Category Archives: Life Extension

Truman saw in a womans projection of beauty an assertion of a life force, a mystical, magical thing that transformed all who touched it. He liked to be near such women, and he collected his swans the way others did Faberg eggs.

In those two sentences, author Laurence Leamer does much to explain what drew Truman Capote to a coterie of ultra-privileged women known for their beauty and their trend-setting sense of fashion. They dont explain what drew the swans to him, nor do they explain the sheer clumsiness of his eventual betrayal, which cost him the friendships he had so carefully cultivated while gaining him nothing. He might as well have been a spoiled princeling smashing jeweled eggs to bits on the floor in a tantrum.

In Capotes Women, due for release Oct. 12, Leamer delves into the rest of it. Capote, who had spent his early youth in the Monroeville area and who would go on to become one of Alabamas most famous and oddest literary exports, was still climbing toward fame when he begins cultivating relationships with the women he calls his swans. They were wealthy -- usually as the result of a series of strategic marriages -- and renowned for their ability to create their own fashion or to wear the works of top designers with unmatched self-assurance. Their homes were frequent subjects of magazine photo shoots, their dinner parties provided grist for the high-society gossip columns, their travels made international news. They seemed to enjoy having an outlandish creature from Alabama in their midst. He was young and beautiful and frequently outrageous, he was a male friend who could adore them without triggering their husbands jealousy and he was a wickedly clever purveyor of gossip.

The seven at the center of this book include Babe Paley, wife to CBS executive Bill Paley; Marella Agnelli, a bona fide Italian princess; Pamela Churchill, who married a son of Winston Churchill and rapidly became famous for pursuing affairs as eagerly as any of her male counterparts; and Lee Radziwill, younger sister to Jackie Kennedy Onassis, who like Churchill cut a swath through British society in her youth. Upper-class Brits are a randy lot, Leamer drolly notes, though it is considered good form for a wife to bring forth an heir before she starts having affairs. Lee had no use for such formalities.

Leamer is a capable guide to this world, and though Capotes Women doesnt spend a lot of time on Capotes Alabama boyhood or on his mutually influential friendship with Harper Lee, its not Leamers first visit to the state. His previous works include The Lynching, a keenly reported account of the Michael Donald murder in Mobile and the subsequent trial that resulted in a groundbreaking verdict against the Klan.

There might have been a question from the beginning of who was using whom, the ambitious writer or the trophy wives in need of amusing companionship. Leamer makes clear that while Capote began enjoying the company of swans before establishing his own fame, he also came up early on with the idea of using the tales he heard from such women as the basis of his grandest literary accomplishment. By mid-1958 -- before Breakfast at Tiffanys was published, before Capote even conceived of In Cold Blood -- he had the title and the general concept of the novel Answered Prayers.

From that point on, there might have been a real component to his friendship, but he also was collecting material. It might indeed have formed the basis of the book he wanted to write, a Great Work that encapsulated an ephemeral bubble of contemporary aristocracy. But that would have required him to be in full command of his powers, and after inventing novelistic true-crime storytelling with In Cold Blood and shaking up high society with his Black & White Ball, he began to squander those gifts.

Like a Marvel ensemble superhero movie that struggles to get all the origin stories out of the way before setting up its final battle, Capotes Women takes a long time to arrive at its moment of crisis. As Leamer tracks the twin arcs of Capotes accomplishments and his capacity for self-destruction, warning signs pile up: Capote blows deadlines, makes increasingly vague promises about when Answered Prayers will be complete. Friends whove seen excerpts are horrified; one swan, given a sneak preview, cuts him out of her life.

There are indications that after a lifetime spent knowing just how far over the line he can get away with going, Capote has forgotten theres a line. He even loses his knack for dinner parties: After falling for a particularly brainless lover (Leamer describes him as the man who came to his rented house to service the air conditioner and ended up servicing Truman as well) he imposes the dolt on his high-society friends, to their dismay.

His fantasy comes crashing down in 1975, when Esquire publishes an 11,000-word excerpt of Answered Prayers full of nasty gossip, with characters constructed so artlessly that any knowledgeable reader can easily guess which story belongs to which real-world swan. Capote has deluded himself that everyone, the swans included, would love it. They cast him out. Answered Prayers was never published in completed form.

Related: Truman Capotes unfinished work at center of new documentary The Capote Tapes

Leamer includes an observation from Joanne Carson that in the aftermath Capote looked like a baby who had been slapped. Indeed, Carsons involvement as one of Capotes last friends brings several tragically comedic moments into the tale.

The break is so complete that there was little left to tell, just a few years in which Capote becomes a dissipated caricature of himself on the way to a lonely and pitiful death.

Capotes Women is a very full book, in many ways. Capote himself comes to life as an ambitious writer whose flamboyant talent is inseparable from his outsider persona and high-society aspirations. He was openly gay because he had no choice, and as Normal Mailer famously observed, that took bravery. But the signs of his capacity for self-destruction were evident early on in his sexual voraciousness and his willingness to be a pet of the rich. Leamer provides detailed mini-biographies for the swans, and by extension gives a sense of the bygone world that made their lives possible.

For all that, the book is infected by the emptiness of the lives it describes. Capote neither knew how to be fulfilled by the success he achieved, nor how to exert the discipline necessary to maintain it. When the time came to follow up on his breakthroughs, Leamer writes, Truman should have been writing as he always did, penning passages into a notebook. But he had become addicted to the easy pleasures of the rich.

As for the women, what made them special wasnt really their style. They had the status they did because they were so entirely committed to being what a certain class of entitled man wanted them to be: Stunning, flawless, pursuable, obtainable. But when it came to accomplishments of any actual substance, they tended to be dilettantes at best. Upon divorce (or with one impending) their singleminded mission was to once again marry up. The rarified circles they moved in were so small that some of them were married to one anothers exes.

Lee Radziwill exemplifies the problem: Leamer portrays her as eternally overshadowed by her older sister, long before Jackie becomes First Lady and long after. Radziwill also exemplifies the poor-little-rich-girl problem: Because shes never had to work for anything, she cant work hard enough at any of her desires, such as becoming an actress, to get any satisfaction from her attempts. (If her story seems to pop a little more than the others, it helps to know that Leamer has written three books about the Kennedys, including The Kennedy Women.)

Were the swans really superior in some meaningful way to the Kardashians and their contemporary hyper-privileged counterparts, famous for being famous? Its not an argument this reader can make. Whatever one might think of the current bunch or the proportion of pop-culture influence they wield, they do have their own brands and their own wealth. Divorce doesnt leave them scrambling to find their next keeper.

But thats not the point.

The swans existed for a short time, exemplifying an ideal that couldnt last. Truman Capote, a gifted misfit from Alabama, found an unlikely place among them, and on some level he found them genuinely inspiring. Leamer includes a tantalizing suggestion that, in some ways, Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffanys was the first swan, or at least a swan in the making.

The published fragments of Answered Prayers fell far short of the book Capote hoped to write, but he did from time to time succeed at putting into words what made that ephemeral world so captivating for so many. The book lives up to its subtitle: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era.

This is the story of an Icarus. You know how its going to end, but you know that for a while the protagonist is going to soar. Capotes Women is about the flight.

Capotes Women by Laurence Leamer will be released Tuesday, Oct. 12, by Putnam.

Read the original:

Capotes Women: Understanding the doomed love of Truman Capote and his socialite swans - AL.com

By Josh Marsh - 11 October 2021

Principal and Chief Executive of The Chesterfield College Group, Julie Richards, has welcomed the news that the Government plans to extend the apprenticeship incentive and Kickstart schemes.

Following Rishi Sunaks announcement last week, she has pledged to continue to help and support employers in the area who wish to take advantage of the incentives available before they end in 2022.

Since the incentive schemes were announced last year, as part of the Governments Covid recovery plans, the college has supported over 300 employers to access bonus payments of up to 4,000 to recruit almost 400 apprentices.

Speaking about how the college was best placed to help more local employers take advantage of the incentives, Julie Richards said:

Apprenticeships have always offered a fantastic opportunity to fill skills gaps and develop people. The bonus payment is designed to help employers feel more secure in their ability to cover the cost of recruiting an apprentice. Apprenticeships provide our young people with specific opportunities to develop their skills and secure meaningful employment which supports their financial independence and prepares them for adult life and a successful career.

As a local college we are committed to matching the needs of employers with the skills and talents of young people. I urge employers to contact the college to understand how the scheme may work for them. Our team are experts in supporting employers to develop a programme of skills development which will have long lasting benefits both for them and the local economy.

The experienced team are helping organisations, large and small across Derbyshire and the East Midlands, to find the best candidates for their apprenticeship vacancies. They have a talent pool of students and applicants ready to find their next step in the world of work and are supporting businesses to navigate the recruitment process to secure their new apprentice.

Matt Cryans, Director at Crytec Ltd, a company based in Clay Cross, which sells machinery for construction, forestry and manual handling, told us about his experience of recruiting his first apprentice and making the most of the incentive scheme with the support of the college.

He said: The scheme covers a decent proportion of an apprentices wages so it gives you confidence to recruit. The extra funding certainly helps you to make the move to grow the team when things feel a bit uncertain. The team at college made it easy to apply for the funding and supported me through the steps of taking on an apprentice.

Find out more about the apprenticeship bonus scheme and the support available for Kickstart here https://www.chesterfield.ac.uk/extension-to-4000-apprenticeship-incentive-and-kickstart-scheme/

Read more from the original source:

College to support employers following extension to the apprenticeship incentive scheme - Destination Chesterfield - Destination Chesterfield

Welcome to Facing the Speculative, where I will be discussing some crucial speculative fiction novels and their implications for modern society. This is an extension of the project Imagining Adaptive Societies with Earth systems associate professor Jamie Jones and political science professor Margaret Levi under the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences.

Attending school at Stanford can sometimes feel unreal with the Universitys endless list of opportunities and activities and relentless sunshine. Life on campus can almost feel like a simulation though beautiful in many ways, it is an atmosphere that has enabled me to distance myself from the real world.

It wasnt until I began to read Octavia Butlers Parable of the Sower that I was struck with how far removed I was from reality. Written in 1993, Parable of the Sower is a speculative fiction novel set in California, year 2024. Fires, some that are caused by climate change and others that are caused by drug-hungry pyromaniacs, ravage the state. Excessive amounts of money are being spent on space exploration as it transitions to privatization. Police forces fail to help fleeing refugees, oftentimes only adding to the chaos and violence. Politicians promise a return to glory while suspending laws of employee protection, environmental regulation and economic supervision. Post-modern capitalism has evolved into a form of debt slavery, where employees live paycheck to paycheck, forever tethered to their jobs.

As I read this novel, I couldnt help but connect the fictional plot to the very nonfiction reality we live in today. Record-setting fires are burning through California right now. Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are spending billions of dollars in this new-era space race to colonize Mars and pioneer space tourism. Wealth inequality pervades. Afghan refugees are finding themselves caught in chaos, unable to find asylum. The list simply goes on.

Weve come to an apex of history where the fictional narratives we once regarded as otherworldly are in fact very worldly. They are beginning to play out in real time right here, right now. Speculative fiction is no longer just an escape from reality; its fictional plots often bounce you back to the nonfiction plot playing out in our timeline.

But while Butlers Parable of the Sower and other speculative fiction novels are driven by conflict and catastrophe, their plots are resolved by resolutions that are yet to be realized in our world. This right here is my fascination with speculative fiction. Authors are allowed to speculate resolutions that we as readers can try to implement in the real world.

In Butlers Parable of the Sower, 15-year-old protagonist Lauren Olamida zealously endeavors to unearth her own religion that is illuminous of her lived experience. One of the verses of her religion Earthseed is:

Ignorance

Protects itself.

Ignorance

Promotes suspicion.

Ignorance

Protects itself,

And protected,

Ignorance grows.

Answers to real-world problems can be found both in reality and in the fictional dimension. Lauren, and Butler by extension, are begging that we not remain ignorant to the fictional world, let alone the world that exists outside of our bubbles, for that ignorance will only flourish upon itself and grow. The most pressing solutions for problems like climate change and political injustice may be right there, at the touch of a novel.

See the original post:

Facing the Speculative: 'Parable of the Sower' as a parallel to our society - The Stanford Daily

For all who live with, love or work with families are invited to attend a Mental Wellness Conversation from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 22 at Trinity United Methodist Church, 838 N. 25th St. The workshop is free, but preregistration is required by Oct. 20 at https://bit.ly/MW18497.

Topics and speakers for the event include:

Hope and Healing: My Walk with Mental Health Lyndsey Fennelly, mental health advocate

The keynote speaker is Lyndsey Fennelly. As a college student, she was a standout on the Iowa State womens basketball team and was drafted into the WNBA in 2007. She married Billy Fennelly, assistant coach for the ISU womens team. Not me was her first thought in 2013 when she was in the middle of a two-week hospital stay following a mental breakdown. She didnt want to believe it. A lot has happened since that first hospital stay. Fennelly is using her high-profile voice to reduce the stigma of mental illness and raise awareness of the services available. Mental illness touches one in five Iowans, but mental health touches every single human being. We all have the capacity to improve our mental wellness.

Mental Health Discussion: Make it OK Kim Bodholdt, social-emotional-behavioral health consultant, Prairie Lakes AEA

Question.Persuade.Refer. Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training Demi Johnson, behavioral health program specialist, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Say Yes to saving the life of a friend, colleague, sibling, or neighbor. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help.

UnityPoint Health Berryhill Center: Behavioral Health Urgent Care Jennifer Pullen, executive director, Berryhill Center

Community Health Center of Fort Dodge, Catholic Charities, Children & Families of Iowa, Community & Family Resources, UnityPoint Health Berryhill, NAMI,CICS and Webster County 4-H will be sharing information during the noon hour.

The workshop is sponsored by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Webster County, Trinity United Methodist Church, UnityPoint Health Berryhill Center, Community Health Center of Fort Dodge and Webster/Calhoun Youth Wellness Coalition.

For more information, contact Linda Cline, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Webster County program coordinator, at 515-576-2119 or lcline@iastate.edu.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Continue reading here:

Community conversation focuses on mental wellness | News, Sports, Jobs - Fort Dodge Messenger

AMES, Iowa When youre busy juggling work, family, social life, health goals and other obligations, balancing these competing areas of your life may seem exhausting or impossible, says Danielle Day, a human sciences specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

Weve likely heard about work-life balance over this past year, but how many of us can say we have taken the opportunity to stop, breathe and evaluate our own work-life balance goals? asked Day, who specializes in family wellbeing.

October is National Work and Family Month in the United States. Established in 2003 by U.S. Senate resolution, it was meant to promote more flexible work environments and encourage better balance in work-life commitments.

While some stress can help in driving our successes, the key to managing stress is finding balance, Day said. Without balance, our stress levels can continue to rise, decreasing our productivity, increasing moodiness and wreaking havoc on our immune systems and overall health. Its easy to let more and more stress creep into our lives as we strive to achieve perfection; however, the side effects of too much stress are too detrimental to ignore.

National Work and Family Month is a good time for a work-life balance self-check. Lets take this month to check in with ourselves and perhaps hit the reset button as we determine what work-life balance looks like for us individually, Day said.

Day offers the following tips for exploring optimal work-life balance.

Ask yourself, Are my goals realistic? You are more likely to succeed if you set attainable goals in all areas of life. There are only 24 hours in each day; be realistic about the workload you can manage along with your personal goals.

Identify essential tasks; eliminate unessential tasks. Do you really need to accomplish all the tasks on your to-do list? If your list includes should do tasks, are they essential to your wellbeing? Do they add value or undue stress? Could someone else handle these tasks?

Take an electronic break. "Technology is great, but many times we feel the need to always be on and readily available to everyone. Schedule some regular time for you and your family to unplug from your devices and reconnect with enjoyable hobbies and with nature, Day said. During the workday take a 15-minute break away from the office, without your cell phone, and go for a walk with a coworker.

Schedule time for you. When theres an open block of time on our calendar, its easy to fill it with something that may not add to our wellbeing. If you have a hard time seeing open blocks of time on your calendar, then schedule regular me time and use that time to refill your energy bucket by doing an activity you enjoy, Day said.

Get moving. Being physically healthy helps to reduce stress levels. Find time each day to do something physical. It doesnt have to be the same each day go for a walk one day and play basketball the next. Make sure to choose a physical activity you enjoy. Youre more likely to make a habit when you enjoy what youre doing, and it doesnt feel like work.

Be flexible. Establishing new habits takes time, and sometimes after awhile a new habit isnt right for you. Its important that goals be flexible, and you give yourself some grace. Were all human and were all trying to navigate life with no road map. If a goal needs to change or you find something isnt working for you, reset yourself. Ask those around you to help you on your journey, Day said.

Identify your resources. Do not be afraid to ask for help. That might mean asking your employer whether a flexible work schedule is possible or if there is an Employee Assistance Program. Help also can mean reevaluating household chores and redistributing responsibilities across the family. There are helplines, blogs and other resources available to help you find a balance that is right for you.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach offers a series of Stress: Taking Charge resources in the online Extension Store to help you navigate your stress at various stages of life. Iowa Concern Hotline is a resource available to all Iowans, offering 24/7 support for individuals seeking stress counseling, legal education and those with financial concerns. Call or text 800-447-1985 to access Iowa Concern.

If remote work is an option with your employer, and you could benefit from this flexibility, consider setting yourself up for success by participating in the Remote Work Certificate Course offered through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Day added.

For additional information on mental health, visit Mental Health America, https://mhanational.org/.

Photo credit: MarekPhotoDesign.com/stock.adobe.com

See the rest here:

Examine Work-Life Balance during National Work and Family Month - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Courtesy Dover Kohl and Partners

A re-envisioned downtown Lake Wales will be a leafy and inviting urban oasis. Buildings in white are existing. Buildings depicted in yellow are potential infill construction opportunities.

A 30-year extension of the life of the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will guarantee a continuing flow of revenue for community improvements, including street and sidewalk construction, lighting, street trees and more.

Community Redevelopment Agency funds are being used to pay for the Lake Wales Connected plan reconstruction and landscaping of Park Avenue and First Street, expected to begin shortly.

The CRA is funded by capturing about 90% of the City and County shares of "tax increment" created by rising property values and new construction. The Lake Wales CRA presently generates about $2.4M annually, a number projected to rise significantly in future years.

The CRA is expected to enter in a loan or bond agreement that will provide $18.5 million in ready funds to pay for the street improvements of the Lake Wales Connected plan. The action was essential to assure lenders that revenue will continue to come to the CRA to pay back loans expected to mature over a 20-year time frame. The present CRA would otherwise sunset in 2029.

The action came during Tuesday's City Commission meeting at which the enabling ordinance was adopted. The new lifetime was made possible by an act of the Florida Legislature, which recently created a general sunset of 2039, unless "the governing body of the city which created the agency approves its continued existence by a majority vote," according to a memo prepared by City of Lake Wales staff.

The Lake Wales City Commission also sits as the board of directors of the CRA under long-standing city policy.

Go here to read the rest:

City Commission Adds 30-Year Extension to Life of CRA - Lake Wales News

Suncor Energy Inc. and Cenovus Energy Inc., two of Canadas largest oil companies,have announcedplans to restart stalled offshore oil projects and boost job prospects in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Calgary-based oil majors announced agreements to restructure both the Terra Nova FPSO and West White Rose projects off the provinces coast. The agreements, supported by $205 million in funding from the provincial government, mean work will restart on the Terra Nova project this fall and the companies will evaluate the feasibility of restarting work on West White Rose by the middle of 2022.

Suncorsaid in a news releasethe agreement is expected to extend production life at Terra Nova by approximately 10 years, providing an additional 70 million barrels of oil. The floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel has not produced oil since late 2019. Most of the more than 1,000 jobs linked to the oilfield have been lost.

Suncor president and CEO Mark Little said in the news release the Terra Nova life extension provides strong economic returns and will provide long-term value for investors.

The project is expected to return to operations in 2022 and will continue operating until 2033.Suncor will increase its ownership stake in the project to 48 per cent from 38 per cent, the release states.Cenovuswill increase its stake to 34 per cent from 13 per cent and El Dorado, Ark.-based Murphy Oil Corp. will boost its ownership to 18 per cent from 10 per cent.

The concentrated ownership structure will lead to four international oil companies Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Norways Equinor SA and Mosbacher Operating LLC exiting the project.

Suncor is also boosting its ownership interest in the West White Rose project to 40 per cent from 27.5 per cent in exchange for a cash payment from Cenovus, which is reducing its stake to 60 per cent from 72.5 per cent.

The FPSO will undergo maintenance work at the Bull Arm Fabrication site in Trinity Bay, N.L. starting in September prior to sailing to dry dock in Spain later this year, according to the news release. Since beginning production in January 2002, the Terra Nova has produced 425 million barrels of oil.

The two agreements are cause for celebration in the Atlantic provinces struggling offshore oil industry and for a province which had been expected to face the slowest economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source(s) and Image(s): Suncor Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc, Atlantica Center for Energy

Did you enjoy this article?

Read more:

Oil majors to restart stalled offshore projects | OUR GREAT MINDS - The OGM

Ticks transmit Lyme disease. (Photo Provided)

By Marcus McCartney

OSU Extension Educator

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Lyme disease is caused by a specific bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks, commonly known in our area as deer ticks. Here in the mid-Ohio valley, we are experiencing an outbreak of Lyme disease. Currently, 1 in 12 dogs test positive for Lyme. My little dog, Bella, is one of these dogs and she is how I contracted Lyme disease. Sometimes Bella sleeps at the foot of my bed. A tick crawled off her and onto my foot, biting me and injecting the bacterial disease into my bloodstream, changing my life forever. My experience with Lyme disease had a detrimental effect on me and my family. I contracted the neurological disease in late 2018. Even though I have fully recovered, my family dynamics were forever changed.

Towards the end of 2018, I started to feel off or sick. At first, I dismissed how I felt and thought it was nothing more than a cold or virus. However, as time went by, I never recovered from the initial sickness and slowly my health deteriorated. My symptoms included: severe fatigue, increased blood pressure, weak muscles, extreme light-headedness, and it was hard to sit up for extended periods of time. I felt disconnected, like my head was in a constant state of fog. I never developed the bulls-eye rash associated with Lymes disease nor could I recall even having a black legged tick on me. Before I was able to get an accurate diagnosis the standard Lyme disease test kept coming back as negative and my supposedly diagnosis kept coming back as the same thing, a sinus infection. After I personally took antibiotics for seventy-six days, I was finally given a prescription of doxycycline, the antibiotic for Lyme disease, for a 28-day cycle. Towards the end of my 28th day, I finally started to feel better after four months of barely functioning. Being able to function again was such a huge relief and blessing. Life seemed normal again.

During my ordeal with Lyme Disease, this is when I learned there was an outbreak in our area. Now when I am outside, I make sure I take preventive measures, so I do not contract this disease again. This experience has given me a tremendous respect for tick vector diseases as well as those animals who consume these ticks, like opossums. My advice is whenever you are outside, especially in wooded or high grass areas, please protect yourself from ticks and always check yourself when you come back inside. My experience with Lyme disease is, no matter how healthy you are, this disease will bring you down rapidly and affect every aspect of your life; potentially life changing as in my case.

If you have been outside working on your garden or lawn, even this time of year because black-legged ticks (deer ticks) are active almost year-round, and find a tick attached on your body, you should not throw it away after you properly remove it. You should identify which tick species was attached to you because certain species of ticks carry certain diseases. You can bring your tick to the OSU Extension office for an accurate identification. After identifying the tick, you should keep the tick in case you to feel ill. Stored ticks in your refrigerator or freezer for a few months or send it to a lab to test for disease. In conclusion, protect yourself as tick-vector diseases are significantly increasing.

Marcus McCartney is the OSU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator for Washington County. He has been with extension since 2014. Marcus received both his bachelors and Masters degree from West Virginia University Agriculture Education.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Read more:

Before You Grow: Educator gives first-hand account of Lyme disease - Marietta Times

OTTAWA - A group representing thousands of small businesses says uncertainty over the fate of federal pandemic supports is causing its members to lose confidence in their financial prospects, and pushing the Liberals to provide more life support for ailing companies.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said sentiment in its monthly barometer from September showed the largest one-month drops since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

The group said there has been a tumble in the short-term expectations for companies in the hospitality and construction industries, while retail and agriculture saw the deepest dive on their outlook for the next year.

With the majority of small businesses still not back to normal sales levels, the organization is asking the federal government to extend wage and rent supplements set to expire near the end of the month.

The federal budget bill passed at the end of June includes a provision that cabinet can extend benefits until Nov. 20. The Liberals would need to gain parliamentary approval for any more weeks of life.

CFIB president Dan Kelly said small business owners are at near panic levels'' about the impending end of supports, and are looking for a signal from the federal Liberals.

I want the subsidy programs to end too - they're super expensive - but if we do that before full COVID restrictions are lifted, we will see thousands and thousands of businesses flushed down the toilet,'' he said.

The ask to keep those benefits moving comes with a corresponding request to reshape the recovery'' benefits for out-of-work Canadians that will test the federal government. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in conversations has pressed stakeholders about how the government could extend business benefits, but not the same for workers.

The Liberals might err on the side of being more generous, but should let the pandemic relief programs end unless there is a really good economic reason, said Christopher Ragan, director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University.

I do not envy any government that is currently in this, but I do think you want to be careful about providing too many relief payments because that is going to stand in the way of a recovery,'' he said.

In late July, the Liberals announced an extension of the aid package and put off a planned drop in benefit values citing a slower than expected recovery.

The wage subsidy and rent relief programs have paid out almost $94 billion and $6.6 billion, respectively, and federal data show the number of claims for each has fallen over the course of 2021.

The benefits are calculated on business losses, and phase out as revenues rebound; the CFIB survey noted the share of firms barely making it by has dropped to the lowest level since the pandemic began.

The Canada Recovery Benefit has seen a similar drop in claims, and has paid out about $26.4 billion to unemployed workers who don't qualify for employment insurance, with weekly benefits set at $300.

The drop is also in line with rising job numbers that as of August put the country 0.8 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, even though businesses are reporting labour shortages.

An economic outlook from Deloitte Canada on Tuesday noted how this tale of two labour markets is playing out: Industries with jobs that can easily be done remotely have grown and now face problems attracting skilled workers, while job shortages in high-contact sectors like accommodation and food services may reflect ongoing health concerns or the effect of income support programs.

Chief economist Craig Alexander said the link between benefits and labour shortages is largely anecdotal. He added that some industries could also be facing labour shortages from declines in immigration.

There's so much disruption coming from health risks and barriers to the movement of workers, combined with the economic narrative that the story in the labour market is a complex one,'' he said.

As the worst of the pandemic appears, for the moment, to be in the rear-view mirror, Alexander said policy-makers are going to need to start thinking about how to unwind emergency support programs.

They're going to need to start thinking about how governments gradually wean the economy off of fiscal stimulus,'' he said.

But let's also still be clear that we're still in the crisis, the crisis hasn't passed, and so the notion of not wanting to apply fiscal austerity in the near-term is entirely warranted.''

More here:

Feds pressed to extend benefits as small business sentiment sinks - BNN

9/29/2021

Tracerco has been commissioned to provide asset integrity data for an operator in the Gulf of Mexico seeking to extend the life of over 18 of their risers. Under the contract, Tracerco will deploy Discovery, a subsea computed tomography (CT) scanner designed for external scanning of pipelines and which operates along the same general principles as CT scanners used in hospitals.

As methods of oil and gas extraction have improved, many fields are still producing substantial quantities of oil and gas, and as such, operators are looking for methods to monitor and verify their risers condition to ensure ongoing integrity and extend their operational life. For life extension, regulators typically require a physical inspection to ensure the condition of the riser and CT, a technique which has an unparalleled ability to accurately and non-intrusively see through an item, can provide this information.

Technologies using CT such as Discovery provide operators with valuable inspection data on the entire pipeline, spanning the range from product to coating and all areas in between. It is a non-intrusive external scanning technique and is easily capable of scanning through several inches of pipeline steel with no requirement to remove any protective coating, regardless of thickness and material.

Tracerco was the first company to develop a subsea CT system and still holds the fundamental patent for the concept of subsea CT scanning dating back to 2011, says Jim Bramlett, Commercial Manager North America for Tracerco, Over the years since, Discovery has incorporated numerous additional patented innovations for optimizing the system.

Discovery will be used to inspect the risers and determine whether they can be extended past their original design life by gathering real time data on a variety of integrity issues including pipeline corrosion, pitting and wall thinning. This will allow the operator to work with the local authorities to get their permit extended and potentially realise billions in continued revenues from the asset.

Discovery provides the integrity insights to know the unknown enabling critical decisions regarding life extension to be made, continues Jim, and it does this while the risers are still in full operation. No need to interfere with production.

Follow this link:

Tracerco secures subsea inspection for life extension project of over 18 risers in the Gulf of Mexico - WorldOil