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Flanagan ‘supports’ abolition of legal fee for domestic violence victims – Irish Times

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

Removal of the contributions for victims of domestic violence ultimately a matter for the Minister. Photograph: iStock

A decision on whether to abolish financial contributions to civil legal aid for victims of domestic violence will be made by the end of the year, Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has said.

Speaking at the launch of the Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac) annual report, Mr Flanagan noted the organisation, along with others, had lobbied for the abolition of the 130 contribution for domestic violence victims.

I too am in support of it. I am keen to ensure that if there are difficulties, they can be dealt with in a way that is most satisfactory, he said.

He said he had received a submission from the Legal Aid Board, which runs the civil legal aid scheme, recommending a number of scheme changes, including the waiving of fees for vulnerable applicants.

These proposals are currently under review and are being assessed within my department, he said.

He said it was open to the board to waive contributions in certain circumstances and last year 40,000 was waived in respect of domestic violence.

Speaking to The Irish Times, John McDaid, chief executive of the Legal Aid Board, who also attended the Flac report launch, said the removal of the contributions for victims of domestic violence was ultimately a matter for the Minister.

Our contributions regime is determined by ministerial regulation so it is not that we in the Legal Aid Board set the rules in terms of eligibility and contributions; they are set by the Minister, he said.

The board had made a comprehensive submission to the Minister on the matter, he said. He did not believe, if the need for a contribution was removed, there would be an increase in applications for legal aid in domestic violence situations.

There is no issue that we are going to be flooded with them if we remove the contribution, he said.

Eilis Barry, chief executive of Flac, highlighted the work of the charity, which runs a network of free legal advice clinics and a phone information line.

She also said pressures on the Legal Aid Board had increased, with delays in some areas of six to nine months.

She said Flac was pleased the board had postponed a decision to restrict referrals to its family law private practitioners scheme, used by people who have a court date and cannot wait for an appointment with a legal aid board centre. She also said the financial contribution for domestic violence victims should be dropped so there is no financial barrier to getting legal protection in a domestic violence situation. She said she was aware some people had sought money from St Vincent de Paul to cover the 130 contribution required by the board.

Last year, more than 25,700 people got free legal information or advice from the charity. Of these, almost 12,230 received information via Flacs phone line and more than 13,480 were dealt with by volunteer lawyers at legal advice centres in 67 locations around the country.

Poetic justice: One American’s 47-year campaign against nuclear weapons – The Japan Times

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

A sense of responsibility toward survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has led a U.S. man on a lifelong journey, working to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons and using poetry to communicate their dangers.

David Krieger, 75, is the president and founder of the nonprofit organization Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, which was launched in 1982 to campaign for a world free of nuclear weapons.

Its advisory council includes several Nobel laureates, as well as academic and activist Noam Chomsky and Hiroshima hibakusha Setsuko Thurlow.

Krieger has been working toward nuclear disarmament for 47 years. He has written five volumes of poetry as part of these efforts, two of which have been published in Japanese.

I believe we must appeal to both the mind and the heart, Krieger said. It is necessary to make both a practical appeal and a moral appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Themes in his poems range from the urgency of the need for peace to his impressions of hibakusha who lived through the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which had killed an estimated 214,000 people by the end of 1945.

I view the hibakusha as ambassadors of the nuclear age. I have tried to capture their pain, suffering, forgiveness, wisdom and hope in my poetry, Krieger said.

Visiting Japan when he was a 21-year-old university graduate during the Cold War, Krieger was awakened to the horror of nuclear weapons by artifacts he saw at the memorial museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

A childs tricycle in the Hiroshima museum, burned and bent, seemed to him a symbol of the death and suffering of children, who were undoubtedly beneath the bomb.

I came to understand that if humankind did not solve the nuclear problem and continued with a mad arms race, we faced the prospects of a global Hiroshima, Krieger said.

His work in both activism and poetry reflects a frustration that 72 years later, the threat of nuclear war remains real. His foundation reaches out to political decision-makers to advocate for nuclear abolition.

In January, the foundation released an open letter to then-President-elect Donald Trump urging him to enter talks for a world without nuclear weapons, and noting with alarm that he had suggested on occasion that Japan should someday acquire a nuclear arsenal.

Nuclear weapons have no place on our planet, and we must all work to abolish them before they abolish us, Krieger said.

He hailed the recent adoption at the United Nations of the worlds first nuclear ban treaty, but also voiced disappointment with Japans refusal to participate, along with the nuclear weapons states and other countries under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

For the Japanese government to choose its security relationship with the United States over its bond with the people of Japan, including the hibakusha, seems to me to be an act of bad faith on the part of the government, Krieger said.

But it is not too late for Japan to sign and ratify the treaty, and the Japanese people must demand this of the government, he said.

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Poetic justice: One American's 47-year campaign against nuclear weapons - The Japan Times

Most Americans opposed integrating the military in 1948. Most Americans support transgender military service today. – Washington Post

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

By Steven White By Steven White August 1 at 5:00 AM

Last week, President Trump announced via Twitter that, after consultation with my Generals and military experts, the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. His reasoning for this decision was that the military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.

Trumps announcement was met with surprise and outrage by many. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 58percent of Americans support allowing transgender soldiers to serve in the military, while 27percent actively oppose it. While the extent to which this policy declaration will actually be implemented remains in question, LGBT rights organizations are preparing to challenge it in court if necessary.

It is especially striking that Trumps announcement came on the anniversary of President Harry S. Trumans landmark July 26, 1948, executive order that led to the desegregation of the armed forces. While the outcomes could not be more different, the Truman era effort to integrate the military still has important lessons for the militarys connection to the inclusion of marginalized groups today.

During World War II, civil rights activists frequently linked the fight against Nazi Germany to the fight against Jim Crow racism. For labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, the fight against segregation in the armed forces became a special priority. Because of the issues emotional resonance, he argued that it was a fight that could serve as a means to eradicate Jim Crow widely. Despite pressure, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was never convinced to integrate the military during the war itself. Truman, however, finally moved to integrate the armed forces in 1948.

Military integration was opposed by an overwhelming majority of Americans at the time. A 1948 poll found that only 26 percent of Americans favored having Negro and white troops throughout the U.S. Armed Services live and work together. Not even white veterans supported the move, despite having recently returned from fighting against Nazism. This widespread opposition led activists to work around Congress by focusing on the possibility of unilateral executive action.

[The 4 key things you need to know about Trumps proposed ban on transgender military service]

The debate surrounding Trumans order previews arguments made by opponents of greater inclusiveness in the military today. Three months before its release, Secretary of Defense James Forrestal and National Urban League leader Lester Granger organized a National Defense Conference on Negro Affairs in response to the pressure of Randolph and other activists. Army Secretary Kenneth Royall told those in attendance that the Army could not experiment nor could it be used to promote or oppose any cause. He went on to say that while he fully recognize[d] not only the propriety but the necessity for the Negro race to insist on the abolition of segregation, military integration was ultimately a question of timing.

When Royall later spoke before a hearing held by Trumans Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, he told them that the Army was not meant to be an instrument for social evolution, by which he meant it did not want racial integration. He justified segregation by raising concerns about the morale of white troops, especially Southern ones. Many Army volunteers are white Southerners, he said, and it is a well-known fact that close personal association with Negroes is distasteful to a large percentage of Southern whites.

Similar arguments have been made for decades by opponents of LGBT rights in the military. The U.S. armed forces arent some social experiment, then-Sen. Chuck Hagel said in 1999 when asked about repealing the dont ask, dont tell (DADT) policy. Just before DADT repeal legislation was passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, former Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver North argued that soldiers deserve better than to be treated like lab rats in Mr. Obamas radical social experiment.

Although DADT repeal was a major step for LGBT rights, the extent to which it would include transgender rights remained in question for several years. It was not until June 2016 that Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter announced that transgender soldiers would be allowed to serve openly in the military. Last month, current Defense Secretary Jim Mattis delayed the Obama administrations plan, arguing that the Pentagon needed more time to study the issue. Within a month, however, Trump seemingly overruled Mattis. Although Trumps tweet stated that he had consulted with [his] Generals and military experts, reporting indicates that the president did not consult with Mattis, who was only informed of his decision after the announcement.

As Trumps announcement demonstrates, the military remains at the center of debates about the inclusion of marginalized groups in American society. Both Truman and Trump were going against majority opinion when they declared a change in military policy that pertained to a marginalized group.

The difference, however, is that Truman sought greater inclusion. Trump seeks the opposite.

Steven White will be an assistant professor of political science at Syracuse University starting this fall. He is working on a manuscript about World War II and American racial politics. Follow him on Twitter @notstevenwhite.

Dial 1 for Empowerment: The Toll-Free Number Giving Nigeria’s Girls Advice – TIME

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

Lantana was just a child when she was forced to drop out of school and start working so her family could afford her brothers school fees. In the impoverished areas of northern Nigeria where she lives, most bus stops are thronged with young girls hawking peanuts or other snacks from buckets balanced carefully on their heads, and so she joined them. The girls are easy prey for the older men who prowl these chaotic market places. Lantana thought she had found a protector in a bus tout who regularly bought up her daily wares, until the night he lured her into a dark alley.

Many adolescent girls in Nigeria can relate to at least one element of Lantanas story; giving up school to work for their family, abused by a trusted figure, not knowing where to go for safety. Unlike those girls, however, Lantana isnt real. Yet thousands of young women are calling a free number to hear more about her fictional life, and talking to mentors on the other end of the line about what they would do if they were her.

Lantanas story is one of four tales of young heroines being used in a radical new program to help adolescent girls in Nigeria navigate the challenges of growing up in a country where low levels of female empowerment, education and employment have contributed to early marriage, a stagnating economy and, some would argue, a concomitant rise in Islamist insurgent groups like Boko Haram.

The program, called Girls Connect , uses compelling stories like that of Lantana to reach young women from across a broad spectrum of Nigerian society through the kind of interactive voice recognition software that a bank might otherwise use to address consumer queries. But unlike a bank hotline, which is designed to eliminate the need for costly human interaction, the point of Girls Connect is to get the callers to engage with a call center representative who can help them process the information and use it in their daily lives. Its kind of like calling a toll-free bank line to get the latest foreign exchange rates, only to be connected with an agent who gives out personalized advice on balancing the household budget.

When callers dial in, they are offered a menu of four stories, with four chapters each, to choose from. Once they listen to the 2-3 minute dialogueperformed by professional radio actorsthey are connected to specially-trained agents, which the company calls Role Models. The 13 agents all women work off a standardized script that is designed to help callers internalize the lessons that Lantana and her fellow characters learn the hard way.

By asking questions such as Is this something that someone you know has experienced before? or If you thought a girl was put in danger by someone, what advice would you give her?, the Role Models can help girls work through problems they are currently facing, or might face in the future, in subjects ranging from safety to relationships, jobs or social media.

It's really challenging being a girl in Nigeria today, says Iveren Shinshima, who works as a Role Model. We talk about how she can stay safe while making money. How she can budget. How she can avoid cyber bullying. Whether it comes to making money, using social media or your relationship with your environment, the message we are trying to instill is that you are valuable as a girl.

The buzzing call center where these phone calls come in by the hundreds each day is far removed from the bus stops where girls like Lantana are forced to work. A five-story building crammed with uniform gray cubicles and staffed by fashionable Nigerian millennials in identical headsets, the iSON BPO International Call Center of Ibadan, in southeastern Nigeria, is the cornerstone of a booming new business in back-office outsourcing run by Indian entrepreneur Ramesh Awtaney . The center manages customer care lines for several Nigerian banks and telecom companies and now adolescent girls. The idea arose from a chance meeting between Awtaney and Farah Ramzan Golant, the London-based CEO of Girl Effect , an international nonprofit organization dedicated to ending poverty through empowering young women. Nearly half of iSONs 10,000 employees in Africa are women, and Awtaney wondered if there was a way to use his call center services to benefit Africas young women.

In the customer service industry we try and resolve your problem by putting you in touch with an automated machine. If the machine cant help, you are connected to an agent, Awtaney tells TIME. So the thinking was that we could replicate this process for girls in the context of giving them information on relationships, medical problems, education, and social media, etcetera. It was an unlikely marriage between the tech and the non-profit fields, with the tantalizing prospect of wide reachthe holy grail of cost effective girl-empowerment programs. What was interesting about it was how, like an interactive customer service program, Girls Connect can be scaled up very rapidly, Golant says. If you combine this content with toll free numbers, the impact can be huge.

Natalie Au, the global gender director for Girl Effect , says that unlike radio or TV shows designed to empower young women, Girls Connect can replicate the one-on-one experience of working with trained mentors, but on the much more accessible platform of mobile phones. When you have a chance to be asked questions about, well how did that story relate to your own life? theres a chance that before it goes out the other ear, youre going to have to stop and say, actually what would I have done in Lantanas situation? So youre much more likely to retain those key messages or skills rather than them being passively consumed and then forgotten.

To the Role Models, who field on average 230 calls a day, the value is not just in the lessons they impart, but in simply being present for adolescent girls at an all-too-familiar vulnerable point in their lives. Growing up I faced a whole lot of challenges that I know these girls will be facing as well, says Maureen Ijogo Onah, another Role Model. A lot of times teenage girls just want someone to listen to them, to talk to them, just to hear them out in whatever situation they find themselves in. For Hadiza Ibrahim, being a Role Model is a refreshing change from her usual call center work. The conversations are relaxed, quite friendly. Youre talking to a girl who trusts you. Its quite different from listening to an angry customer who probably cant get his Internet on.

Although Girls Connect content is currently only available in Hausa, the language of northern Nigeria, the response has been enormous, with some 42,000 calls over the first, month-long period of testing, despite limited advertising. Girls are calling in multiple time just to listen to the stories, and requesting specific Role Models by name.

Amina, 14, has listened to each story several times, she says, adding that she feels for the first time in her life like someone understands what she is going through. A street hawker herself, Amina says that Lantanas story doesnt go far enough in the program she is only robbed, not sexually assaulted, as is the experience of many of Aminas fellow hawkers. Still, she says, the story and the Role Models have helped. There are many girls that are hawking who have listened to this program, and they come to understand that even if something like this happens to them, they can go and tell their parents, as Lantana did, so that they can take action.

Each time Amina listens to a story, she says, she comes away with a new perspective on how to deal with a problem in her lifelike the time someone started sending her lewd photos via one of Nigerias popular text messaging apps. Even when I told him to stop, it was like I was instigating him to do more. But if I told my parents, they would blame me for being on social media in the first place. And when I told my friends they said it is normal, there is nothing wrong with it. That day she chose to listen to a Girls Connect story about a girl who used social media to start a business. When Amina spoke with the agent afterward, she told her about her issues. The Role Model told Amina how to block the man from her account, and helped her develop a strategy for avoiding cyber stalkers. If a girl in need of specialized help makes contact, for instance depression, suicidal tendencies, pregnancy or abuse, they are typically referred to aid organizations in their areas that can help them directly. The Role Models also encourage the girls to reach out to their parents or to the police when necessary.

Aisha Haliru, who runs a weekly empowerment program for adolescent girls in Kano, says the impact of the telephone mentorships has been transformative. Halirus classes provide the kind of safe spaces for girls that Girls Connect seeks to replicate on the telephone, but she can only reach a few dozen girls at a time. Girls Connect has the potential to reach thousands. And the need is even greater than ever, says Haliru, citing rising incidents of rape in Kano, and even the kidnapping of young women by the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Haliru now lends out mobile phones so her students can call Girls Connect on breaks between vocational training courses and lessons on personal hygiene. These days, a girl cant always confide in her mother, says Haliru, but with the Role Models, she will let it all out. She knows that the Role Model wont know her, or her sister or her mother. So when she has never been able to share with someone something that bothers her, and then suddenly she can speak freely with someone who understands what she is going through, its an amazing thing. I see the girls changing before my eyes.

ISON and Girl Effect plan to expand the Role Model trainings and content so they can launch the project nationwide, and eventually in other countries as well. The Role Models are looking forward to continuing their work mentoring a new generation of Nigerian girls, but for some their joy is tinged with a touch of regret. I truly, truly wish I had something like this while I was growing up, says Role Model Ibrahim. If I had had this kind of an opportunity to connect to a role model, I probably would have called her every day. And I probably would have made a lot less mistakes.

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Dial 1 for Empowerment: The Toll-Free Number Giving Nigeria's Girls Advice - TIME

I took an empowering women’s self-defense workshop at a boxing gym, and here’s why everyone should try it – HelloGiggles

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

Females Are Strong As Hell

Weve all been there. Its after dark and youre walking alone to your car parked in an empty lot. You hear footsteps behind you. Or maybe you see your attacker standing in front of you, watching you and waiting. You may not know who they are, but most likely, you do. You feel that horrible drop in your stomach, that itchy, sweatiness in your arm pits, the hair on your arms standing on end. You sense youre in danger, but what do you do?

According to Jarrett Arthur, one of the worlds leading experts in womens self-defense, listening to your gut instinct is critical.

Ive worked with survivors for over 14 years, said Arthur during an instructional workshop at Los Angeles BoxUnion boxing studio this month.And the thing I hear [from them] over and over and over again is, Something didnt feel right, and I did it anyway.'

Recently, Arthur and Lynn Le, the founder of womens boxing glove companySociety Nine, led the empowering two-hour self-defense intensive for women in L.A., breaking down the basics of understanding verbals, body language, and commanding space, and coaching the 30-plus women in attendance in physical engagement, reviewing fighting stance, striking, and ground situations.

The inspiring event was a first for BoxUnion, a brand new boxing studio in Los Angeles that boasts state-of-the-art facilities and a community-building approach to boxing for fitness. The studio invited Jarrett to not only offer hands-on physical instruction, but also to engage participants in necessary conversations about the importance of establishing boundaries and self-advocating, imparting techniques that are particularly useful in situations where you know your perpetrator (which, Arthur pointed out, are the most common).

During the workshop,Arthur laid out the three stages of self-defense: the Pre-Fight (the moment when you believe a physical altercation is about to take place and the moments preceding the encounter), the Fight (a person has already engaged you physically), and the Post-Fight (the physical, psychological, emotional, etc. aftermath of a physical confrontation). Arthur said she does not provide Post-Fight instruction, but strongly suggested seeking help following a violent encounter and offered to connect participants with references and resources.

And according to Arthur, it is because of that Post-Fight piece of the experience that she stresses the importance of Pre-Fight boundary-setting using vocal tone and forcefulness, body language, and verbal commands.

I will literally go to all the ends of the Earth to avoid having to actually test my physical skills, said Arthur. I do not want that for me, and I really dont want that for you, so any way you can avoid being in a confrontation, shut it down and set boundaries, that is definitely what you want to do.

Should women find themselves in situations where fighting is necessary, however, Arthur offered a handful of simple strikes to cripple an attacker and create time and space for women to get away and find help:kicks and elbow throws to the eyes, nose, throat, and groin.

Though Arthur has found personal and professional empowerment in training and teaching self-defense, she admitted the everyday grapplings with self-doubt persist. I [still] deal with situations that are universal for women, in which someone makes you feel a little bit smaller, a little bit quieter, and takes away your power. Im not, like, this hulking she-wolf walking around with it all figured out, said Arthur.

No matter what your course of action when confronted with assault, though, theres no victim-blaming here. Arthur insisted whatever choice you make is the right one.

Nothing that you can do or cannot do can warrant being targeted for violence. Nothing. Not what you wear, not where you go, not how much you drink, not who youre with. Nothing.

So get yourself to a self-defense workshop, stat!

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I took an empowering women's self-defense workshop at a boxing gym, and here's why everyone should try it - HelloGiggles

On assignment: 10 takeaways from attending Wanderlust yoga retreat – The Union of Grass Valley

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

I spent four days at Squaw Valley Ski Resort on assignment at the Wanderlust Festival, flittering between down dogs, cross-legged meditations, aimless booth wanderings, challenging waterfall hikes and speaking sessions. I took 32 classes that focused on eating better, yoga postures, meditation, making crafts, healing the body and braided hairstyles.

Here are my top takeaways:

Eat clean. Jodi Bullock, a registered dietitian and holistic health coach, gave a talk on healing the gut. Her approach was simple: "Eat real foods," she said. In short, she recommends eating a diet that is full of things that are grown, not pre-made or processed. Eat on purpose, with lots of chewing, and make it a habit to eat less. Foods that heal the gut, she said, are radishes, cilantro and wild blueberries.

Take 16-breaths to less stress. Davidji (who goes by a single name) is a meditation teacher and author of "Destressifiying: The Real-World Guide to Personal Empowerment, Lasting Fulfillment." One useful "life hack" he taught: When stressed, you can turn that stress around in 16 seconds. Breath in your nose for four seconds, hold that for four seconds, breath out your nose for four seconds, and then hold that for four.

Be creative. Making things from scratch has a therapeutic and meditative quality to it. I made a totem which was done by tying cotton cords to tree branches then adding feathers, stones and other objects. Tying little knots and wrestling feathers with focus can give the brain a break from larger, more complicated problems that might seem pressing.

Follow your calling. Day Schildkret, whose talk was titled "A Mandala a Day Keeps the Doctor Away," travels the world making a living by crafting symmetrical designs on the ground from things he finds in nature on walks. After he makes them, they get destroyed to practice non-attachment to things. He talked about working his way out of a deep depression by committing to making these mandalas each day in a local park again, using things he found on his way to the park. He was healed and inspired to quit his job in the movie business to forage, wander and create.

Practice caring for yourself. Kelly Knoche, with The Teaching Well, gave a highly research-based talk on how to sustain oneself in work that involves serving others. She was a teacher "in service" to her middle-school Oakland students and giving it her all. Her students were succeeding and thriving, but she was gaining weight, losing sleep and drinking too much with friends in her off time. She was a success and she was unsatisfied. The approach she developed and shares mostly with schools and administrators through her company workshops involves self-care. She gave evidence that supported better success from teachers, nurses and other service-based people who are engaging in a routine that prioritizes taking care of themselves first.

Be alone. Life has a performance quality to it. The concept is that we are all wanting to perform well at work, for our kids and for our partners. Having time alone with little distractions offers opportunity to get in touch with the non-performance part of us. Who are we when we are were not trying to be anything to anyone else? Solo trips allow time for this part of our lives to grow.

Talk to your partner about sex more. Dr. Emily Morse, a nationally-known sex expert with a twice-weekly podcast, said communication about sex keeps sex a priority. Talking about sex out of the bedroom will enhance the experience in the bedroom.

Meditate more; it gets easier with practice. Known around the world, Rod Striker is a yoga, tantra and meditation teacher. He offered a class on meditation and said, "the last thing your mind wants to do is get still." Failed attempts are all right. I did three 20-minute meditations. With practice, meditation gets easier. We worked on getting the exhalation to grow longer than our inhalation to deepen the calm.

Look people in the eyes. Eye gazing is a real thing. The idea is that you take two minutes to look at someone. Look at one eye or look at the center of the eyes. The point is to connect to them and see yourself in their eyes. I did this with 20 people and was guided to look for compassion, anger, joy and fear in others. People host parties dedicated to this and it is considered a meditation practice.

Slow is the new cool. Technology lets us save time, and yet most people use that time to do more. Lives are more fast-paced and hectic than ever. In three of the physical yoga classes, the theme was similar: slow is what trendsetters are doing. Slow down and enjoy life.

Wanderlust Squaw Valley happens annually and they create the vessel for people to gather and exchange ideas and experiences. My goal was to say "yes" over the four days to experience new things and keep an open mind, hoping to find kernels to share with you.

Natalie Otis writes on assignment for The Union. You can contact her at news@theunion.com.

Blockchain technology being considered by more than half of big corporations, according to study – CNBC

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

The report added: "As the number of research projects has increased, so too has awareness, both amongst the participants and elsewhere in their industries, with competitor companies in turn beginning to consider whether they too should seek to gain competitive advantage from deployment."

"For financial technology (fintech) start-ups in the blockchain space, this can only be good news, since it demonstrates the high level of demand within an enterprise space that is increasingly well-informed about blockchain," Windsor Holden, blockchain specialist at Juniper, told CNBC via email.

The blockchain specialist added that the digital element of distributed ledger technology, which is processed by a network of computers, could benefit industries other than the financial services as well.

Holden said: "Essentially, blockchain offers particular benefits to improve efficiency and corporate transparency; if an enterprise is heavily dependent upon paper-based storage and has high volumes of transactions or transmitted information, it can be especially effective."

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Blockchain technology being considered by more than half of big corporations, according to study - CNBC

What are semiconductor stocks trying to tell technology stocks? – CNBC

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

Semiconductor stocks may be about to flash a crucial signal about the fate of technology stocks.

Unlike the XLK technology exchange-traded fund and the Nasdaq 100, the SOX semiconductor index has not moved above its June highs.

The XLK's break above its own high, reached in early June, has just been a slight one; the fund is going to need to see some more upside follow-through if it's going to confirm another leg higher in the tech space.

That's where the semiconductors come in: The index could and should be a clue as to whether tech stocks can do this or not.

Why? The SOX has been a leader for the technology group since November. At its June highs, it had rallied over 41 percent since the U.S. election in November. Meanwhile, the XLK had rallied 24 percent by that time.

Therefore, we'd like to see the SOX break above those June highs in a meaningful fashion before we can declare that tech stocks are going to see another nice run higher.

Right now, the SOX is about 4 percent below those June highs, so it's not like there is a major divergence. However, whether the semiconductors can break out to the upside or roll over in the next week or two could (and should) be important for the tech sector.

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What are semiconductor stocks trying to tell technology stocks? - CNBC

Water Technology Farms expanded and field days scheduled – High Plains Journal

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

The Kansas Water Office, Kansas State University and Northwest Kansas Technical College are providing an opportunity to see firsthand what is taking place on the Water Technology Farms by hosting a series of field days in August. Each location will showcase the technology that has been implemented and the results to date.

Last year three Water Technology Farms: Roth/Garden City Company, T & O Farms, LLC and WaterPACK/ ILS, were created in response to public input and identified in the Long-Term Vision for the Future of Water Supply in Kansas. These demonstration farms were initiated in southwest/south central Kansas and are three year pilot projects featuring the installation and testing of the latest irrigation technologies on a whole field scale with a primary focus on water conservation.

We greatly appreciate the leadership and innovation from these stakeholders who are willing to participate in these demonstration farms and the partners who also believe in these projects, said KWO Director Tracy Streeter. While we need to evaluate the performance of these farms for multiple years, the preliminary results from a water savings and economic standpoint are encouraging. There is growing evidence that water use reductions coupled with irrigation technology adoption and water management will result in positive effects on the aquifer and the producers bottom line.

In addition to these existing farms, 13 more Water Technology Farms via partnerships, including generous support from the Kansas Corn Commission, have been established in western Kansas. Throughout August each farm will host a field day.

Aug. 7Circle C Farms, 10 a.m., Healy, Kansas (RSVPs are required by Aug. 5). Owned and operated by Steve Compton;

Aug. 11Hatcher Land and Cattle, 2 p.m., Liberal. Owned and operated by Nick Hatcher;

Aug. 14 WaterPACK/ILS, 2 p.m., Larned. Owned by ILS Inc. and operated by Richard Wenstrom;

Aug. 15T&O Farms, LLC 9 a.m., Garden City. Owned and operated by Tom Willis;

Aug. 21Northwest Technical College, 10 a.m., Goodland. Owned by Goodland area producers; and

Aug. 31Big D Farms, 9 a.m., Holcomb. Owned by Garden City Company and operated by Dwane Roth.

In addition to understanding how the technologies work, the field days are great opportunities to learn from local producers, irrigation companies, soil moisture sensor dealers and other entities about options and experiences towards improving irrigation water use. In 2016 alone, the field days had a collective attendance of 375 people wanting to learn something new as well as wanting to share their experience with fellow producers.

This year in addition to producers participating in the Water Technology Farms, Northwest Kansas Technical College is also participating by providing learning and workforce development training for its students. Northwest Kansas Technical Colleges Precision Agriculture department and landowners around in surrounding counties have partnered to develop 10 Water Technology Farm projects. In these projects, the students and landowners receive in-field training and hands on experience implementing water efficiency technologies. With supplier partnerships, students will be exposed to multiple types of soil moisture probes, pivot controls, irrigation scheduling systems and other water management tools.

KWO provides financial assistance to Kansas State Universitys efforts to give technical support to each technology farm. K-State is deeply involved in establishing and monitoring the farms to help answer the producers specific questions and concerns about the new technology.

K-State is working with partners to help address questions and concerns about the new irrigation technologies so in the future, farmers will fully embrace the technology appropriate for their operation and situation, said Jonathan Aguilar, water resource engineer with K-State Research and Extension, based in Garden City, Kansas. Each farm is set up slightly different, depending on the primary concern the producer has. For example, one farm has three adjacent spans with different modes of application for comparison purposes. In all fields, soil moisture sensors are installed and tested for accuracy as feedback or for its performance in the different soil types.

The farms are supported by: Kansas Water Office; K-State Research and Extension; Kansas Corn Commission; Northwest Groundwater Management District No. 4, Groundwater Management District No. 1, Seaman Crop Consulting; Servi-Tech Expanded Premium Services, LLC; United Sorghum Check-Off Program; Garden City Coop, SW KS Groundwater Management District No. 3; Kansas Department of Agriculture; Conestoga Energy Partners; Teeter Irrigation; Dragon-Line; Helena; Kansas Geological Survey; Ogallala Aquifer Program; Syngenta; Hortau; Kansas Farm Bureau; KSU Mesonet; AquaSpy; Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission; Crop Metrics; Netafim; Valley Irrigation; and Presley Solutions, American Irrigation; WaterPACK, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Western Irrigation Supply House and Ag Systems, Inc.; Tri-State Irrigation; John Payne; TerrAvion; Phytech; Great Plains Precision Ag; Western Sprinkler; Finney County Conservation District; On Target Solutions, Lindsay Corporation, Woofter Irrigation

Visit http://www.kwo.org for more information on each field day or call 888-KAN-WATER.

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Water Technology Farms expanded and field days scheduled - High Plains Journal

Time to rethink our perspective on jobs and technology – The Japan Times

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

NEW YORK Technology and jobs, whither goest thou?

Whether in Japan or the United States, it is time to pause and assess the very real impact of technologys advances on those who will lose their jobs today as the jobs of tomorrow are created.

Too often, globalized business leaders and macroeconomists blindly welcome every advance in productivity, while investors in turn reward news of resulting job reductions with an upward tick in share prices.

As technology advances, and wealth is increasingly concentrated, the challenges of job creation and the need for bipartisan discussion on a way forward grow more increasingly pressing.

According to Credit Suisses Global Wealth Report 2016, the top one percent in Russia controls nearly 75 percent of that nations wealth. For India, the figure is 58.4 percent; Indonesia, 40 percent; Brazil, 48 percent; China 43.8 percent; and the United States, 42 percent.

And in a report released early this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos by Oxfam, the worlds eight richest billionaires now control the same wealth as do the poorest half of the Earths population.

It is no surprise then that inequality its causes and possible solutions is an ubiquitous topic of discussion. The debate over economic inequity rages in the East as in the West. Raising employment levels is seen as a major challenge for developing and developed economies alike.

No industry is exempt, and no country, no matter how protected, is able to escape the elimination of jobs of the past too often with little consideration of the people of today.

All too often the blame is laid squarely on the shoulders of globalization. Witness the breakout of protests in Hamburg at the Group of 20 summit. Witness also the relative success of politicians who promised protections in the form of trade tariffs and a closing of borders. Enduring wage disparities and outdated and imbalanced tax structures are also seen as contributors to growing inequality.

However, is it only the export of jobs that has led to unemployment or are we entering a brave new world of technology steadily eroding once secure foundations of employment? Directly addressing that question can help lead to possible solutions, drawing perhaps on apprenticeship programs and new management-employee relationships that may well disrupt our present thinking of the workplace.

A revolution is certainly on the way. 3-D printing and the potential impact on design and manufacturing of printing in a multi-dimensional manner is an example.

Essentially one can design a pair of shoes, use a 3-D printing facility and see the immediate gratification of creativity.

Take another example driverless cars, which threaten to disrupt a range of every day jobs, from that of traditional drivers and mechanics to those of the few who may still be managing gas stations. Self-service gas pumps displaced attendants. Charging stations for electric cars may well further disrupt gas stations eroding employment opportunities.

The ruthless advance of technology has implications for Asia, particularly in the garment industry. In many countries, the clothing industry did for Asia what the auto industry had once done for the United States in terms of offering rising wages and providing non-farm employment.

Imagine a clothing industry, however, that is brought to the realm of desktop publishing. As technology displaced a range of publishing jobs, an increasingly self-manned and self-driven clothing sector could significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the need for machine operators and button sewers. These and other jobs allowed a generation in Asia to entertain visions of life outside the farm.

The rise of manufacturing in China, Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia has helped nations transition between an agrarian society toward more services-driven economies. Factories have employed millions as typically young Asian workers moved on from their rural, agrarian lives and transitioned to more urban settings.

Now, an increasingly automated manufacturing industry could see robotics limit the opportunities and the path from factory work to the middle class.

Even in the services sector, the impact of technology on jobs is growing. A software program can eliminate the army of junior researchers and outsourced analysts who have been extracting the data, filling the spreadsheets and crunching the numbers.

Ever smarter smart machines are capable of collecting and processing information. The next step for robo-advisers: drawing inferences, answering questions and recommending actions.

As early as 2014, the Associated Press began to automate some of its corporate earnings reports. Robo-journalism has arrived.

Where will all these advances in technology take us?

Countries throughout the world have used monetary and fiscal policy to spur economic growth in the hope that greater growth will lead to higher employment.

Taxation is another weapon in the arsenal of governments seeking to incentivize behavior and job creation.

In this brave new world of the knowledge economy, such government measures alone are unlikely to be sufficient. Indeed, the solutions will have to be found outside of government, in our communities and businesses.

Providing equality of opportunity to all citizens should remain a guiding principle.

Education will be key. Business, government and civil society leaders must come together to ensure the quality of education is improved to meet the demands of a technology-driven knowledge economy. More importantly, citizens must not be barred from quality education because of high costs.

Optimists feel that productivity increases will eventually lead to the creation of an entire range of jobs not thought of earlier. Pessimists look at the pace of automation and see a dystopian world ahead. Realists recognize that whatever the future holds there is an immediate scenario of displacement and a growing challenge of dislocation for millions of people.

As humanists, we argue that, regardless of the scenario, much more should be done to recognize and address the needs of the all too many who are all too forgotten and increasingly left behind.

Curtis S Chin, a former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group, LLC. Meera Kumar, also formerly with the ADB, is a New York-based Asia analyst and communications consultant. Follow them on Twitter at @CurtisSChin and @MeeraKumar212.

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Time to rethink our perspective on jobs and technology - The Japan Times

Lafayette County teachers learn about technology in the classroom – Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

Several teachers and administrators from the Lafayette County School District got together last month to attend the 2017 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference that was held in San Antonio.

The trip was paid for using title funds the district receives in order to better their abilities to incorporate technology in the classroom. A total of 12 people from the district attended the conference, two from each building on campus plus a handful of administrators.

There were more than 21,000 educators from around the country at the conference. In addition to the keynote speakers, there were thousands of booths set up throughout the convention center. At each booth were technology professionals representing a company or product or system and showing educators the many different ways in which different products could be used to enrich the classroom experience.

Pretty much anything and everything in technology education was highlight there, said Assistant Superintendent Patrick Robinson. They had a couple of neat things like a technology playground where teachers could walk through and do a lot of hands-on activities with the vendors. This way they could actually see how the products worked. There were probably over 1,000 plus vendors out there on the expo floor.

Teachers who attended the convention are being asked to prepare a presentation to share with their colleagues later in the fall. The district wants to make sure all teachers in the school benefit from the trip.

High school biology teacher Deborah Jones said that she was very much looking forward to incorporating some of what she learned at the conference into her everyday classroom style of teaching.

I am incredibly excited to incorporate Project Based Learning and a Genius Hour into my 9th grade Biology I course in order to provide students the opportunity to explore current science research and test their ideas to solve current technological problems, she said in an email. This years LHS Science Fair will surely showcase the original ideas of our great students.

Spanish teacher Scott Jimenez was more excited about the different platforms he was able to learn about at the conference. There were several apps aimed at both teachers and administrators that would improve their workplace and the student experience.

My class focuses on storytelling in Spanish, Jimenez said. With some of the technology from ISTE, my students will not only be able to digitize their stories but also publish them through different social media platforms that are secure and moderated by me. Im most excited about students turning their stories into self-designed video games that they and their peers can play through the BloxelsBuilder app.

Robinson said that everyone who went on the trip really enjoyed themselves and learned a lot. The field of education is changing every day as technology advances and people find more ways for it to be incorporated in the classroom. Robinson said it is quite the experience to learn about some of those advancements firsthand.

Being on the expo floor was probably my favorite part of the whole convention, Robinson said.

You got to go hear from companies like Scholastic and lean about all the exciting things they have going on. The booths, which is an understatement, the things were huge, were so neat. Apples booth was probably half the size of our middle school library. They brought all the bells and whistles for this.

Robinson said that most of all, he wants to see technology bettering the educational process for students. He wants them using it more often, becoming better at it and learning how to use it to improve their overall educational experience.

We want teachers to get past the idea that showing a PowerPoint to students is an example of technology in the classroom," Robinson said. "Its not. We want to get students using more technology, not just more teachers using it as an instructional tool.

"How can we get our kids using technology in their assignments and in their learning process? Thats what we hoped to have gained. All of our teachers walked away with a great understanding of how to implement technology in their lessons.

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Lafayette County teachers learn about technology in the classroom - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

How SLAM technology is redrawing augmented reality’s battle lines – VentureBeat

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

In early June, Apple introduced its first attempt to enter AR/VR space with ARKit. What makes ARKit stand out for Apple is a technology called SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping). Every tech giant especially Apple, Google, and Facebook is investing heavily in SLAM technology and whichever takes best advantage of SLAM tech will likely end up on top.

SLAM is a technology used in computer vision technologies which gets the visual data from the physical world in shape of points to make an understanding for the machine. SLAM makes it possible for machines to have an eye and understand whats around them through visual input. What the machine sees with SLAM technology from a simple scene looks like the photo above, for example.

Using these points machines can have an understanding of their surroundings. Using this data also helps AR developers like myself to create much more interactive and realistic experiences. This understanding can be used in different scenarios like robotics, self-driving cars, AI and of course augmented reality.

The simplest form of understanding from this technology is recognizing walls and barriers and also floors. Right now most AR SLAM technologies like ARKit only use floor recognition and position tracking to place AR objects around you, so they dont actually know whats going on in your environment to correctly react to it. More advanced SLAM technologies like Google Tango, can create a mesh of our environment so not only the machine can tell you where the floor is, but it can also identify walls and objects in your environment allowing everything around you to be an element to interact with.

A few years back, Apple acquired the leading German AR company, Metaio. Metaio was innovative and had substantial lead in the AR market those years. What we see with ARKit is an improved version of Metaios SLAM. Yes, even before Apple introduced ARKit some companies had SLAM in both Android and iOS, like Wikitude and Kudan. But what Apple introduced was far better than todays SLAM technologies.

Before this, most AR experiences were marker-based, meaning you needed a defined image to point your devices camera at to see the AR experience. Using the defined image allowed your device to understand and track the overlaid digital content.The problem with marker-based technology was that users had to have a physical object (the image) to experience it. So companies had to promote both the application and the physical object (catalogues, brochures etc).

Above: Audis augmented reality catalog

But with ARKit this is now solved and you dont need anything except your phone and your environment. But theres one important thing here lacking: context!

Marker-based technology was limited but it had context, meaning it had an understanding of the physical world (through the defined image) and could change the experience based on that. For example you could point your devices camera at a McDonalds package and experience McDonalds augmented reality or point your devices camera in the same app at a Starbucks cup and experience a totally different augmented reality content. These central apps are called AR browsers and will have a critical role in the future of AR.

So though ARKit has a great technology it lacks context and its apps wont have an understanding of where users use them. Developers can use inputs like GPS data or environment light to add more context but it doesnt have context in its core. Last week developers did an interesting job in making a demo of using ARKit for navigation, but its important to note that such demos use GPS data as input and they cant recognize locations via visual input and thus are not near what Google Tango can do with its indoor navigation technology.

There is no doubt that the future of AR is SLAM technology, but for it to be really useful, and not just for fun like Snapchat filters or landing a SpaceX shuttle in your pool, it will need context. Other major companies like Google are aware of this.

Google is doing SLAM with its Project Tango, developed in partnership with companies like Lenovo. Tango uses two cameras to sense depth and have an understanding of the world via SLAM maps. Unlike Apples ARKit, Project Tango has context in its heart so it can have applications like Indoor Navigation as it is much more advanced than ARKit and has an understanding of its surroundings via SLAM maps. SLAM maps are databases of machines visual understandings of the world and their importance is that they enable machines to interact with physical world and also differentiate between places.

Above: A Project Tango phone with two cameras

Despite recent analyses Google is actually much more ahead in the AR game. Context is the most important part and though Googles project tango is unlikely to take off in the future as it needs special hardware (two cameras to sense depth that only a few devices right now support).

Google has already has context and has visual understanding of the world via Google Lens. This data will be much more valuable as in people switch from mobile devices to wearables like AR glasses.

Googles main competitor in the field of augmented reality is not Apple, but Facebook. Facebook has the advantage of a 2 billion user community, and once it develops a way to let its community to handle the mapping it will have great leverage. Unlike Apple, Facebooks AR vision is all in its own apps and doesnt let users to use the technology inside their own apps.

Analysts say that Apple allowing users to have AR technology inside their own apps gives it an advantage over Facebook. But as the fight over the physical worlds visual maps heats up Facebook having all their info within their more tightly walled garden may give it an advantage.

Snap is also a company with the advantage of a large community that is aware of this opportunity. In a recent patent Snap introduced a technique of combining GPS data and SLAM maps to put related AR content in the real world. Meanwhile, Lenovo is also trying to make a SLAM database in partnership with Wikitude called Augmented Human Cloud.

Above: Snap patent to map the world in AR

The company with the most complete SLAM database will likely be the winner. This database will allow these giants to have an eye on the world metaphorically, so, for example Facebook can tag and know the location of your photo by just analyzing the image or Google can place ads and virtual billboards around you by analyzing the camera feed from your smart glasses. Your self-driving car can navigate itself with nothing more than visual data.

Every tech-giant knows the importance of having this database but they all have their own advantage and disadvantages in this field.

Having a visual understanding of the physical world is something that tech giants will fight over in the next years and companies like Apple that have lost out in areas like maps will be more careful. AR is predicted to be a billion dollar market and it may be the next big thing and none of the tech giants want to be left behind.

Mojtaba Tabatabaieis founder and CEO ofPendAR augmented reality solutions.

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How SLAM technology is redrawing augmented reality's battle lines - VentureBeat

Technology is failing to create transparent supply chains – Engadget

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

It's not even clear that technology itself matters. Simple tools with actionable plans could be more effective than fancy, expensive ones. For example, one of the most successful tools is the self-described tech-agnostic Laborlink, a product of Good World Solutions, which supplies workers around the world with a secure, anonymous method of providing information about working conditions in their factories. It addresses one of the key weaknesses of the system that was implemented after the initial wave of revelations about working conditions in the 1990s, in which auditors enter factories at regular intervals and conduct checklist walk-through examinations.

"Auditing just does not have that many data points," said Beth Holzman, Director of Engagement and Operations at Laborlink. "It's specifically focused on a [narrow] compliance checklist to understand what is happening in a factory and doesn't really get into any wider analysis, which can reflect more the reality on the factory floor."

Auditing is haphazard and unreliable, with well-documented cases of fake reports. Moreover, workers' voices are only tangentially included, with Holzman estimating most audits only include statements from 10 to 20 workers maximum. As factories and plantations can have upward of 1,000 workers, this can be woefully inadequate.

Laborlink thrives partly because it does not rely on the latest smartphones or high-tech, remote-sensing technology. It utilizes whatever technology people already have. In Cambodia or India, this can be simple feature phones with SMS capability, whereas in China, the ubiquitous app WeChat is commonly used.

"We really are trying to ensure that, in the use of technology, we're putting workers at the heart of this process," said Holzman. "They have the ability to provide data and can use tech to better their own engagement."

This approach has been successful in creating knowledge about what's taking place in factories and giving companies that care an opportunity to address those concerns.

"We've reached a million workers and gathered 3.5 million data points," said Holzman. "That information can be shared with factory managers to say, 'How would you actually work to improve supply chain practices?'"

Other low-tech actors making a difference are NGOs. It is because of them that we have supply-chain accountability legislation, and it's often them, or their partners on the ground, who are spreading the word about unsafe working conditions or illegal deforestation.

"Improvements in technology at the local level have been instrumental in communities' ability to participate in the protection of their forests," said Emma Lierley, Forest Communications Manager with Rainforest Action Network. "And improvements in this area could be of great benefit."

But RAN does not expect technology itself to be the solution. It has been working on supply-chain issues since its inception, and it focuses on both environmental degradation and human rights violations in tropical-forest regions. To RAN, the idea that multinational corporations lack knowledge about what's really happening in their supply chains when it can find out and publish verifiable reports is incredulous.

"Time and time again we have seen companies use new tools and technology to further obfuscate the issue rather than to truly take responsibility for the conflicts in their supply chain," said Lierley. For example, shipping data on who is buying and selling palm oil could illuminate how supply chains connect to labor violations widely documented in Southeast Asia, but it is prohibitively expensive and often inaccessible to third parties like NGOs or journalists. Similarly, access to mapping data about land ownership could allow NGOs to connect illegal deforestation and fire to global companies, but the data remains under lock in Indonesian government and corporate databases.

"The lack of transparency in palm oil supply chains comes down to a lack of willpower, not a lack of tools," said Lierley.

This can be demonstrated by the companies that have made progress. Years ago Nike was the poster child for labor violations in its subcontractors' factories, but after years of hard work in collaboration with NGOs and academia, it has become a model in the shoe industry, recently releasing a map of all of its factories. Similarly, Intel, once complicit along with most of the technology industry as likely using conflict minerals, has, after doing a detailed public analysis with the NGO Resolve, officially declared its supply chain as conflict free.

Neither used fancy technology as an end-all solution, and both spent years figuring out an actionable plan. The problem itself was clear from the start.

"If you want to know what is going on in your supply chain, you don't need tech to find that," said Moote. "You need technology to solve the problem."

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Technology is failing to create transparent supply chains - Engadget

Bruins have not made progress on new deal for David Pastrnak – WEEI.com (blog)

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

The Bruins have handled just about every possible organizational issue this summer, and still, restricted free agent David Pastrnak remains without a new contract.

And they dont seem to be all that much closer on that new deal.

Id say were at the same point you asked me the last time, Bruins GM Don Sweeney said when asked for an update on the negotiations. Were in a holding pattern.

Its believed that the Bruins would prefer to get Pastrnak, who is currently with the Bruins on a trip to China as part of a partnership with O.R.G. Packaging, under contract for somewhere close to $6 million per season on a long-term deal, while Pastrnaks camp could be looking for something closer to $7 million per season.

"I have not made much progress as what I would have liked," admitted Sweeney, who has over $10 million in cap space remaining with Pastrnak still unsigned. "But we have plenty of time and the opportunity to continue to talk and we will find a landing spot.

The No. 25 overall pick from 2014, the 21-year-old Pastrnak established career-bests in goals (34), assists (36), and points (70) in 75 games for the Bruins last season.

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Bruins have not made progress on new deal for David Pastrnak - WEEI.com (blog)

Leveraging the Power of Black Women – Center for American Progress – Center For American Progress

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

On the eve of the 2016 presidential election, pundits and political watchers opined on whether the Obama coalitionthe multiracial, multiethnic, cross-class coalition made up of African Americans,Latinos, women, young people, professionals, and economically populist blue-collar whiteswould onceagain come together to elect the first female president in U.S. history. As the results began to crystalize that the pursuit of the highest, hardest glass ceiling for women had yet to be shattered, the assessmentof what happened predictably focused on the preferences and attitudes of one segment of the coalition:the white, mostly male, working-class voters who stayed home or voted for the other candidate.

Inspecting the lives of so-called Obama-Trump votersreferring mostly to the white voters who supported former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and voted for President Donald Trump in 2016took center stage.The perceived anger and neglect of these voters emerged as the primary thesis of the 2016 post-election assessment. Very little analysis focused on another important side of the equation: the decreased turnout rates among African Americans, specifically African American women, the most consistent and traditionally reliable block of Obama supporters.In 2012, 36 percent of blue-collar white voters voted for Obama, compared with more than 95 percent of black female voters.

While gaining a clear understanding of the 2016 election results requires a thorough examination of each facet of the Obama coalition, taking a closer look at its most reliable membersblack womenis critical.

Black women are a powerful force in the American political system. In 2008 and 2012, they turned out to vote at higher rates than any other demographic group, playing a decisive role ushering in new candidates across the country.Black womens civic participation embodies the stated ideals of the nations participatory democracy: They consistently recognize and value the importance of being politically active and engaged in order to effect change in their communities.At the same time, the civic engagement of black women too often does not result in concrete policy changes that are responsive to their needs.While black women are always expected to turn out and provide support, the public narrative about womenand more importantly about what women needfrequently focuses on white women, typically those with economic resources.

The unique experiences and challenges of black women, shaped by the intersection of race and gender, are commonly overlooked, rarely prioritized, and effectively rendered invisible. Thus, black women are still shockingly underrepresented in critical positions of power and influencewhere decisions are made about which problems are addressed, which policies are adopted, and which communities are served.In 2016, black women gained 14 state legislative seats and constituted 20 percent of the freshmen women in Congress. While they have overcome systemic barriers and gained ground every political cycle, their representation still lags woefully behind:Black women comprise 7 percent of the U.S. population, yet just 5 percent of federal judges, 4 percent of mayors in the nations 100 largest cities,and 3 percent of members of Congress and state legislators.

In 2016, pundits and political strategists expected black women to continue their historical trends by voting in large numbers. They gave little attention to the persistent underrepresentation and long-standing disparities that have limited black womens opportunities, economic stability, and overall well-being. Nor was there a focused public conversation about the need to engage black women voters directly with a targeted message that put forth specific policies to improve their everyday lives. To the surprise of these experts, turnout among black women plummeted from more than 70 percent to just 64 percent. Although black women still outperformed almost all other voters, with their turnout percentage slightly behind the turnout of white women, the decline was dramatic andin some instancespivotal.

A key takeaway from the election results is that lawmakers seeking the support of black women cannot afford to take them for granted. Lawmakers must be proactive and intentional to understand and address the challenges that black women face, including the barriers and biases that limit their opportunities and the disparities they experience in local communities. Policymakers must develop constructive solutions to address such concerns, in order to improve the status of black women and advance policies that promote stability, opportunity, and prosperity across the nation.

The critical issues that black women must overcome are wide-ranging, from a lack of economic opportunity to inadequate access to health care, housing, education, and criminal justice. For example, black women continue to face an appalling and exploitive wage gap that perpetuates poverty and stifles economic mobility. On average, they earn 34 percent less than white men with the same education, experience, marital status, and region of residence. One study found that when women enter traditionally male-dominated fields, the average pay for those occupations declines, even after controlling for education, work experience, and geography. Furthermore, black women suffer from a range of health disparities, including high rates of asthma, fibroids, and breast and cervical cancer mortality. Despite these systemic and often intergenerational challenges, black women continue to demonstrate a greater trust in government and belief in its potential to serve as a catalyst for upward mobility than other demographic groups.

Unfortunately, voter suppression and deceptive practices are also a persistent and familiar theme in American democracy, which disproportionately affects black women who participate in elections. In 2012, black women reported transportation challenges, inconvenient polling places, long lines, and voter ID requirements as barriers to voting. These problems persisted and expanded ahead of the 2016 election. By November, 17 states adopted new voting restrictions, such as strict voter ID requirements and reduced early voting opportunities. While some of these laws were struck down for unconstitutionally targeting people of color, 14 were still in place on Election Day.

At the root of these problems is a fundamental resistance to discussing race and genderand their unique intersectionsdirectly, as well as a failure to address persistent and poisonous narratives about black women, race, and class. To develop truly responsive policies and protect against voter suppression, policymakers must confront each of these issues head-on. We must recognize and reconcile our biases, working across our divisions to create policies that benefit historically oppressed communities. This, along with meaningful conversations about empowering black women and leveraging that power, will ensure that the future of the United States is fairer and more prosperous for all.

Jocelyn Frye is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Michele Jawando is the vice president of Legal Progress at the Center.

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Leveraging the Power of Black Women - Center for American Progress - Center For American Progress

‘Good progress’ in isles child care services – BBC News

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

'Good progress' in isles child care services
BBC News
Good progress has been made on improving services for young people on the Western Isles, a watchdog has said. Care of children and young people on the islands came under scrutiny following the murder of vulnerable teenager Liam Aitchison in 2011.

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'Good progress' in isles child care services - BBC News

Kendell Beckwith Making Rapid Progress – Buccaneers.com

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

Kendell Beckwith may not be the absolute best player in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp just yet, but when you factor in the level of difficulty for his routine, he'd definitely get one of the top scores through four days.

The Buccaneers drafted Beckwith in the third round this past April, even though the LSU product was still recovering from a torn ACL suffered the previous November. Tampa Bay's brain trust was thrilled to add a big and physical player to the middle of their defense an area of some concern after last season and were willing to wait if it took Beckwith a little while to get back on the field.

WATCH: MONDAY'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Well, they didn't have to wait long. Beckwith

He's been doing great, just coming back off an injury, too. He's been picking up everything really quick. He's just been staying patient and he's going to get his chance. The rookie defender backed up his offseason claim that he would be ready for the start of training camp, taking the field with his teammates on Day One. But two days' worth of rookie-only practices last week represented his very first onfield work in the NFL, and he's also currently learning two positions at once. That's the increased level of difficulty that has made Beckwith's first week of camp so impressive.

And the man who is most impressed is Head Coach Dirk Koetter, which is an awfully good thing for a rookie trying to earn a job.

"Kendell, that's really amazing because it's only been eight months since his ACL [injury] and very few guys come back that fast," said Koetter on Monday, after the team's first practice in full pads. "The first couple days we were out here in rookie practice before the throng of fans and media was here, Kendell, I was a little nervous, not about his knee, just he looked rusty. After four practices he's probably our most improved player, as far as a guy where he started and where he is after four practices.

"It really is a good story, kind of an amazing story, how fast he's back."

Beckwith played middle linebacker at LSU, and the Bucs eagerly drafted him despite already having a rising star at that position, coincidentally another LSU product in Kwon Alexander. The Bucs' newest Tiger represents great value anyway because he can immediately compete for the strongside linebacker job and also offer depth behind Alexander. As such, Beckwith has been actively learning both jobs in the Bucs' defense, often playing in the middle on second-team snaps. His primary competition for the strongside, or SAM, job is second-year player Devante Bond.

Beckwith hasn't had any trouble picking up the responsibilities of the SAM role. That position is generally on the field for downs in which a run is more likely, which plays into Beckwith's best strengths. At 6-3 and 247 pounds, he's easily the Buccaneers' biggest linebacker, and he was known as both a rugged and sure tackler at LSU.

READ: 5 STANDOUTS FROM PRACTICE

"It's just playing football," he said of learning a new position. "That's the way I look it. I'm just going to go play football, know my assignment, do my job."

Beckwith got a call from Alexander, his once and future teammate, right after he was drafted in the spring. Since then, Alexander has been eager to help the rookie get acclimated.

"Both of us were happy," said Beckwith, describing the call. "I'm just excited to be down here with him. To learn from a guy like him and Lavonte [David], it's pretty special."

Alexander and David have been one of the team's most productive linebacking duos in the NFL over the past two seasons, and they shared a very fast transition to being productive NFL players. Both started from Day One in their rookie seasons (2012 for David, 2015 for Alexander). David had 284 tackles, nine sacks, six interceptions and 14 passes defensed through his first two seasons; Alexander already has 238 tackles six sacks, three interceptions and 16 passes defensed to kick off his career, despite missing four of his first 32 games. Like Koetter, Alexander sees rapid development from Beckwith, who could fashion a similarly fast start to his career.

"He's been doing great, just coming back off an injury, too," said Alexander. "He's been picking it up fast, he plays fast and makes a lot of plays. He's just being patient and he's going to get his chance."

Beckwith is not on any sort of "pitch count," so he'll get as much of an opportunity as his play warrants. That he was rusty, as Koetter put it, during those first couple practices last week was no surprise given that he hadn't really been on the field since November. One might also expect Beckwith to be a little cautious with his repaired knee in the early days of camp, but he says that isn't an issue.

"I'm still doing maintenance and keeping up the treatment on it, but so far, so good," he said. "I feel good. I'm not really thinking about it. Especially a day like today, we had a little contact, that was good for me. I feel like myself again."

Beckwith did say that he hopes never to have to be in the position of watching from the sideline again. His goal at the moment is imply to "come out and try to improve" every day. According to his head coach, he's been doing exactly that.

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Kendell Beckwith Making Rapid Progress - Buccaneers.com

Bears being patient with WR Kevin White: ‘He’s a work in progress … – Chicago Sun-Times

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

BOURBONNAIS Its still early, but receiver Kevin Whites slow start in training camp hasnt gone unnoticed.

Hes not where I want him to be or where we need him to be, receivers coach Zach Azzanni said Monday. Hes a work in progress. Hes had a good three days. Good first day, OK second day, much better today. Im pleased with where hes going. Hes going [up], and thats what I want.

White, the Bears first-round draft pick (seventh overall) in 2015, said he isnt putting pressure on himself to live up to high expectations.

Patient but a little bit of urgency, White said when asked about his approach entering camp.

Bears wide receiver Kevin White makes a play in training camp. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)

But Azzanni knows expectations are tough to block out.

Its human nature, Azzanni said. Hes a prideful guy. He has some conscience. He wants to do well for Chicago, for [general manager] Ryan Pace, for coach [John] Fox, for [offensive coordinator] Dowell [Loggains], for me. And I tell him: Dont worry about that. Dont worry about the media and people outside. Just go be the best player you can be.

Azzanni is working on keeping White positive.

You see flashes of what we want him to be, of what he wants to be, Azzanni said. Weve got to block out the noise for him. I cant let him read the papers and media ... because theres going to be some negative in there that gets into his head, and he cant let that happen.

Hes got to be positive. Weve got to go in our bunker, and Ive got to tell him how great he is all the time because he is.

Azzanni wants White to focus on gradual progress in the preseason.

Hes not going to come out here tomorrow and be a Pro Bowl player, Azzanni said. Hes going to work himself into that, and Im going to help him.

This and that

Guard Josh Sitton reported to camp after spending time with his family after his wife had a baby. He likely will participate on a limited basis when the Bears resume practice Wednesday.

Center Hroniss Grasu has taken snaps at guard.

Well continue to evaluate that, but hes done a great job so far, offensive line coach Jeremiah Washburn said.

Outside linebacker Dan Skuta returned to practice after missing three days with soreness stemming from a hip injury.

Players who didnt participate in the non-padded practice: receiver Markus Wheaton (appendectomy), running back Jeremy Langford (ankle), center/guard Eric Kush (hamstring), Sitton, tight end Zach Miller (foot) and outside linebacker Pernell McPhee (knee).

Follow me on Twitter @MarkPotash.

Email: mpotash@suntimes.com

The Trump victory sharpens Al’s message: The directors discuss Gore’s progress in An Inconvenient Sequel – Salon

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

Convenience is one of the hallmarks of our age. Alexa and Siri service us like concubines. We perform life-changing tasks with a swipe. The savants at Pixar sure got it right in Wall-E when they satirized us as obese, shake-sucking-armchair-potatoes in space.

So it certainly was going against the grain when, 11 years ago, Participant Productions and director Davis Guggenheim smacked us with that human 2-by-4, Al Gore, with his message of climate change peril in An Inconvenient Truth. The surprising thing was, people listened, and the film became a $23-million grossing hit that helped launch a new era of environmental consciousness.

It would have been facile to think that that success would resolve the problem and there wouldnt be a need for a sequel. Finally, a sequel that really is necessary. And so, here it is just now in theaters; An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, a documentary again produced by Participant and also starring Gores message of environmental urgency, but this time directed by husband and wife team, Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk (Audrie & Daisy, The Island President).

We see Gore as less wooden and more alive this time, as a significant part of a humane and human movement to save the earth. Salon lobbed some questions to the directors ofthe film, which topped specialty box offices over the weekend.

How did the film come together?

We were hired by Diane Weyermann, Executive VP of Doc Films at Participant Media. She, Jeff Skoll, and Al Gore had been discussing a possible follow up to An Inconvenient Truth. We traveled to Nashville, where we met Al Gore, who gave us a ten-hour long slide slideshow in order to bring us up-to-date on the climate crisis. We pitched the idea of doing a behind-the-scenes film in which we would follow Al for 18 months as he went about his work. The result is a cinema verit film in which the audience will see firsthand how Al travels to meet with scientists in Greenland, climate refugees in the Philippines and ultimately to Georgetown, TX to meet with a Republican Mayor who has decided to move his city to 100 percent renewable energy.

Leonardo DiCaprio and others have produced several climate change films in recent years; why did you think it was important to make this film?

Climate change is a highly complex, multi-faceted topic, and there have been many incredible films, books, and investigative Journalism on this topic. Leo D has spent a great deal of time and energy on fighting climate change, and we applaud him! Keep it coming. Climate change is the most important, most challenging issue humans have ever faced. Storytellers need to and should continue telling stories working on problem. Participant asked us to make a follow-up to An Inconvenient Truth. We agreed because we think that Al Gore is an unusual figure in the climate movement. Davis Guggenheims film helped millions around the world understand climate crisis and also re-introduced viewers to Gore in his post-political life.

Al agreed to give us a great deal of access, and through the scenes that we gathered, we hope viewers will get to know him better and also come to understand that we are at a unique moment in history in which the solutions to climate change exist. In Paris, during the 2015 climate conference, Al is asked to help convince the Indian delegation that India has a great to gain by moving away from fossil fuels and toward renewable sources of energy. Its a privileged view into international negotiations that people rarely see.

Whats it like working with Al Gore and how involved was he in the edit?

We maintained control over final cut of the film. We did show Al some rough cuts because we wanted to make sure that we were communicating his slideshow material accurately and effectively. We enjoyed getting to know Al and found him to be generous and warm. We also found him to be tireless! We dont know where he gets his energy, other that the fact that he seems driven deeply to help solve climate change.

Whats your read on Gores emotional and intellectual evolution regarding climate change since An Inconvenient Truth?

In the film you see that he is now quite optimistic about the solutions the cost down-curve for solar and wind tech has made renewable energy as cheap, if not cheaper, than traditional energy in many parts of the world. For example, he meets with the mayor of Georgetown, TX a Trump supporter and a Republican who has embraced wind and solar because its cheaper for the city and because it makes sense to him to pollute less. Al also now connects the movement to solve the climate crisis to other important social issues of the past. He compares the movement to the movement to end slavery, apartheid, the movement for gay rights, etc. We found him to be quite convincing and emotional on this topic.

How would the film have been different without a Trump presidency? Would it still have been necessary?

Well, the story of the film is about Al Gores on-going work to solve the climate crisis. The story mostly takes place before Trumps presidency. And we think its very compelling. The Trump victory sharpens Als message because Trump stands firmly in the camp that denies the facts of climate science. What surprised us is the backlash to Trumps speech in which we announced his intentions to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement. Many mayors, U.S. governors and business leaders have stepped up and announced plans to keep Americas commitment to the agreement, despite Trumps failure to lead on the issue.

Participant tends to have pretty involved outreach programs. What is it doing for this film?

Check outwww.aninconvenientsequel.com. There is an incredible educational curriculum in the works as well.

Is there hope that if Trump doesnt get re-elected (or gets impeached, for that matter) that the US can return to the Paris Accord?

Yes! In fact, the first day that the U.S. can officially withdraw is the day after the next president takes office in 2021. The Paris Accord was designed for each country to voluntarily commit to carbon reductions. It seems somewhat likely that the U.S. will keep to its commitments, given the action being taken by many states, cities, school and companies.

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The Trump victory sharpens Al's message: The directors discuss Gore's progress in An Inconvenient Sequel - Salon

New Rick And Morty Visits A Nihilistic Mad Max Wasteland – Kotaku

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Danzig

Last nights Rick and Morty wasnt the premiere, as the first episode of season 3 ran on April 1st. This is the start of the season proper, and while it wasnt as inventive as classic episodes like Total Rickall or Interdimensional Cable, the confidence of the writing lets the shows characters grow without getting corny.

Its funny to say that an episode where the characters go to a Mad Max-inspired universe to work out their feelings about divorce isnt inventive, but thats because Rick and Morty has set a high bar. Rickmancing The Stone doesnt flip the show on its head, but it does flesh out Summer, a character that sometimes comes off as one note.

Last season, Summer, Beth and Jerry got more of a spotlight, with mixed success. While Beth and Jerrys marital problems were sometimes irritating, it paid off with the two characters divorcing in the season 3 premiere. Theyve both moved into the background this episode in favor of showcasing how Morty, and especially Summer, are handling their parents separation. The siblings have joined Rick in a post-apocalyptic wasteland to run from their feelings. Mortys arm gets possessed by the muscle memory of an anonymous dead raid victim, and he beats the shit out of people to relieve his stress. Summer, on the other hand, really leans into the whole nihilistic wasteland thing, and ends up romantically engaged with Hemorrhage, the leader of the tribe theyve been hanging out with.

Summers a great character when she gets something to do. In Something Ricked This Way Comes we got to see her dynamic with Rick, and finally I feel like the show is building on that. At the end of the day, Summer and Rick are pretty similar. Theyre both self involved and neither of them have healthy coping mechanisms for their problems. Like Rick, Summers more likely to run away from things than face them head on. At the end of the episode, Rick finally convinces Summer to leave the Mad Max universe just by letting her new relationship get so mundane that it stops being an exciting escape.

Theres more hugging and learning in this episode than Im used to from Rick and Morty, but I appreciated that characters did get a chance to grow and to learn a little bit about themselves. While this is by no means a functional family, at least Beth and Jerry divorcing now seems like a plot point that will not only stick, but have a real impact on the cast. Rick and Morty would stop being interesting if these characters got their shit together, but Rickmancing The Stone seems like a step away from the unrelenting nihilism that the show sometimes gets mired in.

After the episode aired, Adult Swim streamed a post-show talk show, Ricking Morty, with series creator Dan Harmon and writer Jane Becker. While they didnt give away any show changing spoilers, it was really cool to get a behind the scenes look at how this episode took shape. Harmon talks about how his own parents separation inspired some aspects of this episode, and Becker talks about the episodes origins as a Pagemaster riff. Im pretty glad they landed on Mad Max instead.

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New Rick And Morty Visits A Nihilistic Mad Max Wasteland - Kotaku

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