Category Archives: Life Extension

Earlier this summer, a slew of headlines showered doom and gloom on clothing rental schemes, proclaiming them "the worst green option," "worse for the planet than just throwing [clothing] away" and "no cure for fast fashion."

All this vitriol came in the wake of a Finnish report that compares the global warming potential of a pair of jeans under five ownership and end-of-life scenarios: traditional use and disposal; extended use; resale; recycle; and rental. Using life cycle assessments (LCAs), the study concluded that "sharing" or renting a pair of jeans produced the highest volume of carbon emissions about 5 kg more CO2 than simply throwing the jeans away.

If we take these headlines at face value, rental models should be a thing of the past rather than a model for the futurewith endless possibilities, as some coverage has suggested. But as with all things in the world of circularity, this story requires some context and a healthy dose of nuance so lets dive in.

The report uses LCA methodology, a process that evaluates the environmental impact of a product or service from cradle to grave by relying on numerous assumptions. As an example, the report assumes 200 wears before jeans are disposed of, that jeans are washed every 10 uses, and that purchasing two pairs of used jeans will displace the need for one newly manufactured pair. These assumptions are built from a specific scenario and setting, and a slight shift in these numbers could drastically alter the reports outcome. All that to say, the assumptions and their conclusions come with "uncertainty," a word the reports authors use no less than seven times.

As with all things in the world of circularity, this story requires some context and a healthy dose of nuance.

As critiques of LCAs have long pointed out, this methodology fails to account for human behavior and behavior change between scenarios. After all,a second-hand shopper or renter is likely to treat their garments differently from a traditional consumer potentiallyholding on to them longer, washing them at a different frequency or replacing them at a different rate. Indeed, LCAs have been criticized for their shortcomings, particularly when it comes to evaluating circular initiatives.

Of course, LCAs and their assumptions are critical to allow for an apples-to-apples comparison. "Only what gets measured gets managed," Ola Bkowska, a project manager at Circle Economys Circle Textile Program, shared with me over email. But LCAs offer "only part of the information [They are] not sufficient to assess all the benefits of clothes in the rental business model compared to business as usual."

Speaking of only part of the information,the report is quick to acknowledge that its focus is exclusively on carbon emissions and their "global warming potential" (GWP). As the report notes, "our focus on GWP impacts has left implications for other important sustainability dimensions such as water use, toxic chemicals and waste generation outside the scope of this study."

By not considering impact on water consumption, biodiversity and communities at large, this report offers only one piece of the sustainability puzzle.

"We urgently need more detailed research on the assumed and unexpected implications of diverse [circular economy] strategies," the report adds. Id argue such research is critical to understand rentals full scope of benefits and drawbacks before we throw this potentially impactful model under the bus.

Its important to note, the report raised some genuine red flags for rental. As with all business models, slapping a "circular" sticker on them does not inherently make them more sustainable.

Rental services particularly for clothingcan require more logistics, often including more shipping, packaging, cleaning or washing and, by association, carbon emissions than traditional linear consumption. "Circular business models are not climate positive by definition," Bkowska noted. Accordingly, they deserve our scrutiny before we call them green.

But given the narrow assumptions and limitations of this report, Im hesitant to brand rental schemes as unsustainable either. So what would it take to make rental the eco-friendly option? Here are three recommendations that could bring rental back from the environmental brink:

"In order to create a sustainable business model, you have to consider sustainability at every point in your product or services life cycle," Jay Reno, CEO of furniture rental company Feather, told me via email.

To start, this requires designing products with climate friendly materials and manufacturing as the report finds, more than half of the carbon emissions associated with a pair of jeans occur during manufacturing, no matter how they are used or sold. But the sustainable design lens should not stop there.

Reno added, "Many brands might consider sustainability at the beginning of the life cycle say, when a pair of pants is created But what really moves the needle for sustainability is considering what happens once those pants leave your warehouse." Considering how a product might wear and tear as well as their aesthetic appeal over time can lead to more durable, repairable and timeless design and products that last longer require less carbon, as the report points out.

Many brands might consider sustainability at the beginning of the life cycle. What really moves the needle for sustainability is considering what happens once those pants leave your warehouse.

Additionally, carefully designed rental services can require less washing and maintenance between users, or leverage low- or zero-emission transportation. As Bkowska added, "It will be very different if you pick up an item by bike from your local clothing library than if you ship it from a remote place. This is why the service design of a rental business model is of core importance to achieve a desired social and environmental impact."

Rather than simply offering a rental scheme, combining multiple circular solutions in one business model could unlock the most environmental savings. A rental service could save significant carbon, materials and waste by extending product and material life spans with durability, repair services, product resale and material recycling. As an example, Feather leverages durable and versatile design, refurbishment, recommerce, upcycling and donation partners to extend their products lifespan and reduce environmental impacts.

In fact, one of the reports oft-overlooked analysis explores the reduced carbon impact of rental models that leverage product life extension and more sustainable service design through low-carbon transportation. The results? The carbon footprints of these rental models drop below traditional linear consumption, making the take-make-waste model "the worst" option, yet again.

As recent reports and coverage continue to confirm, the challenge is that fashions current model is inherently unsustainable. No matter if products are rented, resold or simply consumed, we are producing too much stuff.

As the report itself outlines,"In the textile industry, massive over-production is a system-level problem that cannot be tackled only with the development of more efficient recycling options for end-of-use products." We need to shift the system and reduce "the total amount of products" available as well as the overconsumption this volume of goods encourages.

[Interested in learning more about the circular economy? Subscribe to our free Circularity Weekly newsletter.]

If rental services spur more linear consumption, they have failed their sustainability charge and are indeed "the worst option." But when designed right, they can lead to less production and evoke behavior change that encourages more thoughtful, reduced consumption. As Reno shared in a Circularity 21 panel, rental has the power to "transform humanitys relationship with material goods [to give somebody] a different relationship with their stuff"

Thats what rental models should be striving for and when thats achieved, I wont hang rental out to dry.

Original post:

Is rental really the worst? | Greenbiz - GreenBiz

These stages of the cross led Thiel to Silicon Valley in the mid-1990s, hot to leave big law and gamble on young Randian bermenschen. An early bet on a coder named Max Levchin hit it big. The two devised PayPal, the company Thiel is famous for, which supercharged his antipathies with capital. Thiel, whod published a book called The Diversity Myth, made good on his aversion to multiculturalism, Chafkin writes. Besides youth, PayPals other defining quality was its white maleness.

In 2000, PayPal got in business with Elon Musk. Peter thinks Musk is a fraud and a braggart, one source tells Chafkin. Musk thinks Peter is a sociopath. According to Chafkin, Thiel remained coldblooded during the dot-com crash that year, as PayPal loopholed its way to market dominance. The company rebounded with a growth strategy known as blitzscaling, as well as the use of some supremely nasty tactics. Whereas [Steve] Jobs viewed business as a form of cultural expression, even art, Chafkin writes, for Thiel and his peers it was a mode of transgression, even activism.

When PayPal went public, Thiel took out tens of millions and turned to investing full time. With various funds he scouted for more entrepreneurial twerps, and in the mid-2000s he latched onto Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. He also set up a hedge fund called Clarium, where, according to Chafkin, Thiels staffers styled themselves as intellectuals and savored the wit of VDARE, an anti-immigration website that regularly published white nationalists. Hoping to make death less inevitable, at least for himself, Thiel also began to patronize the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which has been steadily freezing the corpses of moneyed narcissists in liquid nitrogen since 1976.

Thiel passed on investing in Tesla, telling Musk (according to Musk) that he didnt fully buy into the climate change thing. But he gave Zuckerberg a loan for Facebook, which intermittently let him keep a leash on the young founder. After Sept. 11, Chafkin reports, Thiel also panicked about the threat posed by Islamic terrorism and Islam itself. Libertarianism deserted him; he created Palantir, a data-analytics surveillance tech company designed, in essence, to root out terrorists. The C.I.A. used it, the N.Y.P.D. used it and Thiel became a contractor with big government. By 2006 his Clarium had $2 billion under management.

Around this time, the wily Nick Denton, of the gossip empire Gawker, took notice of what Chafkin calls Thiels extremist politics and ethically dubious business practices. Gawkers Valleywag site dragged Thiel, whose homosexuality was an open secret, suggesting he was repressed. This enraged Thiel, who by 2008 seemed to have lost it, firing off a floridly religious letter to Clarium investors warning of the imminent apocalypse and urging them to save their immortal souls and accumulate treasures in heaven, in the eternal City of God.

The planet avoided the apocalypse, as it tends to do, but that year the financial crash laid the economy to waste. Several big investors pulled out of Thiels fund. In Chafkins telling, Thiel unaccountably blamed Denton for scaring away ultraconservatives by outing him. He determined to put Denton out of business, and in 2016, by clandestinely bankrolling a nuisance lawsuit designed to bankrupt Gawker, he did.

Excerpt from:

The Alarming Rise of Peter Thiel, Tech Mogul and Political Provocateur - The New York Times

CONTACT:

Rebecca Shelton, Appalachian Citizens Law Center, 859-893-0543, rshelton@aclc.org

Chelsea Barnes, Appalachian Voices, 614-205-6424, chelsea@appvoices.org

Trey Pollard, 202-904-9187, trey@pollardcommunications.com

Please reach out if youd like to speak to a local contact (policy expert, miner with black lung disease) about the Trust Fund or Excise Tax.

APPALACHIA Today, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Bob Casey (D-PA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the Black Lung Benefits Disability Trust Fund Act of 2021 to extend the black lung excise tax for 10 years. The excise tax is the only source of revenue for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (BLDTF), a fund that is already over $4 billion in debt. The BLDTF pays for medical benefits and provides a small monthly living stipend to coal miners who are disabled by black lung disease and their surviving dependents in cases where the miners employer has gone bankrupt or not been found responsible.

In 2018, the excise tax was reduced and collected at 50% of its historic rate for the entirety of 2019, pushing the BLDTF deeper into debt. In 2019 and 2020 the higher, historic rate of the excise tax was reinstated through one-year tax extender bills, but the rate will be cut in half again at the end of this year without action from Congress. This new bill extends the Black Lung Excise Tax on coal sales at the current tax rates for 10 years. A 10-year extension provides longer-term security for the fund and the miners who depend on it compared to short-term, one year extensions.

Giving us 10 years of the historically higher excise tax prevents us from having to fight every year. We dont have to worry every year about how the fund will be paid or have to call in to make sure they pass an extension, said Gary Hairston, President of the National Black Lung Association, based in Fayette Co., West Virginia. We appreciate what Manchin has done, but we are waiting to see what more he is planning because if the fund falls into debt the taxpayers will have to pay it.

The introduction of the 10-year extension comes after the House Ways and Means Committee passed a 4-year extension of the tax as part of its budget reconciliation bill. The 10-year extension more appropriately addresses the insolvency of the fund outlined in a May 2018 Government Accountability Office report, which indicated that the fund would not have sufficient revenue to cover beneficiary payments and administrative costs beginning in fiscal year 2020. The report found that increasing the tax rates by 25 percent would be necessary to eliminate the Trust Fund debt by fiscal year 2050. Solutions beyond an extension of the excise tax are becoming more and more critical as coal production declines. Revenues from the tax dropped by over 20% in fiscal year 2020 compared to revenues collected in 2018.

We are grateful for the leadership of Senators Manchin, Brown, Kaine, Casey and Warner on this important issue. Without this bill, the rate of the black lung excise tax that provides revenues for the trust fund would reduce by 50% at the end of the year, said Rebecca Shelton, the Director of Policy and Organizing, Appalachian Citizens Law Center. We know that an extension of the excise tax isnt the only measure that is needed to address the solvency of the fund, but it is an important first step and we look forward to working with all of these senators to develop a long-term solution.

It is crucial that Congress act before the end of the year to ensure long-term solvency of the Trust Fund by including this tax extension in the budget reconciliation bill. Coal miners across the country have sacrificed their health and their lives to power our nation for centuries; ensuring these health and disability benefits long-term must be a priority. This bill is a crucial step forward, said Chelsea Barnes, Legislative Director of Appalachian Voices.

Background:

Rates of black lung disease have hit a 25-year high in Appalachian coal mining states, and have reached epidemic levels in coal communities across the nation. In addition, many miners diagnosed with the disease today are young and sicker than ever before.

Coal miners and their widows who are able to prove that they are disabled from black lung are entitled by law to modest living and medical benefits, after what can be an excruciating legal process that sometimes outlasts the life of the miner. The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund pays for benefits to coal miners and their surviving dependents in cases where the miners employer has gone bankrupt or not been found responsible.

The trust fund is more important now than ever because a wave of bankruptcies in the coal industry has created increased pressure. It is supported by a small excise tax paid by companies per ton of coal sold domestically, at a rate that was unchanged for more than three decades. Congress allowed the rate to be cut in half at the end of 2018 and reinstated it for one year at the end of 2019 and 2020.

Originally posted here:

Coal Miners & Advocates Applaud Introduction of 10-Year Extension of Excise Tax for Black Lung Disability Trust Fund - Appalachian Voices

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Art Malott hasnt seen his grandchildren since 2019.

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His hopes for a reunion were crushed once again this week with the U.S. governments decision to extend its border closure for at least another month.

Malott lives in Harrow. His girlfriend, Kim Thompson, lives in Ferndale where the couple spent most of their time before COVID-19.

We have grandchildren over here and he has not been able to see them since Christmas of 2019, Thompson said Tuesday. And we just had another one born in August that hes not even been able to see. Then of course, he cant see any of his friends that are American. Our whole life revolved around being over here. Its been very upsetting to us and I dont understand my government at all.

The U.S. land border has been closed to non-essential travellers since March 2020. The Biden administration on Monday extended the closure to at least Oct. 21, despite Canadas move to reopen its border last month.

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Ottawa started allowing fully vaccinated Americans into the country for non-essential travel on Aug. 9.

Gordon Orr, CEO Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island, said there has been one small advantage to the U.S. border closure. Canadians who cant go to the U.S. are spending their money here.

Were not allowed to go over through a land border, so as a result people arent going across and spending their money at those casinos, at those restaurants, at those sporting events, said Orr.

But with many people still separated from friends and loved ones, he added that this is about more than economics.

Its about the friendship that weve enjoyed, said Orr. Its one of the benefits of being a border city and the fact that youre able to do all of that. So the day that we get to where conditions are removed and were able to engage in a free flow of visitation across both sides of the border will be a much better day.

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Malott and Thompson, who started dating in April 2018, were apart for eight months after the borders first closed. Thompson eventually acquired an extended family exemption and they were reunited in Harrow last November.

But Malott said much of their life together was centred in Michigan.

We havent been able to get together with her family at all, he said. Her parents are aging, so you worry. You never know. Being apart is a challenge. And not being able to cross that border makes absolutely no sense to me. They tell me I can fly there. So I have to drive to Toronto, get on a plane full of a bunch of people and fly to Detroit. Or I could drive to the border, interact with one person and arrive at Kims 40 minutes later.

Thompson was less diplomatic about her frustration.

You guys have 75 per cent vaccinated and your cases are lower than ours, she said. Im tired of the U.S. penalizing us for Americans who are idiots who dont want to be vaccinated. Its ridiculous.

twilhelm@postmedia.com

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Friends and families still kept apart with extension of U.S. border closure - Windsor Star

When the first B-52 bomber took flight onJune 29, 1955, at Castle Air Force Base, Calif., for Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMays Strategic Air Command, little did they know that it would offer a century of service.

The eight-engine aircraft which earned the nickname BUFF or Big Ugly Fat Fer, played akey rolefrom the Cold War and the Vietnam War, to Desert Storm and the Global War on Terror, and even over Ukraine.

When flown ina pair of cells or a group of three B-52s in formation and loaded with 1,000-pound bombs, the bombers could leave behind a swath of destruction a mile long and a half mile wide.

The Air Force now operates 76 of them, with two returning to service from long-term storage at an Arizona facilityknown as the boneyard.

It took two decades of debate for the B-52 upgrade plan to reach this point, but the Air Force has finally decided toextend the service lifeof the B-52 through the 2040s, with new engines, upgraded avionics, defensive gear, brakes, sensors and ejection seats, National Interest reported.

You know what they say, go big, or go home, and thats what the USAF plans to do, if they can get Congress to loosen its purse strings.

The Air Force has estimated the cost of B-52 service-life extension including the re-engining other capability improvements at around US$32 billion.

Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and Rolls-Royce all have proposed engine types for the B-52 effort. The Air Force said it would test new engines on two B-52s as early as 2022, select a contractor before 2026 and complete the re-engining project before 2034.

If all goes as planned, the re-engined, enhanced bombers could receive the new designation B-52J.

If Air Force plans hold up, the B-52 will be approaching nearly a century of service by 2050, reporter John Tirpak of Air Force magazine wrote.

To keep the airplane flying, the service plans to equip each B-52 with new engines, which are expected to be so much more maintainer-friendly and efficient that theyll pay for themselves in just 10 years.

The B-52 was also featured prominently in the classic 1964 Cold War filmDr. Strangelove, where a rogue Air Force Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper (played superbly by actor Sterling Hayden), sends an entire fleet of bombers to attack Russia, on the basis of Wing Attack Plan R.

The latter being an attack plan which could be launched without presidential approval, if Washington had already been hit and destroyed.

Director Stanley Kubrick had originally planned the film as a drama, but the more he and writer Terry Southern explored the subject, the more it lended to comedy.

Add the genius of British actor Peter Sellers, who played three roles in the film, and Slim Pickens as the bold B-52 major, bent on getting to the primary target, and you have a classic film that still holds up today.

The scene showing Pickens, playing the part of Major Kong, revealing the contents of a post-nuclear survival kit during their mission to bomb the Soviet Union remains one of the most epic bits of comedic cinema.

While the Air Force denied that such a thing could happen, we only have to look at the revelations from the newly published book Peril, by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, which revealed that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley, broke the chain of command to prevent an unhinged President Trump from starting a war with China.

Interestingly, in 1966, famed Hollywood actor and World War II veteran Air Force Reserve Big. Gen. Jimmy Stewart, flew his final combat mission on board a B-52 over Vietnam a 12 hour, 50 minute Arc Light bombing mission with the 736th Bombardment Squadron, 454th Bombardment Wing.

Stewart flew20 dangerous combat missionsas a B-24 command pilot, wing commander or squadron commander, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, The Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm.

From the 1950s through the late 1960s, LeMay, a hard driving taskmaster who to this day faces ethical questions over his devastating fire bombing of Tokyo during the Second World War (killing 100,000 and leaving one million homeless), instituted a policy of keeping B-52s in the air 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

This way, the fleet would never be caught on the ground. After the late 60s, nuclear-equipped B-52s were kept fully loaded and ready to fly, with crews on alert and within running range of the plane until the Cold War ended in 1991.

In spite of its size, the huge bomber turned out to be remarkably flexible. Flying at speeds over 400 mph at an altitude of just 500 feet, it could evade radar, fly along the contours of the ground, and deliver its weapons.

LeMay successfully pushed for the development of larger tanker planes and greater in-flight refueling capacity that would give his bombers an unprecedented global reach.

Whats it like to fly the BUFF?

Well, for starters, the Cold War-era ship is far older than its pilots.

Operating the B-52 is like flying a museum, says 27-year-old Carlos Espino (call sign Loko) who is based at Barksdale Air Force Base in northwestern Louisiana.

Its a brick I would say its like wrestling.

His squadron, the 20th, are known as the Buccaneers. The patch on his right shoulder shows a pirate throwing a bomb, Popular Science reported.

It has a lot of redundant systems, Espino adds. So if one system fails, theres plenty of other systems to back it up.

The most challenging maneuver, he says, is precisely lining the aircraft up with a tanker in the sky to accept morefuel. At the end of air refueling, youre literally sweating.

The plane may be large its 185-footwingspanand 159-foot length make it bigger than a 737, and smaller than a747 but the space for the crew is cozy.

Behind and below the cockpit is a small submarine-like compartment, sometimes illuminated in red, where two others sit: a radar navigator and an aircraft navigator.

If anything happens that requires an airborne evacuation from the jet,ejection seatsblast downwards rather than upwards, which is only safe if the plane is more than 250 feet off the deck.

Right behind that, is a urinal, but ideally, no onepoopson a B-52, even if the mission drags on for hours. Imodium can help.

What makes the BUFF so enduring is the way it was first designed, says General Timothy Ray, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command.

When they built the B-52 in the early 1960s, you could do some precision engineering and precision manufacturing, but back then the efficiency wasnt the driver, he explains.

In other words, they dont build bombers like they used to.

Giving each B-52 eight new engines and other upgrades requires a budget of about US$130 million per plane, Ray says.

The new B-21 Raider will be even pricier to buy, which is why the fleet of tomorrow would be a mix of vintage and new. Whats more, the B-52 is a metal bird thats already in the hand, which is another reason to keep it running.

This is real, Ray says, whereas the B-21 is in parts getting put together right now.

In 2018, the Air Forceannouncedit would retire its 62 1980s-vintage B-1Bs bombers and 20 newer B-2 stealth bombers no later than the 2040s, while the updated B-52s would continue to operate alongside at least 100 new B-21 stealth bombers.

Despite their age, the B-52s have high mission-capable rates, can carry a huge diversity of weapons, and can perform effectively, Tirpak wrote.

Even in a higher-end fight, the B-52 can still launch missiles from well outside enemy air defenses. It is the only US bomber that can launch nuclear cruise missiles, and it will be the initial platform for the new Long-Range Stand-Off missile.

Essentially, one lone B-52 can carry out the destruction of a couple dozen Hiroshimas, an impact of apocalyptic proportions.

The B-52H still flies with the same Pratt & Whitney-made TF-33 engines that have powered the type since 1962, but modern engines which are much more reliable and cheaper to operate, Tirpak says.

The goal in replacing the engines is to improve the B-52s fuel-efficiency by at least 20% while maintaining its ceiling and take-off performance.

A B-52H with TF-33 engines can also carry 35 tons of bombs and missiles as far as 4,500 miles without aerial refueling at a top speed of 650 mph.

By comparison,the B-17G, Americas bombing workhorse of WWII, could only carry about 9,600 pounds of bombs on missions.

What was it like for the other side?

Many years have passed since Vu Duy Thanh heard the train of death rumbling through the sky above, that dreadful drone of the American B-52s, as 1,000-pound bombs whistled down on his hometown of Haiphong.

You do not forget this sound, ever, Vu Duy Thanh told the Los Angeles Times.

North Vietnamese people, we know what is B-52.

Truong Nhu Tang, a Viet Cong survivor of bombing along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, has similar memories.

He pressed himself against a bunker floor during his first B-52 attack, feeling as though he had been caught in the apocalypse.

The terror was complete, he later wrote in memoirs.

During most of the Vietnam War, B-52s dropped their bombs from an altitude of 35,000 feet or more. At that height, the planes could not be heard and were nearly impossible to shoot down.

Most of the B-52 losses were planes shot while flying low during the massive 1972 Christmas bombings of Hanoi and Haiphong.

And while the bombing strikes would level acres of jungle and leave bomb craters that were 30 meters in diameter and 20 meters deep, it would not stop the flow of North Vietnamese troops, ammunition and supplies.

The earth shakes first, said Liem Huu Nguyen, a former air traffic controller whose village about 50 miles from Hue was leveled by B-52s in 1972.

The sounds come after. I never saw the planes.

Sources: National Interest, USO.org, Air Force magazine, IMDB.com, HistoryOnTheNet.com, Business Insider, Popular Science, The White House, We Are The Mighty, Wikipedia, Los Angeles Times

Read more:

Mighty BUFF: The bomber that just won't die - Asia Times

In physics, principles are like guiding lampposts that allow theories to venture farther. A well-formulated theory is one based on solid principles, usually consisting of generalizations extrapolated from limited observations. Further observations will test and stretch the validity of the principle, until it either breaks or remains validated. Principles are thus essential to how theories work. They summarize knowledge and open ways for further inquiry. For them to remain useful, they must be continually scrutinized.

A typical example of a principle in physics is the principle of relativity devised by Galileo and generalized by Einstein: The laws of nature are the same for all observers (or, more precisely, frames of reference), irrespective of how they move in relation to one another. The principle makes a lot of sense: Science would be impossible if people could not compare their findings about the world in a rationally consistent way.

A principle will hold until it doesnt. In astronomy, an essential principle is the Copernican principle, inspired by the mid 16th-century ideas of Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus famously proposed that Earth was not the center of the universe; the sun was. The Earth, he suggested, was just another planet orbiting the sun like Mars or Jupiter. Apart from the now obvious step in the right direction concerning the nature of our planet, the principle has a more profound, even if less justified, consequence: by equating Earth with other planets, it removed its exceptional place in the cosmic order and, with it, that of us humans as well. The principle, as understood today, is usually stated as, Earth is an ordinary planet, and we, human observers, are ordinary too. There is nothing special about either Earth or our species.

However, such statements are scientifically unjustified, and the meaning of the principle is often confused. We currently do not know enough about exoplanets to make a statement about how special Earth is. And we know far less about the possible existence of life in other worlds and about what kind of life that would be. So, to blindly extend the Copernican principle to guide our thoughts about Earth in comparison to other worlds when it comes to habitability is not just a false extrapolation but also imprudent. We simply do not know enough to make such pronouncements.

As an aside, it is also incorrect to equate the Copernican principle with a cry against human exceptionalism. The principle says nothing about the nature of life or about any implicit hierarchy that would erroneously place humans at the apex of Creation. Instead, it relates first to Earth as being a planet which is indisputable and, at a second level (more related to a post-Copernican theology than astronomy), to dethrone humanity as a sort of God-chosen species. Humans do not appear to be at the apex of Creation, being instead part of the complex web of life. Human hubris has led us into some very dark existential risks, and those are indeed consequences of the notion of human exceptionalism. But they have little to do with the Copernican principle.

The danger of the Copernican principle is to take it as some sort of final statement about our planet and life on it. As remarked above, we currently do not know enough about the distribution of exoplanets and how Earth-like they are in the sense of having the correct biochemistry and geophysics to support life or about how life could manifest itself in other worlds. A principle is a lamppost for further search and not a statement of final truth.

For example, if we were to look only at the planets in our own solar system, Earth is exceptional indeed. Not for orbiting the sun, as all planets do that, but for offering spectacular conditions for life to thrive. The Copernican principle does not take into account the relative position of a planet in the habitable zone of a star or any knowledge about how common or rare life is in the universe. Given that, the only conclusion we can take from the principle with certainty is related to the non-centrality of the Earth; that is, Earth is indeed a planet orbiting the sun like our solar system neighbors.

That, by the way, was all that Copernicus was after. It is not very exciting to people in the 21st century. The more theological conclusion about human non-exceptionality conflates many unknowns about life in the universe and had more to do with Giordano Brunos speculation that every star was a sun with planets and living creatures than with Copernicuss rethinking of the order of the planets due to their orbital periods (that is, the time it takes a planet to complete a revolution about the sun).*

The astronomical part of the Copernican principle is solid, even if less interesting. The life-related part is not. To say something more definitive about the prevalence of life in the universe, we will need more data. As I remarked last week, the James Webb Telescope, and future projects like the Giant Magellan Telescope, offer hope that we will be able to at least learn enough about the atmospheric chemical composition of exoplanets to make statements about their habitability. Still, habitability does not translate into life, and much less into intelligent life, in particular to civilizations with technologically savvy observers. For that, we need different kinds of data, data that has little to do with the Copernican Principle.

*Note: In the near future, I will address the extension of the Copernican principle into the Cosmological principle and the Principle of Mediocrity.

See the original post here:

Copernican principle and what it says about life in the universe - Big Think

By TOM LATEK, Kentucky Today

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) Gov. Andy Beshear has announced a National Disaster Medical System, or NDMS team, he requested has arrived at Appalachian Regional Healthcare in Hazard, where they will stay for two weeks.

The governor said he has also requested a 30-day extension of the five FEMA Emergency Medical Services strike teams who have been transferring and transporting COVID-19 patients throughout Kentucky.

These NDMS and FEMA teams have played a crucial role assisting our health care heroes as they fight the worst COVID-19 surge we have ever faced, the governor stated. We need continued federal assistance to save Kentucky lives, both from COVID and from other serious illnesses and injuries that require emergency medical treatment.

The NDMS teams typically include a medical officer, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, supply officer, respiratory therapist, four registered nurses and three paramedics. The team members can help by opening more available beds that had not been used due to lack of staffing. They can also support emergency department operations, increasing the ability of the facility to treat more patients. Another NDMS team arrived at St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead Sept. 4.

The FEMA EMS strike teams, which are being managed by the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services through American Medical Response, have made a noticeable impact on local health care facilities since their arrival in Kentucky on Aug. 27, according to the governors office, by easing the strain on Kentucky hospitals and giving local EMS resources the ability to provide non-COVID-related 911 services to their communities. The extension also will facilitate patient transports from rural regions to larger urban hospitals that have greater bed availability.

Without an extension, authorization for three strike teams will expire on Sept. 25, with the remaining two teams expiring three days later.

Each FEMA EMS strike team is comprised of five advanced life support ambulances, and each ambulance is staffed with one paramedic and one emergency medical technician. The strike teams have assisted regionally in Somerset, Louisville, Owensboro, Lexington and Corbin. They are centrally dispatched and can respond to any area in the state.

In addition, Beshear has activated more than 400 Kentucky National Guard members, who are performing support services at over two dozen hospitals. This is the largest deployment of the National Guard for a health care emergency in state history.

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Federal COVID manpower helping in Hazard area - Kentucky Today

While U.S. federal law mandates no paid family leave, its a different story in Europe, and not just for working mothers. Paternity leave is increasingly the norm. And a European Union law that takes effect next year requires all member states to provide a minimum of 10 days to fathers.

France and Spain already exceed this minimum, the result of a generational change that has shaped public policy. In Spain, fathers now get 16 weeks off, fully paid.

Rethinking paternity leave requires not only expanding benefits but also incentivizing a greater uptake by men of statutory benefits. Spain and France are showing how this could be done.

Advocates say paid paternity leave can help to closethe childcare gender divide. Studies show that early involvement by fathers leads to more equitable sharing of parental duties and that increased father-child bonding promotes infant development, saysAriane Pailh, a researcher in Paris.This last argument has been particularly convincing for politicians.

James Hagger took a month off this summer to help take care of his newborn son. Now hes back at work in Paris. Still, he wishes he had longer. Its as if the government thinks that after one month, everything is sorted out, he says.

Paris; and Basel, Switzerland

Alice and James Hagger seem surprisingly bright-eyed after a month of little to no sleep. As their newborn son dozes angelically in a stroller, they order coffees and croissants at their neighborhood cafe in Paris. Ms. Hagger has just dropped off their 3-year-old son at his preschool. Mr. Hagger is spiffed up to go to work, his first week back after a month of paid paternity leave.

Im in total parental burnout, says Mr. Hagger, who runs a production company in the French capital.

He benefited from a new French measure that went into effect July 1 that doubled the length of paternity leave to 28 days. The increase puts France on par with five of Europes most generous countries in providing paternity leave.

Rethinking paternity leave requires not only expanding benefits but also incentivizing a greater uptake by men of statutory benefits. Spain and France are showing how this could be done.

The couple still wishes that Mr. Hagger had more time off. The other morning, I was about to leave for work and I saw Alices face, how much she was struggling to handle everything, and I called to say I wasnt coming in, he says.

With a second child theres more work to do, says Ms. Hagger. A month is too short.

Paternity leave is in sharp focus across Europe ahead of a deadline next April for European Union nations to provide a minimum of 10 days leave for all new fathers. France and Spain already exceed this minimum: Spanish fathers now qualify for four months off with full pay.

These progressive policies, experts say, reflect generational changes in both societies, as well as serious thinking into how workplace laws can help to close the childcare gender divide by prodding fathers to use their leave in full. The shift is driven both by labor economics the financial support that parents need to stay in the workforce and research into the crucial role that at-home fathers play in infant development. Studies show that early involvement by fathers leads to more equitable sharing of parental and other household duties over time.

For several years now, feminists, women, and researchers, but also fathers, have taken a stand in favor of paternity leave, says Ariane Pailh, a senior researcher on work-family balance and gender at the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) in Paris.This decision reflects a change in the perception of fatherhood. There is an underlying trend towards active parenthood and fatherhood.

The experience of Scandinavian countries and Germany shows that paternity leave promotes greater father-child bonding. This last argument has been particularly convincing for politicians, she adds.

Paternity leave policy varies widely across the world. In the U.S., it is an unpaid option rather than a federal right, though several states have introduced paid paternity leave. The average leave for fathers in wealthy nations is eight weeks, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Advocates say the economics of paid family leave add up, as seen in the experience of countries like Sweden and Finland, which have expanded parental leave for men and women for the past two decades without sinking their economies.

It pays for itself, says Gary Barker, chief executive of Promundo, a U.S.-based nonprofit which studies global fatherhood trends. It doesnt keep men back in their careers. We dont stop being productive because we take off the extra time.

Mr. and Ms. Hagger would like to see more flexibility given to working French parents with small children, including the option to work part time after their statutory leave ends. Mr. Hagger complains he spent his month off dealing with paperwork and is still in survival mode.

Its strange. Its as if the government thinks that after one month, everything is sorted out, says Mr. Hagger. Sometimes it seems like the laws are made by people whove never had children.

Courtesy of Miguel La Orden

Miguel La Orden plays with his 3-year-old daughter Ana and 6-month-old son Jorge at a playground near his apartment in Madrid.

Enjoying a relaxed, summer, poolside afternoon with his wife, 3-year-old daughter Ana, and baby boy, Miguel La Orden knew his life in Madrid was about to get hectic. His wife went back to work in mid-August so he is overseeing the transition of Ana to preschool while his son Jorge, who was born in February, settles into daycare.

Come November, Mr. La Orden will return to his job as a health care economist. By the time I get back to work, they will have had a chance to settle in, he says. [Paternity leave] is a right that belongs to me and I would be stupid to waste it, he says.

He and his wife have equal parental time off and benefits thanks to a Spanish law that came into effect in January 2021. The law provides 16 weeks of leave to fathers that can be taken in chunks: Mr. La Orden stayed home for eight weeks right after his son was born and saved the rest for after his wife resumed her publishing job.

There is greater awareness today that parenting is a shared task ... and this type of leave helps push that forward, says Mr. La Orden.

And time with a newborn is priceless. Seeing how he starts to develop, move, and make gestures, those are definitely things I would not have wanted to miss because I am working, he adds.

Spains four months of fully paid parental leave is more generous than that of Nordic countries like Sweden and Iceland, which offer 12 weeks at 80% of salaries. Mr. La Ordens salary is also untaxed while hes a stay-at-home dad. I get more money than if I were at the office, he says.

Centuries of Spanish machismo may die hard, but social policy is pushing in the opposite direction, says Gerardo Meil, head of sociology at the Universidad Autnoma de Madrid.Ten years ago, it was unthinkable that paternity leave would be equal to maternity leave in Spain, he says. The unequal sharing of family responsibilities is decreasing over time.

Nordic countries, however, still offer more time overall than Spain as they provide several weeks that can be taken either by the mother or father.By contrast, Spain gives both parents the same benefits.

Nordic countries have configured leave on the basis of the family, says Irene Lapuerta Mndez, professor at the department of social work at the Public University of Navarra in Spain. Whereas the goal [of Spanish policymakers] is to motivate fathers to use all their leave.

Dr. Mendez says international studies suggest men make very little use of caregiving leave when the pay is less than 80% of their salary and when this is configured as family rights rather than individual rights.

No country in the world configures vacation rights on the basis of the family and asks couples to figure out how they will take it. Why should it be less when it comes to rights around childcare? she asks.

Mr. Barker says that the two policies that work best in terms of getting men to change diapers and burp babies are subsidized child care and expanded paternity leave. Companies in Europe that already cover maternity leave must get used to doing the same for men taking paternity leave, he adds.

The main issue is the worry in mens heads that we wont seem like competitive, dedicated workers, that our income and our critical career trajectories will suffer if we take extended leave, says Mr. Barker.

While Spain and France have both seen men take a greater role in child raising, experts say men still tend to put their careers first and do not take all their statutory leave. While the effects of expanded leave for fathers havent been studied, Spain previously had a higher uptake of leave than France, according to 2019 data compiled by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. In general, the likelihood of men taking leave increases with the number of children that they have fathered.

Mr. Hagger owns his company so he doesnt face pushback for taking extended leave. Ms. Hagger, however, says shes worked with men who have been chastised for taking time off. Her brother-in-law was pressured into taking his paternity leave later in the year, even after his wife gave birth to twins.His boss said, Now is not a good time. You can take it in six months, she says.

That wouldnt fly under Frances new policy, which mandates paternity leave must be granted during the first week after birth. This could have an impact on career trajectories: Studies show the more children French women have the more likely they are to exit the workforce. But men are more likely to be promoted because they are perceived as the primary breadwinners.

And while new fathers may be at home more, the greater burden still falls on their female partners, says Dr. Pailh, of INED.Gender stereotypes are still very strong [in France], care work is still perceived as feminine while playing and horseplay are perceived as masculine.

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Still, the law reflects social changes in France that elevate the parenting responsibilities of fathers.

Theres been a progressive repositioning of fatherhood since the 1970s. Back then, we heard the term the new father aka, the father who invested time in his children, says Grard Neyrand, a sociology professor at the University of Toulouse, who studies family life and parenthood. Now, that concept is the norm, in all strata of the French population.

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Behind extension of paternity leave in Europe, a generational change - The Christian Science Monitor

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday extended the life of all interim orders passed by courts and tribunals in Maharashtra and Goa till October 8, indicating that the court's blanket protection for people against dispossessions, demolitions and evictions may not extend beyond that date. (Suo Motu PIL NO. 1 of 2021)

"Having taken stock of the situation as on date, we consider it fit and proper to extend the interim orders till October 8, 2021. It is, however, made clear that if the improving situation arising out of the pandemic continues even on that date, in all likelihood, the interim orders will be vacated on 8th. It is only if the situation deteriorates that we may consider further extension beyond the 8th. This order may be circulated by the media", the court said.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justices AA Sayyed, SS Shinde and PB Varale had kept all orders or decrees for eviction, dispossession or demolition after April 9, in abeyance, owing to the fear of a third wave during the festive season.

The order applies to the Bombay High Court at its Principal Seat in Mumbai, Benches at Nagpur and Aurangabad, and the High Court of Bombay at Goa, and the courts/tribunals subordinate to it. It also applies to courts/tribunals in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni for the State on Friday said that the State has yet to lift all the lockdown restrictions, and a final call may be taken sometime next week.

"Experts have said that after ten days of Ganesh Visarjan, the actual trend will be known," he said.

Advocate Uday Warujikar asked the court to consider extending the interim protection for at least three weeks. Many lawyers had just been vaccinated, and there would be a lot of rush in court for protection, he said.

"Let the rush begin. Our orders are well-intentioned to protect the general public, but some take advantage of this. Our officers are prepared. Let the access to justice be absolutely free. We will be assessing the situation on the 8th as well," the CJ said.

The court had directed that conditional orders of any court/ tribunal/ authority allowing occupation of any premises subject to payment of rent or occupation charges will continue, notwithstanding the non-deposit of rent or occupation charges from April 9, 2021.

Similarly, failure and/or omission to deposit rent or occupation charges in terms of the rent control legislation and/or the other relevant statutes will not immediately make the tenant or occupant liable for eviction until further orders, whichever is earlier, as per the court.

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Covid Situation Has Been Improving- Bombay High Court Unlikely To Extend Interim Orders Beyond October 8 - Live Law - Indian Legal News

A blossoming local football star and his father turned the teenager's thriving high-level recruiting process into a summeradventure creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Spartanburg quarterback Raheim Jeter and his father, Antwan Jeter, used the junior's fast-rising visibility as a national prospect to crisscross the country by both car and plane, mixing business with plenty of pleasure as they visited campuses far and wide.

"(Being recruited) is something I dreamed about as a kid so to be actually living it is a lot of fun," Raheim Jeter said. "Me and my dad get totalk a lot and look at different stuff and have had a lot of fun doing thingsI try to soak it all in because I know every kid doesn't get to go to all these universities around the country. I'm extremely blessed."

"I'm having the time of my life, to be honest with you," AntwanJeter said. "I cherish it. Just those father-son talks overthat time, we can sit down and really chop it up and have those talks about all kinds of things. Life, life's lessons, football, we talk a littlebit of it all. We'rejust having fun anywhere we go and making the best out of each trip.We've always been close, and this has just kind of been a cherry on top."

Spartanburg quarterbacks coach Grey Ramsey admires the way the Jeters have worked enjoyment and bonding into the recruiting process and had some similar memories shared with his father during his youth.

More: The emotions of a father, the love of a family and the recruitment of Dorman's D.J. Porter

"I had a great relationship with my dad growing up and a lot of memories I have of doing some similar things traveling, whether it be onthe football or baseball circuit," Ramsey said. "I'm just super happy for them to be able to share those moments."

The main purpose of the trips was to participate in various football camps on university grounds, getting a chance for an early audition of sorts as well as getting acquainted with coaches he'll get to know far better prior to making his college choice. He also got to inspect the overall campuses and their surrounding environments.

Jeter participated in camps at Clemson, Alabama, Miami, Wisconsin, Florida State, Penn State, North Carolina, Kentucky, Florida, and while at Georgia with his teammates for a 7-on-7 event, he worked out for the Bulldogs staff.

Along with his father he attended Virginia Tech's Sept. 11 game against Middle Tennessee and last weekend was among 100,000-plus in the crazy atmosphere of the "white-out" game at Penn State to see the Nittany Lions defeat Auburn in a battle of ranked teams.

"The white-out game was crazy, one of the best I've ever been to," Jeter said.

Next up is South Carolina hosting Kentucky on Saturday. Jeter was initially offered by former USCcoach Will Muschamp, but this will be his first real contact with first-year coach Shane Beamer and his staff.

More: Hillcrest's Trey Adkins delivers on sixth-grade promise to play football at South Carolina

Ramsey acknowledgedJeter is very appreciative and fully understands how fortunate he is to have worked hard enough to put himself in such a favorable situation.

"He's getting to experience a lot of things most kids don't have the luxury of doing," Ramsey said. "Goingto Penn State last week for a white-out game, that's a bucket list item for a lot of people whether you're a Penn State fan or not. He got to go to Virginia Tech and listen to (the Hokies entering the stadium to Metallica's) 'Enter Sandman' so he's experiencing things a lot of people only dream of.

"I think he's enjoying it all and once we get to this next offseason the seriousness of deciding on where he wants to go and how he's going to approach it will intensify. Now he's just putting things in his toolbox, his notebook to think about later, but I think he's truly embracing those trips he's been able to have with his dad and soaking in as much information as he can during this time period."

At one of the earliest camps this past summer -- Under Armour'sESPN Elite Underclassmen Camp in Charlotte late in May -- Jeter won the QB MVP Award.

"To go out there and put my skills on display and show what I can do," Jeter said, "it definitely boosted my confidence."

Jeter received a lot of attention from Clemson quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter at Clemson'scamp in early June, and during one accuracy drill caught the eye of coach Dabo Swinney, who quickly left the wide receivers group he was watching to focus better on Jeter.

More: Former Dorman, Clemson alum Adam Humphries seeking NFL career rejuvenation in Washington

He hasn't received an offer from Clemson, a school notoriously slow to extend offers to juniors.

"I kind of look at it as another school," Jeter said, "and if they come and offer me then I'll put them alongside the other schools and weighall the pros and cons of each."

As for all the camps as a whole, Jeter said he loves "everything about it. You get to go compete against some of the best in the country and get to see some beautiful places as you travel. And then the coaches and the connections you make are great. It's definitely fun meeting those high-up coaches like that."

One interaction with a well-known and national championship-winning coach was at Auburn's camp prior to his freshman year when former coach Gus Malzahn was in charge.

"He picked Raheim and another kid to come work out personally with him," Antwan Jeter said. "Me just seeing that, it was a surreal moment. Same thing at Clemson this past summer, he's right there talking to Coach Streeter. A lot of times for me there's some surreal moments, and I'm just taking it all in."

Jeter, 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, is ranked as the No. 37 quarterback and ninth-best player in South Carolina for 2023 by 247Sports. The Prep Redzone South Carolina 2023 rankings released Tuesday rank him as the No. 6 overall prospect in the state and second-ranked quarterback behind Fort Dorchester's Zolten Osborne.

Jeter has offers from Georgia, Auburn, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky, Memphis, Temple and Charlotte.

"I don't really have any leaders," he said. "I just kind of stack everyone up until it's time to make a decision."

He played his freshman season at Greer before transferring to Spartanburg prior to last year after the family inherited a house in District 7 following the death of his great grandmother.

He entered into a great situation for coach Mark Hodge's first season with the Vikings. Hodge, with Ramsey as his top assistant, won two state championships at Chapman and went 53-5 during his last four seasons due mainly to a high-flying offense that produced record numbers for his quarterbacks.

Jeter missedthe season opener this season afterinjuringa shoulder during the preseason and came off the bench to play in the second game. In two starts since (both wins) he completed21 of 29 passes with four touchdowns against Hillcrest and was 23-of-30 for 442 yards witha touchdown against Boiling Springs. He had zero interceptions.

Ramsey said the coaching staff includes Jeter's input in a big way, so much so that he jokingly said the quarterback likely deserves a financial supplement for all the work he puts in.

"He's doing as much as the coaching staff as far as being involved in the game plan, team meetings and ideas for what we want to do," Ramsey said. "He's now more comfortable having been around our system and has become a leader in every single thing we do. We demand a lot of him on the field, but we probably demand more from him in the classroom, the weight room, the locker room. He's an extension of the coaching staff."

That trust has translated into Jeter enjoying an extreme amount of freedom at the line of scrimmage to check in and out of calls as he see's fit, something out of the norm for the majority of high school quarterbacks who regularly are committing solely to the play called from the sideline.

"I couldn't imagine playing anywhere else," Jeter said. "... It's really just a blessing getting into this program."

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Spartanburg QB Raheim Jeter loving life with dad in recruiting journey - Spartanburg Herald Journal