Monthly Archives: January 2022

On National Girl Child Day, here’s a look at some shows that talk about women empowerment – The Tribune India

Posted: January 24, 2022 at 10:11 am

Social dramaBalika Vadhu 2 on Colors TVLaunched in August 2021, this show is a reboot of the long-running social drama series by the same name. Season 2 was announced with an aim to bring about a change and reignite conversations to eradicate child marriage custom from society. The nayi Anandi is now grown up and pursuing her graduation, inspiriting all girls out there.

Identity issuesApna Bhi Time Aayega on ZEE5A daughter can surely make it big in life if given the opportunity. This show tells the story of Rani (Anushka Sen), who is raised by her father to believe that sky is the limit for her. With her fathers constant encouragement, Rani achieves a place she rightfully deserves and establishes her own identity, rising above her roots.

Strong willNima Denzongpa on Colors TVThe show highlights the everyday struggles and prejudices faced by Nima (Surabhi Das). A simple girl from a middle-class family who moves to Mumbai and gets married with the love of her life. But little does she know that the city of dreams is about to turn into her worst nightmare. After a divorce from her husband, she takes the responsibility of bringing up her three daughters single-handedly.

Defying stereotypesDhadkan Zindaggi Kii on Sony Entertainment TelevisionWomen of today are a force to reckon with! With this concept, this show traces Dr Deepikas journey, who continues to defy stereotypes in her personal and professional life to fulfil her dream of becoming a successful surgeon. The show stars Additi Gupta in the lead role.

Family responsibilityThoda Sa Badal Thoda Sa Paani on Colors TVThe show revolves around Kajol (Ishita Dutta), who take over family responsibilities and fathers debt-ridden business, after he passes away. A clear example of gone are the days when girls were just a paraya dhan and boys were considered as the familys breadwinner!

Against all oddsBarrister Babu on VootThe story of this show is about Bondita Das, a child bride. Her husband fights the oppressive and patriarchal society to educate her to become a barrister. Educated and empowered, Bondita takes on social evils while also tackling obstacles in her personal life. The show went off air from Colors channel last year, but is streaming on Voot now.

Visit link:

On National Girl Child Day, here's a look at some shows that talk about women empowerment - The Tribune India

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on On National Girl Child Day, here’s a look at some shows that talk about women empowerment – The Tribune India

MINILUXE ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH CANADIAN BEAUTY INFLUENCER VERONICA CHU – StreetInsider.com

Posted: at 10:11 am

Get inside Wall Street with StreetInsider Premium. Claim your 1-week free trial here.

Toronto, Ontario, Jan. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MiniLuxe, Inc. (MiniLuxe) a wholly-owned subsidiary of MiniLuxe Holding Corp (TSXV: MNLX), is pleased to announce the start of an ongoing partnership with leading Canadian beauty professional and influencer Veronica Chu.

We first met Veronica as we were preparing for our listing on the TSXV, and our launch in the Canadian market in 2022. We were immediately struck by the commonality of our purpose and values, said Tony Tjan, co-founder and Executive Chairman of MiniLuxe. Veronica has become a powerful advocate for a largely overlooked group of vocational workers in the beauty industry, and we are thrilled to be working with her to share the stories of the diverse women who build meaningful careers in the nail industry.

Ms. Chu has a family history of working in the nail salon industry, which she acknowledges gave her the foundation she needed to build her dynamic career. The recent events surrounding the pandemic and a rise in Anti-Asian racism provided a catalyst for Ms. Chu to be more open in sharing her personal story with her audience. At this point in my life and in the world, I feel as though I need to be a voice for a very under-spoken subculture of Asian people that tend to be quieter about things. When I met the MiniLuxe team and learned more about how they are looking to elevate the working conditions and safety standards in the nail industry and celebrate the artistry and creativity of the designers working in their studios, it felt like a natural fit.

About MiniLuxe

MiniLuxe, a Delaware corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts is a digital-first, socially-responsible lifestyle brand and talent empowerment platform for the nail and waxing industry. For over a decade, MiniLuxe has been setting industry standards for health, hygiene, and fair labour practices in its efforts to transform the most used, but highly under-regulated nail care industry. MiniLuxe looks to become one of the largest inclusionary educators and employers of vocational women workers by empowering Asian-American, Asian-Canadian, and other diverse members on its talent empowerment platform.

Today, MiniLuxe derives its revenue streams across talent services (nail care and waxing services) and product revenue (through its own proprietary clean nail care products). MiniLuxe is driven by a fully integrated digital-first platform that manages all client bookings, preferences and payments and provides designers with the ability to manage scheduling, clientele preferences, performance and compensation tracking, and training content. Since its founding, MiniLuxe has performed over 2 million services.

For further information

Anthony TjanExecutive Chairman, MiniLuxe Holding Corp.atjan@miniluxe.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Read more from the original source:

MINILUXE ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH CANADIAN BEAUTY INFLUENCER VERONICA CHU - StreetInsider.com

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on MINILUXE ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH CANADIAN BEAUTY INFLUENCER VERONICA CHU – StreetInsider.com

Refuge and justice online: how sexual violence survivors seek safe haven on social media – The Conversation Indonesia

Posted: at 10:11 am

Within highly religious and normative societies such as Indonesia, the notion of sexual violence seems to be something that is absurd and beyond belief.

Many people still believe the occurrence of sexual violence is simply out of the question in a pious society or a country with Eastern values.

Our research highlights a unique reality in Indonesia.

Drawing on academic views that paint the internet as a world of its own, or a heterotopia, our study argues that social media platforms provide a space for contesting realities to counter dominant beliefs and norms including those related to sexual violence.

We found sexual violence occurs regardless of religion, class, social relations, or clothing. Perpetrators of sexual violence ranging from rape to sexual torture include husbands, boyfriends, relatives or other acquaintances known to the victim.

Our results are also in line with the rising number of sexual violence survivors in Indonesia who have publicly exposed their experiences. They do so not through mainstream news outlets, but instead through personal accounts on social media.

Unlike previous studies that argue the internet invites forms of sexual violence, it is evident in this study that female survivors of sexual violence in Indonesia tell stories of their experience on Twitter and Facebook to share fears, grievances, despair and anger.

Data from this research also show these survivors find support in social media as a safe space that resists stigmas and stereotypes about victims of sexual violence.

Our team conducted online observations on Facebook and Twitter to collect data. We also held in-depth interviews with female survivors of sexual violence.

Although they acknowledge that social media do not constantly support and empower, female survivors believe social media offer a counterpublic a space accepting of alternative realities that dominant society has often rejected.

Social scientists have argued that female survivors disclose their experience of sexual violence through online platforms as a way to fight and respond to sexual violence.

Nancy Fracer, a professor of philosophy and politics, introduces the notion of a subaltern counterpublic. It describes a place for marginalised communities to circulate counter discourses and exercise autonomy, free from the dominant society.

One of our research subjects, DH, shared her experience as a survivor of sexual violence, pleading with readers to help:

[..] Ive been dating him for years, so he despised my decision to break up with him. He raped me, beat me. It was the first time he ever abused me. A few weeks later he did it again when he found out that I planned to return to my parents house as I had felt like a terrible and dirty woman. [..] Im scared, and I feel really haunted by guilt, regret, and shame. Please give me a solution and please dont bully me.

DHs post received 27 positive reactions and 23 likes. Out of 31 comments, 17 offered solutions, aid regarding their situation, support and encouragement.

Another survivor, NN, shared her story of being sexually harassed by her stepfather. The post received 256 positive reactions and 151 supportive comments.

When I was in the ninth grade, my stepfather fondled my breasts. When I confronted him, he denied it by saying that I faked the whole thing and was delusional. The next time, he said that it must have been a djinn. I told my mother about what he did, but at the end my mother chose that bastards side.

The supportive reactions that DH and NN received show how social media can create a space for everyone to have a voice, increase awareness of sexual violence, as well as provide a safe space for female victims.

It is evident in this study that female survivors perceive social media as providing a place of refuge from threats and abuse.

By telling their stories, survivors found emotional and psychological empowerment. At the same time, they avoid stigma, pressure and marginalisation from the dominant society.

Although results show female survivors still are still subjected to a punitive gaze from society (through negative responses on their posts), at the same they receive generous public encouragement ranging from legal aid and psychological support to digital security.

Why do female victims of sexual violence consider social media a safe space?

The survivors we talked to in our study are well aware of stigmas within dominant society that are rooted in harmful myths about women and sexuality. These survivors end up seeking other safe spaces.

A woman in our study, for instance, believes sexuality and womens rights relating to sexuality remain taboo topics within the dominant society.

If I share my experiences, people would blame me for wearing tight clothes and leading people to the wrong idea.

Survivors in our study mentioned at least two myths on sexuality.

The first is the purity myth. It argues that sexuality is a sacred and private matter.

The second myth says sexuality is a taboo topic, which should be avoided and not discussed outside of marriage.

These myths then perpetuate benevolent sexism through the glorification of mothers and wives. They emphasise a discourse that honourable women are those who remain virgins until marriage.

As a result, mainstream society demands that women only engage in sexual activities and procreate within the institution of marriage. The same logic of domination assigns men as breadwinners to lead and protect wives and childrens purity.

People may think I deserve to be sexually violated by my husband for not being a good wife. (RA, survivor)

In most cases, sexual violence eludes recognition, prosecution and punishment. The dominant society employs moral standards that assign good women to be guardians of virtues and honour, and good men as their protectors.

As a consequence, female survivors are outright marginalised and often blamed for inciting sexual violence.

This situation then suppresses female survivors from exposing and reporting sexual violence as they will not feel safe or comfortable coming forward and sharing the experience.

Findings in this study emphasise how female survivors face many barriers to finding refuge and support within the dominant society.

Limited support and a lack of relevant legal provisions that protect survivors of sexual violence force them to seek refuge in alternative public spaces, like social media.

Although female survivors in this study take shelter in the online sphere, victims of sexual violence still desperately need support from the dominant structure.

Out study calls for the state to pass Indonesias proposed sexual violence bill as soon as possible.

Weve seen before the rise of movements that publicly oppose this bill. They contend that such a law violates Muslim values, promotes sexual promiscuity and causes people to deviate from religious norms and Eastern values.

These movements amplify stigmas and myths that prevent female survivors of sexual violence from finding refuge and justice.

See the article here:

Refuge and justice online: how sexual violence survivors seek safe haven on social media - The Conversation Indonesia

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on Refuge and justice online: how sexual violence survivors seek safe haven on social media – The Conversation Indonesia

Meet the 2022 Young Australian of the Year finalists dedicating their lives to helping others – ABC News

Posted: at 10:11 am

From personal tragedies and struggles to chance encounters that changed their lives, these inspiringyoung Australians are using their livedexperiences to helpothers.

They are youth leaders, podcasters, business owners, dentists and doctors who are making a difference every day.

One of these eight finalists will become the Young Australian of the Year for 2022.

Sizolwenkosi Fuyana said she spent more time suspended from school than she did learning.

"I was a very disengaged young person at school," she said.

"Coming out of high school I got Ds for all my year 12 exams."

Despite the results, Ms Fuyana managed to land herself a job at a law firm due to her ability to connect and talk to people.

But only months into the job she lost a friend to suicide and her mental health rapidly declined.

"I landed myself in hospital on my first suicide attempt," she said.

After being discharged, she was back in hospital only two weeks later after her second suicide attempt.

"I sat there and the nurse looking after me said to me, 'One day you're going to change the world'," she said.

From there, the Northern Territory Young Australian of the Year embarked on a journey of self care and has become a businesswoman, youth advocate and podcaster.

"I realised if I was still alive for the second time, I had to be here for a reason," she said.

"I didn't know what that purpose was at the time, but I realised I had a purpose."

She started her own business,Fuyana Support, which she uses to engage young people and provide them with the skills they need to succeed.

"Young people are our future leaders, our future politicians," she said.

"We need to empower young people to take on those roles that they have the potential to do.

"By supporting our young people I've seen how they become great leaders and great people who go on to serve their communities."

WA Young Australian of the Year Kendall Whyte has ended up on a veryunexpected journey after a personal tragedy.

In 2008 she lost her 29-year-old brother Jayden to suicide.

"Sadly, like many Australians Jayden struggled with his mental health yet didn't share this with his nearest and dearest," she said.

She believes he kept quiet due to the stigma around mental health that still exists.

Ms Whyte created the Blue TreeProject, inspired by a story shared at her brother's funeral.

"It's a story of him sneaking out one night with a friend to paint a tree blue," she said.

"It was painted out of love and mischief," she said.

What started as a practical joke has flourished into a charity that makes an impact Australia-wide.

Within just two years, the Blue Tree Project has helped facilitate a better understanding of mental health, while providing free education seminars and creating engaging community events within regional Western Australia.

"I share my story, not to share the pain, but to share hope for anyone that is struggling," Ms Whyte said.

"I just want them to know that there is always help out there and there is always someone who wants to be there for you."

When Daniel Nour was in his final year of medicine in London he came across a man having a seizure at a train station.

He stopped to help the man and later learned he was homeless.

Dr Nour spoke to other people around the man, many who were also homeless.

"They had a real sense that their health needs and the healthcare system cared less for them than any other average person in society," he said.

"I couldn't sleep after that."

Dr Nour said he couldn't stop thinking about it, and wanted to do something to help.

Back in New South Wales, he discovered that even with a world-class health systemthere were still barriers limiting access.

The New South WalesYoung Australian of the Yearcreated Street Side Medics, a mobile medical service dedicated to those experiencing homelessness.

"We started in July 2020 with two volunteers, and we've grown the team now to 220 volunteers with two vans and have served over 500 patients," he said.

The two vans areset up as a medical clinic and visitshelters across New South Wales for free and with no need for a Medicare card.

"I don't want to leave a single person unable to access healthcare."

Growing upin Melbourne's northern suburbs,Ahmed Hassan attended one of themost culturally diverse schools in Victoria.

"It was a real privilege. It taught me a lot personally, not about myself but aboutother people and their backgrounds," he said.

Buthe saw some of his peers living with major disadvantage.

"Young people who had no-one in their household employed, no form of transportation at home," he said.

"They had little to no food at times in their households."

When he was in year 10, Mr Hassan noticed a gapin services for young people.

"Many of the services that were meant to assist vulnerable young people weren't really connecting with the young people they were meant for," he said.

"A lot of those young people kept falling through the cracks."

Straight out of school, the Victorian Young Australian of the Yearset up not-for-profit organisation Youth Activating Youth with fellow community leader and chief executive Ali Ahmed.

It assistsdisadvantaged multiculturalyouth.

"It's a platform for these young people to really express themselves, and a platform that is for youth by youth."

Kaytlyn Johnson saw only three of her regional Tasmanian high school peers go on to university.

She wants that to changeand doesn't want a postcode to determine someone's future.

"Growing up in an isolated community like Wynyard presents disadvantages in the form of financial disadvantage, educational disadvantage and a lack of opportunity for young people," she said.

The youth leader said it was driven home when a school-organised work experience program placed students with businesses within one kilometreof the school.

"This experience highlighted the notion that young people in these rural areas are not being supported to dream and to have aspirations beyond a one-kilometre radius of their high school," she said.

"That also allowed me to realise that I need to advocate for young people and young Indigenous people who have the potential to create change not just on a local level but a national level and a global scale.

"I have been able to advocate for youth empowerment, Indigenous empowerment, social justice and climate change."

Ms Johnson said she experienced cultural struggles as a Palawa woman with pale skin growing up in a conservative rural community where Aboriginal history was barely taught in school.

"I didn't get to connect to culture as much as I would have liked to," she said.

Ms Johnson is Tasmania's Young Australian of the Year and is also a talented singer-song writer and has had her music featured on triple j Unearthed.

When Sean Dondas was just a teenager he lost his mother to cancer and became a ward of the state.

"We were a tight-knit family. It was mum, my two younger brothers and myself," he said.

When he was 14, his mother informed the family that her cancer had returned.

"There was massive uncertainty in our lives. We didn't know if mum would survive, we didn't know how long she'd have the treatment for and what this meant for the rest of our childhood, our schooling and our lives," he said.

"There weren't really people in my life who understood what I was going through."

A social worker at the hospital passed on information about cancer support organisation CanTeen, a simple gesture that would change his life.

The ACT Young Australian of the Year joined CanTeen in 2008 and has spent the past 13 years supporting others going through similar situations through his work in various leadership roles.

"I could always count on CanTeen to provide me with the appropriate support and services I needed to deal with the cancer experience I'd gone through," he said.

"I realised I could also make an impact, and young people in CanTeen had inspired me to give back."

His input has helped shape decisions on a range of vital strategies, including clinical trials, youth cancer services, community-based support, and an online support community and counselling services.

"I want young people who are going through a similar experience [to know] that it isn't the end;you can rebuild from this and there is a future for you."

When Tahnee Bridson was in her final year of medical school she lost a dear friend to suicide, a well-known doctor who was her community's general practitioner.

Faced with grief and the pressures of finishing her studies, Bridson was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.

"At this point in my life I felt incredibly alone and like I was the only person in medicine that could possibly be going through this," she said.

It wasn't until later that she released she wasn't alone, and that healthcare workers all over Australia and the world were also facing issues such asdepression, anxiety, burnout and eating disorders.

"Unfortunately there's so much stigma attached to this, and old-school mentality that for some reason as healthcare workers we're meant to be heroes and can't ask for help or tell people we're struggling," she said.

Dr Bridson, who is the Queensland Young Australian of the Year, decided to take action and came up with the idea for Hand-n-Hand Peer Support.

It provides free confidential peer-to-peer support for all health workers across Australia and New Zealand.

While it started off as a small group chat, even after 24 hours of its inception 400 healthcare workers had reached out for support.

"This grew exponentially over the next few months as COVID came into Australia and had an impact on our health system," she said.

"Our jobs are so stressful and they demand so much of people. If we don't look after our healthcare workers we won't have them there to look after us."

Trudy Lin knows the power of a smile.

The SA Young Australian of the Year is a special needs dentistry consultant at Adelaide Dental Hospital.

Dr Lin provides oral healthcare to people with disability, psychiatric illness, and complex medical issues such as cancer.

She also treats people experiencing homelessness and domestic violence.

Her passion grew from her own family's experience with the health system.

"My youngest brother was diagnosed with autism, and my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, and I saw that oral health had an even bigger impact on their lives," she said.

"They were finding it difficult to find a dentist that understood those issues and had the skills to help them with it.

"That's how I ended up wanting to specialisein special needs dentistry, to help other people who were facing similar challenges."

Growing up, her father struggled with oral health and had a condition that made his teeth look black.

"He didn't even like to go outside or go out for a meal and smile at other people," she said.

"He felt really isolated because wasn't able to connect with others through the simple gesture of smiling at someone else," she said.

"This really led me to want to help others to have their smile and to be able to eat properly and integrate themselves into society."

Dr Lin has completed a research thesis on implementing a triaging tool to improve oral healthcare access for people with disability, and this work has received multiple accolades, including the 2020 Australian and New Zealand division winner of the International Association of Dental Research Poster Competition.

Read more:

Meet the 2022 Young Australian of the Year finalists dedicating their lives to helping others - ABC News

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on Meet the 2022 Young Australian of the Year finalists dedicating their lives to helping others – ABC News

With the NCAA backed into a corner, the age of paying college athletes is officially upon us – CBS Sports

Posted: at 10:11 am

College athletics, beyond just the NCAA, has been backed into a corner surrounded by barbed wire. There are few paths out. At this point, seemingly no amount of litigation or committees or legislation can deny what is inevitably coming down the tracks like a runaway train.

In some way, shape or form, athletes in the revenue-producing sports will have to be paid. Not just name, image and likeness rights or cost of attendance money, we're talking some sort of partnership with the schools for which they put their bodies on the line.

Short of Congressional intervention -- a Hail Mary at this point -- that's the only tenet remaining from a collegiate model that has melted away over the years like a Life Saver left out in the rain.

For many, there is little left of the innocence that drew a certain generation to the games in the first place. What has been positioned as a decisive moment this week at the NCAA Convention really serves only as background music.

What matters more are the parallel tracks carrying NIL, the transfer portal, player empowerment, a multibillion-dollar entertainment/athletic complex and a yawning lack of leadership at the top.

No rewriting of the NCAA Constitution is going to change that narrative in the short term. College athletics has not only lost a large part of whatever legal leverage it might hold to stave off pay-for-play, it has lost its way entirely.

"I do think we're probably 2-3 years away from having a different relationship with our student-athletes," said respected North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who is entering his 27th year in athletic administration. "It won't necessarily be the student and the university. It may be employee-employer."

That means a fundamental shift in how the games are administered and consumed.

If players are paid by their schools, will that turn off fans? It hasn't so far.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young's NIL valuation is currently third nationally at $1.8 million per year. While he's not paid directly by the school, he's still capable of becoming a multimillionaire while in college. Young won the Heisman Trophy in 2021 and is generally viewed as a football and personal success story. In other words, his earnings haven't made a difference in his on-field success. He's a winner.

"If he made $2 million, everybody in that locker room would be incredibly happy knowing he deserves everything," Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said of his star quarterback, Desmond Ridder. "Teammates would not bat an eyelash. They respect guys who put in the work."

College athletics is coming around to the concept because, increasingly, there is nowhere left to go. The NCAA could have begun loosening its view of compensation the moment Ed O'Bannon protested about having his image on a video game without pay. In September 2019, NCAA president Mark Emmert was still calling NIL "an existential threat".

"It would not surprise me if, 18 months from now, being employees is the only way to save this thing," said one FBS AD intimately involved in the ongoing deregulation of the NCAA.

DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, crystalized the issues last month during the Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum in Las Vegas.

"Colleges and universities deciding to set up [a labor relationship with players], there's nothing at all that prevents anybody from doing it," he said. " Why wouldn't we want to be in a world where we're dictating our own destiny?"

Veteran Oklahoma professor and reform activist Gerald Gurney just retired from a 41-year career in teaching and athletics administration. "Compensating players is not going to stop whether it's over the table or under the table," he told CBS Sports. "We're going to move forward in some fashion or another of paying players."

Bottom line in this third decade of the 21st century: Those who spent their careers building and nurturing college athletics no longer control it. That was assured in a dizzying series of developments in 2021 that forced college athletics into a corner and strung it with that barbed wire.

There is no going back to what the NCAA used to be. The association was forced to allow NIL to move forward in its current form because, in the end, it was too slow to evolve. It is now relying on -- actually, it's begging -- Congress for a national law regulating NIL. In the current political climate, that's unlikely to come anytime soon.

"We're going to end up with something that's a whole lot worse than a blanket set of NIL," Tulane AD Troy Dannen told CBS Sports.

The transfer portal was adopted because the NCAA couldn't defend how undergraduate athletes in 14 sports could transfer without restriction while those in so-called revenue-generating sports (football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, hockey) and had to sit out a year in waiting. That was a lawsuit waiting to come down, especially with the average non-athletic student able to transfer at will.

"You hear a lot now about, 'Hey, we've got to back off. We've got to put some windows in the [transfer] portal. It's not going backwards," Dannen said. "The transfer environment is not going to become less restrictive. We missed an opportunity to evolve."

You want to claw back some of that lost leverage? Experts suggest that next step could come as a partnership of sorts between the athletes and their schools. Collective bargaining -- whether athletes are paid or not -- may be the first step.

"We have graduate assistants, we have teaching assistants, we have [teaching] fellows," Cunningham said. "Universities have positions that are quasi-employees. Maybe the student-athlete will be considered something short of a full employee [with a] term sheet and benefits."

Example: Let's say players as a group -- through negotiation via representation -- agree to stay at school for a two-year minimum. In return, they could receive better long-term healthcare. There is already speculation that, if and when the College Football Playoff expands, there will be pressure on the CFP to fund post-eligibility health insurance from the windfall of a new media rights deal.

"We're going to unionize football," a dour Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi predicted this week. "Take 20 guys [in recruiting] out of high school. Only 10 are any good. We're going to cut the other 10? If you want to start talking money, we're going to start cutting players. It's going to become a business."

A large swath of coaches, administrators and fans would suggest college athletics at its highest level has long been a business. Players are already cut -- just not in the NFL way -- when schools change coaches who "run off" players they don't want.

That's one reason the transfer portal evolved. Four years ago, coaches were able to dictate where a player could transfer. Now, the clout has shifted almost totally in favor of the athlete who, once in the portal, can entertain offers.

Casey Schwab, CEO of Altius Sports Partners, helps develop NIL opportunities for college athletes. He told Sportico last month that athletes will gain employee status this year in at least one of three ways: federal or state law, litigation, or through the National Labor Relations Board ruling.

"I do agree that controlling your own destiny [is preferred to] not allowing legislators, judges or lawyers [to] dictate where this lands," Schwab said. "At the very least, if it's not the right option now, ADs need to be thinking about it. Commissioners need to be thinking about it."

Unionization and the collective bargaining that would go with it has already been tested. The concept was rejected by the NLRB at Northwestern in 2015. However, a former University of Minnesota regent last year filed an unfair labor practice to the NLRB in support of reclassifying athletes as employees.

That came after NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a guidance memo that could eventually lead to unionization by college athletes. Abruzzo's is a political appointment, meaning the case might have a better chance of leading to unionization backed by a pro-labor administration in Washington, D.C.

Those who counter with the reminder of a free education in the form of a scholarship have allowed the narrative to escape them. Gurney has long said there is difference between getting a degree and getting an education.

"I think, at one point, the athlete is going to have to be given a choice between going to school and getting a real education or don't bother them with this eligibility nonsense," said Michael Hsu, that Minnesota regent. "To pretend they are really students is flagrant. It's a fraud."

The lasting impression -- at least for some lawyers -- is that athlete income is still being capped by NCAA restrictions. Perhaps the only way out is for the schools to become partners with the athletes.

"You know what this is coming down to, don't you?" one college athletics consultant asked. "It's coming down to two things: collective bargaining or Congress."

Partnering with players may be the best option available as the corner college athletics has backed itself into looks more like a strait jacket. An NIL bill isn't likely to emerge from a divided Congress representing a divided country anytime soon. Unions won't work in some states because of right-to-work laws.

So, why not explore revenue-sharing and group licensing agreements? Those are currently against NCAA rules, but a meaningful version of the NCAA may not exist in a few months. Now that a new constitution is set to be ratified, there is a significant business of deregulation.

To rely on Congress to oversee and regulate athletics seems lazy. Several sources shared a be-careful-what-you-wish-for warning regarding potential federal intervention.

"If Congress is going to get involved, they're going to take away nonprofit status from [schools] that are giving $10 million salaries," one FBS AD said. "There is no nonprofit in the world that would be allowed to be a nonprofit with $10 million at the top of their food chain."

Basically, get ready for "anything goes".

The NCAA Transition Committee will manage the details. It is chaired by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Ohio AD Julie Cromer. Scholarship limits could go up if only because the Power Five can afford it. The influence of NCAA enforcement could fade as conferences take more control.

FBS membership is up for discussion. By Aug. 1 when the new constitution is supposed to take effect, there might not be 130 schools at the top level. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips pointed last week to this as one reason his conference is presently opposed to expanding the CFP to 12 teams.

The transition committee's responsibility is significant. College athletics will continue to deregulate. NIL and the transfer portal came about precisely because the NCAA was too restrictive.

"The transfer portal is clich," Sankey said. "The transfer portal is raising your hand and saying, 'I'm over here.' There's a lot of people that never come out. There are a lot of people looking for the next opportunity that doesn't materialize."

And that's perhaps not going to change without mediation, a partnership, collective bargaining and/or a union. Maybe a combination of them all.

If football and basketball players are paid directly, that will run straight into Title IX concerns. Title IX is the 1973 federal law that mandates equal opportunities for an underrepresented gender at institutions that receive federal money. That discriminated gender has mostly referred to women. Simply put, the market value of Young and a women's cross-country athlete are different.

By the letter of the law, each should get an equal salary.

The Knight Commission suggested solution in December 2020: The FBS would break away as a separate entity and be funded by the CFP. The NCAA would be left with what it does best, running a heck of a basketball tournament each March.

That would address a long-standing frustration among other divisions that the FBS -- especially the Power Five conferences -- has a weighted NCAA voting advantage, particularly on revenue distribution. That despite the NCAA not sponsoring a championship at the FBS level.

"If you pull football out and govern it separately, basketball will be right behind it in 15 seconds and the NCAA will go away," Dannen said. "I'm scared to death of that particular model."

Whatever happens, some thin thread that links the entire enterprise to education must be maintained. College athletics can't be just one giant Disney corporate investment.

One concept being floated is allowing athletes to get academic credit for playing their sports. Why not? Regular students get credit for studying abroad in their chosen major.

Once again, the NCAA has lost the moral high ground. It thumbed its nose at academic integrity four years ago in the North Carolina case. The NCAA has watched standardized test scores previously needed for admission fade away. Penalties for underachieving in the Academic Progress Rate have unfairly targeted historically Black colleges and universities.

"The young kids taking your tickets are sports administration majors," Cunningham said. "They're getting credit for working the game. The athletic trainer down on the field, they're getting credit because they're an athletic trainer. The band is getting credit because they're in music and on the field at halftime. The video people are getting credit because they're working for the ACC Network. The only person not getting credit is the kid playing the game."

A lot of this would be an admission that the traditional collegiate model doesn't work in an era of litigation and common sense.

NIL benefits have gotten so unregulated that many of the outlandish benefits provided to SMU players 45 years ago in the death penalty case would be allowed in 2021. Slush fund? Allowed if you consider current "collectives" of donors pooling their NIL money to lure players. Free cars? Quarterback Spencer Rattler had two of them last season at Oklahoma.

"The Spencer Rattlers always had two cars [in the past]. It was in a different way," Dannen said.

That different way was described recently by College Football Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, an SMU superstar in the 1980s.

"You're a youth athlete, 19-years-old, and a guy comes to you and says, 'Here's $20,000.' You don't say, 'Oh no, I can't take that money,'" Dickerson told CBS Sports.

"What they did to my school is bullshit. They would never have done that to Alabama. They would never have done that Texas. They would have never done that to Oklahoma."

Many would argue the business side has been growing for decades. The amount of unregulated money that bubbled up after conference rights fees increased dramatically following the landmark NCAA v. Board of Regents case in 1984.

That decision deregulated college football, creating a pot of previously unavailable money resulting from monster media rights agreements. In turn, that caused realignment as conferences scrambled to get the best brands (schools) under their tent. It was no shock that high-powered lawyers and their accompanying 30% fees began to shape the new landscape.

That uneven terrain has been used by the ACC as a reason to stall College Football Playoff expansion. The 69-year-old league isn't a standalone in defending the academic component as athletic departments more closely resemble Fortune 500 businesses. But it's worth noting the reaction by critics when the ACC stood its ground for foundational concepts such at player safety and academics.

The new NCAA Constitution to be ratified this week is another example of the association being backed into that corner. The same document that was once used to effectively shutter Penn State football amid the Jerry Sandusky scandal promises to become a much sleeker, less-intrusive document.

With sleeker comes its own set of problems. The current environment cannot endure. Perhaps a new landscape where the sun never sets on the paid athlete is the future.

If the NCAA is the membership, as Emmert continues to remind us, then the membership is pissed. The transfer portal has been described over and over as the Wild, Wild West. NIL took effect without much oversight. Healthcare is lagging considering the NCAA is on record as saying it has "no legal duty to protect student-athletes".

There's a way to regulate it: Form a partnership with the players who fill the stadiums and generate the revenue.

"We just have to figure it out," Cunningham said. " How do you stop it? We're not going to stop it. All we have to do is figure out how to finance it."

More:

With the NCAA backed into a corner, the age of paying college athletes is officially upon us - CBS Sports

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on With the NCAA backed into a corner, the age of paying college athletes is officially upon us – CBS Sports

A shinkansen to space (and other news found beneath the sofa) – The Japan Times

Posted: at 10:10 am

Happy New Year! While salutations of akemashite omedet gozaimasu (Happy New Year) filled the air in most parts of the country at the start of the month, my home was filled with exclamations of a different sort.

So thats where the lost karuta game card went, I heard my wife shout. Try to keep your dried ramen snacks in your mouth in the future, not under the sofa! that was her again, as was, Ooh, its been dead quite a while, I think. That last one came upon the discovery of a cockroach husk found under the refrigerator.

The Japanese have a lovely custom called sji, or big cleaning, during the New Year holidays. Thats when we clean the dark corners, hard-to-reach spots and most bothersome places in our homes. I say its a lovely custom, but I graciously let my wife take the lead on doing most of it. She is the Japanese one in our relationship, after all, and I would never dream of cultural appropriation. In Scotland, a certain amount of dirt and mess is believed not only to build character but antibodies, too.

However, I do my part to keep our son busy so that the yearly ritual can take place without any obstacles. And, caught with the cleaning bug, I thought Id tidy up a years worth of news tidbits from Japan in order to retain some essential stories and wisdom for 2022. May this small service in some way compensate for errant strands of dried ramen found in inappropriate spots around my home.

What if control of outer space were left to the Japanese? Well, maybe not all of it, but wouldnt it be nice if Japan played a bigger role in extraterrestrial affairs?

This thought came to me when rereading an article from around the beginning of last year stating that Sumitomo Forestry and Kyoto University were partnering to try to construct wooden satellites, which would burn up upon re-entry to Earth, and thus cut down on space junk.

Western culture portrays space as the final frontier, or at least Star Trek does. For me, this narrative evokes an image of brave pioneers chopping down obstacles and pacifying native inhabitants in order to clear a path for colonization. Space entrepreneurs such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk tend to give the same impression.

Other highly militarized nations such as Russia and China seem to enjoy blowing things up in space, and testing weapons there. So I think a little more wabi-sabi could be brought to the inky blackness. That is, an appreciation for and accommodation with the beauty of natures complexities and imperfections, rather than an attempt to bring things under complete human mastery.

Before his fifth birthday last year, my son went through an intense Astro Boy phase. The now decades-old anime depicts the struggles of a robot boys acceptance into human society. Surely, this Cant we all just get along? message is a better way to step into the future or the galaxy than visions of Klingon wars or chest-bursting Alien nightmares? (That film, by the way, is set in 2122, 100 years from now. Kids born today may actually live to see it come to fruition!)

If Japan did rule space, those warp-speed portals would run like clockwork relatively speaking. If the Sol System to Alpha Centauri Express were just a minute out, the unfortunate pilot would be scrubbing Portaloos on Pluto for a week.

I think we need a word that is equivalent to punctual but negative. We Scots like to think of ourselves as cannily frugal. Some others, such as Englands Samuel Johnson, have characterized this as tight-fistedness. You may be praised as meticulous, but take it too far and you will be criticized as fussy. But where is the word or expression for someone who is too fussily concerned about punctuality?

In November, it was revealed that a JR West train driver was suing his employers after he was docked 56 for driving his empty shinkansen to the depot a minute later than scheduled. I like an on-time train as much as the next person, but surely this is a clear case of punctual-retentiveness? Or hyper-punctuality Japonica disorder?

Fuhin the panda is given some traditional new year decorations to bring in 2022. The result, predictably, is very cute. | KYODO

In an alternative career teaching English, I have a student in her 60s who refers to herself as bs-seito, which you could translate as student running wild. She refers to herself in this way to apologize whenever she gives an awkward answer to my innocuous conversation-starter questions. She doesnt have a television or smartphone, and tends to profess a dislike of any cultural staple I put forward as an easy topic that couldnt fail to elicit a positive response: I dont like the Beatles. They have such small faces, or, I cant pick a favorite temple in Kyoto, I hate the place.

Former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara was once dubbed bs-rjin, or old man running wild, for going off on far-right tangents in the media.

Last year showed that albeit to a lesser degree than Ishiharas extremism, and in a less endearing way than my students quirkiness a certain generation of Japanese politicians is still prone to running wild while on mic. There are so many examples I could pick out, but the gold medal has to go to former Prime Minister Yoshiro Moris sexist gaffe ahead of the Olympics. The then-83-year-old, and then-President of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee said, If we increase the number of female board members, we have to make sure their speaking time is restricted somewhat, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying.

Moving forward, I dont think we should just forget this kind of comment, or shrug it off with an excuse like, 83-year-old men will be 83-year-old men. Due to an ageing population and declining birth rate, younger Japanese are really going to have to push hard to exert greater influence. Well never get rid of fax machines at this rate!

But if I ever had to win the votes and affection of Japans disadvantaged youth, or any depressed underclass for that matter, 2021 taught me how to do it.

When Ueno Zoos panda Shin Shin gave birth to twins in June, shares in hospitality venues nearby were reported to have jumped in value in anticipation of a glut of visitors to the zoo. Hospitality venues no doubt deserve a boost, given the coronavirus-related difficulties they have had to put up with in recent times. But what is it with pandas?

Japan even has an expression that encapsulates the emotional, or dare I say irrational, appeal that pandas provoke: hitoyose panda. This literally refers to a panda that can draw in crowds of people, but it has been applied to celebrity politicians who may not know much about politics, but will nevertheless draw in voters. Were not expecting you to actually do much, this expression suggests, just sit there and look cute, and youll nevertheless attract a certain kind of voter.

Just sitting there and munching bamboo might be a winner if youre Shin Shin, but your spouse isnt likely to find it cute if you sit around munching dried ramen snacks while they clean. At least, thats what the sji has taught me.

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Read the original:

A shinkansen to space (and other news found beneath the sofa) - The Japan Times

Posted in Mars Colony | Comments Off on A shinkansen to space (and other news found beneath the sofa) – The Japan Times

The Lost In Space Season 3 Scene That Went Too Far – Looper

Posted: at 10:10 am

Some fans were irritated with the way the show ends and how quickly the robots change their mind about humans. Penny finds the solution to the robot problem by helping one android when it's injured, much as Will does in the first season with, uh, Robot. In a discussion of the last episode, "Trust," on the r/lostinspace subreddit, u/warren_peace66 cracked the joke, "Hey kids, don't make robots your slaves to pilot your spacecraft. Make friends with them instead."

U/TrashAccount2908 similarly wrote that it was way too easy for the robots to change course on killing humanity: "Okay, so all the alien robots needed was for someone to show compassion and they go from murderous to friendly, I don't get it." U/relloek concurred, calling the shift "bad and lame writing."

While u/Schwartzy94 still liked the ending, "One thing I didnt like at all how easily the robots just switched sides when penny and her friends helped them... Way too easy and made the og robot and will's scene in the first season not as special." The plot beat hasn't completely ruined the series finale of "Lost in Space" for fans, but it wasn't exactly embraced by already frustrated viewers either.

Excerpt from:

The Lost In Space Season 3 Scene That Went Too Far - Looper

Posted in Mars Colony | Comments Off on The Lost In Space Season 3 Scene That Went Too Far – Looper

10 of the best new restaurants in Collin County you probably missed in 2021 – Local Profile

Posted: at 10:10 am

What are some new restaurants near me?

Its not a secret that restauranteurs have been feistily fighting for survival over the last two years. Knowing this, its encouraging to see new places continue to open up in Collin County, where, also not a secret, we love to dine out.

These ten Collin County restaurants opened in 2021 (or just before) and are working hard to make a name for themselves as they invite first-timers to dine with them, and hope for their return. Among them might be your new favorite spot!

5872 TX-121 | #104 | Plano

Suburban Yacht Clubs coastal cantina invites guests to embrace the tide and sail away with tropical cocktails and chef-driven Boardwalk fare. While the restaurants West Coast-inspired atmosphere suggests that its a place for seafood-only, the menu is heavily inspired by Californias Baja region and features beachy street food, sandwiches, and a creative selection of Drinking Snacks like Queso and Pepitas or Chili Salt and Lime Edamame.

1016 E. 15th Street | Plano

At Bar-Ranch, all of the steaks come fromthe best prime and prime plus beef consisting of 100%Koroge Washu,Akaushi, American Wagyu and Aberdeen Angus.They choose only the best prime cuts, which are aged for a minimum of 30 days in their custom aging room (with a dry-aging process that incorporates Himalayan salt for an outstanding flavor).

The lunch menu includes bread bowls and soups, dry-aged burgers, and of course, amazing steaks. Or, come for dinner and enjoy a featured dinner for two. Bonus: they have Whiskey Keep and Steak Locker memberships.

5454 Main Street | #123 | Frisco

Hoffs Steak and Steins is a Texas-German-style steak house that opened its doors near Toyota Stadium in 2021 (in the former British Lion space). Similar to the lively German-inspired establishments youll find in central Texas, Hoffs is known for great food, a large beer selection, and a relaxed atmosphere.

Sit upstairs, sit downstairs, or relax in Adirondack chairs in Hoffs Texas Beer Garden.This meat-centric steakhouse offers a range of artisan steaks, ribs and beef that is carefully sourced from local farms for the best flavor and texture. Stop by for brunch on the weekend.

104 S. Chestnut Street | McKinney

What started as a food truck has transformed into one of downtown McKinneys most eclectic little food joints, Guave Tree Cuban Cafe and Cantina. The counter-order menu has Cuban streetfood favorites like El Cubano with fresh Plantain Chips and Braised Shredded Flank Steak with Black Beans. Try the Loaded Yuca Fries and pair them with a Mojito. Youll find guava in most of their sauces, as well as in the must-try guava and cream cheese puffed pastry.

Guavas expansive patio is family and dog-friendly and often features live music on Saturday nights. By the way, they still have the food truck and you can book it for your next event!

1400 Coit Road | Plano

Salad and Go is on a mission to debunk the myth that you cant eat healthy while on the go, nor do healthy meals have to be expensive. Their drive-through salad concept is simple, straightforward, convenient, and best of all affordable.

All of their hearty, made-to-order salads and wraps are only $5.74,while their 24-ounce drinks are just $1, proving that fast food can be good food. Youll also find cold-brew iced coffees, organic teas and house-made lemonades. In a hurry? Pre-order what you want on Salad and Gosapp.

1070 Watters Creek Boulevard | Allen

Have you ever wanted to take your dog out for a drink? Now you can!MUTTS Canine Cantinas off-leash dog park, bar and grill caters to both two-legged and four-legged friends alike! Its a place where like-minded peeps and friendly pups can eat, drink, play or even have a birthday pawty!

Peeps can try the Mutts Burger or the Grilled Cheese and Hot Pickle Sandwich, while their pups might delight in a Pupsicle (frozen peanut butter and beef broth stick) or a Doggie Dog (a bite-sized beef frank).

5755 Grandscape Boulevard | The Colony

Windmills Brewery is a creative space with an intellectual feel, a place where all age groups can enjoy great music, books, craft beer and food. Windmills marries comfortable seating, a wide stage area, fresh food and handcrafted beers to create a destination that immediately feels comfortable whether youre visiting for the first time or the hundredth.

Eclectic live music and thousands of books make Windmills a truly unique and special place. Whether youre here for a drink or a show, consider adding some Lemon Cumin Shrimp, a Bourbon Ribeye or some Cheese Curds Pakora. The Indian-inspired menu includes a weekend brunch and is sure to impress.

6495 Dallas Parkway | Suite 200 | Frisco

Proudly serve veteran-owned coffee and tea, this cozy coffee house and cafe believes your coffee should be as strong as your country (and that goes for your tea too). American Coffee and Tea brews a cup thats bold, just like the veterans that have fought for all of our freedoms for over two centuries.

The extensive coffee menu is as impressive as the food options, which include breakfast sandwiches, wraps, salads, and delicious baked goods. Feel free to use the drive-through if youre in a hurry, but youll appreciate the many respectful nods to Veterans throughout the interior. The cafe is on the small side, but a cozy couch, plenty of tables and friendly, loyal patrons give this place home away from home potential.

301 Eldorado Parkway | McKinney

All the rage these days, The Stix Icehouse is the latest indoor/outdoor playground to hit Collin County. The 14-acre complex offers food and drink for all ages, as well as a nine-hole disc golf course, Wiffle ball, corn hole, ping pong, swings, a treehouse, and a large space available for events.

Inspired by some of your favorite Texas watering holes, Stix is a fun, chill place where the community can hang out and connect with one another. Kids can safely run free while adults enjoy good company, drinks, and a robust menu of good ol American comfort food. Stix is the vision of Don Day, downtown McKinney advocate, and food and beverage veterans Mike Luther and Rae Phillips-Luther (Jamba Juice, Zoes Kitchen, UP Inspired Kitchen).

1104 E. 14th Street | Plano

The same folks who brought us Urban Crust (woodfired pizza) and Urban Rio (Mexican food) opened a seafood spot in downtown Plano in 2021. Inspired by New England destinations like Nantucket and Boston, Urban Seafood Companys menu features coastal favorites like a warm lobster roll, wood-grilled fish specials and house-made pasta dishes.

Try the fresh oyster bar with daily offerings sourced from the East Coast and beyond, shucked bar-side. A hearty bowl of Cioppino might entice you, or perhaps the Nantucket Seafood Pasta.

Another favorite of ours that opened this year? The Puttery at Grandscape. Check it out!

Original post:

10 of the best new restaurants in Collin County you probably missed in 2021 - Local Profile

Posted in Mars Colony | Comments Off on 10 of the best new restaurants in Collin County you probably missed in 2021 – Local Profile

How real could virtual reality become? – The Boston Globe

Posted: at 10:10 am

The challenge of understanding virtual worlds is something David Chalmers has considered for some time. In 2003, Chalmers, professor of philosophy and neural sciences and codirector of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness at New York University, wrote The Matrix as Metaphysics for the official website of The Matrix movie, which hooked audiences on a longstanding philosophical question: Whats real?

In his new book, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy, Chalmers defends the counterintuitive ideas of virtual realism: that virtual reality is a genuine reality; digital objects are not illusions; and, eventually, life in virtual worlds may be our best option. Our conversation has been condensed and edited.

Imagine we conducted this interview in virtual reality that we put on headsets, we logged on to a social VR platform, and our cartoon avatars talked in a digitally rendered caf. Since the avatars and the caf are computer-generated, its tempting to say theyre fictional, like characters and settings in novels and films. Why do you believe theyre real?

In a Lord of the Rings video game, we play fictional characters, but an ordinary conversation between two people in VR is perfectly real. Theres nothing fictional about it. Our avatars are real digital objects and the caf is a real digital space. Digital objects arent the same as physical objects, but theyre still real. They make a difference and theyre not all in our minds. Were really meeting in a virtual caf and having a real conversation. In the future people might genuinely be employed in virtual worlds and build real relationships. Thats not a fiction!

Lets further imagine we sat our avatars down on virtual chairs at opposite sides of a virtual table. Since we would perceive the table and chairs to be in physical space, its tempting to say virtual reality tricks us. Why arent these objects illusions?

If you perceived virtual tables as physical tables out there in physical space, that would be an illusion. But sophisticated users of VR dont perceive things this way. They know theyre in VR and perceive and interpret everything that way. They perceive virtual objects as being in virtual space. Thats no illusion. Its what I call the sense of virtuality.

Imagine we conducted this interview in the distant future. An AI-controlled avatar comes up to us and says, Pardon me for interrupting, but I find your conversation fascinating. You have said you believe that if science and technology become sufficiently advanced, the avatar may be conscious, not merely an intelligent chatbot. Since the avatar lacks a biological brain, how is this possible?

If the avatar is anything like a current chatbot, it wont be conscious. But if it has something like a simulated brain, I think it may well be conscious. I dont think theres anything special about biology. In principle, we could swap out our neurons for silicon chips and stay conscious. In my view, consciousness is tied to certain patterns of information processing and not to a specific biological substrate.

But how likely is it that a digital entity will ever match or approximate the complexity of human consciousness? After all, the biochemistry of the human brain plays a fundamental role in what we understand and experience.

The human brain seems to be a complex machine, with 86 billion neurons interacting in complex patterns. In principle, it should eventually be possible to simulate that machine by simulating its parts and their interactions. Complexity is no bar to digital entities having the same sort of consciousness as human brains.

Imagine the avatar continues to speak and says, Its immoral that most humans treat digital beings like me as mere objects. Why do you believe the avatar deserves better if its conscious?

Id argue that the reason humans deserve moral respect is that we are conscious. It follows that if a fully simulated human brain has humanlike conscious states, then that system deserves the same sort of moral respect that humans do. For example, torturing a conscious AI would be just about as bad as torturing a conscious human. Im sure that if we ever develop conscious AI systems, theyll agree.

Lets say that after we finish talking to the AI avatar, you tell me youre finding VR so satisfying youre considering spending most of your time there perhaps permanently uploading your mind and abandoning physical reality. How would you defend this decision?

I like physical reality! And I dont recommend abandoning it for VR anytime soon. But I can imagine a distant future in which physical reality is degraded and VR offers a far better environment with much richer experiences, richer relationships, and the possibility to build new societies. In that case, I think a life in VR could be just as meaningful as a life in the physical world. Wed certainly need to take care of physical reality, and some people might go back and forth. But I think it would be defensible for many people to spend their lives in virtual reality.

Wouldnt it be frightening to disappear into virtual reality and leave our physical bodies so vulnerable to abuse and neglect? And wouldnt it be tragic to stop treating natural wonders, family heirlooms, and historically significant artifacts as irreplaceable?

Yes, we have to treat our bodies well. Thats one reason for keeping a firm footing in physical reality. In the long term, there will be new technologies for taking care of our physical bodies while were in VR and perhaps even for migrating to new digital bodies. But the physical world will always have special significance, just as the earth will always have special significance when we explore the galaxy.

How could VR offer better possibilities for building and maintaining meaningful relationships than physical reality?

Friendships built in virtual worlds such as Second Life can already be as meaningful as ordinary friendships. They bring new possibilities: They allow old friends to stay in touch, and they allow aging and disabled people without full access to physical reality to make new friendships. Of course, sexual relationships are quite limited in current VR. But new technologies such as brain-computer interfaces will gradually widen the possibilities. One long-term possibility is illustrated in the Black Mirror episode called San Junipero, in which a dying couple upload themselves to a digital world to continue their relationship there.

Weve been talking about VR without mentioning Big Tech. Suppose companies like Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) exert a powerful influence on how virtual worlds are designed and governed. Do you think well be able to avoid further degradations of privacy and the emergence of more potent forms of harassment and bullying?

Most virtual worlds now are corporatocracies, governed by corporations. Corporations are in effect the gods of these worlds, potentially all knowing and all powerful. This has the potential for manipulation and abuses of privacy far worse than we already find with social media. For this reason, I hope that there will be a robust environment of virtual worlds, many of which are owned and controlled by users rather than by corporations. If there is real choice between virtual worlds, there may be less abuse.

Theres another way the profit orientation of companies can limit the potential of VR. Companies can create markets where luxury goods and services differ immensely from basic ones. Are virtual worlds likely to exacerbate inequalities?

One big difference between VR and physical reality is that material goods in VR are abundant. Its near trivial to duplicate a car or a house in VR. This opens up the possibility of a post-scarcity economy where material goods are well distributed. I dont think this will be an egalitarian utopia. Profit seekers will inevitably develop forms of artificial scarcity, like the non-fungible tokens that cant be duplicated. And relations of power and domination will still be there. But the abundance inherent in virtual worlds at least opens up new possibilities for social justice.

Evan Selinger is a professor of philosophy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and an affiliate scholar at Northeastern Universitys Center for Law, Innovation, and Creativity. Follow him on Twitter @evanselinger.

See the rest here:

How real could virtual reality become? - The Boston Globe

Posted in Virtual Reality | Comments Off on How real could virtual reality become? – The Boston Globe

US Senate v liberal democracy: the battle in the heart of Washington DC – The Guardian

Posted: at 10:09 am

Enabled by Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, a united front of US Senate Republicans dealt American democracy a massive blow last week by blocking the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Act. The US Senate: a place where desperately needed federal voting rights legislation goes to die a spectacle unworthy of what Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin called the worlds greatest deliberative body.

Raskin was referring to the Senates reputation not necessarily in an affirmative, but in an aspirational way: he wanted to issue a challenge to the senators to live up to this glorious notion. Nevertheless, the mythical idea of the Senate as the worlds greatest deliberative body is widely held among the countrys political elite the kind of American exceptionalism that still very much warps the perspective on US history and politics.

What we really need to grapple with is the fact that the current situation is not just a disgraceful aberration from the Senates supposedly noble past and true character. In some fundamental ways, the Senate is working as intended. It has always been one of the most powerful undemocratic distortions in the political system and not by accident, but because thats what it was designed to be.

So far, much of the attention has focused on the filibuster as the most blatantly undemocratic tool of obstruction. It is true that the frequency of filibuster use has increased dramatically in recent years. Still, what Republicans did last week was well in line with the longer-term historical norm. The filibuster has consistently been an instrument of white Christian domination: during the 20th century, it was used predominantly to block civil rights legislation and measures such as anti-lynching bills.

Since the filibuster was not part of the Senates original design and only came to be by accident in the early 19th century, it is tempting to portray it as the real culprit a stain on an otherwise admirable institution. Lets remember, however, that just like the electoral college, the Senate was always intended to be a layer of insulation between those in power and the people which is why senators were initially appointed by state legislatures. The senate was supposed to help stave off what many of the founders saw as the threat of too much democracy. So, what we see today is not just an institution hijacked by a radicalized Republican party (although it is that too) but an institution badly in need of structural reform that should go well beyond getting rid of the filibuster.

In the current political situation, reforming the Senate, just like protecting voting rights, is considered a partisan idea and it is, but only because democracy itself has become a partisan issue. Of the two major parties, only the Democratic party is a democratic party.

Lets be specific about how undemocratic an institution this is something that is best captured in numbers: in the current 50:50 Senate, Democratic senators represent 40 million more voters; by about 2040, 70% of the country will be represented by just 30 senators, while less than one-third of the electorate will get to determine 70 out of 100 members of the Senate.

The issue of disproportionate representation is deeply intertwined with the problem of white Christian patriarchal rule. The Senate privileges conservative white voters who dominate in small, less populous states; it is biased towards white people, with or without the filibuster. Here are two more numbers everyone should know: out of about 2,000 US senators in the countrys history, 11 have been Black. More than 150 years since the civil war, more than half a century since the civil rights legislation of the 1960s 11 Black senators. And to date, 58 women have served in the Senate. More than a century since Congress passed the 19th amendment, finally granting women the right to vote 58 female senators. Whenever someone says the Senate is the worlds greatest deliberative body, remember that it is deliberately and inherently undemocratic an anti-democratic distortion that stands in the way of America finally realizing the promise of multiracial, pluralistic democracy.

The legislation Republicans are blocking in the Senate is the minimum needed to resist the state-level authoritarian onslaught on the system. But beyond such immediate measures, a more structural approach to democracy reform is required and Congresss upper chamber needs to be at the center of those debates. America can have the Senate in its present form or liberal democracy, but probably not both.

The good news is that serious reform is eminently possible. There certainly is no filibuster requirement in the US constitution, and there are ways to alleviate the Senates anti-democratic character by adding DC and Puerto Rico as states, for instance. The tension between white male elite rule and aspirations of true democracy has always shaped the American project it is inherent in the nations founding documents and its political system. The existing institutional order is in conflict with the promise that all people deserve to participate as equals in a democratic polity and that situation requires a decision.

The worlds greatest deliberative body? If it were true, it would be quite the indictment of the worlds other deliberative chambers. Lets abandon such vestiges of mythical exceptionalism that make it harder to acknowledge the anti-democratic threats and deficiencies in American politics and culture. The fact that a shrinking minority of white conservatives is consistently being enabled to hold on to power against the will of the majority of voters is destined to cause a massive legitimacy crisis. And unless the system is properly democratized, it is only going to get worse.

Continued here:

US Senate v liberal democracy: the battle in the heart of Washington DC - The Guardian

Posted in Liberal | Comments Off on US Senate v liberal democracy: the battle in the heart of Washington DC – The Guardian