Thousand Islands Hose Haulers hosts fire equipment parade and muster – WatertownDailyTimes.com

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SACKETS HARBOR Antique fire trucks and equipment from previous decades, with some pieces that are more than 100 years old, will be on display today in a parade hosted by the Thousand Islands Hose Haulers that will run throughout the village.

Its going to give people an opportunity to see fire trucks theyve never seen before, said William M. Blunden, president of the Thousand Island Hose Haulers.

Mr. Blunden said the Sackets Harbor Fire Department will lead the parade, followed by several fire chiefs and rescue vehicles, pumpers, ladder trucks and other equipment used anytime between the mid-1800s to the late 1900s. They will travel through the business district and Main Street. The parade will begin at 9 a.m. at the Sackets Harbor Central School, 215 S. Broad St.

The equipment for the parade was supplied by members of the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America, or SPAAMFAA, a national organization which also has members from Canada and Europe, dedicated to preserving and restoring fire apparatus and equipment. The Thousand Islands Hose Haulers serves as the Northern New York chapter of SPAAMFAA.

Its a brotherhood ... to have them all in one place and to do a parade in Sackets is special, Sackets Harbor Mayor Vincent J. Battista said.

The parade will conclude at the polo grounds at the Madison Barracks for a muster, which Mr. Blunden compared to a car show for fire equipment, that will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Mr. Blunden, who also serves as muster chairman, said visitors will have the chance to see equipment from the parade on display as well as additional motorized, horse-drawn and hand-pulled equipment. The Thousand Island Hose Haulers will also give live demonstrations of motorized pumps and hand pumps, and there will be contests and childrens activities.

Theres going to be a little something for everybody, Mr. Blunden said.

The parade and muster serve as celebrations for the last day of the SPAAMFAA National Summer Convention and Muster, which began Wednesday and predominantly took place through meetings at the Hilton Garden Inn in Watertown.

Mr. Blunden, who served with the Carthage Volunteer Fire Department for 34 years before he retired last year, said this was the first year the Thousand Islands Hose Haulers were able to host the national event and they hosted more than 300 members. The local chapter held a trip to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, a boat cruise, a ride along the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, a wine tour and a tour of the fire stations in Watertown and Fort Drum. The event will conclude with a banquet for members tonight.

Theyre getting an opportunity to see some of the best of the north country, Mr. Blunden said. This is a huge boon for local tourism. We are just overjoyed to be a part of this.

The Thousand Islands Hose Haulers was formed 2010 with 12 members. The chapter has grown to a membership of about 45 members from Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego counties.

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Thousand Islands Hose Haulers hosts fire equipment parade and muster - WatertownDailyTimes.com

Insight: Solomon Islands – Keeping the Peace – Radio New Zealand

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After 14 years and more than $3 billion in support from Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific partners, what chance has Solomon Islands got of lasting peace?

A boy holds a sign saying "thank you very much RAMSI" as the international mission comes to an end. Photo: RNZ/Koroi Hawkins

The true success of the Pacific region's first ever peacekeeping intervention is now being tested in the island nation as it tries to chart a course for its future, while trying to forget the ghosts of the past.

The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) led by Australia and New Zealand departed the country at the end of June, having spent 14 years helping to restore law and order and build up government institutions.

Has Solomon Islands made the most of RAMSI's time in the country? And, more importantly, can it make the most of the second chance given by the "blood, sweat and tears" of the men and women of 15 nations who came to help a friend in need?

'The Tensions'

More than 200 people lost their lives during the conflict in Solomon Islands. Most were civilians. Many are still missing.

This period from 1998 to 2003 is locally referred to as the 'Ethnic Tensions' or simply 'The Tensions'.

Opinions vary on the cause of the conflict and the list of contributing factors is long and complex.

Photo taken on the 20th of July 2003. A militiaman loyal to renegade warlord Harold Keke guards a church Photo: AFP PHOTO/Ben BOHANE

But in its simplest form, the Ethnic Tensions involved four broad groups: the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army (GRA), self-described freedom fighters trying to rid their lands of illegal settlers; the Malaita Eagle Force, who fancied themselves defenders of the settlers, repelling the GRA and protecting people in the capital, Honiara; parliamentarians, who probably thought of themselves as victims; and ordinary civilians, who are considered to be the real victims.

The fighting started with disputes over rights to settle on certain areas of land near the capital, Honiara.

First-hand accounts recorded on condition of anonymity by a truth and reconciliation commission, which was set up to look into the causes of the tensions, are harrowing. These are the words of a man who had returned to his village after a militant raid the night before.

"There I saw a man who was shot and had a knife stab wound on his body. I helped carry his body to a helicopter but unfortunately he died at the spot. Another man was lying down in the flower hedges; the militants had removed the skin of his face. His two children were given a piece of biscuit each and stood over their father's body. He was rushed to the hospital but unfortunately he died later."

And this woman described life under a warlord's rule.

"There were several of them who were raped at gunpoint, including my own daughter. We were under his rule and we did not have freedom of movement during that time."

Solomon Islands women at church: Some women are still concerned about what their future might hold. Photo: RNZ/Koroi Hawkins

It was an especially dark time for women and children, as another woman explained.

"Mothers gave birth in the middle of the bush. Some in pouring rain, some in heat, but all in fear."

The government, struggling to regain control of the situation, brokered a peace treaty disbanding both militia groups.

But most of the now "ex-militants" hung onto their weapons and Solomon Islands continued its downward spiral into complete lawlessness and chaotic violence, ruled by men with guns.

In 2003, having at first strongly opposed the idea, Australia finally agreed to lead an intervention with support from New Zealand and personnel from 13 Pacific Islands Forum countries.

Help arrives but eventually comes to an end

For Solomon Islanders weary of five years of living hell, the arrival of the RAMSI teams was the answer to their prayers.

"It has become the symbol of peace, hope and order. To all Christians in Solomon Islands RAMSI is a divine intervention," was how Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare described it.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare started his third and most recent term in the role in 2014. Photo: RNZ/Koroi Hawkins

Over the course of the next decade RAMSI helped rebuild national institutions, strengthen government processes and restart Solomon Islands' economy.

In 2013 after its 10th anniversary, all of RAMSI's state-building activities were transferred to longer-term bilateral arrangements and it became solely a policing mission.

By 2016 this had further reduced to an advisory support role to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.

The mission, which cost Australia $NZ3bn, ended this year in June.

About 2000 New Zealand men and women took part in RAMSI and the government contributed $NZ150 million to its overall cost.

Around 2000 New Zealand men and women took part in RAMSI and government contributed $150 million to its $3 billion dollar bill 95 percent of which was footed by Australia. Photo: RAMSI gallery/Solomon Islands Govt

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett said it had been an important investment.

"I think we should be really proud of that. The fact that we put so many personnel here and through the aid programme as well are investing in things that make a practical difference to the people of the Solomons.

"I am really confident... I think that the money has been well spent."

A new chapter

On the eve of RAMSI's departure Australia announced another $NZ150m in support for Solomon Islands over the next four years, $NZ80m of which will fund more than 40 Australian Federal Police officers who are staying on to continue supporting local police in advisory roles.

Australia and New Zealand have both committed extra funds to strengthen the local police force. Photo: RNZ/Koroi Hawkins

New Zealand has committed another $NZ12.5m, which will fund at least four police advisors from New Zealand, to be based in Honiara.

On top of this both Australia and New Zealand will provide ongoing bilateral aid support to Solomon Islands.

Australia's governor-general Sir Peter Cosgrove, speaking on behalf of Pacific Islands Forum leaders at the RAMSI farewell celebrations at the Lawson Tama stadium in Honiara, reassured Solomon Islanders of this support.

"We the people of the participating nations stand proud of what has been achieved with the courage and the energy and the tolerance and the wisdom of Solomon Islanders. We look forward to seeing the course you chart into the future... From Australia and New Zealand to the smaller states. from north, south, east and west, we are with you."

John Bishop hails from the Western Solomons. He said he was sad to see RAMSI leave. Photo: RNZI/ Koroi Hawkins

But despite all of this support there were still mixed feelings among Solomon Islanders about RAMSI's departure.

In Chinatown, John Bishop, a visitor from the Western Province, said the mission's work would be missed.

"It makes me really sad because RAMSI has been doing a lot of work here in the Solomons. And has established a lot of things. Peace and order and people [were] starting to gain confidence when RAMSI was here," Mr Bishop said.

Anthonia Deve and her daughter Janice. Mrs Deve says its the uncertainty more than anything that troubles her about RAMSI's departure. Photo: RNZI/ Koroi Hawkins

Another citizen RNZ talked to, Anthonia Deve, who had lived through the tensions, said she was still uncertain about the future.

"Sometimes we will be thinking it will be okay, but we are not really sure. We are not really sure what will come after they are leaving the Solomon Islands, as we are the women of Solomon Islands. Because already in the past during this ethnic tension, it really hurt us, and put us in some kind of position that we [were] lost, we [were] nothing. Dying people and all this," she said.

There were some who were glad RAMSI was leaving. With a deep sense of patriotism, local resident Ellen Stennet, said she was proud that Solomon Islands was able to stand on its own.

Ellen Stennet felt very patriotic about RAMSI leaving she said she was proud Solomon Islands could finally stand on its own two feet. Photo: RNZI/ Koroi Hawkins

"If you regard this country, you name it [as] a Christian country, you stand by yourself like you are independent. And make Solomon Islands a better place. Rather than always relying on other countries. We have our government, we are independent, we educate ourselves. Let us make our country to a better living [standard] if you think you are proud of Solomon Islands," Ellen Stennet said.

Others RNZ spoke to were apathetic. One man at the central market politely explained to me that he was more concerned about selling his produce than talking about the mission leaving.

While views on RAMSI leaving varied greatly, most Solomon Islanders spoken to by RNZ said they were grateful for what the mission had done for their country.

Missed opportunities

RAMSI was never meant to solve all of Solomon Islands' problems.

Considerable gains have been made under RAMSI across all sectors of the nation, thanks to the focus on strengthening institutions such as the courts and streamlining processes like that for registering a business.

But the difficult areas, areas where RAMSI could or would not go - such as addressing the causes of the ethnic crisis, corruption and bringing about political stability - were also not addressed by the island nation while the mission was there.

And they remain the things Solomon Islands must still address, without RAMSI, if it is to move forward.

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Insight: Solomon Islands - Keeping the Peace - Radio New Zealand

Freshly Growing — Once-rural Johns Island attracting house hunters to new neighborhoods, custom sites – Charleston Post Courier

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This removed Lowcountry land mass impacts traffic on Savannah Highway and Main Road, reaches its southernmost point at Kiawah and Seabrook islands and takes in views across the Stono River from Charleston Municipal Golf Course and James Island County Park.

A tomato-growing belt one generation earlier, Johns Island today sprouts an oversized share of single-family homes, multifamily properties and apartment rental communities. Yet the island, one of the largest on the East Coast and comparable to Martha's Vineyard in size, still manages to cling to its secluded nature -- showcasing a tranquil countryside; narrow dirt roads; and isolated creeks tucked beyond woods, marsh and farms.

At eastern edge, Johns Island works out to a 20-minute round-trip to and from peninsula Charleston.

"The benefit of Fenwick The Preserve, it's the first thing you come to going to Johns Island (on Maybank Highway)," says Stephen Carroll, owner of Landcrafters Inc. real estate land company bankrolling the once-stalled neighborhood overlooking Penny Creek. The company recharged the neighborhood, selling homes including on the water from $775,000 to $925,000. Five houses are under construction, including a spec home under contract and a custom residence being built.

"We've got 34 more lots," he says.

Carroll views Johns Island as a steadily expanding market with no major signs at least now of waning.

"When I do MLS (Multiple Listing Service) research on Johns Island, it's usually in the top five in sales," Carroll says. The island maintains a "20-30 percent growth rate," he says. "Especially with the widening of Maybank Highway under construction now, it would alleviate (traffic)_ pressure," he says.

Figures from Charleston Trident Association of Realtors back up the contention that Johns Island is growing at a faster-than-average pace. The roughly circular shaped island posted 649 closed home sales last year to place ninth of 23 local cities, towns and geographical regions. Homes are staying on the market for 51 days, tied for seventh fastest in sale time in the Lowcountry. Further, median prices on Johns Island reached $275,000, gaining 7.2 percent from 2015 and 39.3 percent in the five-year period since 2012.

New home construction plays a big role in Johns Island's appeal as a place to live. Last year, 45.8 percent of home sales involve just--built houses, the highest rank in metro Charleston. Separately, Johns Island tallies the sixth highest single-family market share in 2015 at 88.2 percent. Most multfamily properties are rentals rather than townhomes and condos.

Johns Island homes run in price to more than $1 million, but there are value deals, agents note.

David Wertan, agent with ReMax Advanced Realty, is listing a 2,100 square foot home in Cedar Springs neighborhood near Maybank Highway and Bohicket Road for $339,900.

The four bedroom custom home is move-in ready and the builder included "tons of upgrades," he says in the listing. Other perks include upgraded floors, cabinets, lighting and trim packages; stainless steel kitchen appliances and a screened-in porch, according to Wertan.

The island on its southern edge benefits from its proximity to Kiawah and Seabrook islands. Homeowners can take advantage of resort amenities either by joining a club or paying a membership fee.

Kiawah River Estates sits three miles from the islands and close to Freshfield Village upscale shopping plaza, Toula DiGiovanni says. The Golden Bear Realty agent lists a lot for sale on Turtle Landing for $109,000.

Located on the eighth hole of Oak Point Golf Course within Kiawah River Estates, the cul-de-sac home site includes fairway and lagoon views, sits 200 yards from Haulover Creek and is a short walk to the community dock and picnic area.

The neighborhood "has seen tremendous growth in the last couple of years as more people are retiring or choosing an easier lifestyle," DiGiovanni says.

Property owners can join the Seabrook Island Club as well as the Kiawah Island Governor's Club, giving them "full access to the amenities on both islands," she says.

The 28 home sites for sale at Kiawah River Estates range price from $77,000 to $429,000, with the higher priced lots on the creek. At least 10 new homes are being built to join 180 houses already constructed, she says.

DiGiovanni also lists a condo at Bohicket Marina Village, typically considered a Seabrook Island property but located on Johns Island.

The property on the market for $599,000 on Marsh Oak Lane in Bohicket Marina Village boasts two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, garage, carport, front and rear decks and stairs leading to the Bohicket Marina boardwalk. It's being sold furnished. Owners have access to Seabrook Island and the island's Lakehouse.

"The condos have beautiful views of the marina and the sunsets are out of this world," DiGiovanni says.

For more information and photos, go to http://www.postandcourier.com/business/real_estate/jim-parker.

Reach Jim Parker at 843-937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com.

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Freshly Growing -- Once-rural Johns Island attracting house hunters to new neighborhoods, custom sites - Charleston Post Courier

Israeli team finds biological basis for rare neurological kids’ disease – The Jerusalem Post

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The secret to healing what ails you lies within your own DNA. (photo credit:DREAMSTIME)

The biological basis of a severe and mysterious neurological disorder in children that is caused by a single error in one gene has been described for the first time by a multinational team led by researchers from Jerusalem.

Just published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, the study was headed by Prof. Orly Elpeleg of the pediatrics department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalems Faculty of Medicine and director of the genetics department at Hadassah- University Medical Center.

Elpeleg credits the discovery to deep sequencing technology that Hadassah and Hebrew U. were among the first to introduce into clinical practice in Israel and in the world.

The team found that affected childrens cells are flooded with ribosomal RNA and are poisoned by it. It was the first time an excess of ribosomal RNA has been linked to a disease in human regression and neurodegeneration.

The disease does not yet have a name.

At first, affected children lead normal lives and seem identical to their age-matched peers.

However, beginning at age three to six, they show neurological deterioration gradually losing motor, cognitive and speech functions. Although the condition progresses slowly, most patients are completely dependent sometime between 15 to 20 years of age.

Working with colleagues from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and a multinational research team, the Israeli-led team have now identified and studied seven children from Canada, France, Israel, Russia and the US who suffer from the disorder.

The researchers found in all patients the same spontaneously occurring, non-inherited genetic change in a gene, named UBTF, responsible for ribosomal RNA formation.

It is because of this small change that patients cells are flooded with ribosomal RNA.

Ribosomes are responsible for the translation and production of cell proteins. They are made up of ribosomal proteins and of ribosomal RNA in a precise ratio.

The researchers found an identical error in the same gene in all the patients tested, representing a difference of one letter among the roughly three billion that make up human DNA.

By finding the identical change in children with the identical clinical disease, the researchers determined the altered gene was indeed the cause of the disease.

Elpeleg initially encountered the disease in a young girl who came to Hadassah.

Five years ago, I saw a patient who was healthy until the age of three and then experienced a disturbance in her walking and motor function, speech and cognition. Around that time, we had introduced the deep-sequencing technology for clinical use at Hadassah, which enabled us to read all the coding genetic material of a person within a couple of days, in order to identify genetic defects.

Since 2010, Hadassah has assembled the largest genetic mapping database in Israel with around 2,400 patients.

Searching for similar genetic defects in this database, we found a nine-year-old boy who had been treated at Hadassah and now lives in Russia. The boy had been healthy until the age of five and then displayed neurological deterioration just like the girl I had diagnosed, said Elpeleg.

Dr. Simon Edvardson, a pediatric neurologist at Hadassah, flew to Russia, examined the boy, took genetic samples from him and his parents and confirmed that his illness was identical to that of the Israeli girl. We then knew we had identified a new disease that was not recognized in the medical literature, said Elpeleg.

Comparing their data in a program called Gene Matcher, the researchers found several more children around the world who shared an identical genetic defect and the same course of disease.

To understand the mechanism of the newly identified disease, the researchers collaborated with Dr. George-Lucian Moldovan at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine who confirmed the disease mechanism in the childrens cells, there is an excess RNA of the ribosome, which probably causes brain cells to be flooded and poisoned.

While there is currently no cure for genetic diseases of this kind, the identification of the exact mutation may allow for the planning of therapies designed to silence the mutant gene.

Science may not be able to repair the gene, but now that our findings are published, it may be possible to make early identification of the disease and in the future find ways to prevent such a serious deterioration, Elpeleg said.

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Israeli team finds biological basis for rare neurological kids' disease - The Jerusalem Post

Pence on health care: ‘It ain’t over’ – CNN International

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"My fellow conservatives, let me be clear. This ain't over. This ain't over by a long shot," Pence said. "And President Trump and I are absolutely committed to keep our promise to the American people. We were not elected to save Obamacare -- we were elected to repeal and replace it."

Pence was speaking at Young America's Foundation's annual National Conservative Student Conference a little over a week after the Republican-led Obamacare replacement proposal failed in dramatic fashion in the Senate.

Hours before Pence's speech, President Trump had left the nation's capital for a 17-day working vacation at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and the Senate had left for its August recess.

Yet the vice president assured the conservative audience that the GOP's seven-year campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act would continue.

"Last week it was clear that the Senate wasn't quite ready to keep that promise to the American people when they fell one vote short of moving forward on a bill to repeal and replace this disastrous policy," Pence said.

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Pence on health care: 'It ain't over' - CNN International

McConnell on healthcare failure: ‘Feel better, Hillary Clinton could be president’ – The Hill

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellMitch McConnellOvernight Finance: Trump signs Russia sanctions bill, rips Congress | Trump plan would cut legal immigration | Senate confirms labor board pick | House Budget chair running for governor | Regulator takes step to change 'Volcker Rule' House Dem on Statue of Liberty: 'She persisted' Senate GOP eyes end to August session MORE (R-Ky.) looked to rally Republicans on Saturday in the wake of the Senate GOP's failure to pass an ObamaCare repeal bill last week.

I choose not to dwell on situations where we come up a little bit short, McConnell said during a surprise appearance ata Republican event in Kentucky, according to local radio station WFPL.

Even on the night when we came up one vote short of our dream to repeal and replace Obamacare, heres the first thing I thought about: feel better, Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonCongress wants Trump Jr. phone records related to Russia meeting Zuckerberg hires top Clinton pollster amid rumors of presidential run: report Democrats new 'Better Deal' comes up short for people of color MORE could be president," he added.

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McConnell's comments come as lawmakers have returned to their home districts for the August recess after Senate GOPefforts to fulfill their seven-year campaign promise to repeal and replaceObamaCare collapsed last week in the Senate, with a scaled-down repeal bill narrowly failing.

President Trump has recently pushed Senate Republicans to abolish the legislative filibuster and bring back efforts to repeal and replace the 2010 healthcare law, however Republicansappear poised to move onto other issues such as tax reform.

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McConnell on healthcare failure: 'Feel better, Hillary Clinton could be president' - The Hill

Questions over Russia, healthcare dominate Rep. Eric Swalwell’s town hall at Livermore high school – Los Angeles Times

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Aug. 5, 2017, 3:09 p.m.

Over the shouts of a lone heckler at a packed Livermore town hall, Northern California Rep. Eric Swalwell on Saturday once more called for the creation of an independent commission to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election.

If we do anything, we should make sure that the 2018 election is more secure than the 2016 election, Swalwellsaid, drawing a round of applause from the audience.

Roughly 500 people filled the seats at a Granada High School gym, many of whomwere attending a town hall for the first time amid concerns over what they said they view asa tense and divisive political climate in Washington. The event was organized to address questions from constituents about jobs, healthcareand what Swalwellcalled efforts to protect democracy.

It came daysafter special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIconvened a criminal grand jury to investigate the presidential election, focusing on Donald Trump Jr.s meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

Questions over the Russia probeand GOP efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act dominated the discussion.

Swalwell, a Democrat from Dublin who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, hasstarted a web page detailing the alleged Russian tiesof Trump administration officials. Hesaid Mueller's investigation did not eliminate the need for an independent commission.

The congressman said there was no evidence Russian actors had changed votes. But intelligence reports had shown President Vladimir Putin influenced the election through "a multifaceted attack" that hesaid included hacked emails and the spread of fake news throughsocial media trolls.

What we know the Russians did do is that they went into a number of state election voter databases, he said. We dont know why. You could speculate that they wanted to show that they could at least get in, and that it would sow discord or sow doubt when the result came out.

The event waslargely free of the protests and rambunctious tactics that have overtaken recent townhalls in California. Oneman in the audience shouted questions at Swalwell as he spoke about Russian interference, yelling, "Get over it. He won." But he was soon silenced by the audience.

Swalwellalso fielded questions about his efforts to ease college debt and build the Future Forum, a group of young Democratic members of Congress focused on student loan debt and homeownership.

On healthcare, Swalwell called for a "Medicare for all" system, saying lawmakers needed to continue to expand access and reduce costs. Constituents quizzed him on who would pay for such a plan.

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Questions over Russia, healthcare dominate Rep. Eric Swalwell's town hall at Livermore high school - Los Angeles Times

Fitzpatrick pushes bipartisanship for health care fix – Bucks County Courier Times

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The clock is ticking for action on the Affordable Care Act following last month's failure to repeal and replace President Obama's signature legislation.

While seated at a corner table at Garden of Eatin restaurant in Levittown on Wednesday afternoon, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, R-8, of Middletown, said he recognized the sense of urgency on stabilizing the individual markets.

That's why the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus released earlier this week its five-point proposal to fix parts of the ACA, Fitzpatrick said.

"That was the purpose of the proposal, to inject a sense of urgency," Fitzpatrick said. "This is our temporary, bipartisan fix until we get a permanent solution."

A couple days into Congress' August recess, Fitzpatrick had just spent an hour answering questions on the air at Levittown's WBCB radio station. The Garden of Eatin is a favorite spot for Fitzpatrick, who said he regularly stops in on Sundays after church.

The post-lunch, pre-dinner Wednesday afternoon left a sparsely filled, quiet restaurant as Fitzpatrick touched on several topics between bites of his garden salad, washed down with a cup of coffee.

Millions of Americans who rely on the ACA to guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions or expanded Medicaid payments to help cover costs were relieved when the Senate failed in its attempt to pass a repeal bill. However, President Trump has not made it clear if he will allow to go unchallenged the payment of cost-sharing reimbursements to insurance companies participating in the individual exchanges.

That uncertainty has insurance companies looking at possible rate hikes for the 2018 market, and either the White House or Congress has until the end of September to clear everything up.

Stabilizing the cost-sharing reimbursements is the top priority in the Problem Solvers Caucus' proposal, and Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, of Tennessee, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has made it clear the reimbursements will be item number one when he convenes bipartisan committee hearings on health care the week of Sept. 4.

"The individual marketplace is what needs to be rescued right now," Fitzpatrick said. "The actuaries in these companies need to start pricing out their products. They are threatening to increase premiums, in some cases up to 30 percent. We can't allow that to happen."

Fitzpatrick seemed hopeful after months of partisan bickering on the future of the ACA that the settling dust has allowed a bipartisan solution to take shape. The people on the extreme wings of either party are never going to agree on legislation, Fitzpatrick said, but people he describes as "reasonable folks" have embraced the proposal.

"I'm a big believer in the need to fix the system," Fitzpatrick said. "We all need a health care system that works. We're all going to get old, we're all going to get sick and we're all going to get injured. We need a health care system that's low-cost, high-quality and has expanded access."

Bipartisanship was a running theme during his first congressional election campaign, and Fitzpatrick says he has tried to adhere to that during his first seven months in office. He partnered with Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle in the neighboring 13th District, in Northeast Philadelphia and Montgomery County, to lobby for more attention paid to the issue of perfluorinated chemicals contaminating the water supply in communities in Bucks and Montgomery counties.

They have attached three amendments to the latest National Defense Authorization Act that requires the Department of Defense to partner with local governments and provide health screenings in neighborhoods close to the air bases where firefighting compounds containing PFCs were used. The amendments also call for the Department of Defense to pay for a health study into the long-term effects of PFCs and provide an update on the department's progress developing an alternative firefighting foam that does not use the perfluorinatedchemicals PFOS and PFOA.

"We passed the House version, and the Senate will pass its own version, and then we will go into conference," said Fitzpatrick. "Senators (Bob) Casey and (Pat) Toomey have been supportive, so I feel confident we'll get these in the final draft. We'll get in as many as we can."

Fitzpatrick is also looking forward to the return of regular order to Congress as the focus shifts to tax reform. The drafting of the House and Senate bills occurred mostly behind closed doors, with little time spent in committees or public hearings on the legislation.

A group of Republican legislators from Congress and the executive branch has started putting together a framework for tax reform. Last week, the group, dubbed the Big Six, ruled out a border adjustment tax from the reform package. Once completed, the legislation will go to the House for normal committee review and hearings, Fitzpatrick said.

"It will make its way through the Ways and Means committee," Fitzpatrick said. "Then we'll start the amendment process on the floor of the House. My big thing is that it should go through regular order and that there be hearings where everybody who is a stakeholder has a chance to be heard. Their input needs to be part of the legislative package."

Any reforms would need to include cuts to both individuals and corporations, Fitzpatrick said. The current corporate tax rate of 35 percent is one of the highest in the world and keeps the U.S. from being competitive with other countries, he said. There needs to be a "sweet spot" where the tax is low enough to be competitive, but not so low that will bleed tax revenue.

Fitzpatrick supports reducing income tax brackets from seven to three and eliminating deductions and loopholes. The Internal Revenue code is a mess, he said, weighing in at 70,000 pages of costly bureaucracy.

"CPAs like myself had a hard time navigating that," said Fitzpatrick. "Unless they have a tax attorney that can handle the complex system, the average person gets crushed. Bringing down the marginal rates and getting rid of the special interest deductions and loopholes, coupled with regulatory reform and a balanced budget amendment, are key to growing the economy."

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Civilians trapped in Raqqa with little access to urgently needed healthcare, organizations warn – ABC News

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During a recent trip back to the outskirts of his hometown of Raqqa, Abu Ismail saw that life in the city, which over the past few years has become the de-facto capital of ISIS in Syria, is now nothing like it was when he left in 2013.

Abu Ismail, 54, was told by residents who had just fled the predominantly Sunni city that they had no clean water inside instead, they had to drink unsanitary water from wells. Some went without food for days, while others boiled grape leaves and had the soup for dinner. The lack of nutrition and clean water is making many civilians sick, while some sustain injuries from bullets and explosions in the beleaguered city -- and all have little or no access to healthcare, he said.

Some volunteer doctors from Raqqa have opened clinics for people inside, but there are no hospitals or medical centers or anything, and water and electricity is cut off, Abu Ismail, an activist who now lives in Turkey, told ABC News.

A few weeks ago, Abu Ismail visited the northwestern outskirts of Raqqa to see his brother for the first time in four years. During his trip, he said residents who had just left Raqqa told him that only one hospital in the northern Syrian city remains partially functioning. And ISIS fighters have first priority there.

If a child and an ISIS fighter are wounded, they will treat the ISIS fighter instead of the child, said Abu Ismail -- which, meaning "father of Ismail," is a nickname he goes by. He uses the name out of fear of potential repercussions he may face for traveling back into the Raqqa area.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) -- which is dominated by Kurdish People's Protection Units militia, also known as YPG -- launched its campaign to seize Raqqa from ISIS in early June. About 45 percent of the city is now under SDF control, according to Col. Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria. As the frontline tightens around the estimated 20,000-50,000 residents still living inside Raqqa, civilians are being injured and killed.

Given the danger on the ground and lack of access to Raqqa, its difficult to determine the state of the security and humanitarian situation. But the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that some health workers who recently fled the city say that all hospitals and health centers there are now out of service. In addition to injuries from coalition airstrikes and sniper fire, civilians in Raqqa are at risk of waterborne epidemic diseases such as cholera and hepatitis, as theyve had no access to clean drinking water for 48 days, the WHO said.

In addition, the majority of local physicians as well as the other health workers have fled the city, and the medicines are quite scarce, and their prices are excessive, a WHO spokesperson told ABC News.

Since June, the organization Doctors Without Borders, commonly known by its French acronym MSF, said it has treated more than 400 patients from Raqqa and surrounding villages. Most patients are civilians with injuries caused by improvised explosive devices, landmines, unexploded ordnance, shrapnel and gunshot wounds, MSF said.

Some of MSF's patients were civilians who sustained wounds upon returning to their old neighborhoods after fighting there ended, said Vanessa Cramond, MSFs medical coordinator in Northern Syria.

A Raqqa-based family had returned to their home and was tidying up the house after being away for a long time. The familys two teenage girls were making the bed when a device placed either in or under the bed exploded, killing one sister immediately and injuring the other critically, Cramond said. And last week, a young boy picked up an unexploded ordinance and brought it home, not knowing what it was. The device detonated, killing two of his immediate family members and injuring the whole family, she said.

I think its just the precariousness of that situation and how devastating it is for the whole family just going about their daily business, Cramond told ABC News via phone during a recent trip to Northern Syria. That is a relative norm, unfortunately, as war has become normal for so many people in Raqqa.

Cramond said she believes the level of access to healthcare inside Raqqa changes from moment to moment sometimes people have more freedom to walk around and seek care than at other times. Some of the residents MSF has treated over the past months actually seemed to have received a good level of care inside Raqqa, she said, while other times injuries were addressed too late.

We see people with shrapnel inside them from the impact of a blast so the wound is really infected, and that often means that we see people who need to be amputated because were seeing them very much after the injuries occurred and were unable to salvage them, Cramond said.

MSFs team on the ground has not seen patients with ongoing health issues such as uncontrolled asthma, diabetes, and heart disease, said Cramond, and the number of patients they do see is relatively small.

That worries us, she said, adding that this tells her that many civilians are unable to reach medical centers, or dont know where to go for necessary treatments and surgeries.

Hodeb Shahada, an activist who fled Raqqa for Turkey about a year and a half ago, said he was in touch with some of his friends who have remained in the city, until they decided to flee in mid-July. When they had access to the internet inside Raqqa, they would send him voice recordings about what life is like inside. They told him that only three to four doctors remained in the only hospital that was partially functioning. Some residents died on their way to seek treatment.

Everything that moves in the street is a target, so at the end no one dares to take people to the hospital, Shahada told ABC News.

Shahadas friends told him about an ambulance worker who had lost his wife after their home was hit by an airstrike. The worker later tried to help four boys who were injured after a different strike hit their home, but he was killed when his vehicle was also struck.

The cause of many of the issues Raqqas residents are facing, however, is the lack of clean water, Shahada said.

People drink bad water from wells and it leads to diseases. Some are killed on their way to get water, he said.

Some civilians have reportedly died because they were caught in the crossfire on their way to get water from the Euphrates river, the WHO said.

The ongoing military campaign in Raqqa means that the WHO doesnt have access to send health teams into the city. For the first time in three years, the WHO on Tuesday delivered medicine and medical supplies -- enough for 150,000 treatments to Al-Qamishli, northeast of Raqqa, where some residents displaced from Raqqa live in temporary camps.

More than 200,000 people have fled their homes around Raqqa since April 1, according to the United Nations. In 2004, Raqqa was the sixth largest city in Syria, with a population of 220,000.

But not everyone wants to flee, Cramond said. While its dangerous to live inside Raqqa, getting out is also unsafe. A number of residents have been killed while fleeing.

Abu Ismail says that his brother is one of those who want to stay. His brother had moved from the city of Raqqa to what was once the family's vacation house, about 12 miles away from the city, in an area that is now controlled by the SDF, but was ISIS-held. Abu Ismail offered to try to bring his brother, his wife and children to Turkey.

"But my brother said 'I stayed in Raqqa under ISIS for two and a half years. We endured under ISIS, so we can take it a little longer,'" Abu Ismail said.

"I would ask people I met in the area, 'why didn't you leave two months ago?' he said. They responded that they hadn't expected that the battle would last this long. People also don't like to stay in refugee camps. Some say that they'd rather die in their homes."

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Civilians trapped in Raqqa with little access to urgently needed healthcare, organizations warn - ABC News

Coinbase Will Support Bitcoin Cash Starting in 2018 – Futurism

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In Brief Coinbase has reversed its position on Bitcoin Cash following the fork on August 1. Now the platform has said it will offer support for the fork by January 1, although it is waiting to decide whether or not to add trading support.

Coinbase has softened its stance on Bitcoin Cash. Now the company plans to introduce support for the fork in 2018. After Bitcoin Cash was created on August 1, Coinbase, along with other cryptocurrency exchanges, opted out of trading it since it is not yet proven. Coinbase also took the position that users with original Bitcoin couldnt claim their Bitcoin Cash entitlement.

However, the company has now changed its position somewhat: in an email and blog post, Coinbase indicated that it will support Bitcoin Cash by January 1, and wait to make a decision about trading support. Users that want to withdraw their Bitcoin Cash will need to wait until support is implemented.

The shift was probably due to the outcry by Coinbase customers, some of whom threatened to leave or take legal action against the platform. According to analytics firm BlockSeer, Coinbase lost about half of its cold storage reserves after customers withdrew, although many in the community are unconcerned about the fork.

It took less than two days for Bitcoin Cash to become the markets third largest cryptocurrency (based on total on-market coins). Its market cap of $7 billion follows Bitcoin ($44 billion) and Ethereum ($21 billion) by a significant amount, but given the recency of the fork, its share is still impressive.What happens next is anyones guess.

Disclosure: Several members of the Futurism team, including the editors of this piece, are personal investors in cryptocurrency markets. Their personal investment perspectives have no impact on editorial content.

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Coinbase Will Support Bitcoin Cash Starting in 2018 - Futurism

A New Quantum Understanding is About to Turn Chemistry on Its Head – Futurism

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In BriefResearchers have discovered that quantum indistinguishabilitynecessarily plays a significant role in some chemical processes.This changes the way scientists will view chemistry, and willinfluence isotope fractionation and enzymatic catalysis. Entirely New Discoveries

In a world of quantum oddities, the phenomenon of indistinguishability, the impossibility of distinguishing between two quantum particles, remains notable. Superposition is one of the underlying causes of indistinguishability because there is no sure way to lock down an exact position of a quantum particle. This, in turn, makes it impossible to know which particle is which when two quantum particles interact in the same place. This leads to exotic particle behaviors, especially at low temperatures. Under those conditions, behavioral qualities of particles can resemble each other closely, causing phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensates and superfluidity.

Chemistry, though, requires relatively high temperatures, which cause most substances to shed their quantum properties. This is why indistinguishable physics and chemistry have traditionally been approached as if they were completely distinct, allowing chemists to ignore the effects of quantum indistinguishability with confidence. However, University of California Santa Barbara researchers Matthew Fisher and Leo Radzihovsky are turning the field of chemistry on its head, proving this confidence has been misplaced.

The pair has now demonstrated for the first time that even at ordinary temperatures, quantum indistinguishability plays a significant role in some chemical processes. This means that indistinguishability most likely causes entirely new chemical phenomena such as isotope separation, and may also give betterexplanations for poorly understood phenomena such as reactive oxygen species and their enhanced chemical activity. The quantum coherence of atomic nuclei is of particular interest to the team.

Things like spin-isomers and symmetry are important in chemistry because many reactions depend upon molecules being able to fit together precisely. Fisher and Radzihovsky have demonstrated that quantum indistinguishability changes the way molecules fit together, then quantum indistinguishability prevents reactions that dont achieve symmetry between nuclei. Theyve also shown that para molecules with their greater range of possible symmetrical matches are necessarily more reactive than ortho molecules.

This research will have a major impact on enzymatic catalysis. Hydrogen, for example, is subject to the influence of quantum indistinguishability and is also central to the work of many enzymes. This is easier to predict than to test, however, since it is difficult to separate ortho- and para-versions of molecules.

Fisher and Radzihovsky also believe quantum indistinguishability will influence isotope fractionation by providing it with a new mechanism, and offer insight into reactive oxygen species and their enhanced chemical activity, not to mention biochemical molecules in general. Testing these predictions may be an uphill battle, but understanding some of the most critical and subtle phenomena in chemistry will be a worthwhile payoff.

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A New Quantum Understanding is About to Turn Chemistry on Its Head - Futurism

Weekend Read: Forced sterilization in exchange for freedom – Southern Poverty Law Center

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I hope to encourage them to take personal responsibility, said Judge Sam Benningfield, who approved the program.

In the two months since the policy went into effect, 32 women have received a birth control implant called Nexplannon, and 38 men are waiting to have a vasectomy.

Whether Benningfield knows it or not, the people he is sterilizing in the White County jail are merely the latest in a long line of incarcerated and low-income people to be sterilized under coercion or force by the criminal or social welfare systems in the United States.

In 1907, Indiana became the first state to pass a law allowing for compulsory sterilization of confirmed criminals and idiots. Thirty-one states soon followed suit.

In 1972, we sued on behalf of two young sisters who were sterilized in 1972 without their consent in Alabama. Sterilization laws began to be dismantled during that era, but eugenics practices have continued around the country. In California, for example, nearly 150 female prisoners underwent tubal ligations without their lawful consent between 2004 and 2013.

America is not the only country to forcibly sterilize its citizens in the 21st century. In Europe, if a transgender person wanted to change their name or gender on government-issued documents, nearly two dozen countries mandated their sterilization until April of this year, when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that requirement to be an institutionalized violation of human rights.

But that victory for transgender rights came only after a sustained campaign by the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom to try to keep the sterilization requirement.

Equal dignity does not mean that every sexual orientation warrants equal respect, wrote ADF International in an intervention brief.

Obviously, we disagree. But ADFs efforts to see a continued policy of mandated sterilization of transgender people are in keeping with its support of the fraudulent practice of gay-to-straight conversion therapy and the argument of its first president, Alan Sears, that pedophilia and homosexuality are "intrinsically linked" (a dangerous falsehood long propagated by anti-LGBT hate groups).

Such stances are why we named Alliance Defending Freedom a hate group and why, as David Perry writes of incarcerated people for The Marshall Project, No one should be compelled to trade their reproductive freedom for corporal freedom.

Well keep fighting for the rights of transgender and incarcerated people alike.

The Editors.

PS Here are some other pieces this week that we think are valuable:

SPLC's Weekend Reads are a weekly summary of the most important reporting and commentary from around the country on civil rights, economic and racial inequity, and hate and extremism. Sign up to receive Weekend Reads every Saturday morning.

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Weekend Read: Forced sterilization in exchange for freedom - Southern Poverty Law Center

Trump Administration Threatens Freedom of the Press in New Leaks Crackdown – Newsweek

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Satirists have repeatedly drawn on the similarities between President Donald Trump and Middle Eastern and African dictators, for installing his family in senior advisory positions in the White House as much as for hisexcessive self-regardand his respect formilitarytough men.Nowcritics can tick off another point on the autocrat checklist followingAttorney General Jeff Sessions's announcement on Friday that anew crackdown onleakerswill include a Justice Department (DOJ) review of policies governing how the department deals withmedia outlets that publish leaked information.

Sessions and National Intelligence Director Dan Coats announced at a press conference that more DOJand FBI resources would be directed towards pursuing leakers, particularly those who pass information on to the press and foreign officials.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters

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The moves comes after a wave of leaks hit the White House, exposing, among other things, contact between Trump officials and Russian government officials, with alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia the subject of multiple investigations.

Trump allies accused a deep state of security officials of orchestrating the leaks in a bid to unseat the president.Trump has railed against leakers, and placed Sessions under pressure to prosecute more of those who disclose classified information. He has also attacked what he has called the fake news media for publishing illegal leaks.

In an escalation of the administration's campaign against what it claims are hostile branches of the media, Sessions announced that part of the focus of the new anti-leakers crackdown would be the press.

Sessions said Friday the administration had tripled the number of illegal leaks cases over the previous administration, and said that after meeting intelligence officials, the DOJ would review its policies affecting media subpoenas.

We respect the important role the press plays and well give them respect, but its not unlimited, Sessions said. They cannot place lives at risk with impunity. We must balance the press role with protecting our national security and the lives of those who serve in the intelligence community, the Armed Forces and all law-abiding Americans.

The statement did not spell out which aspects of its policies are under review, but currently the DOJ will only compel journalists to disclose confidential sources as a last resort.

He added that the FBI would create a new counterintelligence unit to manage the cases.

It is not the only way the Trump has threatened to muzzlethe press, pledging on the campaign trail to open up libel laws to make it easier to sue publications. Former chief of staff Reince Priebus and press secretary Sean Spicer have also indicated the administration was investigating ways to review the First Amendment laws protecting press freedom.

Experts have also warned that the administration could use the 100 year-old Espionage Act, used to prosecute dissenters in World War I, to prosecute journalists.

However some Democrats joined Republicans in criticizing theWashington Post for publishing transcripts of Trump's conversations with foreign leaders this week.

This is beyond the pale and will have a chilling effect going forward on the ability of the commander in chief to have candid discussions with his counterparts, Ned Price, a former National Security Council official under PresidentBarack Obama, told The Hill.

The Freedom of Press Foundation warned thatthe DOJ crackdown threatened the press' capacity to hold the government to account.

In a statement Friday, director Trevor Timm said, Journalists cannot do their job without sources willing to talk with them sources that often put their livelihoods at risk in order to get information to the public. And the coming leak crackdown has the potential to upend accountability journalism in the Trump era.

Writing in the New York Times, law professorsRonNell Andersen Jones ofthe University of Utah andSonja R. West of the University of Georgia, have warned that First Amendment protections of press freedom are flimsier than some believe.

"We cannot simply sit back and expect that the First Amendment will rush in to preserve the press, and with it our right to know. Like so much of our democracy, the freedom of the press is only as strong as we, the public, demand it to be," they wrote shortly after Trump's inauguration.

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Trump Administration Threatens Freedom of the Press in New Leaks Crackdown - Newsweek

Freedom march, counter-protests planned for Sunday at the Portland Waterfront – KATU

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FILE photo of a Portland Police officer in riot gear at a protest (KATU photo)

Several marches and rallies are planned for Sunday at the Portland Waterfront.

A 'Freedom March' hosted by the Patriot Prayer group is expected to gather at the Salmon Street Springs fountain around 2 PM. More than 400 people have said they're either going or interested in going on the event's Facebook page.

The Patriot Prayer group has been behind several other right-wing demonstrations in the Portland area, most notably, a large protest in downtown on June 4 in the wake of a fatal stabbing of two men who tried to stop another man's anti-Muslim tirade on a MAX train.

The man accused had attended a Patriot Prayer rally less than a month before the killings.

The group on June 4 was met by hundreds of counter-protesters organized by immigrant rights, religious and labor groups. Fourteen people were arrested.

RELATED: Portland free speech rally, counter protests draw thousands

"The more hatred we see the more we have to stand against it," reads the Freedom March Facebook page for Sunday's event. "The more threats that we get the more we have to come out to show no fear... We will continue to come into Portland with a simple message that is focused on truth, love, and freedom."

"Sunday's Freedom March is another attempt by Patriot Prayer to challenge the status quo in Portland," said Joey Gibson, a prominent member of the group who's organized and attended several Patriot Prayer Portland events in the past. "Communist, ANTIFA, liberals, socialists, conservatives, libertarians, Christians, and Aithiests will be marching together. Some groups will come to oppose Patriot Prayer, some groups will come to support but in the end we will all be together with an opportunity to talk, learn and grow."

A counter-protest titled, 'Rally for Freedom, Solidarity and Justice' is planned for 1:30 PM Sunday at Battleship Oregon Memorial Marine Park on the Waterfont.

The protest is hosted by the Portland Stands United Against Hate group, and more than 600 people have said they're going or interested in going on the event's Facebook page.

"On Sunday, August 6th, these same [Patriot Prayer] extremists are staging a 'Freedom March' on the waterfront... though they have softened their rhetoric, make no mistake, their plan is to instill fear and attack Portland's immigrant, Muslim, Jewish, Indigenous, Black and LGBTQ+ communities," reads the description on the Facebook page. "We are gathering in solidarity with communities who are under attack and calling on activists and concerned residents to join a peaceful mass mobilization on the Portland waterfront."

Another protest titled 'United against fascism-Enough is enough,' also plans to gather at Battleship Oregon Memorial Marine Park at noon, with nearly 150 people listed as 'interested' in going on the event's Facebook page.

"Wear black, cover your face, come with a friend," reads the description on the page. "Make nazis afraid again."

The Portland Police Bureau says it will have "adequate resources" for Sunday's events.

Sergeant Christopher Burley says he's not releasing the official police plan for Sunday.

Be prepared for possible traffic impacts in the area.

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Freedom march, counter-protests planned for Sunday at the Portland Waterfront - KATU

Free your brain: How Silicon Valley denies us the freedom to pay attention – Salon

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In late June, Mark Zuckerberg announced the new mission of Facebook: To give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.

The rhetoric of the statement is carefully selected, centered on empowering people, and in so doing, ushering in world peace, or at least something like it. Tech giants across Silicon Valley are adopting similarly utopian visions, casting themselves as the purveyors of a more connected, more enlightened, more empowered future. Every year, these companies articulate their visions onstage at internationally streamed pep rallies, Apples WWDC and Googles I/O being the best known.

But companies like Facebook can only give people the power because we first ceded it to them, in the form of our attention. After all, that is how many Silicon Valley companies thrive: Our attention, in the form of eyes and ears, provides a medium for them to advertise to us. And the more time we spend staring at them, the more money Facebook and Twitter make in effect, its intheir interest that we become psychologically dependent on the self-esteem boost from being wired in all the time.

This quest for our eyeballs doesnt mesh well with Silicon Valleys utopian visions of world peace and people power. Earlier this year, many sounded alarm bells when a 60 Minutes expos revealed the creepy cottage industry of brain-hacking, industrial psychology techniques that tech giants use and study to make us spend as much time staring at screens as possible.

Indeed, it is Silicon Valleys continual quest for attention that both motivates their utopian dreams, and that compromises them from the start. As a result, the tech industry often has compromised ethics when it comes to product design.

Case in point: At Januarys Consumer Electronics Convention a sort of Mecca for tech start-ups dreaming of making it big I found myself in a suite with one of the largest kid-tech (childrens toys) developers in the world. A small flock of PR reps, engineers and executives hovered around the entryway as one development head walked my photographer and me through the mock setup. They were showing off the first voice assistant developed solely with kids in mind.

At the end of the tour, I asked if the company had researched or planned to research the effects of voice assistant usage on kids. After all, parents had been using tablets to occupy their kids for years by the time evidence of their less-than-ideal impact on childrens attention, behavior and sleep emerged.

The answer I received was gentle but firm: No, because we respect parents right to make decisions on behalf of their children.

This free-market logic that says the consumer alone arbitrates the value of a product is pervasive in Silicon Valley. What consumer, after all, is going to argue they cant make their own decisions responsibly? But a free market only functions properly when consumers operate with full agency and access to information, and tech companies are working hard to limit both.

During a 60 Minutes story on brain hacking, former product manager at Google Tristan Harris said, Theres always this narrative that technologys neutral. And its up to us to choose how we use it.

The problem, according to Harris, is that this is just not true [Developers] want you to use it in particular ways and for long periods of time. Because thats how they make their money.

Harris was homing in on the fact that, increasingly, it isnt the price tag on the platform itself that earns companies money, but the attention they control on said platform whether its a voice assistant, operating system, app or website. We literally pay attention to ads or sponsored content in order to access websites.

But Harris went on to explain that larger platforms, using systems of rewards similar to slot machines, are working not only to monetize our attention, but also to monopolize it. And with that monopoly comes incredible power.

If Facebook, for instance, can control hours of peoples attention daily, it can not only determine the rate at which it will sell that attention to advertisers, but also decide which advertisers or content creators it will sell to. In other words, in an attention economy Facebook becomes a gatekeeper for content one that mediates not only personalized advertising, but also news and information.

This sort of monopoly brings the expected fiscal payoff, and also the amassing of immeasurable social and cultural power.

So how does Facebooks new mission statement fit into this attention economy?

Think of it in terms of optics. The carotid artery of Facebook, along with the other tech giants of Silicon Valley, is brand. Brand ubiquity means Facebook is the first thing people check when they take their phones out of their pockets, or when they open Chrome or Safari (brought to you by Google and Apple, respectively). It means Prime Day is treated like a real holiday. Just like Kleenex means tissues and Xerox means copy, online search has literally become synonymous with Google.

Yet all these companies are painfully aware of what a brand-gone-bad can do or undo. The current generation of online platforms is built on the foundations of empires that rose and fell while the attention economy was still incipient. Todays companies have maintained their centrality by consistently copying (Instagram Stories, a clone of Snapchat) or outright purchasing (YouTube) their fiercest competitors all to maintain or expand their brand.

And perhaps as important, tech giants have made it near impossible to imagine a future without them, simply by being the most prominent public entities doing such imagining.

Facebooks mission affixes the company in our shared future, and also injects it with a moral or at least charitable sensibility even if its only in the form of bring[ing] the world closer together-type vagaries.

So how should we as average consumers respond?

In his award-winning essay Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Persuasion in the Attention Economy, James Williams argues, We must move urgently to assert and defend our freedom of attention.

To assert our freedom is to sufficiently recognize and evaluate the demands to attention all these devices and digital services represent. To defend our freedom entails two forms of action: first, by individual action not unplugging completely, as the self-styled prophets of Facebook and Twitter encourage (before logging back on after a few months of asceticism) but rather unplugging partially, habitually and ruthlessly.

Attention is the currency upon which tech giants are built. And the power of agency and free information is the power we cede when we turn over our attention wholly to platforms like Facebook.

But individual consumers can only do so much. The second way we must defend our freedom is through our demand for ethical practices from Silicon Valley.

Some critics believe government regulation is the only way to rein in Silicon Valley developers. The problem is, federal agencies that closely monitor the effects of product usage on consumers dont have a good category for monitoring the effects of online platforms yet. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tracks medical technology. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) focuses on physical risk to consumers. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) focuses on content not platform. In other words, we dont have a precedent for monitoring social media or other online platforms and their methods for retaining users.

Currently, there is no corollary agency that leads dedicated research into the effects of platforms like Facebook on users. There is no Surgeon Generals warning. There is no real protection for consumers from unethical practices by tech giants as long as those practices fall in the cracks between existing ethics standards.

While it might seem idealistic to hold out for the creation of a new government agency that monitors Facebook (especially given the current political regime), the first step toward curbing Silicon Valleys power is simple: We must acknowledge freedom of attention as an inalienable right one inextricable from our freedom to pursue happiness. So long as the companies producing the hardware surrounding us and the platforms orienting social life online face no strictures, they will actively work to control how users think, slowly eroding our societys collective free will.

With so much at stake, and with so little governmental infrastructure in place, checking tech giants ethics might seem like a daunting task. The U.S. government, after all, has demonstrated a consistent aversion to challenging Silicon Valleys business and consumer-facing practices before.

But while we fight for better policy and stronger ethics-enforcing bodies, we can take one more practical step: pay attention to ethics in Silicon Valley. Read about Ubers legal battles and the most recent research on social medias effects on the brain. Demand more ethical practices from the companies we patronize. Why? The best moderators of technology ethics thus far have been tech giants themselves when such moderation benefits the companies brands.

In Silicon Valley, money talks, but attention talks louder. Its time to reclaim our voice.

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Free your brain: How Silicon Valley denies us the freedom to pay attention - Salon

MMA’s week out of the cage: ‘Cyborg’ and Claressa, Calvillo kicks bottles, Overeem’s new arrival – MMAjunkie.com

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By: Blue Corner | August 5, 2017 2:30 pm

Social media has become a significant part of the sporting landscape. But few, if any, professional sports match the level of interaction and personal access provided by MMA.

In an individual competition in which nearly every athlete is chasing the same goal of financial success and championship glory, its important for fighters to provide insight into their lives in order to connect with fans and gain followings.

Although the life of a fighter often can be mundane and repetitive, there still are moments of interest that take place outside the cage, ring or training room. Here are some of the most interesting of those occurrences from the past week.

* * * *

@panteraufc

A post shared by Cynthia Calvillo (@cynthia.calvillo) on Aug 3, 2017 at 9:48pm PDT

Bellator, Blue Corner, Featured Videos, News, UFC

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UFC August 5, 2017 7:39 pm MMAjunkie Staff

MMAjunkie is reporting live from UFC Fight Night 114. Join us for live play-by-play and official results beginning at 7p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT).

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UFC August 5, 2017 7:38 pm MMAjunkie Staff

MMAjunkie is reporting live from UFC Fight Night 114 in Mexico, which kicks off at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT). Discuss the event here.

15m

UFC August 5, 2017 7:25 pm Ben Fowlkes

In the span of a couple minutes, Jordan Rinaldi got dropped and nearly choked by Alvaro Herrera, but still walked away with a victory.

1hr

Videos August 5, 2017 5:45 pm Matt Erickson

Check out our picks for UFC Fight Night 114, where Brandon Moreno and Alexa Grasso are slight betting favorites, but big picking favorites.

2hr

Videos August 5, 2017 5:30 pm MMAjunkie Staff

Who are fighters on tonights UFC Fight Night 114 card in Mexico picking to win the main event between Brandon Moreno and Sergio Pettis?

3hr

UFC August 5, 2017 4:30 pm Mike Bohn

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMAjunkie looks at the best fights from July.

3hr

UFC August 5, 2017 4:15 pm Trent Reinsmith

UFC Fight Night 114 heads to Mexico Citys altitude tonight, and the promotion has stacked the card with lighter-weight competitors. Here are the reasons to watch.

4hr

UFC August 5, 2017 3:30 pm Dann Stupp and Christian Stein

Its no surprise why UFC officials stacked tonights UFC Fight Night 114 lineup with lighter-weight fighters like Rani Yahya.

4hr

UFC August 5, 2017 3:15 pm Mike Bohn and Abbey Subhan

For the first time, a flyweight fight without Demetrious Johnson will headline a UFC card. Go inside the facts for UFC Fight Night 114.

6hr

UFC August 5, 2017 1:30 pm Dann Stupp

The lineup is officially taking shape for the UFCs return to Australia.

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MMA's week out of the cage: 'Cyborg' and Claressa, Calvillo kicks bottles, Overeem's new arrival - MMAjunkie.com

After UFC 214, Cat Zingano believes Cris Cyborg is a ‘winnable … – MMA Fighting

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Cat Zingano believes she has the what it takes to accomplish what many women have failed to do in MMA defeat Cris Cyborg.

After watching UFC 214 cageside, former UFC title challenger Zingano is confident she has the tools and answers to snap Cyborgs 18-fight win streak. Cyborg, whos considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound female fighter on the planet, won the womens UFC featherweight title in the main card of last weeks UFC pay-per-view event in Anaheim, Calif. The Brazilian fighter added another stoppage victory to her impressive record, putting away former Invicta FC bantamweight champ Tonya Evinger in the third round, thus winning the vacant title.

Despite the dominant performance by Cyborg, Zingano believes that Evinger was able to expose the decorated champion even in defeat.

This weekend I feel like I got to learn a lot watching this fight with Tonya, you know, seeing Tonya control the pace and seeing the fact that Cyborg had a handful with that girl, [which] I actually didnt expect. Zingano told Ariel Helwani on Mondays edition of The MMA Hour.

Me and Tonya used to have to wrestle each other in college so I knew she was strong and tough, but I didnt necessarily see it transfer over to MMA as Ive seen in wrestling. But she obviously pulled it together, and thats why shes a champion at 135 [pounds] and I felt she did a pretty good job against Cyborg, and at least shes tough, you know, at the very least. And watching that fight I was like, Man, I have something for that, I have and answer to that, and for everything that didnt work for Tonya. Watching that fight opened up my eyes to some things and it just made me more excited to get in there with that girl. I think the match up is one of the century and I have what it takes to take Cyborg down, if anyone does.

After losing her MMA debut back in 2005, Cyborg has been indestructible in her MMA run, stopping most of her opponents in violent fashion, while picking up the Strikeforce and Invicta FC women featherweight belts. Zingano knows facing Cyborg is no easy task, but having watched Evinger put on the most competitive performance against Cyborg in recent years, Zingano is confident she has enough information to get the job done against the newly crowned champ.

With Cyborg, this is a winnable fight for me, Zingano explained. When Im healthy, none of these girls [can] deal with me, not one, so thats what Im looking for. Going into a fight with Cyborg, you need to be as on point as possible. Shes got her advantages whatever, arguably fair or unfair and I just know that If Im at 100 percent, she probably cant even touch me and those are things that are in consideration when trying to achieve my goal.

I think she kind of waits for you to be up against the cage, you know, and then she comes in with some head movement and then fires off some big explosive shots. And when she was getting tied up in the clinch, she was very easily put against the cage, and I believe Tonya took her down, and I think that there could be better cover there on someone like her. And there were parts that I felt she was getting really tired, and if it werent for the one minute break in between rounds, I felt like she was getting a little exhausted. Those are things that I love to see and read, and Im very conscious of when those are happening. With some of the biggest things she was throwing, I mean, shes got aim, shes got power, but you know, so do I and I have very good timing. So Its a very aggressive person against a very aggressive person, and the places that shes strong, Im also strong, but Im strong in other places as well that we havent seen a whole lot out of her. So Ill take the shot, it looks really fun and I feel like Ive gotten a lot of information based on what I saw.

Apart from seeing holes in Cyborgs game, Zingano is also confident that the changes shes been making in her MMA game and health will pay off against any future opponents. The 35-year-old fighter has been out of action for a year since her loss Julianna Pena at UFC 200. However, Zingano has kept busy, as shes been working on things which she didnt want to reveal that make her hopeful of one day getting a hold of UFC gold.

I know I have the heart to get through any fight, and these last couple I have fallen on my face because I didnt deal with this thing, Zingano said. There are somethings Ive been working on with my health and its something that Ive been consistently doing right now and those things are awesome and my body is responding.

Despite wanting to challenge Cyborg for the belt, Zingano, whos eyeing a return to the Octagon sometime in October, is not bailing out of her career as a bantamweight, since she holds a win over current 135-pound UFC champion Amanda Nunes.

The two biggest people on my radar at this point are Amanda Nunes and Cyborg because I beat Amanda, and I feel like she should want to fight me, Zingano said. I want to go up in weight, but I also want to stay active in the 135-pound division when the time is right because the 145 [pound division] is not extremely established yet.

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After UFC 214, Cat Zingano believes Cris Cyborg is a 'winnable ... - MMA Fighting

Crowds avoid Margate beaches where flooding occurred – Press of Atlantic City

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MARGATE Hannah Bychick was having a slow Saturday on Argyle Avenue.

Bychick works as a beach-tag attendant just feet from the remains of what was a nine-block lake on Margates beach, a product of flooding during rainstorms last weekend and man-made dunes built under the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The dunes are part of a $63.3 million project to place 3.8 million cubic yards of sand onto 8 miles of beach on Absecon Island from Atlantic City to Longport.

But that flooding which has since been pumped back toward the ocean has left a muddy eyesore for residents and visitors, and Bychick said shes seeing it in the lack of people walking onto her block of the beach.

MARGATE Shirley Frankel, a city resident for the past 50 years, cant look at the ocean fr

As of 11 a.m., she said, she could count on her hand how many people have walked through the mud to the beach.

Its literally like four people, said Bychick, of Margate. People usually walk up and leave because its really gross.

Most people were avoiding the area altogether. A few managed to walk around the former lake to get to the ocean. Many people gathered at the end of the Ventnor Boardwalk, which ends at the Margate border, to get a look at the piece of land no one is walking on.

All Margate beaches were reopened this weekend for the first time since the flooding, with the exception of Huntington Avenue, which is hosting heavy equipment from the beach fill contractor, Weeks Marine of Cranford, Union County.

MARGATE Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez on Thursday issued a restraining

On Thursday, Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez issued a restraining order to temporarily stop the dune project in the city for one week. Officials from the city, Army Corps and state Department of Environmental Protection are to meet on the issue, and the DEP and Army Corps have until Wednesday to file briefs on short- and long-term solutions to the drainage problems.

All parties are to return to Mendezs courtroom Friday for another hearing.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Russo, mayor of neighboring Longport, issued a statement late Friday saying it is yet unclear whether beach work will be diverted to Ventnor or Longport but that he would prefer it not start in Longport until after the summer, as was previously scheduled.

If that is not the case, the Borough of Longport will prepare contingency plans that all scheduled activities occur in a safe and meaningful manner, Russo wrote.

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Crowds avoid Margate beaches where flooding occurred - Press of Atlantic City

Rip currents deadliest element claiming lives on US beaches – Destin Log

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Rip currents are to blame for most of the 59 deaths that have occurred in the surf zone along the nation's beaches so far this year.

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. Rip currents have caused several deaths at U.S. beaches this summer, prompting warnings from lifeguards and weather forecasters for swimmers to be aware and keep themselves safe.

Six people died between June and July due to rip currents in New Jersey, including a 24-year-old Slovakian woman in the U.S. to work a summer job on the shore.

And rip currents are to blame for most of the 59 deaths that have occurred in the surf zone along the nations beaches so far this year. Now, scientists are hoping swimmers pay closer attention to the narrow currents that pull them away from the shore, as rip currents have claimed 735 lives in the U.S. since 2002.

There were 40 rip current deaths nationwide by the end of July compared with 58 in all of 2016, data from the National Weather Service shows. Florida leads the nation with 11 so far this year. New Jersey and Texas had six and North Carolina had five.

What usually happens is a wave can knock them off their feet and start to pull on them, said Atlantic City Beach patrol Lt. John Ammerman. They dont relax and float with it. They generally panic and have trouble.

The desperation they create was illustrated in a video showing strangers on Panama City Beach in July forming an 80-person human chain to help rescue members of a family who had been pulled too far from shore.

Waves, tides and the shape of the ocean floor contribute to rip currents. But jetties, groins and piers create hot boxes where swimmers are especially at risk, said Greg Dusek, who studies tides and currents for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The New Jersey shore is dotted with these structures, and it is where six people died between June and July, including Zuzana Oravcova of Slovakia, who went for a swim in Point Pleasant Beach on July 30 but was swept away.

Two cousins, Emily Gonzalez-Perez, 12, and Mitzi Hernandez, 13, were pulled to sea and drowned when they went swimming at an unguarded beach in Belmar. Ramon Quinn, 15, died trying to rescue Kaliyah Hand, 16, who also drowned, off an Atlantic City beach.

He was a hero, till the end, even as he tried to save his friend, Quinns obituary read.

An Ohio teen died after he was caught in a rip current off Fripp Island in South Carolina in June. Eric Clark was swimming with friends when he disappeared. And Jevoney White, 19, drowned in July off Smith Point Beach on Long Island after he was caught in a rip current.

Rip currents often form where sand bars are near the shore, Dusek said, and they are easier to see from an elevated position.

You can spot them in areas where waves arent breaking, or where theres foam or muddy water being pulled offshore, he said.

Swimmers who get caught in rip currents are urged to stay calm and try to swim parallel to the shore to get out of its grip or float until getting a lifeguards attention.

Most rip current fatalities occur during the evening after the beach patrols have gone home for day, said National Weather Service meteorologist Lance Franck.

Scientists are studying whether replenishment adds to the problem and NOAA is working to improve its method of forecasting rip currents.

Were validating a new forecast model that predicts the probability of the hazard every few kilometers up to five days ahead. Dusek said. However, that likely will not be operational for a few years.

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Rip currents deadliest element claiming lives on US beaches - Destin Log