Monthly Archives: March 2022

The Greatest Gambling Flicks on Netflix – Inspired Traveler

Posted: March 31, 2022 at 2:35 am

The gambling industry has seen a lot of growth over the last few decades. Today, you can bet on live dealer games from the comfort of your home. And thats not all; you can even participate in crypto gambling. Yes, virtual currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litcoin, have become the order of the day in online casinos.

If those developments dont excite you, there are movies targeting gambling enthusiasts. This is not new, but nowadays, it has become almost a norm for dozens of movies to be released featuring a gambling theme.

So, if you love gambling, here are a few exciting movies you should add to your Netflix queue for your next binge.

Croupier starts on our list. Mike Hodge, the films director, narrates the story from the dealers perspective. This film delves deeper into the evil side of gambling yet still paints a fascinating picture of the industry.

People gamble for reasons other than money and fun. What would that be? If youre interested in learning more, you should definitely see this film.

David Niven plays James Bond in this film. He is compelled to come out of retirement in order to investigate reports of other spies deaths.

Bond is elevated to the head of MI6 several times throughout the film. Bond is able to withstand the sexual seduction of the female spy he meets, and he ends up playing Baccarat.

As a result, he hires a number of impostor 007s, including Vesper Lynd. Orson Welles and Woody Allen also star in this film.

Availlable on Netflix

This film is about friends who decide to head to Vegas to enjoy a night of hedonism.

This sounds a lot like the Hangover movie, but it has a completely different plot. They travel to celebrate an upcoming wedding; however, they run into a snag.

One of them employs a bank robber as the wedding planner, and everything goes horribly wrong. They wind up being pursued by cops, casino security, and even the boyfriend of a particular porn star!

Available on Amazon Prime

Casino, directed by Martin Scorsese, is based on a novel set in the 1970s in Las Vegas.

The film tells the interesting story of Sam Rosenthal. He is the owner of the Tangiers casino, which has several mob connections. This film explores how nasty Vegas can be while also highlighting how amazing the scene is.

Its exciting, but if you strike a deal with the wrong person, you might end up in serious trouble.

Available on Amazon Prime

About 80 years ago, Las Vegas was just another isolated outpost trying to make a living in Nevadas vast arid landscape. That is until some unscrupulous persons saw a chance to turn it into Sin City. It was a location where hedonism reigned supreme, and whatever happened there stayed there forever.

Bugsy Siegel was one of these dubious people. He was instrumental in transforming the Las Vegas strip into a gambling utopia. This film follows the life of this gangster, from his dealings in Las Vegas to his death in California.

Availlable on Netflix

This 2015 poker film is considered one of the best in the gambling genre. Contrary to other gambling films, it does not focus on a specific casino. Instead, it follows two buddies as they travel along the Mississippi River, playing poker. What is their ultimate goal? A high-stakes poker game in New Orleans!

Available on Amazon Prime

While you may miss the excitement of the dice turning and the presence of fellow gamblers pressed against each other, our list of gambling flicks is the closest thing to the thrill of the actual casino games.

So sit back and enjoy this Netflix adventure with your friends.

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Vertex Announces Reimbursement Agreement in Australia for TRIKAFTA (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor) for Patients With Cystic Fibrosis…

Posted: at 2:35 am

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced that as of 1 April 2022, TRIKAFTA (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor) will be reimbursed on the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) in people ages 12 years and older who have at least one F508del mutation in the CFTR gene, the most common CF-causing mutation worldwide.

Todays announcement is a significant milestone in ensuring Australians living with CF receive timely and sustainable access to TRIKAFTA, said Ludovic Fenaux, Senior Vice President, Vertex International. This is the fourth treatment we have brought to Australians over the last eight years, working tirelessly alongside the CF patient and clinical communities. We thank the Australian Government for recognizing the significant need for TRIKAFTA and the value it brings.

TRIKAFTA (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor) was approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in March 2021 based on the results of four global Phase 3 clinical trials, which included multiple Australian trial sites and patients.

CF is a rare, life-shortening, genetic disease affecting approximately 3,500 people in Australia. It is caused by a defective and/or missing CFTR protein, resulting from mutations in the CFTR gene. Up to 90 percent of people living with CF have at least one F508del mutation.

As a genetic disease, cystic fibrosis is a prime candidate for precision medicine. Now, with PBS listing of TRIKAFTA, eligible Australians living with CF ages 12 years and older can broadly access a therapy that treats the underlying cause of their disease. Clinicians across Australia will be excited about this most welcome news, said Professor John Wilson AM, Head, Cystic Fibrosis Service, Alfred Health Australia.

Australia now joins the list of 30 countries where the triple combination therapy is approved and reimbursed including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the countries within the U.K.

About Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare, life-shortening genetic disease affecting more than 83,000 people globally. CF is a progressive, multi-organ disease that affects the lungs, liver, pancreas, GI tract, sinuses, sweat glands and reproductive tract. CF is caused by a defective and/or missing CFTR protein resulting from certain mutations in the CFTR gene. Children must inherit two defective CFTR genes one from each parent to have CF, and these mutations can be identified by a genetic test. While there are many different types of CFTR mutations that can cause the disease, the vast majority of people with CF have at least one F508del mutation. CFTR mutations lead to CF by causing the CFTR protein to be defective or by leading to a shortage or absence of CFTR protein at the cell surface. The defective function and/or absence of CFTR protein results in poor flow of salt and water into and out of the cells in a number of organs. In the lungs, this leads to the buildup of abnormally thick, sticky mucus, chronic lung infections and progressive lung damage that eventually leads to death for many patients. The median age of death is in the early 30s.

About TRIKAFTA (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor)

In people with certain types of mutations in the CFTR gene, the CFTR protein is not processed or folded normally within the cell, and this can prevent the CFTR protein from reaching the cell surface and functioning properly. TRIKAFTA (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor) is an oral medicine designed to increase the quantity and function of the CFTR protein at the cell surface. Elexacaftor and tezacaftor work together to increase the amount of mature protein at the cell surface by binding to different sites on the CFTR protein. Ivacaftor, which is known as a CFTR potentiator, is designed to facilitate the ability of CFTR proteins to transport salt and water across the cell membrane. The combined actions of elexacaftor, tezacaftor and ivacaftor help hydrate and clear mucus from the airways.

For complete product information, please see the Summary of Product Characteristics that can be found on https://www.tga.gov.au/apm-summary/trikafta.

About Vertex

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious diseases. The company has multiple approved medicines that treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF) a rare, life-threatening genetic disease and has several ongoing clinical and research programs in CF. Beyond CF, Vertex has a robust pipeline of investigational small molecule, cell and genetic therapies in other serious diseases where it has deep insight into causal human biology, including sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, APOL1-mediated kidney disease, pain, type 1 diabetes, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Founded in 1989 in Cambridge, Mass., Vertex's global headquarters is now located in Boston's Innovation District and its international headquarters is in London. Additionally, the company has research and development sites and commercial offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Latin America. Vertex is consistently recognized as one of the industry's top places to work, including 12 consecutive years on Science magazine's Top Employers list and one of the 2021 Seramount (formerly Working Mother Media) 100 Best Companies. For company updates and to learn more about Vertex's history of innovation, visit https://global.vrtx.com/ or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, statements made by Ludovic Fenaux, Senior Vice President, Vertex International, and Professor John Wilson AM, Head, Cystic Fibrosis Service, Alfred Health, in this press release and statements regarding the reimbursement of and access to TRIKAFTA for certain patients, the estimated number of patients eligible for a CFTR modulator therapy in Australia, including patients that will now have access to a CFTR modulator therapy for the first time, and our beliefs about the benefits of our medicines. While Vertex believes the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are accurate, these forward-looking statements represent the company's beliefs only as of the date of this press release and there are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, among other things, that data from the companys development programs may not support registration or further development of its compounds due to safety, efficacy, or other reasons, risks related to obtaining approval for and commercializing our medicines, and other risks listed under the heading Risk Factors in Vertex's annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and available through the company's website at https://global.vrtx.com/ and on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Vertex disclaims any obligation to update the information contained in this press release as new information becomes available.

(VRTX-GEN)

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Vertex Announces Reimbursement Agreement in Australia for TRIKAFTA (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor) for Patients With Cystic Fibrosis...

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The All-Female Culinary Clubs of 20th-Century France – Atlas Obscura

Posted: at 2:35 am

With its chic restaurant scene and world-famous chefs, Paris attracts foodies of all stripes. Groups of female diners are an everyday sight, happy socializing as they enjoy exquisite dishes.

But that hasnt always been the case. In fact, there was a time when women were barely accepted as restaurant-goers.

In the mid-19th century, France, defeated at Waterloo but still culturally dominant, invented modern haute cuisine. Eating out became a pastime rather than a necessity for the countrys bourgeoisie, an opportunity for conspicuous consumption and business talk. In keeping with the times, women were largely excluded. Few cooked or even waited on tables in the capitals high-end restaurants, and even fewer visited them as customers without their husbands. Their unaccompanied presence would raise suspicions of prostitution.

Then, a new institution appeared at the turn of the 20th century: gastronomic clubs. These loose brotherhoods of food lovers consisted of artists, politicians, and businessmen who knew their camembert from brie. They went by fancy names, such as The Academy of Psychologists of Taste, and organized unforgettable feasts that were often covered by the press. Club members enjoyed not only delicious meals, but also the privilege of tasting foods that were inaccessible to the lower classes, bumpkins from the provinces, and, of course, women. It was thought that men wouldnt be able to focus on their food if there were women around, says Julia Csergo, an academic specializing in the history of French gastronomy. With their sexual appeal and chatter, women would distract them. And their perfumes and make-up would allegedly distort the smell and taste of food.

The most prestigious of these groups was Club des Cent, the Club of the One Hundred, a slightly secretive, invitation-only foodie society founded in 1912. Some of the most exquisite dishes of the time were served at its legendary banquets, such as the famous Belle Aurore Pillow, or Loreiller de la Belle Aurore, pt en croute with a lavish stuffing of up to 15 different types of meat, and Poularde Albufera, an elaborate chicken dish named after one of Napoleons generals. However, the club would not admit any women on the grounds that they were not able to appreciate fine food. The informal rule, according to Csergo, also reflected womens meager presence in Frances public life: From its outset, Club des Cent sought to attract powerful people from politics, media, and industry, she says. Practically no women held those positions at the time.

But by the 1920s, Frances feminist movement counted hundreds of thousands of suffragettes, campaigning for womens right to vote. When Club des Cent officially excluded women by unanimous vote in 1928, it was time for female foodies to strike back.

There are different accounts of how the first womens gastronomy club was formed that year, but all point to one motivationa response to the unbearable sexism of male clubs. According to one story, Maria Croci, an author and translator, came up with the idea at a gathering arranged by Rachilde, a literary figure of the time. Men say that women dont know anything about good cooking, Croci protested, irritated by Club de Cents well-publicized exclusionary stance. Rachilde, an avowed feminist, encouraged her to respond in kind. Croci and Gabrielle Rval, another author, decided to found Le Club des Belles Perdrix, The Club of Beautiful Female Partridges, whose membership included playwrights, journalists, poets, and artists such as Aurore Sand, granddaughter of George Sand.

Another possibility is that the club was the female answer to Le Dejeuner de Grand Perdreau, a male-only gastronomic club whose gargantuan feasts attracted men of letters. Many of the original Belles Perdrix, including Crocis husband, were married to members of that particular club.

For several years, Les Belles Perdrix would meet at the finest Parisian restaurants to indulge in all things gastronomy, cook, and judge the skills of various professional chefs. On one occasion, Auguste Escoffier, the father of modern French cuisine, cooked for them a lavish meal that included veal sweetbread in slices -la-favorite, foie gras parfait -la-Sainte-Alliance, and roast partridge wrapped in vine leaves. Surprisingly, they did not totally exclude male gourmets. Each member was allowed to invite a male companion once a year, as long it was not her husband. In 1936, they founded one of Frances first culinary schools, the short-lived Acadmie des Cordons Bleus, aimed at promoting female chefs.

In 1930, Croci and Rval published Les Recettes des Belles Perdrix, part recipe book, part feminist manifesto. They never claimed explicitly that their club was feminist, even if it included feminist figures. But its very existence was unsettling for a society that treated gastronomy as a male domain, says Nelly Sanchez, an expert on the history of French womens literature who edited a recent edition of the book. They went to restaurants where women would only go accompanied by men. So they reclaimed fine dining as a female right.

Associated with the hedonism of the interwar period, the Belles Perdrix would not survive World War II. Sanchez speculates that Crocis fascist leanings, combined with the fact that many members of the club were Jewish, possibly led the club to be swept away by the upheaval that engulfed Europe.

Club des Cents men-only policy had one exception: members were allowed to bring their wives to its annual gala. Towards the end of that event in 1929, the clubs president took the opportunity to remind members why fine dining was a manly affair: I salute the men at this table, without whose skill and knowledge, and whose capacity for [food] appreciation, this truly noble feast could never have happened, he said.

That rubbed one attendee the wrong way. Ethel Ettlinger was a bubbly, confident American who had little time for chauvinists, and she stood to make a toast of her own. Her oratorical skills in French were good enough to push back against what sounded like gastronomic machismo, an anachronism in the era of suffragettes. Wasnt it women who ran the kitchens and ordered meals? Hadnt they trained the worlds most acclaimed cooks? She ended her short speech with an ambitious statement: I have no doubt whatsoever that we could arrange a meal in every way as splendid and satisfying as the one we have just enjoyed.

The enthusiastic applause she won from the other women was tacit approval of her suggestion. They decided to arrange a stupendous banquet to show their husbands that they were worth their salt, cheese, and wine. One offered her chteau to host the event. Frances famous Republican Guard officiated, with a horn quartet announcing the arrival of each course. Le Cercle des Gourmettes had just been born. Its name itself was a whimsical revolt against the rigidity of the French language; even today, the word gourmette signifies a type of bracelet, rather than a female foodie.

Les Gourmettes met every two weeks for a restaurant visit or a private lesson with a professional chef, followed by a lavish meal. Although they didnt do much cooking themselves, the clubs rules required members to be ardent connoisseurs of the culinary arts; able to cook, order a perfect dinner, and arrange immaculate service and table settings.

By the early 1950s, the club was still going strong, with Ettlinger as its leader. Looking for American members, she asked a certain Julia Child, an expat taking cooking classes in Paris, to join. Although not strictly a feminist, Child enjoyed the cultural mlange and kinship with women who loved gastronomy. It was terribly amusing, as I met all types of Frenchwomen and learned quite a bit about cooking, Child would reminisce years later.

Through the group, she grew close to Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, two French women who shared her passion for food. The three of them would arrive hours before the meal to assist the chefs and learn new skills. Together, they started a cooking school, initially called Lcole des Gourmettes as a nod to the original Gourmettes. In 1961, they published Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a book that would introduce French cuisine to an American audience, while Child would become a household name with her TV show The French Chef. She once remarked that it was her experience as a Gourmette that marked the real beginning of [her] French gastronomical life.

Almost one century later, the legacy of the first womens gastronomy clubs is indisputable. Today, the French capitals high-end restaurants are full of groups of women, enjoying tasty dishes without having to worry about being mistaken for prostitutes.

However, a whiff of old-school sexism persists. Club des Cent, now a venerated institution of French gastronomy, still does not accept women as members. And if you scratch the surface of modern restaurant life, some things havent changed over the years. If you go today to a restaurant during lunch break, you will notice fewer women than men sitting alone, says Csergo. For some, its still a taboo, so they bring their own meal and eat at the office or a public space. Despite all the progress, the revolution started by the trailblazers of female fine dining remains unfinished.

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SynGAP Research Fund announces grants to Dr. Kurt Hass, dr. Graziella DiCristo in partnership with Canada’s rare diseases models and mechanisms…

Posted: at 2:35 am

image:SRF is a 501(c)(3) public charity incorporated in 2018. The mission is to improve the quality of life of SYNGAP1 patients through the research and development of treatments, therapies and support systems. Completely parent led, SRF is the largest non-government funder of SynGAP research. The founders cover all operational costs, allowing 100% of donations to go to research. SRFs mantra is Collaboration, Transparency & Urgency. SRF is a member of combinedBrain, the Precision Medicine Coalition, the Global Genes RARE Foundation Alliance & the Everylife Foundation Community Congress. Learn more at SyngapResearchFund.org. view more

Credit: Syngap Research Fund

Syngap Research Fund & Rare Diseases Models and Mechanisms Network partner to co-fund two SYNGAP1 animal model studies in the labs of Dr. Graziella Di Cristo & Dr. Kurt Haas in Canada.

Christine Oriel of RDMM says, The Rare Diseases: Models and Mechanisms Network (RDMM) is happy to partner with SRF in co-funding these research projects. We look forward to seeing the research of Drs. Haas and Di Cristo to better understand the disease and identify and develop new therapies to treat SYNGAP1. SRF has done a lot to support SYNGAP1 research and we look forward to continuing with this partnership in the future.

Michael Graglia of SRF says, SRF is grateful to RDMM for co-funding these critical projects on SYNGAP1. We desperately need to better understand SYNGAP1 and develop therapies for our patients. This partnership allows us to both identify high-impact projects and then leverage funds raised from the families of affected patients. I am especially grateful to the Yassba family who generously supported this grant in honor of their son.

Dr. Graziella Di Cristo, Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Universit de Montral and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center says, "Sensory processing disorders, or the difficulty in receiving and responding to information that comes through the senses (hearing, vision, touch, etc.) are common in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. We have recently found alterations on how the brain responds to complex visual and auditory stimulations in children and in mouse models carrying mutations in the gene SYNGAP1. With this study, we hope to understand how specific neuron types contribute to these phenotypes in the mouse models. We hope that better understanding of the cellular underpinning of sensory processing disorders might help developing treatment strategies tailored and optimized towards these symptoms in SYNGAP1 patients.

Dr. Kurt Haas, Professor, Dept of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia says, Our lab recently reported results from our study of 57 missense mutations of SYNGAP1, many identified in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In contrast to the conventional model that SYNGAP1 mutations in ASD induce complete loss of protein function leading to haploinsufficiency, my team found that missense mutations induced selective deficits in pathways associated with either long-term potentiation (LTP) or depression (LTD) forms of synaptic plasticity. Here, we will follow up this study by directly testing how these SYNGAP1 mutations impact synaptic plasticity in neurons within intact neural circuits.

SYNGAP1-related intellectual disability (US ICD-10: F78.A1) is a rare genetic disorder caused by a variation on the SYNGAP1 gene, with nearly 1,000 diagnosed patients accounted for globally as of December 2021. It leads to several neurological issues in patients, including intellectual disability, epilepsy, autism, sleep challenges, gastro-intestinal and feeding problems, hypotonia (low muscle tone), apraxia (delayed/no speech), impulsivity and aggression. (Vlasskamp, 2019)

ABOUT SYNGAP RESEARCH FUND

SRF, incorporated in 2018, is a 501(c)(3) US public charity whose mission is to improve the quality of life of SYNGAP1 patients through the research and development of treatments, therapies and support systems. Completely parent-led, SRF is the largest non-government funder of SynGAP research having committed over $2M in grants. The founders cover all operational costs, allowing 100% of donations to go to research. SRFs grant program awards one or two-year grants to young investigators, physician residents, and clinicians who are interested in studying SYNGAP1. SRF grants are intended to help researchers explore novel ideas and answer questions related to the clinical aspects, therapies and/or genetic causes of SYNGAP1. SRF is a member of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, COMBINEDbrain, Global Genes Foundation Alliance, Everylife Foundation Community Congress, Rare Epilepsy Network, Innovation and Value Initiative & the Epilepsy Leadership Council.

Visit SyngapResearchFund.org to learn more.

ABOUT RARE DISEASES MODELS & MECHANISMS NETWORK

The Rare Diseases: Models & Mechanisms Network has been established to catalyze connections between people discovering new genes in patients with rare diseases, and basic scientists who can analyze equivalent genes and pathways in model organisms. Catalyst Grants fund projects that will allow rapid confirmation of potentially disease-causing genes, and fuel pilot studies to improve understanding of how specific gene mutations cause disease. It is intended that collaborations across the Canadian biomedical community will expedite the understanding of disorders, enabling the design of new therapies to the ultimate benefit of those affected by rare diseases.

Visit rare-diseases-catalyst-network.ca/ to learn more.

Contact:

Peter Halliburton, SRF Development Director

peter@syngapresearchfund.org

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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‘Turning Red’ Teaches Kids to Feed, Not Tame, the Beast Within – ChristianityToday.com

Posted: at 2:35 am

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

So begins Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis, in which Samsa is reviled for his transformation into a mammoth cockroach. His family hides him away until he dies. Then they go on with their lives, thankful to not deal with that problem anymore.

What do we do with this absurdist 20th-century story? Its a tale that compels readers to question our own metamorphoses or changes. Over the course of our lives, we all change and grow, so how do these developments (or, in the case of Samsa, mutations) affect those around us? After all, we do not belong to ourselves. We cannot become beasts or angels without it hurting or helping our families, friends, and neighbors.

If youre Meilin Lee in Turning Red, however, such wisdom of age-old philosophy is seemingly disregarded.

Philosophy is about the love of wisdom, and our culture is training us to either desire or disdain wisdom. Every world religion has a different conceptualization of wisdom, but for Christians, Wisdom is Jesus Christ.

When watching Disney films, I dont expect the animation to move my family toward that highest end (although I was surprised by Encanto), but I do hope their movies dont persuade my children against the grain of conventional wisdom. Unfortunately, Turning Red is a film that departs from that wisdom and embraces a messy philosophy.

I had high hopes for the movie, and I watched it with my children on the day it was released. I could not wait to see a contemporary Asian hero and the foregrounding of the mother-daughter relationship. (I enjoyed Brave, and I consider it a win when Disney doesnt kill off the parents of the heroes.) Granted, the movie is not aimed at my children, who are all under eight; parents should aim to watch it with their 10- to 12-year-olds.

From the opening monologue of the protagonist, Mei, I could see where the movie was headed:

The number one rule in my family? Honor your parents. Of course, some people are like, Be careful. Honoring your parents sounds great, but if you take it too far, well, you might forget to honor yourself. Luckily, I dont have that problem. Ive been doing my own thing. Making my own moves I wear what I want, say what I want, and I will not hesitate to do a spontaneous cartwheel if I feel so moved.

The humorous conclusion to this opening narrative can distract the audience from the problematic assumptions it conveys. From this moment forward, audiences realize that Mei is not free to wear, say, or do what she wants because her mother Ming is an overbearing control freak. The audience is then set to cheer Mei on toward freedom from her mother to get her own way and to be able to wear, say, and do whatever she so desires.

America has been divided over the past two years during the pandemic between those who proclaim their freedom to wear what they want (i.e., to not wear masks) and those who believe that we should be responsible to our neighbors and wear masks. Yet people are rooting for Mei to have the opportunity to wear whatever she wants.

Of course, that is not reality. We all must wear certain things in certain places: You cannot go shirtless on airplanes; you cannot teach public school with low-cut blouses or miniskirts; you cannot dress up as the murderer from Scream and preach from the pulpit. We have all had to learn to place restrictions on our personal autonomy to function well together in society.

The impetus for Meis freedom comes from an unexpected source: her inherited ability to transform into a red panda whenever she experiences a strong emotion. From the perspective of the director (Domee Shi, who cowrote the story with Julia Cho), the panda transformation symbolizes coming of age: this experience of growing up, of suddenly waking up one day and realizing you grew a couple of feet, youre covered in body hair, and youre hungry all the time.

Normally when teenagers begin this process of metamorphosis, the adults in their lives (parents, teachers, etc.) teach them how to control their urges. In the movie, Mei expresses her newfound sexual desires by fantasizing about half-naked boys with mermaid tails. By contrast, in a Christian sexual ethic, we submit our desires to God. Under a self-disciplined will, we wait and look forward to their fulfillment in the proper time and place.

Instead, Turning Red portrays the limitation of our urges as a form of oppression, denouncing any attempts to regulate anothers actions. The enemy is the mother, who explains to Mei, Theres a darkness to the panda. You only have one chance to banish it. Otherwise, youll never be free. This beliefthat self-mastery leads to freedomfollows millennia of tradition.

Turning Red opts for a different approach. Mei says, Weve all got an inner beast. Weve all got a messy, loud, weird part of ourselves hidden away. And a lot of us never let it out. The goal, the film suggests, is to let out the beast.

Yet only Mei exercises the privilege to let out her beast. The film would have fallen apart if her mother Ming were permitted the same freedom to let out her inner beast, which is the size of King Kong and destroys much of the city in one night. Apparently, theres an unknown standard for who gets to release the beast within.

The film ends with a call for viewers to do like Mei and free their beasts within. People have all kinds of sides to them. And some sides are messy, Mei reflects. The point isnt to push the bad stuff away. Its to make room for it, live with it.

We can pretend that childrens films dont deal with philosophy, but these explicit claims in the film are hard to ignore. While I applaud the realistic admission that we all have inner mess, the encouragement should be toward self-control and social harmony. This film does little more than normalize our #momfail culture.

Children repeat what they see and hear. In Frozen, I was grateful when Elsas victorious belting of Let It Go was shown to be disastrous for the community and not a laudable theme song, so I dont grimace every time my kids dance to it.

However, I was not happy when Frozen II pretended that the answer to Elsas discomfort in her life was that you are the one youve been waiting for all of your life. You cannot be waiting to meet yourself. The story is much better than that: Youre waiting for the One who made you. When choosing films for our children, as Christians, we need to consider the worldview being broadcast to their imaginations.

I expected Turning Red to be about a young girl learning to be a proud Asian teenager growing up in Toronto. Instead, the story shows a preteen discovering the benefits of capitalism, exploitation, and hedonism. When Mei wants to go to a boy band concert against her controlling parents wishes, she disobeys and lies to them, extorts money from her schoolmates, sells her image like a wannabe influencer, and embraces the part of herself that always wanted to twerk.

By the movies end, Mei has degraded the ancient practices of her ancestors into a money-making endeavor and transformed her family temple into an irreverent, Disneyesque tourist site. When her mother tries to advise her, she responds, My panda, my choices (a vaguely veiled affirmation of the pro-choice movement slogan My body, my choice).

Although Meis mother is a caricature of a helicopter mom, her poor parenting should not excuse Meis bad decisions. Nor should Meis choices be seen as though they could occur without negative consequences.

If parents want to show Mei as a model because she is an Asian girl hero coming into her own, in spite of her unbiblical projections, they should at least consider the costs and talk about her failings.

After watching Turning Red, I discussed with my children the characteristics in her that I considered unworthy of imitation. While none of us is perfect, we should all look to imitate models of people who pursue goodness.

When I ask my children, Whom do you want to be like when you grow up? I want the answer to be Jesus. Instead of liberating the messy beast within them, I hope that the films they see, the books they read, and the music they listen to will be pointing toward a higher end.

Jessica Hooten Wilson is the Louise Cowan Scholar in Residence at the University of Dallas and author of several books, including The Scandal of Holiness.

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Is there a place for the royal family in the modern world? – Yahoo News

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The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates.

Earlier this month, Prince William and Kate embarked on a three-country tour of the Caribbean as part of an extended royal celebration of Queen Elizabeth IIs platinum jubilee commemorating her 70th year on the throne.

The trip to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas three of the 14 former colonies that officially still count the queen as their head of state was marred by controversy from the start. The couple was met by protesters at all three stops, and a group of prominent Jamaican leaders released a letter demanding reparations for the suffering of our ancestors caused by the monarchys legacy of slave trade and colonialism. The young royals were also criticized for multiple unflattering photo opportunities, most notably images of Kate touching the fingers of Jamaican children reaching through a chainlink fence.

The setbacks werent limited to bad press. During a public meeting, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced his country is ready to leave the British realm and establish itself as an "independent, fully developed, and prosperous nation. Belizes government also recently announced that it was launching a review of potential changes to its own constitution, including whether it should also become independent. Late last year, Barbados officially abandoned the monarchy, becoming the first Caribbean nation to replace the queen as head of state in more than four decades.

Kate and Williams rocky overseas visit comes during a period when the British royal family is reeling from a series of scandals and dealing with questions about its future. A year ago, Williams brother Harry and his wife Meghan raised serious concerns about racism within the monarchy during a bombshell interview that focused on why they had distanced themselves from the family. More recently, the queens second-oldest son, Prince Andrew, settled a lawsuit following allegations that he sexually abused a 17-year-old more than two decades ago.

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Meanwhile, the royal family, and the British people as a whole, are coming to grips with the reality that the queens 70-year reign the longest in British history may soon come to an end. The 95-year-old monarch had stayed out of the public eye for months before attending a memorial service for her late husband, Prince Phillip, on Tuesday.

The duke and duchesss troubled Caribbean trip has reignited a long-simmering debate about what, if anything, the royal family can do to find its place in a world that has become increasingly negative about the monarchy's past and skeptical about its future.

Many critics argue that the only way for the royals to move forward is to reckon with and atone for its brutal history of colonialism, exploitation and enslavement. While in Jamaica, William gave a speech in which he said Britains past role in the slave trade stains our history, but notably stopped short of apologizing or offering any pledge to make reparations. That omission, some argue, is a sign that the royal family isnt ready to treat the countries within its realm as equal partners.

Others say that the royal family will continue to see its influence diminish unless it undergoes a major effort to break from its old traditions and embrace a modernized role. Proposed steps to accomplish that include reducing the scope of the monarchys formal duties, allowing younger royals to set the agenda and to even shrinking the size of the royal family itself.

Some observers say theres plenty of reason to doubt that any substantial changes to the monarchys approach is forthcoming. The familys defenders point to polls suggesting that, for all their missteps, the British people still overwhelmingly see the royals as a benefit to their country.

Its still unclear whether Jamaica, despite its prime ministers comments, will follow through on his pledge to pursue independence. Experts say the matter would need to be put to a nationwide vote before the country could formally leave the British realm. On Sunday, William said the monarchy will respect the choice of any nation that chooses to sever its links to the crown, adding that the future is for the people to decide upon.

Unless the royals learn to listen to the people, the monarchy may not survive

With calls to abolish the monarchy appearing every couple of years, William and Middleton's role as the faces of the royal family is more important than ever. The survival of the monarchy is dependent on it staying modern and responding to issues that people care about. Mikhaila Friel, Business Insider

Theres no space for an institution founded on racism and exploitation in the modern world

Maybe its good for the world to see the British monarchy for the symbolic mess that it is, an outdated relic of imperialism. And it provides us an opportunity to bear witness to Black and Indigenous rebellion against the spectacle. Karen Attiah, Washington Post

Modern royals must meaningfully atone for the monarchys past sins

In the wake of global movements against racism and colonialism, perhaps its finally time for the monarchy to reckon with its history. Laura Clancy, Conversation

The decline of the royal family is grossly overstated

No doubt the Palace will have to work harder before the next royal tour and the royal entourage should be more racially diverse too. But dont write off The Firm, as theyre called, just yet. The appeal of monarchy remains potent; its adaptability to changing times is a hereditary trait. Martin Ivens, Bloomberg

The monarchy must become smaller, both in its role and its sheer numbers

While monarchs in Sweden, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands were retreating into bourgeois semi-obscurity where they have wisely stayed the Queen turned monarchy into a family firm under a blaze of televised publicity. The single best decision Prince Charles could make on assuming the throne is, quite simply, to abolish the royal family. He should go Scandinavian. Monarchs do not die young. The throne needs only an heir and a spare. The rest of the family should become commoners and lead normal lives. Simon Jenkins, The Guardian

Younger royals should be given the power to lead

[William] and Kate have, month upon month and year upon year, become a glittering asset of which our nation, and the Commonwealth, can be proud. Pretty much, they have followed the path laid down by the Queen, rather than the one pioneered by Charles. After the bruising he received during last weeks Caribbean tour, William will surely take heed. And when he has more say about the direction the Monarchy is heading, after last weeks shambles, he should be heard. Christopher Wilson, Daily Mail

The royals have endured plenty of shaky periods and will get through this one too

Is it sensible for an independent country thousands of miles away from Britain to have our monarch as its Head of State? By any rational measure, it certainly is not. And thats a truth that the royal family do, I believe, acknowledge. This isnt the first time a royal tour has run into difficulties, and it certainly wont be the last. But suggestions that this signals the end of the Commonwealth, or even the beginning of the end, are wide of the mark. Jennie Bond, iNews

The family should be prepared to face more intense scrutiny than in the past

There is no longer the forgiveness there once was for the slightly tone-deaf moment. Times have changed. The Royal Family have in the past been pretty good at changing with them. But not on this tour. And second chances are these days few and far between. Jonny Dymond, BBC

There can be no such thing as a modern monarchy

The idea of a modernised royal family is a contradiction in terms. Royalty is mystical and ancient: if it is not magnificent, whats it for? Alex von Tunzelmann, Prospect

Is there a topic youd like to see covered in The 360? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com.

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images, Dominic Lipinski-WPA Pool/Getty Images

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Trucker on diesel prices: ‘We’re going to have a lot of bankruptcies’ – Yahoo Finance

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Independent trucker Michael Whitaker is getting ready for his next haul of equipment from South Carolina to Arizona. Whitaker has been an owner-operator trucker since 1998. His specialty is hauling industrial machinery like construction and farming equipment.

"The diesel prices. Thats every truck driver's main expense, it's diesel," says Whitaker of the recent rise in diesel prices.

Whitaker says at the beginning of the year it cost $600 or $700 to fill up his truck tank. Now, he's paying about $1,000.

"You notice it into your pocket, oh yes," says the Iowa-based trucker.

The price of diesel has skyrocketed since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. Diesel averages hit their highest level since 1994 in mid-March.

Whitaker says he used to charge around $5/mile on certain routes. Now he's charging between $7-9 per mile. He also uses a discount fuel card, and app which identifies the most economical stations where he can fill up on his routes.

Although the industry standard is to apply a fuel surcharge to freight costs, drivers don't always see that money passed along to them.

"We're making the assumption that they [drivers] would all be recipient of fuel surcharges. And that's not necessarily always the case." Todd Spencer, President of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association told Yahoo Finance.

"Sometimes others, that would be intermediaries, or similar in trucking, they may keep some of it, they may keep all of it, and not pass it through. Now that does happen as well. It shouldn't, but it does," said Spencer.

As of last Monday, the cost of diesel was $1.94 higher than it was a year ago "which is significant," said Spencer.

"For our guys, the majority of truckers will burn between 18,000-20,000 gallons of fuel a year. So looking at those costs, you're talking about $90,000-$105,000 a year just on fuel," he added.

Michael Whitaker owns this truck which he uses to haul heavy machinery.

West Texas Intermediate (BZ=F) and Brent International (CL=F) declined on Monday and Tuesday, giving some relief to diesel futures. But both benchmarks are still above $100/barrel, and global inventories of the fuel used by truck and trains had been extremely tight recently.

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Most "goods are hauled around the country by truck and rail using diesel fuel to power their engines and diesel prices are going up more than gasoline prices," strategist Andy Lipow wrote in a recent email to investors.

"Fed Ex (FDX) UPS (UPS) and Amazon (AMZN) delivery services are all being impacted by the soaring diesel prices, and they eventually are going to have to raise their rates," he added.

One Morgan Stanley analyst raised his estimates for Amazon's transportation costs by $6 billion to account for higher diesel prices.

Owner-Operator driver Michael Whitaker's vehicle carrying industrial machinery

Whitaker says he remembers the gas crisis of the 1970s and the recession of 2009. He's afraid that some owner operators won't survive with costs so high.

"I think we're going to have a lot of bankruptcies of individual drivers, trucking companies," said Whitaker.

"If you don't manage your money, you ain't going to be in business long," he said. "When things get rough you've got to have enough money saved up to hold you up through the rough times."

Ines is a markets reporter covering stocks. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre

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What2Watch: This week’s worth-the-watch – Review – Review

Posted: at 2:34 am

POLOKWANE Streaming services such as Showmax and Netflix have made it possible to watch your favourite series or movies on demand, whenever you want to.

This however makes it even more difficult to decide between the magnitude of options available thats where we come in.

Review has put together a list of shows you should stream on your favourite platform.

What to Watch this week on:

Showmax:

Series: Chicago Med

The dedicated doctors, nurses and staff of Gaffney Chicago Medicals trauma centre are pushed to the limit as they fight on the frontlines of a global Covid-19 pandemic.

Movie: Superintelligence

When an all-powerful Superintelligence chooses to study the most average person on earth, Carol Peters, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

For the kids: Archibalds Next Big Thing Is Here

The first season of Archibalds Next Big Thing Is Here, the 2021 animated half-hour family comedy series from DreamWorks Animation, picks up the adventures of Archibald Strutter, a happy-go-lucky chicken who improvises his way through life but always finds his way home to his three siblings and trusty sidekick.

Netflix:

Series: Bridgerton

The eight close-knit siblings of the Bridgerton family look for love and happiness in London high society. Inspired by Julia Quinns bestselling novels.

Movie: Blade Runner 2049

The contents of a hidden grave draw the interest of an industrial titan and send Officer K, an LAPD blade runner, on a quest to find a missing legend.

For the kids: Transformers: BotBots

When the lights go out at the mall, the BotBots come out to play! Meet a fun-loving crew of everyday objects that morph into robots at closing time.

Sources:Showmax,WikipediaandWhats on Netflix.

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The Bills’ grossly unethical stadium deal will burden the people it purports to unite – Yahoo Sports

Posted: at 2:34 am

In the state of New York, if you want to receive public assistance you know, money from state or local authorities to help keep a roof over heads or food in refrigerators there are conditions that recipients must meet.

And not just you, but any adult who lives with you. Can't have poor people getting a free ride, you see, no matter how the system is set up to make sure the poor stay poor.

When wealthy people want public assistance, well, that's a different story.

On Monday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Terry and Kim Pegula, the multi-billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills, trumpeted a new stadium deal for the team that will see the state give the couple $600 million in taxpayer funds. As if that weren't enough, Erie County will kick in $250 million.

The $850 million is the largest amount of public monies ever given to finance a stadium for a privately owned team.

And yet, in all of the coverage of the agreement, there hasn't been a word about the conditions the Pegulas, and by extension, the Bills, will have to meet to get the public assistance funds.

Weird, right?

Shameful is more like it.

Terry and Kim Pegula are worth billions. Why do they need to stick Buffalo taxpayers with a record bill for their new stadium? (Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)

Terry and Kim Pegula are reportedly worth $5.8 billion, give or take. In a hyper-exclusive club of wealthy team owners, they are among the top 10 wealthiest. They own two professional sports teams among their vast portfolio, the Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. They have more than enough to have financed a new stadium all on their own, but why pay for things yourself when you can sucker others into doing it for you?

Especially when Hochul can just propose to slash $800 million from New York's Office of Child and Family Services. Why make sure the most vulnerable citizens of the state are taken care of when there's a massive facility to build that will get used only 20 or so times a year? A building in which the tenants keep essentially all of the profits and reap all of the benefits when the value of the team increases because of the new facility?

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Keep in mind the value of the stadium itself, which the state will own, depreciates with every passing year. And very likely at the end of the 30-year agreement that's supposedly "ironclad," the Pegulas or whoever else own the Bills then will once again threaten to move the team and fleece taxpayers.

And the $850 million from the state and county is just for building the new stadium. The state will also pay almost $7 million a year for 15 years in maintenance costs and contribute $6 million a year for the full 30 years to a capital improvement fund.

Yet the $6 million a year Highmark Health pays for the Bills' current stadium to carry its name that all goes to the Pegulas.

The least the state can do, as it does with all people who ask for public assistance, is tie conditions to it.

For example: The population of Erie County is 25 percent non-white, including 14 percent Black, and New York is 45 percent non-white and 17.6 percent Black. Yet of the top 18 executives listed currently on the Bills' website, only two are ethnic minorities.

There will likely be requirements during construction for how many contractor companies must be minority- or women-owned, but the stadium construction is separate from the organization itself, and at some point the construction ends. And those in-stadium jobs on game days are not paths to riches, they're minimum wage temp jobs.

If you want The People's money, shouldn't your most senior leadership positions reflect The People?

Kim Pegula gets to tout that she's part of the diversity and inclusion groups for the NFL and NHL, whatever those are supposed to be accomplishing, but the Bills' top decision-makers are not diverse in the least, and exclusion seems more the goal than inclusion.

If you want The People's money, shouldn't you be nearer to The People?

The new facility will be built in Orchard Park, where the current stadium is, a town of fewer than 4,000 residents over 10 miles outside of Buffalo's city center. Like so many old mill cities, Buffalo would likely benefit from having the stadium built within city limits.

A new stadium will mean personal seat licenses, one of the greatest scams in modern history. You have to pay for the right to pay rent for seats. In this case, in a stadium built largely with your tax dollars. Assuming you can even afford a PSL and season tickets, which is more exclusion.

If you want The People's money, shouldn't all of The People get to see what their money helped pay for?

And what of the people who don't care about the Bills? What do they get out of this?

And how are we in 2022 still seeing these disgusting displays of state and local lawmakers allowing billionaire private business owners to fleece them out of taxpayer funds for facilities the vast majority of taxpayers won't have or don't want access to?

In what can be seen as one more concession to the Pegulas, Hochul waited to announce the deal until this week, days before the state's annual budget deadline on April 1 meaning there isn't much time for state legislators to demand changes that benefit the taxpayers who will be funding the stadium.

Public assistance always comes with conditions. It does for the alleged "little people" who are desperate to have four walls and a roof to sleep under at night.

The wealthy, in this case the Pegulas, should be no different.

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Take it from Geno Auriemma: The ‘dumbest things’ don’t solve real gender inequities – Yahoo Sports

Posted: at 2:34 am

Its always the trivial aspects that blow a story open. Thats the chatter acceptable for the surface-level dinner-table talk or quick did u c this?? share of a TikTok.

Basically, we talk about the dumbest things, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma told reporters on Tuesday in Minneapolis ahead of the Final Four. And as with most things Auriemma says, theres some truth to it if you dig between the rest. Like a realtor gushing about the cute, staged kitchen while the foundation sits cracked behind a boarded-up basement door, theres more to see beyond the surface.

Coaches of First Four teams to Final Four ones have been asked over the past two weeks if they believe the NCAA has made substantial progress toward gender equity in the mens and womens basketball tournaments. It has been the guiding conversation this season after putting the 2021 tournaments in separate bubbles forced the world to see the clear differences in plain view.

The overwhelming answers appear to be, well, no. At least not in the necessary big-picture ways that create significant impact. The issues coaches have homed in on for decades and most glaze over.

You know what we didn't take care of? said Auriemma, who is finishing his 37th year with UConn. Two teams played last night, Monday night, to go to the Final Four, and now we play Friday, and we fly out [Tuesday]. The guys finished Sunday, and they get Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then they play Saturday.

Why don't you address things that actually help kids get ready to play their best basketball at the most important time of the year? But we've got the weight room squared away, and I'm sure we got other things squared away, but we don't get squared away the things that are most important.

It is the best year for Auriemma to bring this concern. UConn and N.C. State played the first double-overtime game in Elite Eight history on Monday in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that ended around 10 p.m. ET. Auriemma told NCAA digital the team didnt get home until 2 a.m. and flew to Minnesota on Tuesday afternoon. By the time they arrived in Minneapolis, thats two full days at the Target Center before tipping off Friday night.

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Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma talked about the short turnaround his team and the other Final Four teams face in the NCAA women's tournament compared to the men's tournament. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

It doesnt have to be this way. The time is here to look at everything. The NCAA, on the recommendation of the Kaplan Report, conducted a zero-based budget to start from scratch and eliminate inequities that have grown over time.

Zero-base it all, from the selection committee to regional sites to the day the season ends. Everyone should be asking why are we doing this? to every bit. And when the answer is because its always been that way, rip it down. If you assess your financials every year, theres no reason not to do the same for policies and structures.

A simple solution is to push games back to Sunday/Tuesday to allow more recovery time and for these student-athletes to enjoy the week without feeling squeezed into a short time frame. Now is the time to think bigger than simple. Because even that would still fall into the trite habit of placing an emphasis on the men as if they are the default and women should program around them.

There has been so much talk of a combined Final Four location a proposition most coaches disagree so how about combined Final Fours on TV? Do a full day of Saturday semifinals, rotating between the men and women, then back-to-back championship games on that Monday night. Every year the lead game can be switched between women and men.

That shouldnt be a problem. All womens sports fans hear in online "well actually" chatter is that TV time and channels dont, well, actuallymatter when it comes to TV viewership numbers (which is not true). And basketball fans will love another full day of action. That is the beauty of March Madness.

To do that would take buy-in from broadcasters and thats hard to come by as it is. The womens championship game was pushed back into prime time on ESPN only because the MLB lockout wiped out the first two weeks of games. Otherwise, it would have served as the companys lead-in to Sunday Night Baseball with a dinner-time tip. And none of these womens programs at the peak of their sport will receive a dime for their success as the mens programs do with units awarded to conferences for their teams tournament runs.

To really make changes, we have to have a similar unit structure, Tara VanDerveer, the Stanford head coach since 1985, said on Tuesday. I mean, I love the crowds. I love the signage. I don't really notice it. It doesn't feel like that much different.

I think really the bottom line is it's a television package and it's a unit structure. When that happens, then we'll know that it's serious.

Its unfair to hinge a lack of dramatic change on an organization that plans years in advance and cant pivot on big issues. Its one thing to call in a weight room at the last minute, a necessary change even if Auriemma quipped his players havent picked a weight up in 21 years. Its another to change the entire system in an offseason.

NCAA president Mark Emmert hedged on the issues during a news conference Wednesday, saying there are the beginning of discussions and theyre considering splitting up the sports media package. Any of that is in play only because of those trivial issues that spread on social media and third-hour morning TV shows. It forced the NCAA's hand. Now, think wider.

It is past time for everyone to stop talking about the dumbest things and start talking about issues like unit structure and zero-balanced planning at the dinner table before tipoffs this weekend.

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