lets no one in, no one out, so theres very little that activists can do other than appeal to moral conscience, appeal to the public to pressure the Congress. But as long as we have this White House, its going to be very difficult to effect any change through US American institutions of governance. We have these thousands of children and tens of thousands of adults in detention, and our government is not even willing to release them during a pandemic.21

If you like this article, please give today to help fund The Nations work.

JW: We saw the first case in New Jersey of someone in ICE detention infected with the coronavirus just recently.22

CF: I dont know how aware US Americans are of the vast network of US detention centers. We tend to imagine them along the borders in Texas, but if you look at a map of detention centers, theres a detention center near you, is what I would say. I think this pandemic has overwhelmed everyone in so many respects. I dont want these children in detention to be forgotten. I dont have any answers regarding activation of political organizing and solidarity work at this time, because Im not sure, in an era of shelter in place and social distancing, its going to be very easy. We cant go out on the streets en masse and protest. Theres so much we cant do.23

Im not saying it was easy to organize prior to the pandemic. There was an element of frustration. No one exactly knew how to be efficacious, what could be done, other than initially bringing this into the eye, the idea of shocking people about the circumstances in the detention centers and the activities of ICE agents in our cities and towns and also the assault on sanctuary cities by the federal government. Theres a kind of rolling confusion that this administration has specialized in. If you cant see that you have any collective strength politically to influence your legislative representatives, then Im not sure what to do.24

JW: What does work?25

CF: Theres a limit to what people are willing to give up and risk on behalf of others. And Im not judging that. Im just pointing it out. Everyone has their own limit. In El Salvador, I met many people who had no limit. They would die for other people. Many people would die for other people. And that was what, when I came back to the United States for the last time, that was the commitment, that was the love of humanity that I felt I would have to live the rest of my life without. That sounds too melodramatic. I knew that I wasnt going to be experiencing that as vividly as before.26

JW: Theres a difference between what you were seeing in El Salvador and the situation in the United States. Though for parts of the population, maybe its not all that different. 27

CF: Were a very different country, but repression is repression. And we havent had the kind of repression that Salvadorans were sufferingyet. But I have glimpsed the seeds of it in various moments. I glimpse it with ICE SWAT teams entering houses.28

JW: I want to talk more about your poetry, but I have a couple of other big-picture political questions. 29

CF: Im not a sage, John.30

JW: One of the things we began discussing today is about taking people into your home and the danger of doing so during a pandemic. One of the false narratives and insidious clichs, throughout history, with refugees and migrants, is that they bring disease.31

CF: Thats racist and untrue, and it has always been. The people stepping off the boats in Ellis Island were seen the same way. They were doused for lice. My own great-grandfather was turned away for a sore on his leg. I have news for people who regard migrants that way: Their great grandparents were also regarded that way. We simply have to continue a relentless counternarrative that is anti-racist and scientific and compassionate and empathic. We have to cultivate our collective empathy. The contagion of lack of empathy is going to be more harmful to us in the long run than anything else, because it will have no bounds. If we lose our empathy, we lose our empathy for everyone. And we isolate and atomize our society until it dries up, until it has nothing left.32

JW: I bet people tell you their stories occasionally about how they came to your poetry. Im going to tell you mine briefly. I was camping on Mount Lemmon, outside Tucson, Arizona, the first time I heard any of your poetry, and a friend recited the entire poem The Colonel, and I was floored and flabbergasted by what I heard.33

CF: Its lovely for me to imagine a campfire and that poem being recited. Thats very moving.34

JW: It was moving for all of us. A line from that poem is the title of your memoir, What You Have Heard Is True. Theres something in that phrase that responds to a doubt. Theres an assumption that youre speaking to someone who needs assurance that what that person has heard is true. And that doubt or the desire to quell that doubt interests me a lot. 35

CF: Thats it. Thats very important. The US government was denying what we were saying. Therefore, we were thought to be either exaggerating or lying. And whenever I was talking about the most horrific things I had seen in El Salvador, people would ask me, Well, is that true? Or are you just a writer or a poet embellishing things? We were confronted with doubt at every turn in the United States.36

One of the things that I learned in working out the idea of poetry of witness, which studies poetry written in the aftermath of extremity: There were many qualities and gestures that these poems had in common, and one of themand this was all over the world in the 20th century, you find this gesture in Polish poetry, in poetry of the Holocaust[was] the gesture of the appeal to be believed. That opens many poems, and I began to notice this gesture, and then I realized that I myself had done it in The Colonel. This gesture is a fear that no one will believe you. This gesture is How do I say this in such a way that it can be taken in by another? How do I find the words?37

JW: That appeal comes across so clearly in your memoir and in your earlier books of poems, especially The Country Between Us and The Angel of History, but there seems to be a difference in In the Lateness of the World. Did you take a different approach to your poems in this book?38

CF: It has a different atmosphere, doesnt it? It was written alongside the memoir, so I think all of that anxiety about being believed was worked out in the writing of the memoir. The book of poems is more elegiac. Its a book of remembrance, and its a book of warning, I think. Its not a dark book. Its a book of having come to terms, a book about having found an inner peace. Part of my soul went into my memoir, and another part went into the poetry book. Because I had survived cancer during the writing of both books, I think that what I came to in the survival was a quietude that is manifest in the poetry book. In the memoir, I was reliving a past self. I was inhabiting the woman I once was. In the poetry book, Im the woman I am now.39

JW: I agree that its not a dark book, but you dont hold back, and you do go to some of todays places or moments of extremity.40

CF: Oh, yeah, its true, its true. The book is about extremity. Its about death. Its about collective humanity. I dont choose what to write when Im writing poetry. I move into a certain region of mind when I write, and I work out of that. I didnt hold back. There are a couple of poems that are as difficult in my mind as The Colonel. So its not held back. It could be accused, as The Country Between Us was, as being political, as Americans mean that term.41

Americans mean that term as anything ideologically oppositional or uncomfortable. They do not mean organized political activity, action. They mean the views or sentiments expressed are creating discomfort or challenging the belief systems of the reader. I had to learn what the US meant by that term political when it was applied pejoratively about my work. And thats the only explanation I came to. Because in El Salvador, for instance, if youre political, you go to meetings. You take risks. You organize. I wasnt political in that sense. I didnt belong to any political party or group or organization.42

Get unlimited digital access to the best independent news and analysis.

JW: This is something Ive thought a lot about as well, that the political writer is relegated into being exactly that, a political writer. 43

CF: Here in the US, its used to taint the work. To imagine that the work has designs upon us. That its not pure. That its not written as a literary work of art but that its infected or tainted with message. And in the United States theres also the fiction that theres nonpolitical or apolitical work. In other words, that somehow theres this little hermetically sealed egg that the poet writes within, uninfluenced by any events, by his or her time, outside of anything but this hopelessly solipsistic self. But I think thats changing. That notion is breaking down. If you take a look at the young poets publishing very exciting work in the United States, they are very rarely dismissed as being political. I think they are dismissed for their identities. Theres an element in literary culture that says, Oh, this work is just read because this person is from this or that group, which is another way of dismissing. But the political isnt a pejorative term anymore. Its an expectation that the most exciting work being done will be informed by awareness, part of which is political awareness.44

JW: Do you worry about making suffering too beautiful? What is the relationship in poetry between beauty and violence? Do they lend something to each other? What becomes of the truth of an event or its memory when it is ghastly and violent but its recording is lyrical and beautiful?45

CF: Im very much against the aestheticization of violence. I work hard not to beautify the ghastly. For this, the language must be pared, must be cold, in Chekhovs sense. It is a difficult thing to know when what one has erred in this sense. For me, it is a matter of not embellishing, dramatizing, of not lighting an unnecessary fire beneath the already sufficient words.46

JW: What are you reading or writing when were all holed up right now?47

CF: Im keeping a notebook, but I find myself unable to write in this moment. Im really trying to cope with worry and concern for certain others, and I dont have the tranquility of mind to write. Perhaps other writers do. Im also teaching online, for Georgetown University. Thats much more challenging for me than teaching in person, and Ive realized how much presence has mattered to my pedagogy, and Im deprived of that, so Ive had to compensate for lack of presence. So theres a lot of that.48

Im also going through the museum of my life. Because I cant leave the house, Ive decided to finally organize things and get rid of things. And that is a strange experience, because with photographs or old notebooks, its an excavation of memory and a realization of how long one has lived and how much one has seen and how many people are gone. Im in the fragmentary museum of my life.49

Continue reading here:

How Poetry Can Bear Witness to Crisis and Revolution - The Nation

April 25 Letters to the Editor | Opinion – Lewiston Morning Tribune

Posted on by

Marty Trillhaase seems unable to mention Ammon Bundy without reminding readers of his past. Trillhaase should go with a Chris Berman style, Ammon twice took up armed insurrection against his own country Bundy.

On April 15, Trillhaase recounted Bundys ill-advised live and in-person Easter service held because Bundy feels such services cannot be constrained by the state order for public health reasons.

In answer to Bundys actions, Trillhaase cited Cardinal Timothy Michael I moved Vatican funds into a trust to cheat sex abuse victims Dolan. (Daily Telegraph July 2, 2013)

Ill pass on advice from both Bundy and Dolan.

Trillhaase has twice mentioned a 1905 U.S. Supreme Court decision giving the government the right to force vaccinations.

That ruling came in Jacobson v. Massachusetts. If you read the majority opinion in the case youll find this caveat from the justices.

All laws, this court has said, should receive a sensible construction. General terms should be so limited in their application as not to lead to injustice, oppression or absurd consequence. It will always, therefore, be presumed that the legislature intended exceptions to its language, which would avoid results of that character. The reason of the law in such cases should prevail over its letter.

Now thats good advice.

Like all crises, the COVID-19 outbreak reveals our character. Its revealing who thinks of themselves as our rulers and who see themselves as the publics servants. Among the people, its revealing who yearns to be free and who yearns to be ruled.

Good message from President Donald Trump for Easter.

I understand there is medicine being reported that helps stem the effects from the virus.

Of course, its not tested to be a choice for use.

Leave it to Rep. Adam Schiff and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to start considering another impeachment.

Actually the impeachment of Trump may have delayed immediate actions against the coronavirus.

Trump did stop immediate travel from China.

Governors are saying the federal government has been helpful.

We are fortunate so far only a few cases have been reported in our area,

A smile: Our generation made flying to the moon possible.

Now we are learning how to wash our hands.

View original post here:

April 25 Letters to the Editor | Opinion - Lewiston Morning Tribune

Pulse of the Voters: Health care, immigration and heartland votes – Terre Haute Tribune Star

Posted on by

Health care dominated political dialogue leading up to the coronavirus crisis, and if voters in the nations heartland are an accurate yardstick, the struggle over the best way to provide it will escalate on the road to Novembers election.

Voters differ widely on how to ensure accessible and affordable quality care.

Thomas Slusser/Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Tribune Democrat.Speaking her mind: Janet Lord of Daisytown answers questions during an interview at a downtown Johnstown, Pennsylvania, cafe.

Thats the sense based on interviews with scores of voters by CNHI newspapers in the Midwest, Rust Belt and Southern states over the last three months for the news groups periodic Pulse of the Voters 2020 election project.

We should not be doing away with a plan that provides millions of Americans with solid health insurance, said Doris Conyers, 76, a retired school teacher and administrator from Webb City, Missouri.

Janet Lord, 56, of Daisytown, Pennsylvania, said she loathes the concept of government-run health care, expressing confidence in the ingenuity of Americas private medical system.

Thats how America works, said Lord, an Air Force veteran. Thats what the best thing about America is; were the solution finders.

Clara Page of Palestine, Texas, leans heavily toward the progressive approach.

Health care is the biggest issue facing voters, she said. Cost and quality both cause concern, as does the availability of emergency room treatment. Health care should be available to all, regardless of whether people have insurance.

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael StumpJanet Beebe of Rapid City, Michigan, a stay-at-home mom, worries about the rising cost of child care.

Janet Beebe of Rapid City, Michigan, a stay-at-home mom, said home sheltering orders during the coronavirus crisis underscore the need for affordable child care. She said the latest data shows monthly child care costs in the U.S. average between $800 and $1,230.

We have one of the best health care systems out there, she said. But it has flaws.

The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, remains center stage as the presidential and congressional campaigns wobble amidst the coronavirus calamity.

CNHI papers asked voters a series of issue questions in an unscientific, online survey from Feb. 14 to March 10, just before the coronavirus outbreak began to dominate American life.

Health care rated among the most important issue facing the country. More than 46 percent of the respondents favored repeal and replacement of Obamacare over reform and expansion of it.

That embrace of the Republican position on health care ran contrary to the 2018 mid-term elections when Democrats capitalized on President Donald Trumps resistance to Obamacare, gaining 41 seats to become the majority party in the U.S. House.

Cullman, Alabama, Times/Submitted photoCampaign trail: Denice Hand of Cullman, Alabama, a strong supporter of President Trump, chats with former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville during a campaign appearance for the U.S. Senate.

Democrat presidential candidates have proposed aggressive expansion of health care to cover the 30 million Americans who the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report currently do not have health insurance.

Trump favors repeal and replacement of Obamacaare but promises to retain its most popular feature, protections for preexisting medical conditions. Democrats insist Republicans want to do away with the provision. It currently covers an estimated 52 million Americans under the age of 65, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Immigration most important

While health care rated high among issues in the CNHI online survey, immigration polled as the most important problem facing the country. Voter interviews reflected the passions of those who seek tight immigrant entry controls and those who prefer relaxed restrictions on refugees.

Maynard Lewis Sr., 62, of Terre Haute, Indiana, said he considers himself a Democrat but hes voted for every Republican nominee for president since Ronald Reagan. He plans to cast his ballot a second time for Trump, in part, because of his hardline immigration policies.

He said he supports securing the U.S.-Mexican border to prevent illegal entry into the country. He said opposition is the result of people leaning toward a one-world government concept. But, he added, Mr. Trump has gotten in their way.

That attitude doesnt sit well with Carole Lynn King of Joplin. She said the building of a border wall is a slap in the face to every person who has immigrated to America over the years.

Lisa Tang/Palestine, Texas, Herald-PressExpand health care: Clara Page of Palestine, Texas, wants health care expanded to everybody without insurance.

As a nation of immigrants, there is a calling upon us to act generously toward those who come to us, fleeing from oppression and seeking safety, and not throw up walls and separate families, said King. America must shelter and protect those who have nowhere else to turn.

Swing states in play

Trump appears to remain popular in rural cities and towns of the solidly red states in middle America, more for his policies on immigration, economic programs and guns than his impromptu governance style and peppery tweets.

Yet national polls show the four crucial swing states Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are in play seven months before the next election. In 2016, they each went for Trump, giving him the margin he needed to win the Electoral College vote.

It is all but official former Vice President Joe Biden will be the Democrat presidential candidate. He ran up a 300-plus delegate lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders before the coronavirus pandemic delayed spring primaries.

Biden says hes working hard to put the four industrial states in his camp this time, appealing directly to blue collar and farmland voters that deserted the Democrats in 2016.

Kimberly Eaton of Middleburg, Pennsylvania, says shes a progressive Democrat who is disappointed with Sanders fading campaign. She will vote for Biden but he had better take notice of what the Berners want of him: no straddling the line on the subjects of health care or climate.

Getting out the vote

Democrats are counting on the throngs of young voters who support Sanders to bring energy to Bidens campaign. Many sat on their hands when Sanders lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton four years ago.

Lark Jankewicz is a high school senior in the village of Kingsley in rural northwest Michigan. Shes eligible to vote for the first time and yet shes not sure she will do so. Shes not fond of any of the candidates, including Trump. Free college tops her issues list.

A lot of my friends and I have that conversation about how much free college could help, said Jankewicz. Its scary thinking about having to be an actual adult.

In contrast, 86-year-old L.O. Spray of Woodward, Oklahoma, considers voting a patriotic duty. He switched his registration from Democrat to Republican in 2016 to vote for Trump, but has since re-enrolled as a Democrat in anticipation of voting for Biden.

Chickasha, Oklahoma, Express Star/Submitted photoGary Rogers, pastor of the Grand Assembly of God Church, in Chickasha, Oklahoma, supports President Trump for his pro-life stance and support of the Christian faith.

His reason: The state of the nation is not good.

Were in the worst shape weve ever been in, said Spray. Were split, divided. Were in a bad way. People really need to pay attention to what is going on, and need to get out and vote.

Patrick Lewis, 63, a retired civil engineer from Effingham, Illinois, says hes been a conservative Republican all his life and is also unhappy with the countrys direction.

With the election of Donald Trump, this country has become very polarized along political, religious, socioeconomic and ethnic lines, he said. Sadly, he has used his position to grant people permission to disparage and insult others, which is detrimental to our country and our democracy.

Denice Hand of Cullman, Alabama, dismissed criticism of Trump while waiting for Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn football coach, to make a local campaign appearance in his bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Alabama.

Hand said she wasnt all that interested in politics until Trump ran for president as a non-politician. He was speaking exactly the way that I felt about all the issues going on in America, she said. Im sick of politicians.

She added: I dont think the media will ever stop being against him. They started off with Russia, then it was the [Brett] Kavanaugh [Supreme Court] nomination, and then they bashed him about the borders. No [other] president has stood up and done exactly what he said he was going to do.

Not just the White House

William Conn, 37, is a public school teacher and a Democrat in rural Whitley County, Kentucky. He noted voters will also pick 435 members of the U.S. House and 35 members of the Senate in November. Among those on the ballot in Kentucky is Republican Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Mitch McConnell has had over 35 years in the Senate, said Conn. And we still have some of the poorest counties in the U.S.

Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot, is expected to win the Democratic Senate primary, delayed from May 19 to June 23, for the right to face McConnell. She has already raised more than $10 million toward that end.

Sign up for our newsletters to get the latest, breaking news.

Gary Rogers and Sherri Lambert of Chickasha, Oklahoma, are on the opposite sides of the political divide. They are heartland examples of cleaved voter attitudes.

Rogers is pastor of the Grand Assembly of God Church. He holds dear Trumps pro-life stance, his attendance at the National Day of Prayer and his support of the Christian faith.

Lambert shares the same faith as Rogers but believes the presidents action dont line up with Christian values.

Her response to Christians who support Trump is you do? He puts kids in cages and he doesnt care and he takes Meals on Wheels away from the elderly and he doesnt care. He does all these things that are anti-Jesus and you dont care. That scares me.

Bill Ketter is senior vice president for CNHI. Contact him at wketter@cnhi.com.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

View original post here:

Pulse of the Voters: Health care, immigration and heartland votes - Terre Haute Tribune Star

Hong Kong dissident reopens Causeway Bay Bookstore in Taipei – The Straits Times

Posted on by

TAIPEI - Hong Kong dissident bookseller Lam Wing Kee reopened his bookstore in Taipei on Saturday (April 25), just days after being doused in red paint by three men who opposed his new business.

Books stand for the freedom of thought and speech...I think opening an independently-owned bookstore in Taiwan is a means to protect the values of Taiwan; this is how my bookstore slightly differs from other independent bookstores, he said.

There is another way out for Hong Kong people, and that is Taiwan, he added.

Mr Lam re-opened his book store on the one year anniversary of his escape to Taiwan. He made headlines initially in 2015 when he disappeared in Hong Kong, only to re-emerge later on the mainland and was subsequently detained for selling books banned by the Chinese authorities.

He fled Hong Kong last year when the territorys government moved to amend the Fugitive Offenders bill to allow for the extradition of suspects to the mainland. Many opponents of the move alleged that it was aimed at dissidents.

The speaker of Taiwans Legislative Assembly or Yuan, Mr Yu Shyi-kun, who visited the bookstore on Saturday, spoke privately with Mr Lam.

The fact that Lam Wing Kee is willing to restart his business in Taiwan makes me proud of Taiwans democracy, Mr Yu told reporters before meeting Mr Lam.

Aside from the parliament speaker, flower baskets from Taiwanese politicians and journalists alike were delivered yesterday, filling the narrow hall leading up to the small bookstore. May equality flow like the rolling waves, making justice like the rushing river, read the card on the floral basket from President Tsai Ing-wen.

Mr Lam has credited the Taiwanese government for assisting him in reopening his bookstore.

Im a Hong Konger, so I follow the news of persecuted young (Hong Kong) people closely as well. What the Taiwanese government is doing, we all know clearly is all about helping Hong Kongers - I am grateful on their behalf, said Mr Lam, who has relied on some NT$6 million (S$285,000) raised online through crowd-funding last year to continue his business.

Many Taiwanese visited the bookstore yesterday, no doubt intrigued by its owner. They lined up to take the elevator to the 10th floor of the building where the small shop is located.

Two high school freshmen had travelled for over an hour from Taoyuan, saying they had been following Hong Kong current affairs closely since the protests against the extradition Bill last year.

Were so moved by Mr Lam; he decided to open this bookstore even as he faced oppression from the Chinese Communist Party. Some people even threw paint at him, said Hsu Shih-hsun, 16.

Wang Tsung-fan, also 16, chimed in: I think hes really brave. He knew the risks (of reopening his bookstore), and yet here he is doing it.

Another visitor, Mr Chen Yu-hai, 50, who brought along his nine-year-old son, said:Id been to the original Causeway Bay Bookstore before, about five or six years ago, and have been following the news of Hong Kongs unrest quite closely since the Umbrella Movement.

He added that the Taiwanese government should make clear to Hong Kong people fleeing to Taiwan that it is a safe place for them to stay.

The three men who attacked Mr Lam with paint were arrested on Wednesday.

Go here to read the rest:

Hong Kong dissident reopens Causeway Bay Bookstore in Taipei - The Straits Times

Return to school: The serious health risk of using public transport – The Age

Posted on by

So can we also safely see our grandchildren?

Scott Morrison considers it safe for children to be at school. Medical experts advise children pose no risk. Why then are grandparents isolated from children? Also, I note David Crowe's comment that "only when a school reopens could the medical experts really know if it is safe" (Comment, 24/4). Are teachers canaries, Mr Morrison, as you plead with them to return to the classroom?

Sue Bryan, Sandringham

It is wonderful news that schools are safe places for students due to their resistance to COVID-19 and that social distancing is unnecessary for them. However, it is very inconsiderate of teachers not to be similarly immune to COVID-19, and so selfish of them to consider their health and that of their families and the wider community, and be averse to returning to their closely populated workplaces, where every surface and every contact carries the risk of contagion.

Teaching, unlike the armed forces, emergency services, medicine and nursing, is not a profession entered into with the understanding that a requirement of the job is the potential sacrifice and loss of health and life.

Deborah Morrison, Malvern East

Children may suffer less from the COVID-19 but going back to school before it has been eradicated from the country is a threat to others such as teachers or adults in their own homes, especially if any of the latter is immune-compromised or has any other underlying illnesses. Governments should consider eradication as the aim while the chance is still with us to avoid further heartache to Australian families.

Loucille McGinley, Brighton East

If children pose no risk to the spreading of coronavirus when schools reopen, will all other activities such as sport, clubs etc for children also reopen? It cannot be one rule for schools and another for other activities.

I was at the scene of the horrific accident that killed four police officers. I want the public to know that the everyday people at the scene comforted, stroked and cared for Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor. The last words she heard were not from the Porsche driver, but from caring people and the paramedics who came to her aid. She and her colleagues were honoured and respected in every way.

Dr Amanda Sampson, Alphington

Boundless respect and gratitude to the four police officers who lost their lives while protecting the lives of road users. Special respect and gratitude to Todd Robinson, the bereaved partner of Constable Glen Humphris, for sharing his grief with the community (The Age, 25/4) and silently reminding it that "love is love" in all its forms.

Mirna Cicioni, Brunswick East

I would like to suggest the planting of an Avenue of Honour to commemorate the lost lives of our police, fire, ambulance and other emergency services members. Such a memorial would give people a place to go, all year round, and help to connect people to the cherished memories of their loved ones. An old idea, a new purpose.

Simon Clegg, Donvale

If any good could possibly come out of this horror, it would be that Victoria Police will have no doubt they have the support and respect of the Victorian community.

Barbara Abell, Essendon

An excellent article by Farrah Tomazin on the Royal Children's Hospital and paediatrician Michelle Telfer's work at its gender clinic (Sunday Age, 19/4).

As a teacher of more than 40 years, it was always obvious to me that some students battled with their gender identity. We are in a much healthier space when we can acknowledge the issue of gender identity and provide the support needed to help those dealing with it.

Anne Maki, Alphington

Lia Timson's article, "Treating dignity as a social good" (Sunday Age, 19/4) should help provide a platform for social and economic reform in post-pandemic Australia. Access for all to quality health and education, a liveable basic wage and pension should be a cornerstone for any government. This would involve significant investment and tax reform and a genuine effort to eradicate the stigma associated with those on JobSeeker.

During the pandemic, we have seen the importance of a fairer distribution of wealth and the need to look after each other. We are also reaping the benefits of this changing mindset. Why can't we continue to put dignity at the centre of our policies and create a better "new normal"?

Craig Jory, Glenroy, NSW

While Australia has the benefit of a natural physical isolation and low population density, its comparatively low COVID-19 infection and death rates can be attributed to a collective response across the community. It speaks of a "quiet patriotism".

It manifests itself as respect for our institutions and the rule of law, a natural sense of community and an overwhelming generosity. There have been the whingers, the idiots and the selfish, but the response from the vast majority of Australians in combatting the virus has been magnificent, and has shown our country as its very best.

Paul Jurkovsky, Ferntree Gully

The upside of the government's tracing app includes earlier warning you of possible contact with a confirmed case, and a better chance of not passing the virus on to your loved ones. It includes allowing greater relaxation of social distancing requirements, letting more people get back to work. Why do the commentators and media focus on the possible downside? Most people provide much of the same information to Google, Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram.

Carl Prowse, Ivanhoe

Encouraged by the federal government's mature, independent response to the coronavirus, I was carefully considering whether to download the tracing app. This decision has now been resolved with news that the government has entered a contract for data storage of the system with Amazon, the overseas (American) provider.

Linette Hawkins, Prahran

I read daily about privacy concerns surrounding the government's tracking app but almost nothing about its efficacy.

It will record a contact when I am within 1.5 metres of that person for a period of 15 minutes (continuously). This criterion is overly simplistic and inadequate. What about being in the same room for 30minutes? Or touching or brushing past? Or being within a metre for 14 minutes? Privacy matters but we need to know if the app will work. Please can we have more information and discussion about how well it will protect me.

Stephen Mills, Blackburn South

Robina Hunnam's suggestion of coughing loudly and blowing one's nose to clear pathways of approaching people (Sunday Age, Letters, 19/4) is one of the most reckless I have heard to date. I am quite shocked you chose to publish it. It is appalling that anyone would suggest deliberately projecting air droplets from the mouth or nose during this pandemic.

Kim Lyons, Melbourne

We remember those who died and those who suffered, those who were lost and those who mourned them, those who showed the greatest love in dying for their fellow human beings. And yet, we must never forget what it was they gave so much for: freedom from oppression, hatred, prejudice and superiority of race. We belie their sacrifice, demean their cause, when we show hatred for those who are of other races, when we refuse to aid the weak and helpless and when we are indifferent to suffering of our fellow beings.

Karin Hawkins, Balwyn

Very few (if any) modern wars have been worth the cost of lives and destruction they have demanded. The lionising of soldiers in modern culture is largely a cynical exercise in ensuring that there will always be cannon fodder willing to sacrifice themselves (usually) only for the economic and political benefit of others. Maybe Australians volunteering for the Great War were doing so in more innocent and gullible times, but those times are well and truly over.

Anthony Hitchman, St Andrews

Ben Groundwater says, "I need a boarding pass in my hand. I need a train ticket in my pocket" (Comment, 23/4). He is a travel writer so perhaps he has a set idea of what "travel" means. But under a simpler definition, we can travel any time we choose.

I went for an hour's run yesterday morning. I startled two wallabies, said "g'day" to a couple of cyclists and felt the temperature change as I climbed out of the valley. I felt joy as I surged over a crest, felt the sun on my face and saw the far hills. I felt sadness as I passed a fire smouldering in a driveway; someone's Anzac remembrance. To travel you need only head out your door. And just keep going until you are ready to come back.

Grant Morgan, Hurstbridge

Perhaps as an incentive for those people withdrawing funds from their superannuation during the pandemic, their future deposits up to the amount deducted could be exempt from the 15per cent contributions tax as they try to re-establish their balances. The initial deposits that are being withdrawn have already been taxed.

Bob Speed, Trafalgar

A not-very-bright six-year-old boy: "Mummy, why don't they get some disinfectant and inject it in the body to kill the coronavirus?"

Mother: "Great idea, Donald. Now why don't you go to your room and play with your real estate set or send a few tweets. One day you could grow up to be president of the United States."

Chris Hughes, Southbank

Barnaby Joyce again shows leadership, this time in his approach to the coronavirus tracing app (Sunday Age, 19/4). But can someone please tell him that his fears are unfounded? The public has already been told too much about his private life and does not want to know any more.

Loading

Excerpt from:

Return to school: The serious health risk of using public transport - The Age

COVID-19 catastrophe, capitalism and policy alternatives for the future world – newagebd.net

Posted on by

Brain Stauffer

The COVID-19 is giving us a chance to rethink the future world. It teaches us that the future cannot be always reliably calculated by science and we need to reconfigure our economic structure which is too fragile to confront any uncertainty fuelled by itself. We need to cut the monopoly of Big Pharma and democratise the healthcare system, bury the old energy sources and invest in the renewable energy sector and implement policies to empower the people instead of corporations, writes Md Nazmul Arefin

THE COVID-19 epidemic confronts us with numerous new forms of uncertainties around the world. These uncertainties have brought about a competition between different systems of governments. Is the Chinese authoritarian system model superior to democratic models? This question is getting more and more attention as we find the US model of health system absolutely dysfunctional in dealing with such a crisis. After a successful domestic dealing, now China is gaining soft power through providing assistance in affected countries.

To reclaim Chinas global greatness Xi Jinping wants to restore its image as the Good Samaritan by portraying optimism and participating in the global fight against the virus. On the other hand, Donald Trump has received wide criticisms for not only cutting funding from essential health services and research before the crisis and downplaying the effect of the virus, but also regarding his reluctant, reckless and criminally incompetent policy implementations. Furthermore, the US image as a superpower is critically questioned as the Trump administration spectacularly failed to even coordinate an international response.

However, the problem does not lie within the USA alone. The deep-rooted dysfunctional public health care systems and ineffective handling of the pandemic have unmasked a number of structural flaws in the political-economic arrangements of the whole western world. The capitalist states could not become radical enough to take decisions for its people superseding the neo-liberal values. They are more guarantors of free enterprise rather than being the guarantors of citizen lives. In the light of the situation, many neoliberal-sceptics are speculating that this crisis could finally herald the long-awaited end of neoliberal ideology.

The question then arises, what can the COVID-19 tell us about socialism in 2020? Lets take Fidel Castros Cuba as a case study. Despite Cubas lack of resources unlike the rich western countries, it has ensured an incredibly benign pro-people health care system. Based on the socialist concept that everyone should have the same opportunities in life, the country strongly maintains free universal healthcare, one of the worlds highest ratio of doctors to population and positive health indicators such as high life expectancy and low infant mortality. Besides that, as a token of medical diplomacy and in solidarity with those in need, Cuba is sending medical teams around the world to help with the coronavirus response.

It is true that the centrally planned, state-controlled economy like China and Cuba are setting extremely good examples in domestic and international response to the pandemic. Whereas, the capitalist system has proved itself impotent, incoherent and incomprehensible to save public lives.

Globalisation has collapsed. The antibiotic revolution of the Big Pharma has been proved unsustainable. Class division in global health care is profoundly exposed. But does that mean the post-COVID-19 world would be a new one in terms of dropping dependency on neo-liberal credos?

Well, at a time when the global economy is already proceeding towards a deep recession, we can only imagine how far its repercussions shall reach. But we have to be bold enough to state that to start building a more inclusive and sustainable political-economy, the world must learn lessons from this crisis and consider developing policy alternatives to the faulty existing ones.

Rethinking monopoly of the Big Pharma: social ownership of a vaccine and healthcareFOR the left-wing American historian and sociologist Mike Davis, this pandemic provides the world a wonderful opportunity for the nation states to learn from the failure and to rethink the monopoly of the large pharmaceutical companies and profit driven healthcare industry. He further believes that this is high time we bring in consideration social ownership and the democratisation of economic power. Without having a vaccine, the fight against COVID-19 reaches nowhere.

But who are the main in-charge of discovering vaccine of this disease? Of course the answer is big corporations. States are increasingly doing less to have authority over the discovery. But why? According to the US linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky, the neoliberal bodies have snatched away that authority from the states. Or in other words, states have created room for the free markets to take over; even though in the 1950s we witnessed that in response to Polio epidemic, Salk vaccine was discovered by the government institution and was made available to everyone without patent. That was a wonderful demonstration of social ownership of a vaccine which is absent now. The coronavirus pandemic definitely illustrates that this pro-people measures should be re-introduced now, by any means.

Green New Deal: patronising the clean industriesBASED on the earlier experiences of great global crises, the Canadian author, activist Naomi Klein anticipates that the COVID-19 crisis can bring a transformative change in the world by showering aid on the greater interests in society. It could be a catalyst for a kind of evolutionary leap which she calls Green New Deal.

She advocates that the post-Corona world should patronise the clean industries that will lead us into safety in the coming century, instead of rescuing the dirty, old, abusive industries that have damaged the planet, relied on massive public subsidies and worsened economic inequality. The goal of the Green New Deal is to ensure clean air, clean water and healthy food as basic human rights, reduce racial injustice and end all forms of oppression.

According to the chief of the International Labour Organisation, COVID-19 could cause 195 million job losses in the next three months alone and the full or partial lockdown affecting almost 2.7 billion workers around the world. In face of that, a stark revolution will be needed in the global economic order. And as the transformative policy measure, the Global Green New Deal can be a solution to the coronavirus recession that might allow workers around the world to prosper.

Coordination in a guardian-less galaxy: empowering WHO and other organisationsTODAY we reside in a leaderless global village. COVID-19 has exposed that nakedly. Despite being desperately needed, a global integrated plan to combat the crisis is absolutely missing. Gradually this pandemic is turning into a global food and humanitarian crisis but there is no guardian to hit a plan and pool resources. The world needs a coordinator. But who can play the due role?

For Slovenian political philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj iek, the World Health Organisation can be a primary model of such a global coordination. But for making the WHO and other UN organisations free from producing only bureaucratic gibberish and panic-loaded warnings, they need to be empowered with more executive power and be not governed by the major donor nations.

There is no doubt that the coronavirus crisis has brought about unprecedented sufferings and uncertainties in the modern world. But the pandemic also has its advantages. It has exposed the hollows of the capitalist system. It has delivered a powerful global message that in midst of a crisis, the invincible global capitalist market is not ready to save its workers for even one month without the state support.

The current crisis expands the argument about the need for new societal and economic systems all across the world. We believe that the world must adopt new policy alternatives wiping out the old faulty ones. The coronavirus is giving us a chance to rethink the future world. It teaches us that the future cannot be always reliably calculated by science and we need to reconfigure our economic structure which is too fragile to confront any uncertainty fuelled by itself.

Md Nazmul Arefin is an independent researcher.

See original here:

COVID-19 catastrophe, capitalism and policy alternatives for the future world - newagebd.net

Iran Regime Sending People Back to Work Amid Coronavirus Will Result in Humanitarian Catastrophe – NCRI – National Council of Resistance of Iran…

Posted on by

Iran: Coronavirus outbreak

As the coronavirus death toll continues to rise in Iran, the regimes officialsreluctantly acknowledge an inevitable new peak of the disease due totheircriminal decision to send people back to work.Yet due to societys restiveness this decision might result in an uprising.

The Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK) announced on Friday that the coronavirus death tollin Iranis nearly 35,000.

Following the meeting of Health Ministers of member states of the World Health Organization, SaeedNamaki, the regimes Health Minister, said:We are still halfway through. We may still lose the game (the ball may elude our keeper) in the last minute, and we will be defeated and left humiliated in every corner of the globe.

Ali Akbari,amember of parliament from the city of Shiraz, in an interview on Friday with the state-runEntekhab daily,said: There has been a rise intheCoronavirusspread in Fars Province over the past ten days. There is concern that the medical staff will suffer from fatigue andwillbe exhausted as the disease lingers on.

In addition,Ali Maher, a member of theAnti-Corona Headquarters in Tehran, said: In Tehran, it cannot be said that the situation has improved. We are waiting for the effects of the new conditions toappear.

Meanwhile, the regimes president Hassan Rouhani is insisting on the regimes criminal decision to send people back to work.Trying to avoid further condemnationof the regimes decision to send people back towork evenfrom withinthe regime,on April 18, Rouhani spoke ofaso-calledSmart Social DistancingPlan

The implementation of the Smart Social Distancing Plan has reduced the spread of the disease in some provinces and created a steady trend in other provinces,he said.

In another development,Mohammad-Reza ZafarGhandi, head oftheregimes Medical System Organization,in a letter to Rouhanion Thursday, wrote: Any rush to open unnecessary and uncontrolled gathering sites such as places of worship, schools,anduniversities,will spread the disease, take lives, and waste past efforts. It will also exhaust the countrys medical staff.

The regimes reason for sending people back to work

Since the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, the regime resorted toacover-upin order touse the disease to oppress and control the restive Iranian society.Therefore, for days, themullahs avoided quarantining people and when they did, unlike other governments,the Iranianregimedid notfinancially help people. The regime wastesthe national wealth and resources on terrorism to export chaos abroad,andbillions of dollars arelost inthe regimes black hole of corruption. The regimes attitude increased the pressure on Iranian societywhich is grappling with poverty and economic hardships.This financial hardship, which was rapidly creating an army of hungry people, terrified the regimes officials.The last two series of Iran protestsin 2017and 2019,that shook the regimes foundation and pushed it to the edge of downfall, were triggered due to the economic hardships.

In this regard, the state-runSharqdaily wrote on April 8: The relationship between the people and government has reached a crucial point. The events of November 2019 and January 2020 (Iran Protests) and the kind of slogans used at the time and the rate of participation in the March elections, along with the international attitude of the U.S. government and targeting the Islamic systems existence have created a situation that leaving it requires tough decisions.

Since its foundation, the mullahs regimehas beenprioritizing its security and holding its grasp on powerover peoples lives and well-being. The regimes founder, Ruhollah Khomeini, blatantly said that preserving the system is the top priority. With thistheory, Khomeini continued prolonged the Iran-Iraq War with millions of casualties, and ifwas notfor the IranianResistancesinternational and regional activities and thelooming possibility ofa social turmoil, Khomeiniwould havecontinued this devastating war, as hesaid: until the last house standingin Tehran.

Due to its medieval ideology, institutionalized corruption, and oppressive nature, the regime was quickly rejected by the Iranian society,therefore,to hold their grasp on power,themullahs seized every opportunity they had to massacre and oppress Iranian people.Sending Iranian people back to work amid the coronavirus outbreak, likemanipulating and sending children to swipetheminefields duringtheIran-Iraq war, or massacringhundreds of thousands of Iranian youth and opposition members and supporters, is another criminal decision by the religious fascism tooppress Iranian people andpreserveits rule.

Yet this is a strategic mistake. The Iranian people,with their glorious uprising in November and sacrificing over 1500 martyrs, their general boycottof the regimes sham parliamentary elections and with the MEKs ResistanceUnits as theiravant-gardes,will not succumb to thegrief of this tragedy, as heartbreaking it is, andthey willrise up. In a nutshell, the restive Iranian society which is scorching because of the regimes fourdecades of injustice, imposing poverty, corruption, and oppression awaitsa spark to explode.

See more here:

Iran Regime Sending People Back to Work Amid Coronavirus Will Result in Humanitarian Catastrophe - NCRI - National Council of Resistance of Iran...

Remembering the Largest-Ever Peaceful Protest in China – NTD

Posted on by

The largest-ever peaceful protest in Chinese history was held 21 years ago to put forward a simple request: to be able to freely practice meditation and live by the three principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Thousands of people gathered on [April 25,] 1999, to protest the detention and harassment of Falun Gong practitioners, says Peter Kent, a Conservative MP and co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong.

The gathering of over 10,000 adherents of Falun Gong, also known asFalun Dafa, was held near the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing.

A few days before the gathering, over a dozen Falun Gong adherents were detained in the city of Tianjin after they requested a correction be run in a state-run magazine slandering their practice. The government had also banned publication of the practices teachings.

They just wanted to let the government know that Falun Dafa practitioners are good people, and to call on the government to allow them to follow their practice free from harassment, says Xun Li, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Canada. Li says the peaceful meditation discipline consists of five gentle exercises and the three moral principles.

The initial response from the authorities on the day of the protest was positive, Kent says. After then-premier Zhu Rongji came out to meet with representatives of the petitioners and listened to their concerns, everyone went home.

But then only a few months later in July, [then-Chinese leader] Jiang Zemins regime started a brutal crackdown, and the persecution has continued ever since, Kent says.

Kent has been going to events marking the anniversary of the peaceful protest consistently. This year, due to social distancing rules amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, he marked the event remotely.

Its important that we mark this anniversary, even though the world is preoccupied with the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Its important that we remember that many of the elements that have made this pandemic so serious, tragically deadly, are a result of the same repressive, cruel, deadly, brutal policies of the regime in Beijing.

As reported previously by The Epoch Times, the Chinese regimehid the factsabout the outbreak of the CCP virus, commonly known as the coronavirus, and warned medical professionals to refrain from spreading information on the virus, even reprimanding one doctor for having done so. According to a study by the University of Southampton, earlier detection and action on containing the outbreak could have reduced cases by as much as 95 percent.

We know how cruelly desperate the communist regime can be, Kent says, citing as examples the Tiananmen Square massacre and the persecution campaign against Falun Gong adherents, which includes live organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience.

There may indeed be an accounting for China for the communist government if the democracies of the world stand together in the same way they did in the cold war against the Soviet Union.

Judy Sgro, a Liberal MP and fellow co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong, also marked the anniversary of the historic gathering remotely.

This is an event that many of us on the [Parliament] Hill have attended for many years in recognition of the persecution of Falun Gong, Sgro said.

Liberal MP Judy Sgro addresses the crowd celebrating Falun Dafa Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 9, 2018. (Jonathon Ren/The Epoch Times)

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, his partys shadow minister for Canada-China relations, says the Conservatives continue to be deeply concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis speaks at a celebration on Parliament Hill marking the 25th anniversary of Falun Gong, on May 9, 2017. (Evan Ning/Epoch Times)Conservative MP Garnett Genuis speaks at a celebration on Parliament Hill marking the 25th anniversary of Falun Gong, on May 9, 2017. (Evan Ning/Epoch Times)

Genuis has proposed legislation in consecutive parliaments related to the issue of transplant abuse. Although the legislation doesnt directly name China, Genuis has said it can be used for a case such as Chinas state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. This includes banning the entry of individuals responsible for transplant abuse into Canada, and preventing Canadians from receiving organs in countries that have questionable sources of organs.

We will continue to stand up for Falun Gong practitioners every step of the way, he said. All of our engagement with the Chinese government needs to keep human rights top of mind.

Conservative MP James Bezan championed Canada having its own version of a Magnitsky Act for a long time. His efforts finally came to fruition in late 2017 when Parliament passed theJustice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act into law. The legislation imposes sanctions on individuals who perpetrate human rights violations in other countries, such as banning their entry into Canada or engaging in financial transactions with Canadians.

Conservative MP James Bezan speaks at an event celebrating Falun Dafa Day on Parliament Hill on May 8, 2019. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)Conservative MP James Bezan speaks at an event celebrating Falun Dafa Day on Parliament Hill on May 8, 2019. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Now, he says, this legislation should be used to hold those who persecute Falun Gong adherents to account.

We stand in solidarity with [Falun Gong adherents] that are still in China, Bezan says.

For those who have been able to escape the communist regime in Beijing [but] have family and friends and loved ones back in mainland China, we stand with [them] as well and we will stand in the battle against oppression.

From The Epoch Times

Originally posted here:

Remembering the Largest-Ever Peaceful Protest in China - NTD

Progress – Wikipedia

Posted on by

Notion of "societal advancement" bettering humanity

Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state.[1][2][3] In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension will continue to result, in an improved human condition;[4] the latter may happen as a result of direct human action, as in social enterprise or through activism, or as a natural part of sociocultural evolution.

The concept of progress was introduced in the early 19th-century social theories, especially social evolution as described by Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer. It was present in the Enlightenment's philosophies of history. As a goal, social progress has been advocated by varying realms of political ideologies with different theories on how it is to be achieved.

Specific indicators for measuring progress can range from economic data, technical innovations, change in the political or legal system, and questions bearing on individual life chances, such as life expectancy and risk of disease and disability.

GDP growth has become a key orientation for politics and is often taken as a key figure to evaluate a politician's performance. However, GDP has a number of flaws that make it a bad measure of progress, especially for developed countries. For example, environmental damage is not taken into account nor is the sustainability of economic activity. Wikiprogress has been set up to share information on evaluating societal progress. It aims to facilitate the exchange of ideas, initiatives and knowledge. HumanProgress.org is another online resource that seeks to compile data on different measures of societal progress.

Our World in Data is a scientific online publication, based at the University of Oxford, that studies how to make progress against large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality.[5]The mission of Our World in Data is to present "research and data to make progress against the worlds largest problems".[6]

The Social Progress Index is a tool developed by the International Organization Imperative Social Progress, which measures the extent to which countries cover social and environmental needs of its citizenry. There are fifty-two indicators in three areas or dimensions: Basic Human Needs, and Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunities which show the relative performance of nations.

Indices that can be used to measure progress include:

Scientific progress is the idea that the scientific community learns more over time, which causes a body of scientific knowledge to accumulate.[7] The chemists in the 19th century knew less about chemistry than the chemists in the 20th century, and they in turn knew less than the chemists in the 21st century. Looking forward, today's chemists reasonably expect that chemists in future centuries will know more than they do.[7]

This process differs from non-science fields, such as human languages or history: the people who spoke a now-extinct language, or who lived through a historical time period, can be said to have known different things from the scholars who studied it later, but they cannot be said to know less about their lives than the modern scholars.[7] Some valid knowledge is lost through the passage of time, and other knowledge is gained, with the result that the non-science fields do not make scientific progress towards understanding their subject areas.[7]

From the 18th century through late 20th century, the history of science, especially of the physical and biological sciences, was often presented as a progressive accumulation of knowledge, in which true theories replaced false beliefs.[8] Some more recent historical interpretations, such as those of Thomas Kuhn, tend to portray the history of science in terms of competing paradigms or conceptual systems in a wider matrix of intellectual, cultural, economic and political trends. These interpretations, however, have met with opposition for they also portray the history of science as an incoherent system of incommensurable paradigms, not leading to any scientific progress, but only to the illusion of progress.[9]

Aspects of social progress, as described by Condorcet, have included the disappearance of slavery , the rise of literacy , the lessening of inequalities between the sexes, reforms of harsh prisons and the decline of poverty .[10] The social progress of a society can be measured based on factors such as its ability to address fundamental human needs , help citizens improve their quality of life , and provide opportunities for citizens to succeed.[11]

Social progress is often improved by increases in GDP, although other factors are also relevant. An imbalance between economic and social progress hinders further economic progress, and can lead to political instability.[11]

How progress improved the status of women in traditional society was a major theme of historians starting in the Enlightenment and continuing to today.[12] British theorists William Robertson (17211793) and Edmund Burke (17291797), along with many of their contemporaries, remained committed to Christian- and republican-based conceptions of virtue, while working within a new Enlightenment paradigm. The political agenda related beauty, taste, and morality to the imperatives and needs of modern societies of a high level of sophistication and differentiation. Two themes in the work of Robertson and Burkethe nature of women in 'savage' and 'civilized' societies and 'beauty in distress'reveals how long-held convictions about the character of women, especially with regard to their capacity and right to appear in the public domain, were modified and adjusted to the idea of progress and became central to modern European civilization.[13]

Classics experts have examined the status of women in the ancient world, concluding that in the Roman Empire, with its superior social organization, internal peace, and rule of law, allowed women to enjoy a somewhat better standing than in ancient Greece, where women were distinctly inferior.[14] The inferior status of women in traditional China has raised the issue of whether the idea of progress requires a thoroughgoing reject of traditionalisma belief held by many Chinese reformers in the early 20th century.[15]

Historians Leo Marx and Bruce Mazlish asking, "Should we in fact abandon the idea of progress as a view of the past," answer that there is no doubt "that the status of women has improved markedly" in cultures that have adopted the Enlightenment idea of progress.[16]

Modernization was promoted by classical liberals in the 19th and 20th centuries, who called for the rapid modernization of the economy and society to remove the traditional hindrances to free markets and free movements of people.[17] During the Enlightenment in Europe social commentators and philosophers began to realize that people themselves could change society and change their way of life. Instead of being made completely by gods, there was increasing room for the idea that people themselves made their own societyand not only that, as Giambattista Vico argued, because people made their own society, they could also fully comprehend it. This gave rise to new sciences, or proto-sciences, which claimed to provide new scientific knowledge about what society was like, and how one may change it for the better.[18]

In turn, this gave rise to progressive opinion, in contrast with conservational opinion. The social conservationists were skeptical about panaceas for social ills. According to conservatives, attempts to radically remake society normally make things worse. Edmund Burke was the leading exponent of this, although later-day liberals like Hayek have espoused similar views. They argue that society changes organically and naturally, and that grand plans for the remaking of society, like the French Revolution, National Socialism and Communism hurt society by removing the traditional constraints on the exercise of power.

The scientific advances of the 16th and 17th centuries provided a basis for Francis Bacon's book the New Atlantis. In the 17th century, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle described progress with respect to arts and the sciences, saying that each age has the advantage of not having to rediscover what was accomplished in preceding ages. The epistemology of John Locke provided further support and was popularized by the Encyclopedists Diderot, Holbach, and Condorcet. Locke had a powerful influence on the American Founding Fathers.[19] The first complete statement of progress is that of Turgot, in his "A Philosophical Review of the Successive Advances of the Human Mind" (1750). For Turgot, progress covers not only the arts and sciences but, on their base, the whole of culturemanner, mores, institutions, legal codes, economy, and society. Condorcet predicted the disappearance of slavery, the rise of literacy, the lessening of inequalities between the sexes, reforms of harsh prisons and the decline of poverty.[20]

John Stuart Mill's (18061873) ethical and political thought demonstrated faith in the power of ideas and of intellectual education for improving human nature or behavior. For those who do not share this faith the idea of progress becomes questionable.[21]

Alfred Marshall (18421924), a British economist of the early 20th century, was a proponent of classical liberalism. In his highly influential Principles of Economics (1890), he was deeply interested in human progress and in what is now called sustainable development. For Marshall, the importance of wealth lay in its ability to promote the physical, mental, and moral health of the general population.[22] After World War II, the modernization and development programs undertaken in the Third World were typically based on the idea of progress.[23]

In Russia the notion of progress was first imported from the West by Peter the Great (16721725). An absolute ruler, he used the concept to modernize Russia and to legitimize his monarchy (unlike its usage in Western Europe, where it was primarily associated with political opposition). By the early 19th century, the notion of progress was being taken up by Russian intellectuals and was no longer accepted as legitimate by the tsars. Four schools of thought on progress emerged in 19th-century Russia: conservative (reactionary), religious, liberal, and socialistthe latter winning out in the form of Bolshevist materialism.[24]

The intellectual leaders of the American Revolution, such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, were immersed in Enlightenment thought and believed the idea of progress meant that they could reorganize the political system to the benefit of the human condition; both for Americans and also, as Jefferson put it, for an "Empire of Liberty" that would benefit all mankind.[25] In particular, Adams wrote I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.[citation needed]

Juan Bautista Alberdi (18101884) was one of the most influential political theorists in Argentina. Economic liberalism was the key to his idea of progress. He promoted faith in progress, while chiding fellow Latin Americans for blind copying of American and European models. He hoped for progress through promotion of immigration, education, and a moderate type of federalism and republicanism that might serve as a transition in Argentina to true democracy.[26]

In Mexico, Jos Mara Luis Mora (17941850) was a leader of classical liberalism in the first generation after independence, leading the battle against the conservative trinity of the army, the church, and the hacendados. He envisioned progress as both a process of human development by the search for philosophical truth and as the introduction of an era of material prosperity by technological advancement. His plan for Mexican reform demanded a republican government bolstered by widespread popular education free of clerical control, confiscation and sale of ecclesiastical lands as a means of redistributing income and clearing government debts, and effective control of a reduced military force by the government. Mora also demanded the establishment of legal equality between native Mexicans and foreign residents. His program, untried in his lifetime, became the key element in the Mexican Constitution of 1857.[27]

In Italy, the idea that progress in science and technology would lead to solutions for human ills was connected to the nationalism that united the country in 1860. The Piedmontese Prime Minister Camillo Cavour envisaged the railways as a major factor in the modernization and unification of the Italian peninsula. The new Kingdom of Italy, formed in 1861, worked to speed up the processes of modernization and industrialization that had begun in the north, but were slow to arrive in the Papal States and central Italy, and were nowhere in sight in the "Mezzogiorno" (that is, Southern Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia). The government sought to combat the backwardness of the poorer regions in the south and work towards augmenting the size and quality of the newly created Italian army so that it could compete on an equal footing with the powerful nations of Europe. In the same period, the government was legislating in favour of public education to fight the great problem of illiteracy, upgrade the teaching classes, improve existing schools, and procure the funds needed for social hygiene and care of the body as factors in the physical and moral regeneration of the race.[28]

In China, in the 20th century the Kuomintang or Nationalist party, which ruled from the 1920s to the 1940s, advocated progress. The Communists under Mao Zedong adopted western models and their ruinous projects caused mass famines. After Mao's death, however, the new regime led by Deng Xiaoping (19041997) and his successors aggressively promoted modernization of the economy using capitalist models and imported western technology.[29] This was termed the "Opening of China" in the west, and more broadly encompasses Chinese economic reform.

Among environmentalists, there is a continuum between two opposing poles. The one pole is optimistic, progressive, and business-oriented, and endorses the classic idea of progress. For example, bright green environmentalism endorses the idea that new designs, social innovations and green technologies can solve critical environmental challenges. The other is pessimistic in respect of technological solutions,[30] warning of impending global crisis (through climate change or peak oil, for example) and tends to reject the very idea of modernity and the myth of progress that is so central to modernization thinking.[31] Similarly, Kirkpatrick Sale, wrote about progress as a myth benefiting the few, and a pending environmental doomsday for everyone.[32] An example is the philosophy of Deep Ecology.

Sociologist Robert Nisbet said that "No single idea has been more important than ... the Idea of Progress in Western civilization for three thousand years",[33] and defines five "crucial premises" of the idea of progress:

Sociologist P. A. Sorokin said, "The ancient Chinese, Babylonian, Hindu, Greek, Roman, and most of the medieval thinkers supporting theories of rhythmical, cyclical or trendless movements of social processes were much nearer to reality than the present proponents of the linear view".[34] Unlike Confucianism and to a certain extent Taoism, that both search for an ideal past, the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition believes in the fulfillment of history, which was translated into the idea of progress in the modern age. Therefore, Chinese proponents of modernization have looked to western models. According to Thompson, the late Qing dynasty reformer, Kang Youwei, believed he had found a model for reform and "modernisation" in the Ancient Chinese Classics.[35]

Philosopher Karl Popper said that progress was not fully adequate as a scientific explanation of social phenomena.[36]More recently, Kirkpatrick Sale, a self-proclaimed neo-luddite author, wrote exclusively about progress as a myth, in an essay entitled "Five Facets of a Myth".[37]

Iggers (1965) says that proponents of progress underestimated the extent of man's destructiveness and irrationality, while critics misunderstand the role of rationality and morality in human behavior.[38]

In 1946, psychoanalyst Charles Baudouin claimed modernity has retained the "corollary" of the progress myth, the idea that the present is superior to the past, while at the same time insisting that it is free of the myth:

The last two centuries were familiar with the myth of progress. Our own century has adopted the myth of modernity. The one myth has replaced the other. ...

Men ceased to believe in progress; but only to pin their faith to more tangible realities, whose sole original significance had been that they were the instruments of progress. ..

This exaltation of the present ... is a corollary of that very faith in progress which people claim to have discarded. The present is superior to the past, by definition, only in a mythology of progress. Thus one retains the corollary while rejecting the principle. There is only one way of retaining a position of whose instability one is conscious. One must simply refrain from thinking.[39]

A cyclical theory of history was adopted by Oswald Spengler (18801936), a German historian who wrote The Decline of the West in 1920. World War I, World War II, and the rise of totalitarianism demonstrated that progress was not automatic and that technological improvement did not necessarily guarantee democracy and moral advancement. British historian Arnold J. Toynbee (18891975) felt that Christianity would help modern civilization overcome its challenges.[40]

The Jeffersonians said that history is not exhausted but that man may begin again in a new world. Besides rejecting the lessons of the past, they Americanized the idea of progress by democratizing and vulgarizing it to include the welfare of the common man as a form of republicanism. As Romantics deeply concerned with the past, collecting source materials and founding historical societies, the Founding Fathers were animated by clear principles. They saw man in control of his destiny, saw virtue as a distinguishing characteristic of a republic, and were concerned with happiness, progress, and prosperity. Thomas Paine, combining the spirit of rationalism and romanticism, pictured a time when America's innocence would sound like a romance, and concluded that the fall of America could mark the end of 'the noblest work of human wisdom.'[41]

Historian J. B. Bury wrote in 1920:[42]

To the minds of most people the desirable outcome of human development would be a condition of society in which all the inhabitants of the planet would enjoy a perfectly happy existence....It cannot be proved that the unknown destination towards which man is advancing is desirable. The movement may be Progress, or it may be in an undesirable direction and therefore not Progress..... The Progress of humanity belongs to the same order of ideas as Providence or personal immortality. It is true or it is false, and like them it cannot be proved either true or false. Belief in it is an act of faith.

In the postmodernist thought steadily gaining ground from the 1980s, the grandiose claims of the modernizers are steadily eroded, and the very concept of social progress is again questioned and scrutinized. In the new vision, radical modernizers like Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong appear as totalitarian despots, whose vision of social progress is held to be totally deformed. Postmodernists question the validity of 19th-century and 20th-century notions of progressboth on the capitalist and the Marxist side of the spectrum. They argue that both capitalism and Marxism over-emphasize technological achievements and material prosperity while ignoring the value of inner happiness and peace of mind. Postmodernism posits that both dystopia and utopia are one and the same, overarching grand narratives with impossible conclusions.

Some 20th-century authors refer to the "Myth of Progress" to refer to the idea that the human condition will inevitably improve. In 1932, English physician Montague David Eder wrote: "The myth of progress states that civilization has moved, is moving, and will move in a desirable direction. Progress is inevitable... Philosophers, men of science and politicians have accepted the idea of the inevitability of progress."[43] Eder argues that the advancement of civilization is leading to greater unhappiness and loss of control in the environment. The strongest critics of the idea of progress complain that it remains a dominant idea in the 21st century, and shows no sign of diminished influence. As one fierce critic, British historian John Gray (b. 1948), concludes:[44]

Faith in the liberating power of knowledge is encrypted into modern life. Drawing on some of Europe's most ancient traditions, and daily reinforced by the quickening advance of science, it cannot be given up by an act of will. The interaction of quickening scientific advance with unchanging human needs is a fate that we may perhaps temper, but cannot overcome... Those who hold to the possibility of progress need not fear. The illusion that through science humans can remake the world is an integral part of the modern condition. Renewing the eschatological hopes of the past, progress is an illusion with a future.

Recently the idea of progress has been generalized to psychology, being related with the concept of a goal, that is, progress is understood as "what counts as a means of advancing towards the end result of a given defined goal."[citation needed]

Historian J. B. Bury said that thought in ancient Greece was dominated by the theory of world-cycles or the doctrine of eternal return, and was steeped in a belief parallel to the Judaic "fall of man," but rather from a preceding "Golden Age" of innocence and simplicity. Time was generally regarded as the enemy of humanity which depreciates the value of the world. He credits the Epicureans with having had a potential for leading to the foundation of a theory of progress through their materialistic acceptance of the atomism of Democritus as the explanation for a world without an intervening deity.

For them, the earliest condition of men resembled that of the beasts, and from this primitive and miserable condition they laboriously reached the existing state of civilisation, not by external guidance or as a consequence of some initial design, but simply by the exercise of human intelligence throughout a long period.[citation needed]

Robert Nisbet and Gertrude Himmelfarb have attributed a notion of progress to other Greeks. Xenophanes said "The gods did not reveal to men all things in the beginning, but men through their own search find in the course of time that which is better." Plato's Book III of The Laws depicts humanity's progress from a state of nature to the higher levels of culture, economy, and polity. Plato's The Statesman also outlines a historical account of the progress of mankind.

During the Medieval period, science was to a large extent based on Scholastic (a method of thinking and learning from the Middle Ages) interpretations of Aristotle's work. The Renaissance of the 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries changed the mindset in Europe towards an empirical view, based on a pantheistic interpretation of Plato. This induced a revolution in curiosity about nature in general and scientific advance, which opened the gates for technical and economic advance. Furthermore, the individual potential was seen as a never-ending quest for being God-like, paving the way for a view of Man based on unlimited perfection and progress.[45]

In the Enlightenment, French historian and philosopher Voltaire (16941778) was a major proponent of progress.[citation needed] At first Voltaire's thought was informed by the idea of progress coupled with rationalism. His subsequent notion of the historical idea of progress saw science and reason as the driving forces behind societal advancement.

Immanuel Kant (17241804) argued that progress is neither automatic nor continuous and does not measure knowledge or wealth, but is a painful and largely inadvertent passage from barbarism through civilization toward enlightened culture and the abolition of war. Kant called for education, with the education of humankind seen as a slow process whereby world history propels mankind toward peace through war, international commerce, and enlightened self-interest.[46]

Scottish theorist Adam Ferguson (17231816) defined human progress as the working out of a divine plan, though he rejected predestination. The difficulties and dangers of life provided the necessary stimuli for human development, while the uniquely human ability to evaluate led to ambition and the conscious striving for excellence. But he never adequately analyzed the competitive and aggressive consequences stemming from his emphasis on ambition even though he envisioned man's lot as a perpetual striving with no earthly culmination. Man found his happiness only in effort.[47]

Some scholars consider the idea of progress that was affirmed with the Enlightenment, as a secularization of ideas from early Christianity, and a reworking of ideas from ancient Greece.[48][49][50]

In the 19th century, Romantic critics charged that progress did not automatically better the human condition, and in some ways could make it worse.[51] Thomas Malthus (17661834) reacted against the concept of progress as set forth by William Godwin and Condorcet because he believed that inequality of conditions is "the best (state) calculated to develop the energies and faculties of man". He said, "Had population and food increased in the same ratio, it is probable that man might never have emerged from the savage state". He argued that man's capacity for improvement has been demonstrated by the growth of his intellect, a form of progress which offsets the distresses engendered by the law of population.[52]

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900) criticized the idea of progress as the 'weakling's doctrines of optimism,' and advocated undermining concepts such as faith in progress, to allow the strong individual to stand above the plebeian masses. An important part of his thinking consists of the attempt to use the classical model of 'eternal recurrence of the same' to dislodge the idea of progress.[53]

Iggers (1965) argues there was general agreement in the late 19th century that the steady accumulation of knowledge and the progressive replacement of conjectural, that is, theological or metaphysical, notions by scientific ones was what created progress. Most scholars concluded this growth of scientific knowledge and methods led to the growth of industry and the transformation of warlike societies into industrial and pacific ones. They agreed as well that there had been a systematic decline of coercion in government, and an increasing role of liberty and of rule by consent. There was more emphasis on impersonal social and historical forces; progress was increasingly seen as the result of an inner logic of society.[54]

Marx developed a theory of historical materialism. He describes the mid-19th-century condition in The Communist Manifesto as follows:

The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered form, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty, and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all which is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real condition of life and his relations with his kind.[55]

Furthermore, Marx described the process of social progress, which in his opinion is based on the interaction between the productive forces and the relations of production:

No social order is ever destroyed before all the productive forces for which it is sufficient have been developed, and new superior relations of production never replace older ones before the material conditions for their existence have matured within the framework of the old society.[56]

Capitalism is thought by Marx as a process of continual change, in which the growth of markets dissolve all fixities in human life, and Marx admits that capitalism is progressive and non-reactionary. Marxism further states that capitalism, in its quest for higher profits and new markets, will inevitably sow the seeds of its own destruction. Marxists believe that, in the future, capitalism will be replaced by socialism and eventually communism.

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

Many advocates of capitalism such as Schumpeter agreed with Marx's analysis of capitalism as a process of continual change through creative destruction, but, unlike Marx, believed and hoped that capitalism could essentially go on forever.

Thus, by the beginning of the 20th century, two opposing schools of thoughtMarxism and liberalismbelieved in the possibility and the desirability of continual change and improvement. Marxists strongly opposed capitalism and the liberals strongly supported it, but the one concept they could both agree on was progress, which affirms the power of human beings to make, improve and reshape their society, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation. Modernity denotes cultures that embrace that concept of progress. (This is not the same as modernism, which was the artistic and philosophical response to modernity, some of which embraced technology while rejecting individualism, but more of which rejected modernity entirely.)

The history of the idea of Progress has been treated briefly and partially by various French writers; e.g. Comte, Cours de philosophie positive, vi. 321 sqq.; Buchez, Introduction a la science de l'histoire, i. 99 sqq. (ed. 2, 1842); Javary, De l'idee de progres (1850); Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des Anciens et des Modernes (1856); Bouillier, Histoire de la philosophie cartesienne (1854); Caro, Problemes de la morale sociale (1876); Brunetiere, "La Formation de l'idee de progres", in Etudes critiques, 5e serie. More recently M. Jules Delvaille has attempted to trace its history fully, down to the end of the eighteenth century. His Histoire de l'idee de progres (1910) is planned on a large scale; he is erudite and has read extensively. But his treatment is lacking in the power of discrimination. He strikes one as anxious to bring within his net, as theoriciens du progres, as many distinguished thinkers as possible; and so, along with a great deal that is useful and relevant, we also find in his book much that is irrelevant. He has not clearly seen that the distinctive idea of Progress was not conceived in antiquity or in the Middle Ages, or even in the Renaissance period; and when he comes to modern times he fails to bring out clearly the decisive steps of its growth. And he does not seem to realize that a man might be "progressive" without believing in, or even thinking about, the doctrine of Progress. Leonardo da Vinci and Berkeley are examples. In my Ancient Greek Historians (1909) I dwelt on the modern origin of the idea (p. 253 sqq.). Recently Mr. R. H. Murray, in a learned appendix to his Erasmus and Luther, has developed the thesis that Progress was not grasped in antiquity (though he makes an exception of Seneca),a welcome confirmation.

See more here:

Progress - Wikipedia

Earth Day 50: Have We Made any Real Progress? – JD Supra

Posted on by

Updated: May 25, 2018:

JD Supra is a legal publishing service that connects experts and their content with broader audiences of professionals, journalists and associations.

This Privacy Policy describes how JD Supra, LLC ("JD Supra" or "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses and shares personal data collected from visitors to our website (located at http://www.jdsupra.com) (our "Website") who view only publicly-available content as well as subscribers to our services (such as our email digests or author tools)(our "Services"). By using our Website and registering for one of our Services, you are agreeing to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Please note that if you subscribe to one of our Services, you can make choices about how we collect, use and share your information through our Privacy Center under the "My Account" dashboard (available if you are logged into your JD Supra account).

Registration Information. When you register with JD Supra for our Website and Services, either as an author or as a subscriber, you will be asked to provide identifying information to create your JD Supra account ("Registration Data"), such as your:

Other Information: We also collect other information you may voluntarily provide. This may include content you provide for publication. We may also receive your communications with others through our Website and Services (such as contacting an author through our Website) or communications directly with us (such as through email, feedback or other forms or social media). If you are a subscribed user, we will also collect your user preferences, such as the types of articles you would like to read.

Information from third parties (such as, from your employer or LinkedIn): We may also receive information about you from third party sources. For example, your employer may provide your information to us, such as in connection with an article submitted by your employer for publication. If you choose to use LinkedIn to subscribe to our Website and Services, we also collect information related to your LinkedIn account and profile.

Your interactions with our Website and Services: As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically. This information includes IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp and clickstream data. We use this information to analyze trends, to administer the Website and our Services, to improve the content and performance of our Website and Services, and to track users' movements around the site. We may also link this automatically-collected data to personal information, for example, to inform authors about who has read their articles. Some of this data is collected through information sent by your web browser. We also use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect this information. To learn more about cookies and other tracking technologies that JD Supra may use on our Website and Services please see our "Cookies Guide" page.

We use the information and data we collect principally in order to provide our Website and Services. More specifically, we may use your personal information to:

JD Supra takes reasonable and appropriate precautions to insure that user information is protected from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. We restrict access to user information to those individuals who reasonably need access to perform their job functions, such as our third party email service, customer service personnel and technical staff. You should keep in mind that no Internet transmission is ever 100% secure or error-free. Where you use log-in credentials (usernames, passwords) on our Website, please remember that it is your responsibility to safeguard them. If you believe that your log-in credentials have been compromised, please contact us at privacy@jdsupra.com.

Our Website and Services are not directed at children under the age of 16 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16 through our Website and/or Services. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 16 has provided personal information to us, please contact us, and we will endeavor to delete that information from our databases.

Our Website and Services may contain links to other websites. The operators of such other websites may collect information about you, including through cookies or other technologies. If you are using our Website or Services and click a link to another site, you will leave our Website and this Policy will not apply to your use of and activity on those other sites. We encourage you to read the legal notices posted on those sites, including their privacy policies. We are not responsible for the data collection and use practices of such other sites. This Policy applies solely to the information collected in connection with your use of our Website and Services and does not apply to any practices conducted offline or in connection with any other websites.

JD Supra's principal place of business is in the United States. By subscribing to our website, you expressly consent to your information being processed in the United States.

You can make a request to exercise any of these rights by emailing us at privacy@jdsupra.com or by writing to us at:

You can also manage your profile and subscriptions through our Privacy Center under the "My Account" dashboard.

We will make all practical efforts to respect your wishes. There may be times, however, where we are not able to fulfill your request, for example, if applicable law prohibits our compliance. Please note that JD Supra does not use "automatic decision making" or "profiling" as those terms are defined in the GDPR.

Pursuant to Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code, our customers who are California residents have the right to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

You can make a request for this information by emailing us at privacy@jdsupra.com or by writing to us at:

Some browsers have incorporated a Do Not Track (DNT) feature. These features, when turned on, send a signal that you prefer that the website you are visiting not collect and use data regarding your online searching and browsing activities. As there is not yet a common understanding on how to interpret the DNT signal, we currently do not respond to DNT signals on our site.

For non-EU/Swiss residents, if you would like to know what personal information we have about you, you can send an e-mail to privacy@jdsupra.com. We will be in contact with you (by mail or otherwise) to verify your identity and provide you the information you request. We will respond within 30 days to your request for access to your personal information. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why. If you would like to correct or update your personal information, you can manage your profile and subscriptions through our Privacy Center under the "My Account" dashboard. If you would like to delete your account or remove your information from our Website and Services, send an e-mail to privacy@jdsupra.com.

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. Please refer to the date at the top of this page to determine when this Policy was last revised. Any changes to our Privacy Policy will become effective upon posting of the revised policy on the Website. By continuing to use our Website and Services following such changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to such changes.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this site, your dealings with our Website or Services, or if you would like to change any of the information you have provided to us, please contact us at: privacy@jdsupra.com.

As with many websites, JD Supra's website (located at http://www.jdsupra.com) (our "Website") and our services (such as our email article digests)(our "Services") use a standard technology called a "cookie" and other similar technologies (such as, pixels and web beacons), which are small data files that are transferred to your computer when you use our Website and Services. These technologies automatically identify your browser whenever you interact with our Website and Services.

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to:

There are different types of cookies and other technologies used our Website, notably:

JD Supra Cookies. We place our own cookies on your computer to track certain information about you while you are using our Website and Services. For example, we place a session cookie on your computer each time you visit our Website. We use these cookies to allow you to log-in to your subscriber account. In addition, through these cookies we are able to collect information about how you use the Website, including what browser you may be using, your IP address, and the URL address you came from upon visiting our Website and the URL you next visit (even if those URLs are not on our Website). We also utilize email web beacons to monitor whether our emails are being delivered and read. We also use these tools to help deliver reader analytics to our authors to give them insight into their readership and help them to improve their content, so that it is most useful for our users.

Analytics/Performance Cookies. JD Supra also uses the following analytic tools to help us analyze the performance of our Website and Services as well as how visitors use our Website and Services:

Facebook, Twitter and other Social Network Cookies. Our content pages allow you to share content appearing on our Website and Services to your social media accounts through the "Like," "Tweet," or similar buttons displayed on such pages. To accomplish this Service, we embed code that such third party social networks provide and that we do not control. These buttons know that you are logged in to your social network account and therefore such social networks could also know that you are viewing the JD Supra Website.

If you would like to change how a browser uses cookies, including blocking or deleting cookies from the JD Supra Website and Services you can do so by changing the settings in your web browser. To control cookies, most browsers allow you to either accept or reject all cookies, only accept certain types of cookies, or prompt you every time a site wishes to save a cookie. It's also easy to delete cookies that are already saved on your device by a browser.

The processes for controlling and deleting cookies vary depending on which browser you use. To find out how to do so with a particular browser, you can use your browser's "Help" function or alternatively, you can visit http://www.aboutcookies.org which explains, step-by-step, how to control and delete cookies in most browsers.

We may update this cookie policy and our Privacy Policy from time-to-time, particularly as technology changes. You can always check this page for the latest version. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.

If you have any questions about how we use cookies and other tracking technologies, please contact us at: privacy@jdsupra.com.

Continue reading here:

Earth Day 50: Have We Made any Real Progress? - JD Supra

Editorial: BearHeels matter shows need for further progress on behavioral health – Omaha World-Herald

Posted on by

Sometimes tragedies can spur progress. For the Omaha area, Zachary BearHeels legacy must be a sustained effort to address our areas mental health needs.

BearHeels died in June 2017 in a struggle with Omaha police officers in which he was shocked a dozen times with a Taser. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer fired the four officers involved.

This week came word that arbitrators have reinstated three of the officers and upheld the termination of the fourth. The Omaha Police Department and the Omaha Police Officers Association both agreed to respect the outcome and focus on moving forward.

Neither the arbitrators 125-page opinion nor the evidence and arguments at their hearing were released. Such information is made public in some cases if one of the parties involved gives the go-ahead. The lack of transparency for such a high-profile case ill serves the public, and the City of Omaha should push for the material to be open.

The announcement does provide a moment, however, for the Omaha area to note positive actions taken since 2017:

Officer training and support. BearHeels, an Native American man from Oklahoma, struggled with mental health. The Omaha Police Department has stepped up training significantly for officers on how to deal with mentally ill individuals. The department also began placing a trained mental health therapist at Omaha police precincts to better aid officers and the public.

Cultural awareness. Schmaderer implemented a session on Native American cultural awareness for all officers. One of the officers during the 2017 incident dragged BearHeels by his ponytail, an action of particular insult to Native Americans.

Sarpy initiative. Sarpy County officials deserve credit for energetically pursuing plans for a freestanding mental health crisis center to relieve the pressure on local law enforcement. That effort ran into difficulty, but Sarpy officials and Nebraska Medicine have agreed to explore the creation of a mental health crisis center at the Bellevue Medical Center, an eminently worthy goal. An average of 34% of inmates at the Douglas County Jail have acute-level mental illness, one study found. The figure for Sarpy County Jail: an average of 28%.

Facilities registry. Nebraska is participating in a 23-state project, funded by federal grants, to create a centralized registry that shows the current status of local hospitals and facilities with inpatient psychiatric beds.

A range of nonprofit organizations in Omaha and Nebraska do fine work in helping meet mental health needs, but the needs still exceed current resources. In the wake of this tragedy, lets rededicate our community to provide the supports necessary to help these vulnerable individuals.

Read the original post:

Editorial: BearHeels matter shows need for further progress on behavioral health - Omaha World-Herald

Antero Resources: pushing progress and leading innovation for WV oil and gas industry – WV News

Posted on by

BRIDGEPORT Antero Resources, headquartered out of Bridgeport, is among the leaders of West Virginias energy industry.

The company continues to provide a vital service to the state while maintaining its commitment to progress and environmental stewardship, according to Antero officials.

Al Schopp, regional senior vice president and chief administrative officer for Antero Resources, said his company is proud to operate in the Mountain State.

West Virginia sits atop a world-class natural gas resource thats driving the positive shift in Americas energy, economic, environmental and national security outlook, Schopp said. As the nations second-largest natural gas liquids and fifth-largest natural gas producer, Antero and our local employees are proud to safely develop the clean energy that powers modern life. Thanks to advancements in horizontal drilling, Antero is producing energy more efficiently, resulting in cost savings as well as community and environmental benefits.

Antero invested more than $1 billion to produce energy in West Virginia and eastern Ohio last year, delivering a nine-percent increase in production, Schopp said.

Given global market challenges, however, Antero remains focused on capital discipline, rather than production growth, and is putting in place enhanced operational efficiencies and well cost savings in our 2020 and beyond strategy, he said.

Antero Midstreams integrated planning efforts with Antero Resources creates flexibility in delivering the infrastructure to meet a unique set of needs, Schopp said.

Were proud of the companys fresh water pipeline network and a sustainable closed loop system that recycles more than 90% of Anteros water, dramatically reducing fresh water withdraws and eliminating hundreds of thousands of truck trips, he said. This is good for the environment, good for our communities and good for business.

Following the year in which Antero Midstreams jointly operated Sherwood facility became North Americas largest natural gas processing plant, the companys 2020 budget will focus primarily on West Virginia, developing the infrastructure to support Anteros liquids-rich focused program, Schopp said.

We continue to see strong, long-term demand fundamentals, largely driven by U.S. energy exports and increasing domestic and in-basin use. Natural gas consumption topped records last year, with demand expected to grow 13% through 2023, according to federal data, he said. Manufacturing, natural gas power generation and overall pipeline infrastructure expansion in West Virginia and across the region will help support local demand.

Antero directly employs 276 West Virginians and its operations support careers for more than 3,500 workers and contract personnel across the region, Schopp said.

Over the past five years, we have invested over $8 billion in upstream activities, which resulted in $121 million in severance, ad valorem and sales tax revenue for West Virginia last year alone, which greatly benefit families and critical services across our state, he said.

The company is always looking ahead and keeping an eye on the most recent developments relevant to the industry, Schopp said.

Cutting-edge technological advancements continue to drive natural gas development efficiencies, cost savings, as well as heightened environmental and worker safety, he said. Energy producers like Antero, along with the locally based supply chain service providers that we work with, are focused on further raising the operational bar.

The latest advancements in drilling technology recently allowed Antero to reach an important milestone, Schopp said.

Were drilling longer laterals faster than ever. In fact, just recently Antero drilled 10,453 feet of lateral length in a 24-hour period, which may be a new world record, he said. Steerable drilling tools continue to get better and more precise by the day. Its a technology that keeps evolving and responding as laterals get longer.

While drilling longer laterals obviously increases production volume, it also produces numerous other benefits as well, Schopp said.

This is good for business, given the commodity dynamics, and creates important community and environmental benefits, he said. The longer the lateral and shorter the period to drill reduces aboveground land disturbances, along with temporary truck traffic.

The company relies on the latest breakthroughs throughout its operations, not just out at its well sites, Schopp said.

Among other critical technology-enabled advancements, were leveraging well performance data analytics to make decisions more nimbly than ever before, he said. And drone technology keeps improving to optimize facility designs.

Antero sees being an industry leader as part of its overall mission, Schopp said.

As an industry made up of forward-looking engineers and problem-solvers, were continuously focused on solutions that make our work even safer, more protective of our environment and even more cost-effective, he said.

Annually, Antero donates more than $400,000 to local causes and organizations, and its employees regularly volunteer their time in communities across the region, Schopp said.

We actively participate in STEM programs in local schools, volunteer hundreds of hours on park restorations and community clean-up initiatives and are committed to supporting arts and culture in this region for existing families and future generations, he said. Weve invested $234 million since 2010, including $40 million last year, to update and improve West Virginias roads, because safe and dependable infrastructure benefits all of us.

As an active member of industry leading greenhouse gas reduction partnerships, Antero promotes a science-based approach to reducing carbon emissions and improving its environmental performance, Schopp said.

Anteros leak detection and repair program exceeds Ohio and West Virginia standards and we are an industry leader in effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he said. Guided by our safety-first culture, Antero employees completed more than 7,000 hours of training in 2018 and continue to outperform industry benchmark averages for safety metrics. Getting everyone home safe each day, and keeping the communities safe where we operate, is our top priority.

In February Antero donated new textbooks and workbooks to Pierpont Community & Technical Colleges Petroleum Technology program.

The donation will help alleviate the cost to students of the needed text material for the classroom in the Petroleum Technology program, officials said.

We are grateful to receive this donation, as it will help to reduce the overall course expenses, said Dr. Johnny Moore, president of Pierpont Community & Technical College. We appreciate the opportunities that Antero provides to our students and community.

The company also donated $20,000 to the United Way of Harrison County, helping the organization get closer to its 2020 campaign goal of $800,000.

Stephanie Iaquinta, Antero Resources executive assistant, government relations, said the company has become very passionate in our support of the United Way over the years. They are able to vet these organizations and determine the most critical needs in Harrison County. They make it easy for us to give back and make sure those needs are being met.

Go here to see the original:

Antero Resources: pushing progress and leading innovation for WV oil and gas industry - WV News

Brooklyn Nets: Examining the progress of Caris LeVert – Hoops Habit

Posted on by

Slotted as the seventh seed when the season was postponed, and with a six-game lead over the 9th-ranked Washington Wizards, the Brooklyn Netswere bound for playoff basketball. But as all Nets fans know, it was never about this season. The team was never going to compete at a high level without Kevin Durant on the floor.

There were already plenty of questions surrounding the franchise heading into next season, and the head coaching search adds one more. But as the organization hopes to become a championship contender, one question tends to repeatedly arise: can Caris LeVert become the third star the team needs? In signing him to a three-year, $52.5 million deal prior to the season, the front office bet on this to some degree. 2019-20 was expected to provide a lot of insight into LeVerts progress. What did we learn?

While steady improvement across the board was obviously the best case scenario, there were three areas where LeVerts improvement was arguably the most important: staying healthy, improving as a shooter, and providing more playmaking.

Injuries have plagued LeVert over the course of his career, and this past season was no different. A thumb injury he suffered in November held him out of 25 of the teams 64 games. The fact it wasnt another foot injury was surely encouraging for the organization, but missed games are missed games. Theres some reason to think he could be largely healthy next season, but its still a significant question mark.

LeVert saw career highs in minutes per game (29.0) and usage rate (28.8 percent), and he translated this into other career highs in points (17.7), rebounds (4.1), assists (4.1) and 3-point percentage (38.1 percent).

With an effective field percentage of only 47.3 percent this past season, LeVert still isnt super efficient as a scorer, but perhaps this should have been expected with his increased usage rate. And although his 2-point percentage (42.9 percent) hindered his efficiency, his improvement in long-range shooting (38.1 percent) is very encouraging.

LeVerts 3-point percentage wasnt simply a product of wide-open jumpers either. Interestingly, he only shot 31.9 percent on the 1.8 catch-and-shoot threes he attempted per game. His solid percentage was actually driven by elite 41.5 percent shooting on pull-up attempts (3.0 per contest).

In fact, LeVert was the ONLYplayer this past season to make at least 41.5 percent of their pull-up threes on at least 3.0 attempts per game (per NBA.com). Only four other players hit at least 40.0 percent on at least 2.0 attempts: Damian Lillard, Eric Gordon, J.J. Redick and Marcus Smart.

If LeVert can hit catch-and-shoot threes at a rate closer to his typically more difficult off-the-dribble shots, the Brooklyn Nets might have a great shooter on their hands.

LeVert still has room to grow as a playmaker for others, but with Durant and Kyrie Irving expected to do a lot of the ball-handling, this is perhaps less of a necessity for him right now. If he can simply get buckets at a third banana on a championship team rate, then that should be good enough. On occasional nights, however, the Nets will need him to perform at an even higher level (for example, the occasional 25-plus point game, something he did in 8/39 games).

LeVert demonstrated his upside in phenomenal fashion in a March 2rd road win at the Boston Celtics. He put up a career-high 51 points on 17-of-26 shooting (5-of-10 from three), carrying Brooklyn down the stretch. Its a shame LeVert wasnt able to play out the remainder of the season; in some ways, he was really hitting his stride down the stretch.

Overall, Brooklyn Nets fans should be cautiously optimistic about LeVert moving forward. The injuries continue to be a significant cause of concern, but he showed signs of being a very capable third scorer (and even more on certain nights). This is what the organization needs him to be, and ifhe can stay healthy, theres plenty of reason to believe he can fit this role.

View original post here:

Brooklyn Nets: Examining the progress of Caris LeVert - Hoops Habit

‘Recovering’: Progress on LA Tech’s athletic facilities builds hope 1 year after tornado – The News Star

Posted on by

Video from Louisiana Tech University, a college in Ruston, shows damage to an athletic field. Debris, including metal poles, are visible strewn about and the stands are partially destroyed and buried under felled trees. The News Star

Recovering exudes contradictory sentiments dependent on how one reflects on the word.

It can be a label sunken with negative connotation from a hurtful experience while also swelling with uplifting positivity as it signals a brighter future through the disturbance.

When Louisiana Tech Athletic Director Tommy McClelland rests his thoughts on one year ago today, on the dark and quiet morning when an EF-3 tornado ripped through the heart of campus to wreak devastating havoc on multiple athletic facilities, despair and uncertainty rushes through first. But in the same thought, what comes to his mind on April 25 assures him of how the Tech baseball, softball, soccer and tennis programs and their new homes will feel and look in the near future.

Construction continues on the new Louisiana Tech softball stadium and complex in Ruston, La. on April 23. The new stadium will be by Joe Aillet Stadium after the previous was destroyed by a tornado last year.(Photo: Nicolas Galindo/The News-Star)

If I had to put one word (on this past year from the tornado), its recovering, McClelland told The News-Star. Were not recovered. Were also not at ground zero of not starting the process of recovering. I think that would be defined much deeper in that the word symbolizes that action was required. We got hit by a tornado.

The word recovering, in the past sense it has a negative feel to it but when you think about it for the future, its a positive. As we transition from one end of the pendulum to the other on the anniversary of devastation and despair, the concerns and uncertainty, what does it all mean, to the idea and vision of knowing not only hope but inspiration. Where our destination is greater than where we left.

Last year, the storm caused more than $20 million in damages to Louisiana Techs athletic facilities, completely decimated the baseball teams J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, the Lady Techsters Softball and soccer complexes as well as hitting the tennis courts and the outdoor track, but not rendering them totaled.

Lane Burroughs and his baseball team were on the road in Houston getting set for a three-game conference series at Rice when the tornado smashed the Love Shack. He and his players woke up at 2 a.m. to calls, texts, photos and videos of the scene and were immediately swept up in disbelief, shock and uncertainty of what they were going to do once they returned the Ruston.

What we kept in-house, but I dont think people understand the effect it had on all of our players, Burroughs recalled. I think I can speak for softball as well, but from a mental and emotional standpoint after the storm hit, we carried on for a month on just pure adrenaline. I think we petered out at the end of the year. There were so many moving parts.

From the athletic department, those moving parts like the application processes for insurance claims on the venues as well as scrounging up as much financial assistance as possible through FEMA and state appropriations, to countless conference calls with university administration, representatives from the state government, were arduous and mentally taxing.

In earnest, McClelland said, doubts and fears set in on if and when the Tech baseball, softball and soccer teams would get their new stadiums and fields.

What most people dont know is the deep level of uncertainty that existed on these facilities even becoming a reality, even up to six months ago. When youre dealing with federal and state agencies, insurance, all those things combined, its a cumbersome process. Its not the norm, McClelland said. I cannot express on the backend, particularly our governor (John Bel Edwards) and the state organized and coordinated this massive effort.

Although there were moments of frustration and plenty of negative conference calls where I thought, awe man, is this going to take two years to pull off? Those conversations occurred. But I cant express how committed the state of Louisiana and particularly our governor was steadfast in making sure things were done right for Louisiana Tech.

Before McClelland was able to provide his coaches reassurance that their respective programs would not have to wait that long for their new facilities, internal strife stoked much of his and the coaches anxiety at the prospect.

I think theres so much history and tradition with the old Love Shack. For months, we couldnt show our players or recruits a drawing, Burroughs said. We couldnt show them something, we wanted to so bad, but we couldnt even do that. It was tough trying to keep our players spirits up.

But once the plans received approval, the light shined through the dense haze.

McClelland stood in front a standing room only mixed crowd of current Louisiana Tech athletes, coaches, donors and fans in the football team meeting room inside the Davison Athletic Complex on that fateful Nov. 21 afternoon, as he shared the approved renderings of the new stadiums to them, beaming the entirety of the press conference. It was nearly seven full months after the tornado wrecked the old facilities and that day served as a beacon of the future of Tech athletics.

We moved forward, we advocated and justified why it was important to do this for our student-athletes. Through the muck and the mire in the aftermath of the tornado, I cast my eyes on where were going with this, McClelland said.

What ultimately emerged was new top-of-the-line, more modern facilities. The softball and soccer complex will move from its old location up the hill on Tech Drive, adjacent to Joe Aillet Stadium where the programs will share a two-level facility. Both teams will boast new clubhouses, coaches offices, meeting room locker and equipment rooms.

The new Love Shack will feature a seating expansion from 800 to 2,500, along with a separate building thatll house the coaches offices, locker room, meeting room and players lounge. The baseball program will now have an indoor facility where players can get work in despite the weather.

Construction officially began on all three new facilities in March, 11 months after the storm hit. Mounds of dirt and asphalt where the new softball field will be has moved. As of last week, workers have begun laying the beginning stages of concrete at the site of the new baseball stadium.

I drive by there every day. I sent a picture to the guys of them pouring concrete and they all were going crazy, Burroughs said. Just riding by and seeing whats going on, its a good feeling and it makes it all worth it. To get to something great, you have to suffer through something bad. You have to hold hope and dont give in. You get up every morning, moving forward because you never know what the next day holds.

Were looking forward to walking through the gates of the new stadium. When this thing gets built, I dont think anybody in our league can match us. What theyre seeing and the fan experience is going to be outstanding. I dont think well have any excuse, we should be moving to the top of the league. Well have the best facility in our league, so we need to be on top and running it. I feel like were moving in that direction right now.

Attempting to sell recruits on a vision that immediately couldnt be physically seen, not knowing where all of its equipment is exactly stored, to the logistics of playing a shortened 2020 season where basically all of it was played on the road, through all the challenges over the past year, Burroughs said he wouldnt change a thing.

You cant control this. Were all here for a reason at this time. We make decisions that affect things. If its out of our control, I never question it, Burroughs said. Deep down, theres a reason for it. Our young men are going to be better going through this as they navigate life. I told them their kids will ask you about this one day. Youre living through history right now. Take advantage of it and soak it up.

Even through all the tough times, itll all be worthwhile when we walk out there and see it. Even softball and soccer, all these facilities will change the landscape for our entire university.

April 25, 2019 exudes devastation and dismay for McClelland and Louisiana Tech coaches. One year later, that same date conjures a feeling of positivity and enjoyment. The tangible progress serves as a visual map of all the twists and turns the athletic department and itsteams trudged through along the way.

And the school and its athletics department hopes that come January 2021, the target date for completion of new Love Shack and the new softball and soccer can be a vessel for the Ruston community that continues to heal from the storm, one year later and beyond.

It is a positive thing. In a time right now where theres not a lot of things to look forward to or put your finger on it, its not hard to say weve got something thats going to happen at the beginning of 2021, McClelland said.

Lets think about it, as these projects are being built, its a reflection of our communitys recovery. By the beginning of 2021, we wont be completely recovered, but theres a parallel of us constructing these complexes and building back our community.

Read more:

'Recovering': Progress on LA Tech's athletic facilities builds hope 1 year after tornado - The News Star

Column: 50 years of progress for Lake Tahoe and the nation – South Tahoe Now

Posted on by

By Joanne S. Marchetta. TRPA Executive Director

Celebrations have taken on many new forms since the start of social distancing. Birthday parties have become processions of cars parading past a celebrants homepeople honking and waving, tossing candy and small gifts (for later disinfecting, then enjoying). And huge international celebrations like the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this week have moved online, giving room for individuals to celebrate and explore the conservation movement in new ways.

The pandemic is hurting so many right now that chances for celebration are muchneeded bright spots. And the lengths to which we must go to celebrate accentuate how deeply we care. On this 50th anniversary of Earth Week, might having millions of individuals pick up trash, plant trees, write poems, or just watch an earth science documentary have a greater impact than a typical Earth Week? We find ourselves in a transformative time, so anything is possible. Around the nation and the globe, transformation and resilience are words coming to the forefront about what the aftermath of this pandemic could bring. So it makes sense to be celebrating the environmental movement that changed a nation a halfcentury ago.The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) commemorates its own 50th anniversary this year as well, and its no surprise we share a birthday with Earth Day. The 1960s were a transformative and tumultuous time. Population, disposable income, and car ownership were growing like never before. Freeway construction abounded and in some places, industrial waste, air pollution, and water degradation were out of control.

Lake Tahoes pristine ecosystem was no better off. The region was facing intense development pressure. Marshes and meadows were being bulldozed and filled. Plans were afoot for a metropolitan city that would ring the lake with a massive bridge over Emerald Bay. The rising cries for environmental protection were victorious in the Tahoe Basin and in December 1969, the bistate compact creating TRPA was signed into federal law.

As Earth Day helped launch the environmental movement and the enactment of critical laws like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act, TRPAs bistate compact forged a lasting partnership among local governing bodies, federal, state and tribal land managers, and the public. The creation began a decadeslong transformation of Lake Tahoe into a place where development could continue, balanced with protections for the incredible natural resources thatLake Tahoe has to offer. A place where recreation could flourish while the associated impacts were minimized. Looking back over five decades, there were milestones that marked significant progress for Tahoe.

TRPAs first Regional Plan capped growth in the Basin, halted major pollution, and prohibited building on sensitive lands. The bridge over Emerald Bay never materialized. TRPA adopted environmental standards to measure and maintain the health of the region. We set in place a growth control system still working today that ensures development only continues apace of environmental improvements. To address urban runoff, we promote stormwater management practices on properties to reverse the decline of Lake Tahoes famed water clarity.

The 1990s saw the creation of the Environmental Improvement Program, a comprehensive ecosystem restoration initiative involving more than 75 public and private organizations.

Partners have implemented more than 700 projects bringing more than $2 billion into the regions economy. In 1999, TRPA instituted a ban on carbureted twostroke marine engines that instantly decimated hydrocarbon levels in the lake. In 2008, we collaborated with multiple agencies and private marinas to require watercraft inspections to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels into waters of the Region. And we have begun addressing wildfire risk on a landscape scale, again in lockstep with fire protection andland management agencies.

Collaboration lies at the core of TRPAs work. The bistate framework that created us also creates partnerships that have served our communities well and that will continue to protect Lake Tahoe into the future. As TRPA commemorates the progress of 50 years of collaboration, we hold fast knowing emerging challenges loom large. The underpinnings of the updated 2012 Regional Plan are sustainability, transforming town centers into walkable and bikeable destinations, and building resilience against new and existing threats. The Regional Plan provides the framework for TRPA to continue to improve air and water quality, manage thecomplex effects of climate change, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, protect against new aquatic invasive species, and help address a shortage of affordable housing.

To commemorate our 50th anniversary, TRPA is making adjustments too. We have postponed public celebratory events and are using social media to tell our story. A special anniversary issue of Tahoe In Depth is planned for May. And were continuing to serve the community with regular business operations online. Like so many birthday occasions today, we will celebrate from afar.

Were grateful for the health care workers, public safety officers, grocery store employees, utilities and refuse staffers, and others who are making it possible for us to survive the COVID crisis. Were stronger when we work together. The actions we take today will ensure Lake Tahoe is vibrant and healthy for TRPAs and Earth Days 100th anniversary.

Joanne S. Marchetta is the executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

Read the original here:

Column: 50 years of progress for Lake Tahoe and the nation - South Tahoe Now

Earth Day A Time To Reflect On Rivers’ Progress – The Waterways Journal – The Waterways Journal

Posted on by

Wednesday, April 22, marked the 50th anniversary ofEarthDay. The American Waterways Operators (AWO) partnered withRiverWorks Discovery, an outreach program of theNational Mississippi River Museum & Aquariumand theNational Rivers Hall of Fame, to highlight 50 years of creative, ambitious and innovative efforts to improve our shared environment, AWO said.

This years Earth Day is a good time to reflect on the progress our rivers and waterways have made in the 50 years since Earth Day was established in 1970.

The year before, in 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire when sparks from a passing railroad ignited oily waste floating on the surface. It was the 13th time that had happened and wasnt even the worst incident, but it caught the nations imagination. It did prove to be the last such incident, as images of the burning river helped spark a nationwide awakening to the plight of our rivers and environment. The Environmental Protection Agency was founded in the same year as the first Earth Day. The Clean Water Act of 1972 quickly followed.

In the years since, our rivers and waterways have become dramatically cleaner, although more remains to be done. In 2012, a State of the River report noted of the Mississippi River, While the challenges we face are complex and daunting, the river today is healthier thanks to the actions of previous generations. The return of abundant wildlife to a once-troubled river is evidence that restoring the Mississippi is possible through shared commitment and decisive public action. We remain hopeful that with strong leadership and vocal support from river lovers across our state and nation, we too can pass a cleaner, healthier and more vibrant Mississippi River on to future generations.

The barge industry has been in the forefront of those efforts, providing major sponsorships and support, for instance, to Chad Pregrackes Living Lands & Waters and its success in recruiting volunteers to collect and remove more than 10 million pounds of solid waste and debris from our rivers.

AWO noted, Our members have a long and deep commitment to environmental protection and take their role as stewards of Americas waterways seriously.

Continued here:

Earth Day A Time To Reflect On Rivers' Progress - The Waterways Journal - The Waterways Journal

‘We are making some progress’: Governor says state will reopen in phases; elective surgeries to resume May 1 – Community Impact Newspaper

Posted on by

Gov. Doug Ducey announced at a news conference April 22 that the state will reopen in phases, beginning with restoring elective surgeries beginning May 1.

"Our approach going forward will be phased," Ducey said. "It will be based on up-to-date data. It will mitigate the risk of resurgence. We have come a long way in a short period of time as a state."

The governor's "Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected" order is still in place, but Ducey has added "Return Stronger" to the end. The order is set to expire April 30.

"Looking back there were a lot of unknowns, there are still unknowns in front of us," Ducey said during the news conference. "Our priority is on public health. These closings happened in an effort to slow the spread of this virus. None of these decisions were easy. This pandemic has done so much around these decisions that dim our economy in the state of Arizona. I hear the calls from people to turn it back on, as if it is a light switch. How I'd like to present it is a dimmer switch."

Ducey said the state's decision making process will be "guided by public health. It will be gradual, responsible restoration and efforts to reduce cases and increase energy in our economy in an ongoing manner."

"We do not want to lose the ground we have gained," Ducey said. "I want to get back to where we were as much as anybody in the state, but I want to do it in a safe and healthy way."

As of April 22, statewide there were 5,459 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Resuming elective surgeries

The executive order removing restrictions on conducting elective surgeries comes with some criteria for hospitals to meet.

Under the new order, hospitals, dental offices and other health facilities can resume conducting elective surgeries on May 1 if they can show they have implemented measures intended to keep health care workers and patients safe, according to the governor's website. These include:

Testing and hospital capacity

Ducey said the state is also focused on expanding testing and antibody testing. To date, there have been 56,601 COVID-19 tests administered statewide. Ducey said moving forward, there are plans to expand testing to broader population, beyond first responders and the state's most vulnerable populations.

Ducey also talked about Arizona's hospital capacity. He said restrictions were initially put in place in an effort to stem a surge in patients at the state's hospitals before the hospitals.

"We have hospital capacity in Arizona," Ducey said. "COVID-19 cases occupy a small portion of our hospital beds available."

Ducey said the latest projections show that "Arizona is prepared."

Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ released in a blog post a recent projection model from ADHS and experts from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.

"This model was extensive, taking into account our current data, mitigation strategies, and potential summer effects on viral transmission. It produced various scenarios that gave us a baseline estimate, with high and low ranges of potential hospitalization and ICU needs of Arizonans," Christ wrote.

Data from two weeks ago estimated a need for hospitalization of 15,000 people and a need for 7,000 ICU beds. The updated version on April 22, which includes recent data, estimates a peak need for 600 hospital beds and 300 ICU beds around May 22.

As of April 21, the state reports 195 ventilators in use for COVID-19 patients, 300 ICU beds in use for COVID-19 patients and 664 positive or suspected inpatient COVID-19 patients.

See the rest here:

'We are making some progress': Governor says state will reopen in phases; elective surgeries to resume May 1 - Community Impact Newspaper