Two companies join forces to provide jobs for former Hoosier inmates: Recycling things and recycling lives – FOX 59 Indianapolis

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. A new partnership wants to help formally incarcerated Hoosiers, and two Indiana businesses are now working together in hopes of helping more people land meaningful opportunities after their time behind bars.

Officials say this is a big step forward in their fight to return citizens back to the workforce.

Kyle Gregoire was behind bars in the county jail for about a year. During that time, he worried about what life would be like, once he got out.

That was always at the front of my mind, said Gregoire.

Until he found an opportunity that he says, turned his life around.

The first time I heard about RecycleForce and the things that they do and everyone at work release was telling me about all of the certifications you can get, you can get certified to drive a forklift, and theres all of these perks to getting a job, said Gregoire, I immediately was interested.

RecycleForce helps formally incarcerated citizens get back into the workforce. Last week, the organization announced a partnership with Brightmark Energy in Ashley, Indiana.

Recycling things and recycling lives are so very important to rebound this community and this entire state, said Gregg Keesling, the Founder and President of RecycleForce.

The plan is for Brightmark Energy to hire workers who will be trained at his facility.

Weve got people from Jay, Jasper, Fulton and Madison and just all over the state that get diverted into our program here. Some want to stay, but many want to go home, and this is an opportunity, they may not be from Steuben County, they may be from an area thats like Steuben County, said Keesling.

The plan is for the workers to be paid a starting wage of $15 an hour with full benefits and will live near by the plant.

Rent will be cheaper, the pay is going to be good, we hope the community up there will be accepting of a few people that have made mistakes, Keesling added.

Workers at RecycleForce are already looking forward to the partnership.

Ive been here in Indianapolis my whole life and obviously I havent been doing something right. You know, Ive been going to jail, and I just need a change of scenery, new people, different environment, said Gregoire.

Brightmark CEO, Bob Powell recently visited the facility here in Indy. He said in a statement he felt inspired by the important work they do.

Brightmark is incredibly proud to be collaborating with an organization that provides such vital services to the community and to formerly incarcerated folks and their families by extension who are trying to change their lives for the better. We look forward to building a long and fruitful partnership for both of our organizations. I cant wait to see RecycleForces qualified trainees on our factory floor as Brightmark employees.

Keesling says although the partnership has been announced, theyre still in the early stages of talking with county leaders and the Department of Corrections to find out if they can make this work. He said Brightmark Energy wouldnt be ready to hire until the Spring.

This gives us an opportunity to talk to the leaders at the department of correction, the leaders here in Marion County, and also those up in Allen and Steuben and surrounding counties, said Keesling.

RecycleForce will also supply Brightmark Energy with 1,700 tons of hard-to-recycle plastics like car seats and computers for processing.

Some of our old junk that we dont need any more and the people that weve thrown away, and we remake them into something new, said Keesling.

Gregoire added, Were not all bad people. You know, not at all. Hard workers, some of the hardest workers Ive ever met were felons or people who were incarcerated.

Again, this partnership still needs to be approved by the Department of Correction and county leaders.

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Two companies join forces to provide jobs for former Hoosier inmates: Recycling things and recycling lives - FOX 59 Indianapolis

A Car Club That Lives the Cowboys Life – D Magazine

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The scene repeats itself throughout the early day and into late afternoon, as fans, mostly of the Dallas Cowboys but a few of the visiting Minnesota Vikings, begin to converge on AT&T Stadium. Among the cacophony of competing stereos and smell of grilled meats, they see the group of cars, so close to the stadium that surrounding lots charge $100 to park. But its not proximity that sets them apart. Look at that! someone will say, and then, almost instinctively, they and their traveling party will walk toward the custom-designed cars, pulling phones from their pockets.

Some ask for permission. Take as many pictures as you want, the owners of the cars answer. Others dont. They just take themselfies, taking turns posing, parents telling children to stand there and smile. A few, as if they realize its futile to try to capture the small details of each car in one snap, instead record videos, walking with baby steps around these rolling monuments to the Cowboys.

They capture the candy-colored paint job that sparkles in the sun. The murals on the cars of past and present players and coaches. The interiors lined with so many blue and silver stars that it feels impossible to count them all. The blue chrome 28-inch rims that, at the center, have the logo and name of their car club, CowboysLifeone word added so as not to infringe on trademarks.

These carsfour of them made the trip for the Cowboys nationally televised Sunday night game against the Vikingsare part of a club thats been at most home games since the stadium opened in 2009. In the decade since, the membership has grown. Members as far away as California have dedicated their Hondas, Chevys, or Nissans to the team they love. Theres even a Cowboys-themed lowrider bicycle among the club, as well as a Harley and a four-wheeler.

Everyone cant attend every game, but theres always someone here, across from the Blue 10 parking lot. At this years season opener, against the New York Giants, 1,000 people attended the CowboysLife pregame festivities. And no matter how many come, they tailgate, cooking on a custom-made 150-gallon grill thats so big its attached to a small trailer, which has a pole flying a Cowboys flag. Under that banner, fluttering in the breeze of this mild day, CowboysLife members eat tacos and drink beer. They listen to music and watch other games on TV until its time for their team to take the field.

Id had some that, after taking pictures, someone will say, Man, I hate the Cowboys, but I love your car, Jose Saldivar says. Jose is the founder and president of CowboysLife. He has a CowboysLife tattoo on his left arm, which he got a few months after the club began, in December 2009. Jose drives a 1986 Chevy C-10. Until a drunk driver slammed into it, as it sat parked outside Joses house, it was the truck his father used to work as a roofer. Its name is Dynasty. It has Lamborghini scissor doors and a pinstripe paint job in Dallas Cowboys colors, and when Jose parks Dynasty, the truck drops several inches. The bed raises and tilts, looking like a Transformer. Its hood is blue, and at the center, toward the windshield, a mural depicts the teams five Super Bowl trophies in front of Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson.

About the only thing that isnt Cowboys related is the front license plate. Its the logoa tando hat atop sunglasses and a thin mustacheassociated with lowriders, going all the way back to when they were called pachuco cars, after the Mexican and Mexican-American youths who wore screaming-bright zoot suits. When car culture took hold after World War II, they filled their trunks with bricks and bags of sand and cement, and drove their cars bajito y suavecito. Low and slow.

At the very least, lowridersand other cars that clubs form aroundare an extension of ones identity. At most, theyre a political statement. Its a street aesthetic that says something, perhaps everything, about the person driving: where they come from, who they are, what they refuse to hide of themselves. Regardless of what significance they hold, its an aesthetic thats expensive.

From the bottom to the topwheels and rims, hydraulics or air bags, paint job, interior, and everything else related to the vehicles inner workingsit takes money and resourcefulness to make ones car stand out. Jose estimates his truck has $40,000 worth of work. And yet he spent only about a quarter of that, incrementallya few hundred dollars here, a few more there, first fixing one part of the truck, then another, doing as much of the work himself as he could. And since its part of their purpose and function, Jose, like every other member, relied on the club for help.

Members as far away as California have dedicated their Hondas, Chevys, or Nissans to the team they love. Theres even a Cowboys-themed lowrider bicycle among the club, as well as a Harley and a four-wheeler.

You have a painter in the club, you have somebody who does body, somebody who does hydraulics, Jose says. Theyre giving you that homie hookup, which is where it was invented. So you have these guys in the club, and he scratches your back, you scratch theirs. Thats how it works.

For these clubs to work, in general, they must also give something back to the places they come from. They already draw enough attention. You have to do good in the community to basically keep going, Jose says. If youre out there creating havoc, nobody invites you, nobody wants you. So then theres no point of you out there as a car club.

That aspect of CowboysLife attracted Osvaldo Rojas, who until five years ago, when he joined the club, wasnt even a sports fan. He owns a 1996 Ford Bronco named Americas Tribute. Its camouflage wrapped, with a large blue star on each door. When he revs its engine, all the ambient music from nearby tailgating parties disappears. Mainly, what I like to do is charity work, Osvaldo says.

For CowboysLife and other affiliated groups, that charity work includes annual scholarships and toy runs. Theyve given away bikes. Theyve hosted a car showRolling for the Curewhere all money raised went to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

Car clubs form around themes. Some are just lowriders. Others are just cars of a certain make or model. Some clubs are full of cars that remind you of The Fast and the Furious. CowboysLife, of course, unites around a love of the Dallas Cowboys. Most members inherited that love from their families. For some, this is also where their love of cars comes from. Presumably, this is what will happen with the young children running around at CowboysLifes tailgating events.

The reason I became a Cowboys fan was because of my dad, Jose says. On game days, his dad would wear a Cowboys jacket while watching alongside family, including young Jose.

For Randy Samora, it worked the same way. Since a baby, is how he answers when asked how long hes cheered for the Cowboys. Randy, who lives outside of Houston, has been a member of CowboysLife for four years. He saw a picture of Jose and Dynasty in a newspaper and said, I want to do something like that. So he joined. He converted his silver 2007 Jeep Wrangler into Dem Boys, a play on the Wiz Khalifa song We Dem Boyz.

Randys Dem Boys is an ode to the storied history of the team. Players from past and presentRoger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Jason Wittenblanket the doors. The wheel cover at the back has the car clubs own blue star logo, We ride with pride circling around it. The only part of Dem Boys that seems untouched by anything Cowboys related is the top. That will be dedicated to the Super Bowl, Randy says. Thats what its waiting on.

An entire generation knows only of the past Cowboys success based on what theyve read and seen in old recordings, along with what older fans tell them. For them, its been nothing but frustration. That freaking field goal from Romo, Gabriel Saldivar says. The botched snap, thats the worst one. You can call it whatever you want; that botch started it. Every year Romo came back, I had confidence until playoff time came around.

Gabriel has a 1989 Chevy Caprice. The same beautiful car that you saw on that movie Hustle & Flow is how he describes it. A certified minister with an easy laugh and smile to counter his imposing 6-foot-3 build, Gabriel named his blue car Hail Mary. Its the one that stops the most passersby. Drew Pearson, who caught that last-second Hail Mary pass to win a playoff game in 1975, signed the glove compartment. Original jerseys of Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin cover Hail Marys seats.

At 34 years old, Gabriel mostly remembers the parades from the last time the Cowboys won a Super Bowl. Hes confident theyll win one again. First of all, were going to try to get into that parade downtown, cause you know thats gonna happen, Gabriel says as he watches his 2-year-old son play inside the car. And then after that, on the back side, he points toward the chrome bumper glistening in the sun, were just gonna add the years. And Ill have six.

Tonight, though, the Cowboys lose. The Vikings intercept Prescotts attempt at a Hail Mary. The slow-moving, postgame traffic feels almost unbearable. Stuck looking at all the red taillights ahead, hardly anyone moving, there is time to reflect on more than two decades of losses, all of the almosts and not-good-enoughs since the last Super Bowl win.

I feel disappointed, Jose says. The team hes always watched while surrounded by friends and family. The team he loves so much that he dedicated a car club to them. Its kind of like having a child. They do something wrong, it disappoints you. But you still love them to death.

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A Car Club That Lives the Cowboys Life - D Magazine

Consumer Beverage Packaging Market to record 5.4% CAGR by 2026 | TMR – Filmi Baba

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Consumer beverage packaging market has undergone a tremendous change in the recent years with introduction of new designs and use of eco-friendly material. Convenience, recyclability, shelf-life extension and online retailing are some of the factors playing a crucial role in the changes taking place in the consumer beverage packaging. The trend of on-the-go eating and consuming beverages has led to the production of more convenient packaging with focus on ease to handle feature.

With increasing caution among consumers when it comes to food, the trend of clean packaging is gaining momentum in the market. Hence, manufacturers are investing in the research and development of beverage packaging that is recyclable and product-friendly that can preserve beverage in it for a long time. Lightweight packaging is another trend gaining traction in the beverage packaging. Packaging remains a key factor differentiating beverage products. Moreover, manufacturers are also focusing on implementing advanced technology to minimize wastage of packaging materials, and speed up the production process.

A new Transparency Market Research report inspects the global market for consumer beverage packaging for the period between 2017 and 2026. The report supports its readers by accumulating and slating all possible strategies with regard to valuable insights for maintaining a proper tempo with changing market dynamics at present and in the near future. The report presents in-depth information associated with the market size, opportunities for the market growth, and trends, restraints & drivers of the market expansion. The report is well-structured and maintains a good flow, providing understanding on all aspects of the Consumer beverage packaging market.

Are you a start-up willing to make it big in the business? Grab an exclusive PDF Sample of this Report @https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=39563

Report Structure

Recommendations and analysis of TMR on the global consumer beverage packaging market is an additional benefit offered by the report. An executive summary of the market is delivered in the reports first chapter, which incorporates insights and forecasts on all the market segments included. Market number such as CAGRs, and revenues for the historical (2012-2016) & forecast (2017-2026) period have been rendered in this chapter.

An overview of the global Consumer beverage packaging market has been provided following the executive summary. The overview imparts an incisive introduction of the market, with a formal definition of consumer beverage packaging trailing the market introduction. This chapter comprises intelligence related to the market viewpoint of consumer beverage packaging, along with macroeconomic factors influencing the market expansion. This chapter clearly portrays the global Consumer beverage packaging markets wide scope to the report readers.

Competition Landscape

The report has engulfed a chapter on the global consumer beverage packaging markets competitive landscape, which provides detailed analysis and insights on companies offering consumer beverage packaging. Profiles of key companies, along with a strategic overview of their M&A and expansion plans across geographies, have been delivered in this chapter. This chapter is priceless for report readers, as its enables them in gauging their growth potential in the market and implement key strategies for extending their market reach. This chapter offers key recommendations for both new and existing market participants, enabling them to emerge sustainably and profitably.

Intelligence on the market players has been delivered on the basis of their product overview, SWOT analysis, key developments, key financials and company overview. Occupancy of these market participants has been tracked by the report and portrayed via an intensity map.

Market Taxonomy

Subsequently, the report issues chapters on the global consumer beverage packaging markets segmentation analysis. Insights and forecasts with respect to the market segments namely, application, packaging type, packaging material, and region, have been comprehensively delivered in these chapters. The segmentation analysis of the global consumer beverage packaging market engulfs indispensable market numbers such as the market share comparison, Y-o-Y growth comparison and revenue comparison. Succeeding chapters in the report propound insights and analyses on the regional segments included in the report viz., North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Latin America, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.

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Consumer Beverage Packaging Market to record 5.4% CAGR by 2026 | TMR - Filmi Baba

Driving Tampa Bay Forward Pasco County’s Ridge Road Extension Project finally starting Erik Waxler 6:55 – ABC Action News

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PASCO COUNTY, Fla. -- Ryan Becwar remembers hearing talk of extending Ridge Road when he was in high school.

Its just been a long time coming, he said.

And now its finally happening.

I was completely shocked and surprised after so many years it was such a relief that hey this thing is going to go through, Becwar said.

Becwar is part of the Citizens for The Ridge Road Extension group that pushed for the project for so long. And now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finally issued the project permits.

It take Ridge Road in New Port Richey and extend it east to the Suncoast Parkway and eventually all the way U.S. 41 in Land O Lakes. Part of the reason it took decades to become reality were environmental concerns about what would happen to Pascos wetlands.

Officials say the four-lane road way will heave 16 bridges to designed to maintain the habitat below.

Supporters of the project say extending Ridge Road gives the county another much needed hurricane evacuation route, reducing evacuation times by nearly 30 percent. They say it will also help drive business, connecting New Port Richey to Land O Lakes and the booming Connerton area.

Its important for our citizens quality of life matters to our citizens and this is going to help make their daily commutes a little bit easier, said Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore.

The first phase from New Port Richey to the Suncoast is underway now. The section to US 41 will begin in late 2022.

You can click here for more information on the project.

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Driving Tampa Bay Forward Pasco County's Ridge Road Extension Project finally starting Erik Waxler 6:55 - ABC Action News

A month-by-month recounting of events last year that shaped our lives – Pasadena Weekly

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Late Last December

Caltrans renames a portion of the 134 Freeway after President Barack Obama, Pasadena City Manager Steve Mermell names Brenda Harvey-Williams director of human services and recreation, and Pasadena City College Trustees pick Erika Endrijonas as PCCs President/Superintendent.

January 2019

SNL stars Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon and Tim Meadows reteam for Funny or Dies online Rose Parade commentary parody, a Rose Parade float commemorating Chinese and other ethnic workers on the Transcontinental Railroad breaks down, freelancer journalists unionize for a better life in Americas growing gig economy, illegal pot dispensary operator Shaun Szameitchallenges the citys new cannabis law, a homeless person is accused of killing the mother of a woman who adopted her kids, thenproclaims innocence from jail, and LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has big and controversial plans for the beleaguered department. Gang members face life in prison for murdering four people in 2017, Professors Peter Dreier and Mark Maier take a critical look at what makes Pasadena such an unequal place to live in Pasadenas Tale of Two Cities, Pasadena-born Terry Gamble talks about her latest work, The Eulogist, which witnesses slavery, war, industrialization and populism through the experiences of an immigrant Irish family, former city employee Danny Wooten is sentenced to 14 years for embezzlement as Altadena businessman and co-defendant Tyrone Collins gets seven years behind bars, the Tournament of Roses names first Latina president in Laura Farber, backers and opponents of a $15 per hour minimum wage by 2020 turn up the heat ahead of a Pasadena council meeting, once-embattled Altadena librarian Mindy Kittay reaches a settlement with the local library district, and US Rep. Judy Chu introduces legislation to block President Trumps latest Muslim ban.

February

A JPL-NASA report details a gigantic cavity in Antarcticas Thwaites Glacier and former FBI Director James Comey talks to a Pasadena audience about his firing, the Russia investigation and why Americans must vote Trump out of office. Comic Bill Burr lets his inner rage rip at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, gun-dealing Pasadena cop Vasken Gourdikian wants probation for selling weapons online while federal prosecutors say he should serve hard time, the Pasadena City Council votes to raise the minimum wage to $15, presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren unveils her policy plans at an Alex Theatre appearance, illegal pot dispensary owner Shaun Sazmeit targets Councilman Victor Gordo in a recall effort but later misses the filing deadline, all-star jam band Wild Honey Orchestra pays tribute to The Kinks at annual autism benefit concert at the Alex, Joan Williams, Miss Crown City 1958 who was denied a place in the Rose Parade due to her race, dies at age 86, and supporters of 2019 Rose Queen Louise Deser Siskel, who went public about her bi-sexuality, drown out Westboro Baptist Church picketers with messages of love.

March

Parsons Engineering announces plans to move its headquarters from Pasadena to Virginia, Los Angeles County workers admit to spraying Roundup weed killer on county property in Pasadena, and a staged concert reading at Boston Court lets audiences experience an opera-in-development about late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Actor Arsenio Hall brings his stylish comic flair to the Ice House, former Pasadena nun Catherine Morris and her husband Jeff Dietrich continue dedicating their lives to helping the homeless living on Skid Row, county Supervisor Katherine Barger calls for a temporary moratorium on the use of Roundup, and actor Bill Oberst Jr. channels Ray Bradbury in free show at South Pasadena Library. Twenty-one racehorse deaths has Santa Anita Park executives worried the sport could face consequences similar to those of SeaWorld over its treatment of orcas, the Pasadena City Council amends its Tenant Protection Ordinance to increase local renter protections, and El Portal Restaurant owner Abel Ramirez celebrates his 25th anniversary of business in the Playhouse District.

April

Ten-member Tower of Power brings its horn-driven magic to The Rose, a federal judge dismisses some claims in Christopher Ballews police brutality lawsuit against the city of Pasadena but allows a racial profiling allegation to go to trial, My Big Fat Greek Wedding star Nia Vardalos stars in Tiny Beautiful Things at the Pasadena Playhouse, The Gin Blossoms, Dustbowl Revival and Incendio are among the many acts at the South Pasadena Eclectic Music Festival, and the state Supreme Court takes up former PW cartoonist Ted Ralls lawsuit suit against the LA Times.

May

Activists and some local officials worry about a citizenship question being placed on the US Census survey, state officials refuse to grant the city a three-month extension to review the toxic cleanup at the Space Bank storage facility being considered as a major housing development, the county grants a 30-day extension of its Roundup moratorium, and Bob Eubanks reveals his role in rock history in promoting the Beatles. Pasadena Councilman Tyron Hampton becomes vice mayor as Councilman Gene Masuda announces bid for a third term. Legendary Johnny Mathis, appearing at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, fondly recalls the influence of family on his stellar career, author Dean Kuipers explains how rebuilding troubled land helped repair his fractured family in The Deer Camp, the Pasadena council awards a San Francisco firm a half-million dollars to design a suicide barrier on Colorado Street Bridge, John C. Reilly finds theater gold at the Pasadena Playhousein a month-long run of Gather, homelessness declines in Pasadena thanks to focus on providing short- and long-term housing, the US Supreme Court refuses to hear a case on what are now Norton Simons Adam and Eve paintings, the Pasadena Tenant Justice Coalition tries to get rent control on the November ballot, and cancer claims the life of beloved community activist and businesswoman Jaylene Moseley.

June

Presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Julian Castro, Jay Inslee and Kirsten Gillibrand bring their campaigns to the Crown City, Pasadena filmmaker Marcos Durian turns a tough childhood into great art with his new short Fish Head, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the man who created The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and retooled Archie comics, brings Good Boys to the Pasadena Playhouse, and officials at Santa Anita racetrack refuse to cancel the remainder of scheduled meets after two more horses are put down. Officials with Pasadenas sister city in Africa pay a visit, Congressman Adam Schiff tries but fails to get US Army Corps of Engineers to stop using Roundup around the LA River, and a Superior Court judge rules against the county in a lawsuit over the Big Dig sediment removal project in Devils Gate Dam.

July

Breeders Cup officials vote to keep racing at Santa Anita Park despite the many fatalities, US District Judge Manuel Real, who ordered busing in Pasadena schools in 1970, dies at age 95, John Lloyd Young turns his Tony-winning starring role as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys into a classic pop extravaganza at The Rose, and the High Court bars a citizenship question from appearing on US Census forms. Pasadena celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, Pasadena Weekly celebrates 35 years of publishing, Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden visits the home of Pasadena City Councilman John Kennedy, all systems are go for Planetary Societys LightSail 2 project, county supervisors formally ban the use of glyphosate-based products, including Roundup, and protesters bring construction of the Caltech-backed Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea to a halt.

August

The Pasadena Weekly, formerly owned by Southland Publishing, is acquired by Times Media Group, based in Tempe, Arizona, Gentrification leads to eviction for members of the Washington 16, Pasadena Heritage Executive Director Sue Mossman celebrates more than 40 years of keeping the Crown City royal, US Rep. Judy Chu is among majority of House Democrats to support a Trump impeachment inquiry, and, as Pasadena celebrates the centennial of the 19th Amendment, activists say the right to vote was but one of many big victories needed for full gender equality. The World Cup-winning US womens soccer team kicks off victory tour with a 3-0 win over Ireland at the Rose Bowl, George Takei shines a spotlight on the similarities between todays border detentions and the dark history of Japanese-American internment camps, marchers rally at the federal appeals court in Pasadena in favor of immigrant rights, Robins Wood Fire BBQ closes after 37 years, Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago performs three decades of alt-rock hits at the Pasadena Daydream Festival, and Pasadenans call for gun control and immigration reform at a Villa Parke vigil for the victims of recent mass shootings.

September

The League of Women Voters Pasadena Area picks its first black president in Pat Coulter, Vromans presents Sister Helen Prejean in conversation with Rev. Mike Kinman about her new book and spiritual journey at All Saints Church, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap bring their emotional rock balladry to The Rose, and Pasadena police turn a corner on transparency seven years after the deadly Kendrec McDade shooting. JPLs Josh Willis, principal investigator on the Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) project, believes Climate Rock can help raise public awareness of global warming, hundreds join the Pasadena Die-In as millions worldwide wage Climate Strikes to force leaders to combat climate change, and Trump taps Pasadena Reagan Republican Robert C. OBrien to take over as National Security Advisor

October

Joe Biden goes after President Trump in another visit to Pasadena as impeachment inquiry heats up, former Pasadena Mayor Bill Paparian receives a lifesaving kidney from his wife, Sona, even though they have different blood types, the Huntington Librarys Nineteen Nineteen exhibit illuminates historys impact on the present, and parents of girl who drowned at summer day camp establish a foundation. The play A Kid Like Jake examines the complexities of a childs gender identity at the Pasadena playhouse, The Abuelas explores Argentinas living disappeared babies kidnapped from murdered political prisoners after 1976 military junta at Antaeus Theatre in Glendale, candidates begin campaigns for mayor and City Council seats in districts 1, 2, 4 and 6, local author Chip Jacobs launches Arroyo, a historical novel about Pasadena and the origins of the Colorado Street Bridge, at Vromans, the Pasadena Weekly learns convicted rapist and former PUSD volunteer John Laurence Whitaker has yet to stand trial 14 years after being charged with two murders, former Rose Queen Drew Washington and her father Craig travel to Africa as part of a campaign to reconnect people with their ancestry in the 400th year since the start of slavery in America, and Tony Award-winning actor BD Wong directs Lauren Yees witty and politically relevant basketball drama The Great Leap at Pasadena Playhouse.

November

Pasadena Christian leaders are deeply divided in the Era of Trump, calls to end horse racing at Santa Anita are renewed after owners euthanize a gelding at the Breeders Cup, Pasadena adopts the states Tenant Protection Act in special midnight meeting, the nearly forgotten Song of the Pasadena Rose Parade resurfaces after four decades, Lakers co-owner Johnny Buss buys the iconic Ice House comedy club, and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown discusses his new book, Desk 88, with journalist Miriam Pawel at All Saints. Rabbi and social justice activist Marvin Gross, who helped the homeless and fought for many righteous causes, dies at age 70. The audience joins in the fun of Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) at Sierra Madre Playhouse. Congressman Schiff, who since January has been chair of the House Intelligence Committee, is now recommending the presidents impeachment.

December

A Fuller Seminary online student is expelled for violating the schools sexual standards, young stars help Lythgoe Family Pantos A Snow White Christmas 2.0 bring audiences into the action at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena Weekly moves from its office of more than 20 years in Old Pasadena to more modern digs in South Pasadena, local students stage another climate strike at Pasadena City Hall, the Pasadena City Council shoots down proposed changes to the citys cannabis ordinance, and students ask local leaders to sign a climate change pledge.

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A month-by-month recounting of events last year that shaped our lives - Pasadena Weekly

Bacon Has Its Day – Texas A&M University

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The National Pork Board reported U.S. consumption of bacon increased 2.4% from 2001 to 2013, with Americans consuming about 1.1 billion servings of bacon annually.

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National Bacon Day is Dec. 30, but many Americans celebrate this tasty slice of life on most days and in more ways than ever before.

According to the National Pork Board, U.S. consumption of bacon increased 2.4% from 2001 to 2013, with Americans consuming about 1.1 billion servings of bacon annually.

Pork belly, the cut of meat that produces bacon, is found on 8.7% of U.S. menus, a 59% increase in the number of restaurants serving products from the cut since 2014. Bacon is estimated to be served at seven of every 10 U.S. restaurants.

The pork boards report also indicates bacons increased demand over the last few decades is due to its growing appeal beyond breakfast. Today, bacon can be found on, in or wrapped around everything from other meats like filet mignon to treats like ice cream.

Bacon has definitely moved beyond the breakfast table, said Ray Riley, director of Texas A&M Universitys Rosenthal Meat Science and Technology Center. Its because everything tastes better with bacon.

Riley has witnessed the shift at the centers retail store, which offers a variety of meats including bacon, filet mignon, spare ribs and lamb chops all mostly produced within the universitys animal science department.

We historically supply the retail store with bacon products based on harvests, which remain the same year after year, he said. But now I have to buy pork bellies to supplement our supply in order to have bacon year-round.

Davey Griffin, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service meat specialist in College Station, said he cant explain bacons skyrocketing popularity beyond agreeing with Riley.

Bacon is pretty darn good, Griffin said. Its amazing what pork bellies have done in the last several years. Theyve outpaced every other pork product and become the most valuable cut. Even when we see rises in belly prices, the public takes it in stride because they want their bacon.

Sliced bacon prices have been relatively stable since 2017, he said. In November, sliced bacon was $5.50 per pound nationally, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture retail reports. It was $5.79 per pound in November 2018 and $5.70 per pound at the same time in 2017.

Concerns that Chinas demand for pork could cause a bacon shortage as that nation deals with African swine flu and major losses to their herd are likely more hype than reality, Griffin said. U.S. pork production and pork belly cold storage levels are at all-time highs, and two new pork production facilities opened in 2019.

But higher bacon prices are not out of the question, he said. Pork bellies are the most in-demand cuts, and market pressures on pork carcasses could affect their value.

Griffin said pork bellies have moved ahead of hams, loins, Boston butts and picnic shoulders cuts traditionally graded by the USDA for marketing purposes.

Its interesting that pork bellies didnt register that high on the list of cuts for so long, and now bacon is king, he said. It is hands down the top pork product.

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Bacon Has Its Day - Texas A&M University

JFC: The Most WTF Science and Tech Moments of 2019 – Futurism

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IN A WORD?

2019 was amess.

From neural networks spitting out images inspired by lab monkeys nightmares, to dark matter bullets leaving fist-sized holes in the chest cavities of astronauts, this year was filled with the kinds of scientific and technological discoveries that often left us, lacking better poetry, with a single, all-consuming thought:

WTF.

Note that its not WTF? The difference is between a rhetorical question, and a declarative statement: This is our world. This is our world?! This is our world. We cant even begin to imagine what weird questions (or answers) the dark and twisted minds of the worlds great scientific and technological talent will come up with for the next one. Forgoing that for now, we say this: May their imaginations be banished to the underworld for eternity but before they do, lets peek into their twisted minds one last time. These are the Most WTF Science and Technology Moments of 2019.

When: April 18, 2019

The Headline: Someone Listed a T-Rex on eBay, and Paleontologists Are Furious

W. A Montanan discovered the 68 million-year-old skeleton of a baby tyrannosaurus rex in his yard. Deciding that it spent enough time at such a low-class local institution as the museum thats housed the skeleton since 2017, the great and noble amateur archeologist decided to sell it on eBay. For a cool $2.95 million.

TF. Paleontologists were understandably pissed! They wanted time to study this rare and valuable artifact, not shop it over four slides like its a rare Beanie Baby. Oh, and his listing somehow actually included the garbled line: This Rex was very a very dangerous meat eater. Its a RARE opportunity indeed to ever see a baby REX, if they did not grow quickly they could not catch prey and would die. eBay: Wheres the worlds great excavations go to be sold to some overly moneyed rando whose most recent cop is a signed Battlefield Earth shirt and a pair of Nikes worn by the Heavens Gate cult. Cool.

When: May 2, 2019

The Headline: A Neural Net Hooked Up to a Monkey Brain Spat Out Bizarre Images

W. Oh, just your average day at the animal testing lab. Harvard scientists hooked up a monkey brain to a neural net, then tried to stimulate individual neurons responsible for recognizing faces, by showing it images generated by the AI.

TF. We probably could have seen this one coming. The images generated by the AI more or less what the monkey saw or imagined were darker and more twisted than anything we couldve prepared ourselves for. The scientists saw blurs that resembled humans wearing surgical masks likely lab technicians. We saw the shit of nightmares for the next three years, and several grands worth of bills in trauma therapy.

When: April 13, 2019

The Headline: Pepsi Plans to Project a Giant Ad in the Night Sky Using Cubesats

W. Imagine looking into the magnificent splendor of night sky, finding the great constellation of Orion, and seeing him holding a Pepsi can. Which is what a Russian company called StartRocket (basically) wanted when they endeavored to launch a cluster of cubesats into space to form orbital billboards.

TF. Hopefully we dont have to be the ones to tell you that literally plastering the night sky with annoying billboard ads is a horrendous idea that shouldve never been conjured in the first place. Not only would it be an eye sore, weve already learned from SpaceXs Starlink satellites that such an endeavor could pose a very real threat to the astronomy community by messing with their observations. A spokeswoman for PepsiCo confirmed to Futurism that the company was in fact collaborating with the startup, but after backlash, the company called the idea off. For now.

Credit: Warner Bros/Pixabay/Victor Tangermann

When: September 5, 2019

The Headline: 5 Insane Quotes From Boris Johnsons Bizarre UN Speech About Tech

W. Former tabloid journalist and current British prime minister Boris Johnson gave a truly unhinged speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Like, truly, deeply, profoundlyweird.

TF. BoJos talk jumped from talking about pink-eyed terminators a particularly egregious allegory of the singularity to terrifying limbless chicken. As for that last bit, your guess is a good as ours. If we learned anything in 2019, its that the worlds politicians have about as firm a grasp on the nuances of technology as something that lacks the appendages, motor skills, and cognitive ability to coordinating grabbing anything with. Which is to say: Not at all.

When: April 10, 2019

The Headline: Chinese Scientists Gene-Hacked Super Smart Human-Monkey Hybrids

W. Using cutting-edge gene-editing techniques, a team of Chinese scientists improved memories of unaltered monkeys by adding a human version of a gene to the macaques brains, which made them develop along a more human-like timeline. The monkeys even had better reaction times.

TF. Unsurprisingly, the research kicked off a debate about the ethics of altering the genes of macaques. Geneticists called the move a very risky road to take, arguing that it could lead to even more extreme modifications in the future. Like when we teach them how to launch military coups. Against us. And then enslave us. And then put us in cages. And then watch as they debate amongst themselves whether they evolved from the dumbcreatures or were divined to Earth through prayer to The Great Banana In the Sky.

When: May 10, 2019

The Headline: Heres What an Album Between a Musician and an AI Baby Sounds Like

W. Conceptual sound artist and composer Holly Herndon released her new artificial intelligence-inspired album PROTO earlier this year. It heavily features performances by an inhuman intelligence housed in a DIY souped-up gaming PC, that Herndon lovingly refers to as her AI baby.

TF. Were gonna let the music speak for itself here, except to say that this is nothing short of a truly eerie listening experience best experienced yourself once, and only once. Special shoutout to the nightmarish beatboxing sounds on the track Godmother, a collaboration with artist Jlin.

When: July 26, 2019

The Headline: Dark Matter Bullets Could Tear Human Flesh Apart

W. A doctoral candidate in physics is suggesting that tiny amounts of dark matter could slice the human body into pieces, Resident Evil-style. The particles could end up behaving like high-speed bullets, tearing giant holes into the bodies of astronauts, resulting in serious injury or death, according to the author. The closest analogy to a macro collision with a human being is a gunshot wound, reads the study.

TF. Its a wild, random claim that seemingly emerged from nowhere. Yet its also a terrifying thought, especially considering we barely even know what dark matter even is, or what its made out of. Do astronauts really have to worry about this? This theory stretches a pretty long list of assumptions to its drawn out and arguably sensationalist conclusion.

When: November 21, 2019

The Headline: Horrible Christian App Narcs to Your Mom If You Watch Porn

W. Covenant Eyes, a creepy religious app, was built to block people from looking at porn by using an AI-powered filter. If the app finds somebody gawking at lewd smut, it hails the authorities like your mom. But actually.

TF. Looking at pornography is as harmless as taking a selfie for most people in most situations. Vilifying the act in the name of the Lord will only cause a rift between people and cause some truly uncomfortable conversations to crop up about the birds and the bees. Is this really going to protect children? Barely. Will it stop literally anybody ever from watching porn? Doubt it.

When: July 16, 2019

The Headline: Mad Scientist Mom Turns Autistic Son Into a Cyborg

W. In an essay for Quartz, neuroscientist Vivienne Ming discussed how she channeled her inner mad scientist to give her autistic son superpowers. She build a facial and expression-recognition system for Google Glass. Ive chosen to turn my son into a cyborg and change the definition of what it means to be human, she wrote. But do my sons engineered superpowers make him more human, or less?

TF. Calling somebody wearing an enhanced pair of Google Glasses a cyborg is, eh, a bit of a stretch. And did she really have to refer to herself as a mad scientist while doing it?

When: March 11, 2019

The Headline: Creepy Database Lists Whether 1.8M Chinese Women Are Breedready

W. An internet freedom non-profit discovered a creepy-ass database of Chinese women labelled as breedready. The database includes personal details of more than 1.8 million Chinese women, including phone number, birthday, level of education, and marital status. Their ages ranged from 15 to 95 years-old, each with a breedready score. The average age was 32.

TF. Not only is it a preposterous violation of personal privacy, the chance of the database being abused by somebody with less-than-good intentions? Sky high. Making matters worse, nobody even knows where the database comes from, or who created it. Is this the Chinese government trying to address a growing population problem? Or something even more sinister?

When: September 23, 2019

The Headline: Russia: We Know Cause of Space Station Leak but Havent Told NASA

W. In late 2018, astronauts aboard the International Space Station discovered a tiny hole in the Russian side of the orbital outpost. Houston and Moscow noticed a drop in cabin pressure kicking off a search for the culprit, and a later investigation suggested that the hole was drilled from inside the space station. Days after claiming the hole was probably caused by a tiny meteorite, the Russian space agency changed its mind and said it found evidence of several attempts at drilling with a wavering hand. Many months later, Russia claimed it finally figured out the cause of the hole but is keeping the information under wraps.

TF. Nobody knows what caused the drilled hole in the space station. NASA doesnt, (Russias version of NASA) Roscosmos doesnt even an entire spacewalk solely dedicated to uncovering the mystery didnt shine any light on the situation. Was it deliberate sabotage? Did Russias gun-toting humanoid robot have anything to do with it? Like most of 2019s WTF moments in science and technology, we all want to know the answer, but also, on some level, might be better off not knowing the answer at all.

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JFC: The Most WTF Science and Tech Moments of 2019 - Futurism

Baltimore Police Plan to Monitor the Whole City With Spy Planes – Futurism

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Constant Surveillance

For the second half of 2020, Baltimore will be under constant police surveillance as a trio of spy planes constantly sweep the city.

The plan, which CBS News reports will cover about 90 percent of the city, is meant to deter violent crime. And while police commissioner Michael Harrison says the spy planes arent accurate enough to spot an individuals face, the monitoring program raises glaring privacy concerns for city residents and visitors.

Baltimore actually enacted a similar surveillance program in 2016 but it operated under total secrecy until Bloomberg journalists uncovered it, CBS reports.

And while Harrison says things will be different this time he promised but hasnt yet scheduled community meetings to discuss how and why the footage will be used police officials continue to defend the first version of their city-wide spy ring.

The program has civil liberties groups up in arms over what amounts to constant surveillance without a warrant or probable cause, according to CBS.

The surveillance plane means putting every resident of Baltimore under permanent surveillance, creating a video record of everywhere that everyone goes every time they walk outside, reads a joint statement from the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and the Coalition for Justice, Safety, and Jobs. If the police did that in real life, in person on our streets, we would never accept it.

READ MORE: Baltimore to become first city monitored by police surveillance planes [CBS News]

More on surveillance: Florida Police Cut a Secret Deal to Promote Amazons Ring Cameras

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Baltimore Police Plan to Monitor the Whole City With Spy Planes - Futurism

Donald Trump Doesn’t Seem to Know Anything About Wind Power – Futurism

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U.S. President Donald Trump is simultaneously an expert on wind power and completely baffled by it by his own estimation, anyways.

I never understood wind, Trump said during a speech at conservative nonprofit Turning Point USAs Student Action Summit on Saturday, according to the official White House transcript. You know, I know windmills very much. I have studied it better than anybody.

But the rest of Trumps speech implies that only the first part of that statement is true: he knows very little about wind power other than the fact that hes against it.

Trump also cited the process used to produce turbines as a mark against them.

They are made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none, he said, but they are manufactured, tremendous if you are into this tremendous fumes and gases are spewing into the atmosphere.

But as pointed out by The Hill, researchers from the American Wind Energy Association found that a typical wind project repays its carbon footprint in six months or less. Meanwhile, the benefits of the devices can last fora typical lifespan of 20 to 25 years a good investment no matter how you look at it.

Another of Trumps beefs with wind turbines? They kill birds.

You want to see a bird graveyard? Trump asked the audience. You just go. Take a look. A bird graveyard. Go under a windmill someday. Youll see more birds than youve ever seen ever in your life A windmill will kill many bald eagles. Its true.

Though its hard to say for sure how many bald eagles fall victim to wind turbines, the devices do kill approximately 234,012 birds in the U.S. every year, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

But for comparison, collisions with glass buildings like the ones Trump has made a career stamping his name on kill 599,000,000 birds every year. Thats 2,559 times more birds than turbines.

Trump didnt mention that during his speech, but he did trot out anotherfrequent claim: that wind turbines negatively impact property values and once again, its clear he doesnt have his facts straight.

So they make these things and then they put them up, he told the audience. And if you own a house within vision of some of these monsters, your house is worth 50 percent of the price.

While some smaller studies have found that a nearby wind farm can decrease a homes value, larger studies including a 2013 analysis of more than 50,000 homes in nine states concluded that turbines have no negative impact on property values.

Still, given that Trump has previously claimed that wind turbines decrease home values by 75 percent, this new 50 percent figure does get him closer to the truth so while he clearly doesnt know windmills very much, his claims about wind energy do appear to be getting slightly most accurate than theyve been in the past. Very slightly.

READ MORE: Trump rails against windmills: I never understood wind [The Hill]

More on wind power: New Research: Texas Could Ditch Coal Entirely for Wind and Solar

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Donald Trump Doesn't Seem to Know Anything About Wind Power - Futurism

The Top Ten Most-Read Futurism Stories of 2019 – Futurism

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A WILD RIDE. Those, by and large, are the first words that come to mind looking back on Futurisms 2019 and all the news that made up these past twelve months.

We ran thousands of stories this year. They ranged from investigative projects, to interviews, to the building blocks of our site: Sharp hour-by-hour analysis on the science and technology narratives of the day. These stories shaped (and are still shaping) the weird, wonderful, frightening, inspiring, and ever-critical present moment were in, to say nothing of the future well occupy on this planet or elsewhere.

That said: Every once in a while, one of these hundreds of stories exceeds our wildest expectations, drawing hundreds of thousands of readers from across the world, and for weeks at a time, too.

To that end and without further ado, here are The Ten Most-Read Futurism Stories of 2019 along with our best guesses as to why they garnered so much attention, and what it might mean for our future.

10. The First Black Hole Photo Is Even More Amazing When You Zoom Out

When: April 12, 2019

What: After the Event Horizon Telescope team unleashed the first-ever image of a black hole, a separate team dropped an incredible follow-up image of the space around it.

Why: A sense of genuine epochal awe surrounded the release of the historic first image of a black hole, for starters. But when we covered NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory release of the wider shot, showing how distant galaxy M87s black hole was nestled in a boggling vast cloud of high-energy particles, our readers couldnt stop looking. Heck, neither could we.

9. Our Solar System Is Blanketed in a Giant Wall of Fire

When: Nov. 21, 2019

What: Voyager 2 sent back readings suggesting that the edge of the solar system is surrounded by a bubble of 49,427 degrees Celsius (89,000 degrees Fahrenheit) plasma.

Why: We think of the deep solar system as a dark, frozen expanse, but this story showed that its a frontier of extraordinary unknowns that can apparently get, to put it lightly, hot. Even better, NASAs best tool to plumb its mysteries is Voyager 2 a probe thats been traveling away from the Sun since 1977, giving the story an outrageous old-meets-new finishing coat.

8. NASA Engineer Says New Thruster Could Reach 99% Speed of Light

When: Oct. 14, 2019

What: NASA engineer David Burns said that his new thruster design could reach a ludicrous velocity if you give it enough time to accelerate.

Why: The idea of light-speed travel scratches a sci-fi itch, and Burns has a knack for self-promotion. His thrusters undeniably clever it would use a type of particle accelerator to manipulate the speed of an ion loop, subtly changing their mass through relativity effects, thus generating a gentle thrust without propellant. Give it enough time, according to Burns, and it could reach 99 percent the speed of light. The caveats? Itd require building an enormous device in space, and itd take an extremely long time to speed up.

7. New Research: Human Civilization Will Likely Collapse by 2050

When: June 3, 2019

What: An Australian climate change analysis reached a Mad Max conclusion: Were screwed, and on a clock.

Why: The last year in news has often felt a touch world-ending, no? To say nothing of the worlds ongoing fascination with post-apocalyptic fiction, from Dawn of the Dead to The Hunger Games. The wide interest in this, though, illustrates our looming fear of a real collapse event especially when the research comes from a former fossil fuel exec. The good news, according to the research, is that drastic environmental policies could pull the planet back in the right direction. Also, lets be real: the art for this one, by Futurism writer Victor Tangermann, was haunting and beautiful.

6. NASA Research: Astronauts Are Getting Clots, Bizarre Blood Flow

When: Nov. 14, 2019

What: A NASA research project seemingly showed astronauts suffering from ominous circulatory problems.

Why: Everybody loves a feel-good story about a successful rocket launch or a shiny experiment on the International Space Station. But its difficult to ignore growing evidence that space is a hostile environment for the human body and this study, which examined ultrasounds from astronauts whod spent time on space station, showed signs of clots and bizarre blood flow. Needless to say, more research is needed, but this could be an opening act to the human space travel story narrative of this era.

5. Here Are New Pics of That Weird Substance China Found on the Moon

When: Sept. 19, 2019

What: China baffled the world when it announced that its rover had found a mysterious substance on the Moon. Then it released a photo.

Why: The implication of Chinas original announcement, which described the substance as gel-like, was that the material was deeply baffling. Thats probably why droves of Futurism readers visited to see the picture for themselves and share their thoughts though, underwhelmingly, the consensus among researchers is that the material, rather than a gel, is probably lunar glass that formed during a meteor strike.

4. A Dense Bullet of Something Blasted Holes in the Milky Way

When: May 15, 2019

What: According to research by a Harvard-Smithsonian scientist, a dense bullet of something punched holes in our home galaxy many years ago.

Why: A lot of our most-read stories this year were epic in scope, but this galactic-scale mystery by Futurism writer Dan Robitzski might take the cake. Gaps in the stellar stream suggest that something one culprit could be a chunk of dark matter, a million times the mass of our Sun crudely tampered with the large-scale structure of the Milky Way. Just like our readers, we were obsessed and well be keeping an eye out for followup astrophysical research to share with them.

3. NASA: Four Astronauts Will Stay on the Moon for Two Weeks

When: Oct. 30, 2019

What: NASA dropped tantalizing new details about its upcoming Moon missions, which include sending four astronauts to the lunar surface for 6.5 days.

Why: Our readers have a longstanding interest in NASAs efforts to return to the Moon, so these rare specifics from the inscrutable space agency were irresistible. Whats more, this new info demonstrated the depth of NASAs ambition: the 6.5 day mission, which will be loaded with at least four expeditions on the lunar surface, will be twice as long a Moon visit as any other in human history.

2. Russian Sub That Caught Fire Possibly Sent to Cut Internet Cables

When: July 3, 2019

What: In the aftermath of a Russian submarine fire, rumors emerged in Russian media that the sub was on a mission to cut undersea internet cables.

Why: Remember the tragic fire that killed 14 Russian sailors this year? Observers pointed out that Moscow was unusually cagey about the incident, refusing to say even whether it had been a nuclear sub. And then, in a pair of bombshell reports, two Russian outlets reported that the vessel had been a secretive craft thats long been speculated to have been designed to sabotage undersea internet cables. Much like other Russian drama in recent years, this one never got a satisfying conclusion but it was a rare glimpse into the murky world of deep-sea espionage.

1. Chinese Scientists Cloned Gene-Edited Monkeys With Horrifying Results

When: Jan. 25, 2019

What: Chinese scientists made five clones of a monkey that had been gene-edited to suffer from serious psychological problems.

Why: Our most-read story all year took a dive into the lurid world of genetic engineering. Scientists in China tinkered with the DNA of a macaque monkey, and then cloned the animal five times the first time a gene-edited primate had ever successfully been cloned. But ethically, Futurisms Kristin Houser explained, the experiment was a mess: the macaques genes had been altered to give it depression, anxiety, sleep problems and a schizophrenia-like condition. Researchers say the altered monkeys will be a valuable research tool for developing new therapies. But, at the same time, its a Jeff VanderMeer-esque sign of the grotesque frontiers of CRISPR and, like our readers, we couldnt look away.

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The Top Ten Most-Read Futurism Stories of 2019 - Futurism

Bernie Sanders: Spend Money on the Climate Instead of Weapons – Futurism

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Top Priority

Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders has a suggestion: stop spending so much money on the military and global warfare, and instead put it toward fighting climate change.

He made the argument during Thursday nights Democratic Party debate, The Hill reports. Sanders, whos previously introduced legislation to declare a state of emergency to mobilize against the existential threat that climate change poses, argued that the money to fund climate programs exists but its being spent in the wrong places.

Thursdays debate wasnt Sanders first attempt to push back against militarization: in August, he made a campaign promise that would stop police from using facial recognition systems, the flaws of which have only grown increasingly apparent.

Maybe, just maybe, instead of spending $1.8 trillion a year globally on weapons of destruction, Sanders said during the debate, maybe an American president i.e. Bernie Sanders can lead the world and instead of spending money to kill each other, maybe we pool our resources and fight our common enemy, which is climate change.

READ MORE: Sanders: Instead of weapons funding we should pool resources to fight climate change [The Hill]

More on Bernie Sanders: Bernie Sanders Vows to Ban Police From Using Facial Recognition

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Bernie Sanders: Spend Money on the Climate Instead of Weapons - Futurism

Mindset Matters: A Futurist Vision For The Next Decade In Disability, Business, Innovation, And Culture – Forbes

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Part One: Creating A New Normal For A New Decade

At the most recent Democratic Presidential Debate this December, candidate Andrew Yang stood on stage before a nationally televised audience and in talking about his son who has special needs declared that disability will become the new normal. While this statement may seem radical to some, it is a truism that needs to be embraced in the coming decade and beyond. Disability is not only part of the human condition, it is an essential mechanism in the worlds of business, innovation and culture that will be a basic necessity for the continued evolution of each of these areas and be a central player in shaping society as a whole.

The futurist goal is to celebrate change, innovation, and originality through culture and society.As we look toward exploring predictions and possibilities for what will impact the future of the next decade it is essential that we take the following step in the natural evolution of disability as it continues to intersect between critical elements that define the society we live in. Disability must step beyond advocacy and be embedded in the very fabric of our society. It is only then when disability takes its rightful place as a new normal. To establish this foundation, the column will briefly examine several aspects of society that are at the epicenter of this paradigm shift creating a new sense of reality. In Part One, we look at the aspect of demographics, business, and innovation which provide touchstones for society to reinterpret disability and a way for business to seize upon the economic potential that this community can offer.

Demographics:

A futurist vision relies on a set of established data points that can help foster educated guesses for the outcome of what lies ahead. Entering this new decade, we see that it is no longer tenable for disability to be viewed from the perspective of the outsider. We have shown in previous Mindset Matter columns that the disability community is growing exponentially and will continue to grow across the globe through all facets of society. In the United States alone close to a quarter of the population are those with disabilities and a global footprint of over 1.3 billion people.

This critical information should not remain solely in the domain of statisticians and government officials to help craft and implement policy but should serve as the foundation for businesses to see the value that disability plays in the organizational environment of the next decade. If disability will become the new normal, businesses must be ready to take on a new philosophical stance that looks at how to reinterpret their own culture and integrate disability as a central focal point to help determine their future success.

Business:

This new normal needs to build off these demographics and rethink the value of disability to the future of their business strategy. Aligning their corporate culture and values with the changing definitions of disability in the new decade is essential for creating a framework of success on every level of the corporate structure, both internally and externally. In this new decade true leadership will not only see how the lived disability experience can be a valued asset in helping to define solutions from job design, talent management and other internal challenges, this new definition of disability will provide a spark to push businesses to not only embrace this new reality but also enlighten the potential of a market that should no longer be a niche, but very much part of the mainstream. In this new decade, businesses will finally come to their senses and see that supporting disability is not just a charitable endeavor, but rather a true business strategy that will open up new market opportunities and create an era of innovation that is essential for the growth and competitive advantage for any company in the decade ahead.

Innovation:

The lived experience of disability is predicated by innovation. Persons with disabilities have always had to adapt to the society around them, rather than society having to adapt to them. However, since the passing of numerous civil rights legislation across the globe from the Americans with Disabilities Act to United Nations Convention for The Rights of Persons with Disabilities there has been a shift which has lead to the push for new architectural design and a movement for Smart Cities that focuses on redefining an inclusive environment that is accessible for all. However, it is worth noting that persons with disabilities have always been deeply involved with the culture of innovation. As stated in previous Mindset Matters columns the numbers of entrepreneurs and founders who deal with learning disabilities, mental health issues far exceed the national average and understand that it is because of there very disability that innovation is essential to not only their personal growth, but also creating new innovative ideas that can be shared.

Developing a philosophical concept that creates a new normal is not an easy one. Here we are trying to start the conversation rolling for 2020 and think long and hard about what will be needed to push this forward. In Part Two, we will take a closer look solely at culture and why film, television, advertising and technology can be the great equalizer and the most powerful tool for normalizing our understanding of disability.

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Mindset Matters: A Futurist Vision For The Next Decade In Disability, Business, Innovation, And Culture - Forbes

These Rare Exoplanets Have the "Density of Cotton Candy" – Futurism

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Super Puffs

In case you needed more evidence that the universe is infinitely baffling, scientists just revealed new information about a bizarre type of exoplanet so light that they have roughly the same density as cotton candy.

The ultra-light worlds have been nicknamed super-puffs by the scientists analyzing them, according to a European Space Agency press release, invoking their Kirby-esque fluffiness and new data from the Hubble Space Telescope suggests how they might have formed.

Scientists first spotted the gassy puff balls earlier this decade NASA identified them in the Kepler 51 system in 2012, and astronomers realized how unusually light they are two years later, according to the release.

To clarify, the three exoplanets are about as big as Jupiter, but have about one-hundredth the mass of the gas giant.

Using Hubble, astronomers hoped to scan the super-puffs atmospheres for water. But they didnt find any, in part because a massive layer of clouds prevented them from looking any deeper.

This was completely unexpected, University of Colorado, Boulder researcher Jessica Libby-Roberts said in the release. We had planned on observing large water absorption features, but they just werent there. We were clouded out!

But that wont be the case for long the researchers suspect that the exoplanets accumulated their atmospheres before moving closer to their star, which will likely burn it all away in the coming eons.

READ MORE: Cotton candy planet mysteries unravel in new Hubble observations [ESA/Hubble Observation Center]

More on bizarre exoplanets: Newly Discovered Exoplanet is Unlike Any Other

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These Rare Exoplanets Have the "Density of Cotton Candy" - Futurism

The future is so much more housebound than we expected – The Week Magazine

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Futurists of a century ago were distinctly optimistic. They envisioned a 21st century of convenience, prosperity, and speed. Everything would get bigger and shinier and faster. Flying cars, jetpacks, weekend jaunts to the moon and back, and highways highways everywhere! Highways in the air; highways under the sea; highways on roofs; roads layered like a lasagna, so you could have pedestrians on top of slow cars on top of fast cars on top of trains.

The details differed, but the trend is evidence of an assumption that people of the future would always be out and about. Why we'd need to race around our cities at such a frenetic pace is not clear many predictions from the same era forecast an all-robot economy in which work is no longer necessary or at least greatly reduced but racing we would be. Maybe it's just shopping? I don't know. Whatever the reason, omnipresent highways would let us do it in record time.

The actual future, the future in which we find ourselves today, went in a very different direction. There is still plenty of work to be done. The only "robot" I own has a single skill (vacuuming) and requires regular rescue from the slightly uneven part of my kitchen cabinets. The wild new means of transportation our great-grandparents imagined for us have not materialized. Instead, we have focused our inventive energies on finding ways to stay home. The future is so much more housebound than anyone expected.

This is not all bad. Among my Amazon subscriptions are toilet paper, toothpaste, guinea pig food, trash bags, and water filters. Having this stuff delivered saves time, and it also keeps me from wandering about Target, buying pretty things I absolutely don't need. The housebound economy is also incredibly useful for people who are literally housebound. "Disabled or chronically sick people who legitimately can't leave their couches now have more ways to get the groceries they need," writes Reason's Liz Wolfe. "People who are too old to drive no longer have to fear a loss of mobility when they lose their licenses."

Nor am I sad that the 20th century's highway fixation has significantly faded, for it did not serve us well. In retrospect, it's easy to understand why car culture took hold and why urban planners reshaped our cities to suit. But too many of the results were disastrous. Freeway construction ripped through American cities see this remarkable set of images from the University of Oklahoma's school of architecture to get a sense of the damage without regard for much of the communities they ostensibly served.

Homes and businesses, parks and churches were demolished to make way for the almighty auto. Families, especially black Americans and other groups with relatively less wealth and political power, were displaced and their livelihoods eliminated. (This was sometimes an explicit rationale: In 1938, for instance, Agriculture Secretary Henry Wallace told then-President Franklin Roosevelt that urban highways would serve a second purpose of "the elimination of unsightly and unsanitary districts," reports Richard Rothstein in The Color of Law.) New construction of roads and buildings alike abandoned the traditional human scale of millennia past, even at street level, creating downtowns that empty at dusk, functioning more like white-collar factories than living places.

These decisions have consequences that still affect how our communities function today. Though futurists' fantastical highway dreams mercifully were not realized, we've built too many cities that serve cars more than people. This is a "chronic design scale flaw, and it's no harmless flaw," explains city planner Felix Landry at Strong Towns. "It poses serious fairness issues, heavily burdening folks who can't afford a car."

In that regard, the swing away from a mobility-centric future is welcome. We should not build sky highways or sea highways or roof highways or layered highways. But implicit in the highways obsession was an expectation of social connectivity and meaningful community life. We would have places to go and, crucially, people to see. Highways were always a terribly ill-suited means to that end they razed communities rather than strengthening them but the goal itself was a good one. Our housebound future, by contrast, is part of an unanticipated contraction and isolation of our social lives.

"For the first two thirds of the 20th century a powerful tide bore Americans into ever deeper engagement in the life of their communities, but a few decades ago silently, without warning that tide reversed and we were overtaken by a treacherous rip current," wrote Robert D. Putnam in Bowling Alone, a seminal work on the dissolution of American social life. "Without at first noticing, we have been pulled apart from each other and from our communities." The housebound economy is both a natural outcome and further facilitator of that trend.

Going back to the highway mania of a century ago is not the answer. And we don't have to stop getting stuff delivered. But as we engage in our own futurism, picturing the world of 2120, we should imagine technology serving people, not only as individual drivers or couch-sitters, but as communities. Neither speeding about on highways nor sitting home while all your basic needs arrive via FedEx are the best of human life. May the city of the future be built to reflect that truth.

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The future is so much more housebound than we expected - The Week Magazine

‘New options’ for former Futurist site to go before Scarborough councillors in the new year – The Scarborough News

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An artists impressions of the Flamingo Land plans.

Scarborough Councils leader, Cllr Steve Siddons, has revealed that new options for the site, whose permanent use has yet to be identified, will go before councillors in the new year.

The move comes after a review of the deal between the council and theme-park operator Flamingo Land, which unveiled plans earlier this year to build a rollercoaster, a 60m-high cliffhanger tower ride and a four-storey building housing restaurants and play areas on the former Futurist site.

Cllr Siddons said: Were listening to what people have said to us and were looking at the planning options that are available to us.

We will work with Flamingo Land, if Flamingo Land are happy to work with us and at this stage they are, and in the new year, either January or February, we will bring a paper to Full Council that sets out some new options for that site.

The first artists impressions of the attraction, branded Flamingo Land Coast, divided public opinion. Although a number of people welcomed the investment, saying it will boost the towns tourism, many thought it looked out of place. Some even went as far as saying it was a monstrosity.

Despite suggesting Flamingo Lands plans didnt come with a great deal of detail, Cllr Siddons admitted that the scheme was very much disliked. Should Flamingo Land refuse to make changes to its proposal, he said, the council will look for another developer.

He added: Lots of people are telling us that different scale of buildings might be more appropriate there but Flamingo Land have said theyre happy to work with us if they can.

Obviously theyll have their own views of what they need to deliver from a business perspective but they are our preferred developer and its only right that we work with them to start with.

If they can deliver what we want for the future after talking to residents, then were happy to work with them. If they say thats not what we want to do well have to look for someone else to develop that site.

Cllr Siddons made the remarks shortly after launching the councils new Building a Better Borough strategy which focuses on delivering on peoples priorities and listening to residents views. The scheme will start with a wide public consultation in the new year.

We cant please everybody all the time you ask 100 people what they think and youll get 100 different asnwers but what weve got to try and do is pull that together in a way that thinks about the heritage of that seafront location and to do something that helps our aspirations to deliver better quality jobs for people.

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'New options' for former Futurist site to go before Scarborough councillors in the new year - The Scarborough News

The "Cats" Movie Was So Awful They Patched It – Futurism

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CGI Update

The 2019 cinematic take on Andrew Lloyd Webbers 1981 musical Cats was a catastrophe from the get-go: critics and moviegoers alike were appalled by what they saw.

And now, as the movie barely survives its opening weekend, a memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter suggests that distributor Universal has notified thousands of theaters that theyll be receiving an updated version of the movie with some improved visual effects.

Its unheard of in the movie industry for a title thats already being played in cinemas across the nation to get an upgrade, according to the Reporter.

Director Tom Hooper has said before that he was extremely pressed for time and had to rush production to make it in time for the world premiere last week.

The movie did reportedly show a lack of polish. Eagle-eyed audience members spotted human hands on starring actress Judi Dench instead of furry cat paws wedding rings and all.

Its unlikely that the CGI update will make the movie much more digestible to audiences:it stands currently at 18 percent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. And its not looking good financially either. Cats raked in only $6.5 million in the U.S. over its opening weekend, according to Screen Rant, making only a tiny dent in its $95 million budget.

READ MORE: Universal Notifies Theaters Cats Is Being Updated With Improved Visual Effects [The Hollywood Reporter]

More on Cats: Digital Fur Technology Will Turn Taylor Swift Into a Cat

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The "Cats" Movie Was So Awful They Patched It - Futurism

Tagore and Iqbal – Daily Times

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Before I touch this subject, I confess my lack of knowledge of Bengali language, which I believe, has been partly compensated by my study of Tagores best-known work Gitanjali translated into chaste English by Tagore himself. In the case of Iqbal, I have in my view most of his Urdu and Persian works, but more specifically Baal-e-Gibriel which I believe is truly representative of his genius.

It is said that comparisons are odious, especially between two equally gifted personages. Most people have drawn comparisons and contrasts between Tagore and Iqbal to show that one was superior to the other, which I think violates against the best literary traditions. Two equally gifted poets could be different in their outlook about man, nature and God, their subject matter, their form and mode of poetic expression, but not fundamentally as poets.Which one is better than the other is only a matter of ones personal choice which varies from person to person.

The palpable commonalities between the two were that both were great poets and contemporaries and both hailed from the Indian sub-continent. Both were conversant in more than two languages; Tagore, in Bengali and English, while Iqbal in Urdu and Persian.Both were imbued in their local as well as western culture, and had benefited from the philosophic and religious currents of their time.But they were vastly different in their approach to life and treatment of their subject matter.

Tagore wrote in the common language of the Bengali people and raised its status from a dialect to a rich and authentic language by abandoning the ancient form of the Indian (Hindi) language, despite criticism from his own Indian critics and scholars.

Tagores reputation as a writer was spread in the western world more swiftly than that of Iqbal with the publication in 1912 of Gitanjali: Song Offerings, in which Tagore tried to find inner calm and explored the themes of divine and human love. The poems were translated into English by Tagore himself. His cosmic visions owed much to the lyric tradition of Vaishnava Hinduism and its concepts about the relationship between man and God. Gitanjalis introduction was written by the famous English poet William Butler Yeats, who wrote These lyrics -which, in its original Bengali version, are full of subtlety of rhythm, of untranslatable delicacies of colour, of metrical invention, which display in their thought a world I have dreamed of all my life. His poems were praised by great literary icons like Ezra Pound, who drew the attention of the Nobel Prize committee, which awarded Tagore with Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. This was the primary reason why he won the Prize as against his great contemporary Iqbal, whose works were more dynamic, diversified and philosophical in nature, but none of them had been translated in English by that time, which was the only language which the Nobel Prize Committee could understand and appreciate.In one of his reviews, Ezra Pound wrote There is in him(Tagore) the stillness of nature. The poems do not seem to have been produced by storm or by ignition, but seem to show the normal habit of his mind. He is at one with nature, and finds no contradictions and this is in sharp contrast with the Western mode, where man must be shown attempting to master nature if we are to have great drama. Iqbal was such a poet whose works displayed the great drama by attempting to master nature, but unfortunately the western world remained oblivious to his work and art because of the barrier of language which they could not understand or appreciate.

A comparison of the tenor of their work shows that Tagore brought out the romantic in man; Iqbal the heroic. Tagore exulted in feminine beauty; Iqbal in masculine strength. There was music in Tagores poetry; there was fire in Iqbals poetry. Tagore was humble; Iqbal was proud. Tagore was inspired by Hafiz; Iqbal drew his strength from Rumi.

Did Rabindernath Tagore break away from the age-old beliefs and traditions ? No. His conception of life was perfectly in tune with the teachings of the Upanishad. His poetry and songs were saturated with pantheistic thoughts and ideas which he drew from the Upanishad, and the Persian mystic poets like Hafiz and others. He saw the vision of his Beloved in the moon, the stars and flowers and other beauties of Nature and perceived her footfalls in the stormy night behind the clouds; he heard her singing in the birds and whispering in the breeze. He feels constant pangs of separation from her and is ever anxious to meet her. Complete identification with her is the cry of his soul. His imagination ends there and cannot go beyond that. The following extracts from Rabindranath will bear me out:

Let there be no distinction between you and me

So that I may see myself at one with you, both in and out.

I have come to this world only as a pawn of your sports

My own desires will die unto your pleasure and love

And in weal and woe, none shall survive except you.

A comparison of the tenor of their work shows that Tagore brought out the romantic in man; Iqbal the heroic

Rabindranath Tagore is out and out a mystic poet of Pantheism, bordering, at places, on paganism. The burden of all his philosophic poems and songs is separation from, and hankering after complete communion with his consort. Like the Vedantists and the Sufis, he also tries to flee from life and merge himself into the Ultimate Being. Death is the target of his life! The glorification of death and self-effacement thus constitutes his principal message to mankind. In a typical fashion he plays on soft sentiments of love and separation and does not bother about the duties and responsibilities of man towards God and the World.

Against this Idealistic-Pantheistic-Vedantic-Sufistic background of under-estimation of life, Iqbal boldly proclaimed the individuality and immortality of the Soul and its never-ending progress and development in our after-life. He says that this visible world is not a baseless fabric of fantasy; it is also real and meaningful. Man is also real and his Ego or Soul will not be absorbed. Here man has been bracketed with God and given the exalted position of His Viceroy. This proves that there is no intermediary in between God and Man and that man has limitless power and potentiality in him. Indeed man is destined to rule the universe as the representative of God. Evidently, as long as God is, man is. God is no doubt our Creator, but once He has created us, He will not absorb or annihilate us. It is His pleasure that we live eternally with Him. This philosophy, of course, is not his own; it is broad-based on the teachings of the Holy Quran which vouchsafes eternal life not only to the dwellers of Paradise, but also to those of Hell. Iqbal has given a philosophic shape to this eternal veracity of Islam. Herein lies his contribution. I quote below a few lines from Iqbal to corroborate my views:

Life is preserved by purpose;

Because of its goal its caravan-bell tinkles. Life is latent in seeking.

Its origin is hidden in desire.

Desire keeps the Self in perpetual uproar ..

Negation of life is death to the living.

Abandon self and flee to God

Strengthened by God, return to thy self.

It is sweet to be Gods Vicegerent in the world

And exercise sway over the elements.

He gives new values to life and urges upon strengthening of the Soul. He believes that, in the scale of being, the status of every object is determined according to the degree of strength it attains. As God is the perennial source of all power and success, and as mans is not yet a complete personality, it is essential that he should come in close contact with God for borrowing strength from Him. The motivating idea behind this should be not to absorb himself into God, but rather to absorb God into himself. Man has to mouldhis character in accordance with the character and Attributes of Allah. Indeed, the nearer is a person to God, the greater is his personality. A man full of divine qualities is the perfect man. Iqbal calls him Insan-i-Kamil or the Perfect Man, as opposed to Neitzsches Superman. Iqbal pays tribute to the perfect man in these two immortal lines:

Develop thyself, so that before every decree

God Himself will ascertain from thee what is thy will?

In short, while the terminus station of Rabindranaths journey of life is God, that of Iqbal is Eternity. Iqbal is a perpetualtraveller; he does not stop at God, but goes further beyond. Rabindranaths span of life is, therefore, shorter than that of Iqbal, his outlook is also narrow and antiquated and mediaeval in character, having no dynamic appeal to this new age of space-flight and inter-planetary journey. Iqbal is the poet of today and also of to-morrow.

The writer is a former member of the Provincial Civil Service, and an author of Moments in Silence

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Tagore and Iqbal - Daily Times

Looming CA Law to ‘Regulate Away’ Many Freelance Jobs, Sponsor Says They ‘Were Never Good Jobs’ At All – MRCTV

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One of the most important lessons in economics is to learn that human valuation is subjective. As a result, the only way we can find out how much people value things is if we allow them to be free to buy or sell them at prices they determine. All of supply and demand are based on that freedom.

One of the key lessons in ethics is the Golden Rule, or Non-Aggression Principle, which includes both the Golden Rule and its variation: Do unto others as you would have them to unto you, and do not do unto others as you would not want them to do unto you.

People who understand economics and ethics know that both of these principles are tied to each other. In fact, they are one-and-the-same, rendering down to a simple edict:

Dont be a jerk.

But numerous politicians in the California Assembly seem to think that once they are elected, they can simply disregard this principle, and tell other people how to live and work.

And so we see the looming implementation of the new statute called AB 5, which, because these said same politicians want to force business owners to hand out health insurance to more people, will mandate that any freelance writers creating 35 pieces or more per year for an employer must be categorized as full-time employees.

Voila! Health insurance!

Or, if one lives in reality: Voila! Fewer freelance jobs! Fewer freelance writers living in California! Which is precisely where things are heading, as Billy Binion reports for Reason:

A nonprofit legal foundation is suing California on behalf of freelance workers who say the state's recently passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) will destroy their livelihoods.

Whats in the offing for many freelancers?

The bill's pending implementation has wreaked havoc on publications that rely heavily on California freelancers. Just last week, Vox Media announced itwill not be renewing the contracts of around 200 journalists who write for the sports website SB Nation. Instead, the company will replace many of those contractors with 20 part-time and full-time employees. Rev, which provides transcription services, and Scripted, which connects freelance copywriters with people who need their services, also notified their California contractors that they would no longer give them work.

And says Alisha Grauso, co-leader of the group California Freelance Writers United (CAFWU):

Companies can simply blacklist California writers and work with writers in other states, and that's exactly what's happening I dont blame them.

Absolutely stunning. But, with all the charm of a Grinch on Mount Crumpet, Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), the mastermind behind AB 5 Tweeted this to anyone who might possibly find her decision to control them a bit offensive:

I'm sure some legit freelancers lost substantial income, and I empathize with that especially this time of year. But Vox is a vulture.

What a sweetie. Apart from the fact that she appears to need an editor to explain to her the difference between the words empathize and sympathize, she shows such contempt for a business that she seems to have no problem telling its owners how to run it. You know how that goes. Happens all the time. You waltz into a shop, find it not to your liking, and then threaten the owner with fines, total shut-down, and a trip to jail at the hands of armed agents of the state godhead if they dont comply.

Golden Rule. Totally.

And in case anyone were confused, Binion notes this priceless gem:

'These were never good jobs,' Gonzalez said earlier this month. 'No one has ever suggested that, even freelancers.'

If youre shaking your head, youre not alone.

I've been able to earn nearly three times the amount I did working a day job, doing what I absolutely love, and having more to volunteer and spend time with loved ones, wrote Jackie Lam, a financial journalist. Kelly Butler, a freelance copywriter, echoed those sentiments. Thousands of CA female freelancer writers, single moms, minorities, stand to lose their livelihood due to this bill, she said. I was told by a client because I live in CA they can't use me. I made $20K from them this year.

And for those who are all hopped-up on gender sensitivity, Grauso notes that this CA statute will really harm women, who comprise 72.3 percent of their organization and who find particular advantages in freelance writing.

(F)reelancing allows women to be stay-at-home mothers or to care for an aging parent, Grauso notes. Being made employees kills their flexibility and ability to be home when needed. I cannot stress enough how anti-women this bill is.

Yet this bill passed in supposedly progressive Californias glorious Assembly and will be an enforceable statute, unless the CAFWU can spend enough time and money in court appealing to politically-appointed judges to emerge victorious.

The suit, brought by Pacific Legal Foundation on CAFWUs behalf, notes Binion, declares:

By enforcing the 35-submission limit, Defendant, acting under color of state law, unconstitutionally deprives Plaintiffs' members of their freedom of speech as protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

And this is spot-on. But this statue also completely breaches the Contract Clause of the US Constitution, which is found in Article I, Section Ten, Clause I, and reads:

No state shall pass any Law impairing the obligation of contracts.

This applies to freelancers who have contracts of any kind, including verbal agreements, with employers, and it also applies to all employment agreements, including wages. If the Contract Clause were respected in contemporary US politics, not only would AB 5 be gone, minimum wage laws could not apply to most standing employees, new safety mandates could not be forced on businesses, many licensing statutes would be history, and, well, shoot, politicians might stand a tiny bit closer to operating by the Golden Rule.

They can never get there, because theyre politicians who operate through government, and government is, by definition, a violation of the Golden Rule because it exists through force and tax theft. But, to quote the Beach Boys, wouldnt it be nice to see at least that kind of behavior on the part of people like Assemblywoman Gonzalez?

We can dream, even as we avoid some of the swear-peppered nonsense she added to another Tweet to defend her arrogant assault on peaceful businesses and note that another incredibly authentic, peace-loving politician named Senator Elizabeth Warren is on her side.

Yes. We can dream. And we can learn about how the US Constitution is supposed to operate, and how people like Assemblywoman Gonzalez and Liz Warren hold the sanctity of free association and free trade in absolute contempt.

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Looming CA Law to 'Regulate Away' Many Freelance Jobs, Sponsor Says They 'Were Never Good Jobs' At All - MRCTV

Neville: Where have our values gone? | News – AberdeenNews.com

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Over the course of the past three years, we have witnessed an erosion of the values that many of us hold dear.

If one looked to only our national leaders, one might mistakenly conclude that values such as hard work, integrity, selfless service, courage and honesty are entirely missing from our national fabric. After all, arent these leaders elected to our nations highest level because they represent the best of us? But nowhere has this decline of decency been more patently noticeable than in the White House. How is it possible to hold these values dear and then elect someone we would not trust to be alone in a room with our daughters?

For those who have not been keeping track, the following is a brief timeline of examples we have seen on this crumbling road to perdition:

November 2015:

October 2016:

January 2018:

February 2018:

May 2018:

December 2018:

October 2019:

November 2019:

November 2019:

Any one of these actions is despicable. But, when taken in their entirety, a pattern emerges of a near complete absence of nearly every one of the values to which most of us aspire and hold so dear.

We claim to hold our highest of leaders to the highest of standards. So how is it that our nation has become so blind to the loss of what we purport to hold so dear? How did we get to a place where politics, favor-trading and fear mongering trump who we love, how we behave and when we stand up for all those around us? I can think of no other explanation for how we, as a fair and democratic nation, can continue to defend the illegal and amoral behavior that should be indefensible.

And perhaps you think it does not affect us; Washington is, after all, a nation away. Yet even in South Dakota, congressional members John Thune, Mike Rounds and Dusty Johnson leaders we elected to represent our values and way of life are supporting an agenda so far removed from that baseline one wonders where the loyalties really lay. What happened to those South Dakota values? How can any Christian or anyone guided by the Golden Rule treating others with love, fairness and compassion possibly behave as our president does? Moreover, how can others condone, let alone support, this?

This dichotomy is causing a gaping chasm in our nation. We are living in a new era, one marked by dishonesty, selfishness, infidelity, crudeness, bigotry, sexism, misogyny and homophobia an era in which all of this is accepted as the norm. In this new nation, the end always justify the means, and it matters little, if at all, whom we trample, cheat, abuse or belittle in order to achieve the desired end. However, these are not the values that represent me, and they are not the values I want taught to my children.

Alan L. Neville is a professor of education at Northern State University. The views are his and do not represent Northern State.

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Neville: Where have our values gone? | News - AberdeenNews.com

Honesty in government is not an oxymoron – centraljersey.com

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I sent letters to my Congressional representatives and to the Judiciary Committee chairs and ranking members on May 10, 2019. It is disgusting that their offices did not even acknowledge receiving the letters. So I sent another round of letters amidst the holiday season and summarize that letter for public consideration.

Our national situation continues on a precarious path of eroding public trust and faith in our government. As a registered Republican, I implore Congress to support the full disclosure and transparency President Donald Trump touted for so long.

His position has seriously changed on this after it was found out he withheld U.S. Congressionally approved defensive aid to Ukraine in order to ask for favors for his own personal use. That information was moved from one server to a more secure and secret server, evidence of a cover-up.

Following all the recent sworn testimony by the limited officials permitted to testify regarding Ukrainian demands from President Trump, the evidence shows a pattern of continuous obstruction of justice, contempt of Congress, bullying of the press and media.

Again, listening to the Presidents many sides of the same story and FOX news, Breitbart, etc., unfortunately the clear evidence so far has led me to conclude President Trump should be impeached as he willingly instructed his colleagues (in the Executive branch as well as personal attorneys, friends and family) to serve evil purposes contrary to law and the U.S. Constitution.

The House impeaches and a trial is held in the U.S. Senate. The House has pursued hearings and developed a compelling case that high crimes and misdemeanors have been committed by President Trump and his associates at the Presidents explicit and implicit direct abuse of power.

The Senate needs to objectively consider the evidence and convict or not convict. A free and open debate and cross examination will continue to make our country strong.

Let me say as a political scientist that such a high turnover rate in the highest levels of the Executive Branch as well as leaving many positions unfilled demonstrates that President Trump does not so much want to rule from evidentiary or factual background as much as just winging it that endangers the entire country and world.

His disdain of expert, informed intelligence and advice indicate a rigidity to rule by authoritarian actions. Facts do matter; no amount of tweeting or spinning can change them.

I need a strong response from our Congress to clearly state the American position about the need to follow the Golden Rule (Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. Matthew 7:12), and not the one that says The man with the Gold rules.

I would like to see and hear that Congress has the collective courage to take on objectively the largest menace to our freedom and republican form of government as embodied by the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and a history of gradual, yet continual human progress.

John C. JenningsFreehold Township

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Honesty in government is not an oxymoron - centraljersey.com