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biglisbonnews · 1 year ago

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Tech billionaires want to build a new city in California. We talked to the entrepreneur behind the plan When he moved to the Bay Area a decade ago, entrepreneur Jan Sramek kept thinking about the local housing crisis—and, at the same time, how different the layout of American cities was from the cities in Europe where he’d grown up and previously worked. “In three years of living in Zurich, I never used a car once—not an Uber, not a taxi,” he says. “I acutely felt this shortage of walkable, high-quality urbanism in the Bay Area, where it really only exists in a few neighborhoods that are super overpriced. Normal people can’t afford them, precisely because we’ve built so little of them on the West Coast in general.” On fishing trips to rural Solano County, an area east of Napa and roughly halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento, he fell in love with the local environment. He learned about some of the challenges for people living there, who often had hour-long commutes because they couldn’t find jobs nearby. He started thinking about a radical idea: Could a walkable new mixed-use community, running on renewable energy, be built in an area that is currently mostly used for farming? Trucks work on a parcel of land that was recently purchased near Travis Air Force Base. [Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images] In 2017, Sramek launched a company called Flannery Associates with the goal of designing a new city in Solano County. Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, who has advocated for making housing easier to build in California, was the first investor. Others in Silicon Valley followed, including VC investors Marc Andreesen and John Doerr, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and Laurene Powell Jobs. Flannery Associates started spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy land in the area under the radar—sparking some speculation that the mysterious company was backed by a foreign government trying to get access to nearby Travis Air Force Base. When the company’s plans to build a new city came out, the project was immediately controversial. “The community is very angry—by the secrecy, by the duplicity, by the attack on family farmers,” John Garamendi, the area’s representative in Congress, told a local paper. Farmers are worried in part about the loss of agriculture, though Flannery Associates says it plans to protect prime agricultural land. A street sign near a parcel of land that was recently purchased near Rio Vista, California. [Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images] The project is also controversial with urban planners, many of whom argue that it’s the wrong place to add new housing. “We have this vast, urbanized region already in the Bay, and a lot of it is built up at pretty low densities,” says Zachary Lamb, an assistant professor of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley. “So then it seems pretty crazy to me to put all the energy and money into building infrastructure for an entire new satellite city. We have lots of areas that could use that investment to build better.” SPUR, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that focuses on urban planning, has calculated that around 2.2 million homes need to be built in the Bay Area over the next 50 years to meet the demand for housing, or 45,000 new homes a year. “It’s certainly possible to fit that [number of new homes] within the urbanized footprint of the Bay Area,” says Sarah Karlinsky, a senior advisor at SPUR. (The organization doesn’t yet have an official position on the project and says it needs to see more details first; it’s worth noting that Gabriel Metcalf, who is now leading the project’s team of architects and designers, used to work at SPUR.) Still, the expense and challenge of building in cities like San Francisco—where the city has been slow to approve new housing even after changes in state policy to encourage more construction—means that it’s incredibly difficult to add new housing quickly enough in existing neighborhoods. In theory, it could be easier to get support from the smaller population of Solano County residents to build at a larger scale. (The land they’ve purchased is not zoned for residential development, and the company will have to get approval from voters to build there.) In one recent survey the company did in the local community, 81% of residents said they didn’t see a future in the area for their own children, and residents also said they wanted more local jobs and supported the idea of walkability. Sramek says that more construction has to happen in cities, but argues that it’s also necessary to build new communities. “We’re fully in favor of doing much more infill,” he says. “But we don’t think that will be the entire solution.” And if new communities are built, he says, they need to happen sustainably. Right now, that’s not the case. “Basically, our de facto system for dealing with housing affordability is just to allow sprawl development in other locations,” says Karlinsky. “Because the Bay Area is so expensive, there’s been just an extraordinary amount of sprawl in the Central Valley.” New developments are typically low-density and dependent on cars. Concept Image from California Forever. [Image: California Forever] Sramek wants to mimic the walkability and livability of European cities and older American neighborhoods, where it’s possible to walk to everyday errands at places like a grocery store or pharmacy. “The way that I like to put it is that an 8-year-old should be able to walk to school alone,” he says. Though the company won’t make specific design choices before going through the process of community planning, it will likely include a diverse mix of housing types, including rowhouses and apartment buildings, near businesses and schools. Concept Image from California Forever. [Image: California Forever] Still, it’s hard to quickly create enough local jobs that residents can avoid long commutes to work. (And even if everyone’s eventually driving an electric car, extra driving poses other problems, like pollution from tires and safety issues for pedestrians.) “I think the history of these types of mega-projects, not just in the U.S., but all over the world, is that you can provide the walking infrastructure, but it’s very hard for these places to be self-contained in terms of jobs and have destinations,” says Adam Millard-Bell, professor of urban planning at UCLA. “Sure, it can be walkable, but there may not be anything to walk to.” In a very walkable neighborhood, “usually that just builds up organically over decades or even 100 years, or more,” he says. In the short term, if the project moves forward, Sramek says it would provide thousands of new construction jobs for people living in Solano County. Longer-term, he sees an opportunity for biotech companies or other advanced manufacturing companies to bring jobs to the area. Some workers might work remotely most of the time, but live close enough to offices in San Francisco or Silicon Valley so that they could occasionally attend a meeting in person. The project faces multiple other challenges. At the same time that the state will face more drought from climate change, the project will need to find a water source. Planners will also need to build new power infrastructure, through Sramek says that starting from scratch means it’s possible to make the most sustainable choices, from solar microgrids to systems for water reuse. Wildfire is a risk, though the developers say that the area has lower risk than other parts of the state. Extreme heat is more likely than in the Bay Area cities next to the coast. The company has to convince current Solano County residents to support the project, since new development in the county requires approval from voters. Now, the company is beginning to meet with elected officials and set up more surveys and focus groups. It will also soon open offices in the county where staff can meet with residents. There aren’t detailed plans for the project yet, “because we do want to work with the community and employers and get their input,” says Sramek. The goal, he says, is to make the homes affordable for current Solano County residents, though the company hasn’t yet announced how that could happen. (Some other developments have considered models like a community land trust, a nonprofit that keeps ownership of the land to help housing costs from ballooning. One was the Garden Cities movement in the U.K., a somewhat similar idea to build walkable green cities near London—complete with concepts for an electric train and composting, even in the early 1900s—though it didn’t ultimately end up using a land trust model.) Other experts still argue that the money and effort going into the planning would be better spent elsewhere, including along regional transit lines in the more populated part of the Bay Area. That means “confronting the real challenges that come with making our existing cities better,” says Lamb. “Everything from entrenched patterns of racial injustice and inequality to [neighborhood opposition to more housing]. We need everybody in the fight to make these these processes work. And if people kind of give up on our existing cities and say, ‘Let’s just build this new city over here,’ that really stops a lot of the financial resources and energy that could go to making our existing cities better.” https://www.fastcompany.com/90949139/tech-billionaires-want-to-build-a-new-city-in-california-we-talked-to-the-entrepreneur-behind-it?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

#Impact #Adele Peters #Fast Company - impact

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gaelic-symphony · 2 years ago

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50 Things to Know About Tara Lewis

I have, on multiple occasions, held myself out to be the resident Tara Lewis expert and have spent many, many hours obsessing over her, so I figured I would put together this handy little guide to our favorite forensic psychologist!

Things About Tara Lewis That Are Canonically True

She was (presumably) born in 1973.

She was named after her paternal great-grandmother.

Her middle name is Elizabeth.

She has a brother named Gabriel who is three years younger.

Her father's name is Albert.

She has an aunt named Thelma who may or may not be the same aunt who mended all her clothes growing up.

She was a tomboy.

She loved fossils when she was a kid.

Her father was in the military, and her family moved around a lot while she was growing up. Places they lived include Hamburg, Germany; Okinawa, Japan; and Fort Rucker army base in Alabama.

Her brother began calling her "T" after a boy at school teased her about her name. Gabriel is the only one who uses this nickname for her.

Her father opened an auto body repair shop in D.C. after being discharged from the military, and he taught Tara how to restore antique cars.

She is fluent in both German and French.

She was brought up Christian.

Her mother died of breast cancer when she was 18.

She attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees.

She has a complicated relationship with her younger brother, and at one point, they were estranged from each other after she bailed him out when he found himself in financial (and possibly legal) trouble.

She was previously married to Daryl Wright, but they divorced as a result of his issues with drug addiction which led him to become abusive towards her.

She and Daryl met at Dartmouth and married young, while they were still in graduate school.

She was engaged to Doug Fuller, but he broke off their engagement after becoming frustrated with Tara's work hours at the BAU.

Before joining the BAU, she worked out of the San Francisco field office.

She counseled parents in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting.

Serial killers she has interviewed include Loren Herzog and Archie Sutton.

She listens to classic rock and enjoys Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and The Doors.

She drives a 1970 Opel GT which she spent five years restoring.

Her drink of choice appears to be whiskey.

She is an excellent shot and scored 100 on her firearms qualification.

She wears reading glasses.

She watches Doctor Who.

She doesn't believe in ghosts.

She has given a TED Talk.

Things About Tara Lewis That I Made up Because the Writers Neglected Her

Her birthday is April 22, 1973.

She was born in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Her mother's name was Evelyn.

Her parents were high school sweethearts, and they both grew up in and have deep family ties to Prince George's County, Maryland (the part of Maryland that borders D.C. to the east and contains several of the wealthiest majority-Black communities in the United States).

When she was a little girl, her father's pet name for her was "my little ladybug," and he still calls her that occasionally even though she's in her forties now.

She bears a striking physical resemblance to her mother, who was also a very tall lady, but not quite as tall as Tara.

She's played the piano since she was four years old.

She was on the track team in high school and broke her school's record for the Girls' 800m.

While at Dartmouth, she spent a semester abroad in Geneva, which is where she perfected her French.

She loves dogs, but she's never been able to have one of her own: first because her family moved around so much, then because she was a broke, busy university student, and now because of the long hours and constant travel that comes with her job.

Her favorite color is green.

She loves WNBA basketball and is a diehard Washington Mystics fan.

She's a very good cook.

She met Daryl in the stacks of the library during her senior year of college. They were both looking for the same psychology book. He was immediately charming and sweet, and he let Tara check the book out instead of him, but only on the condition she give him her number so he could come borrow it if he really needed it. Of course, he found some reason to need the book before Tara was finished with it just so he could call her, and of course, when he did, they ended up talking for hours and forgetting about the book altogether. He took her back to the same spot in the library to propose to her.

She joined the FBI right after her divorce. They'd been trying to recruit her for a while, but after she and Daryl split up, she felt like she needed a fresh start and a change of scenery, so she left New Hampshire for Quantico.

She requested a transfer to the San Francisco field office in 2009 because Gabriel was living in San Francisco and having a rough time, and she felt obliged to go out there so she could keep an eye on him. After all, it was easier for her to transfer to a different FBI field office than it would be for her aging father to close up shop in D.C. and start a whole new business in California.

After she and Gabriel became estranged, she applied for the first available opening in the BAU so that she could move back east and be close to her father and the rest of her family again.

She lives in a 3-bedroom townhouse in Northern Virginia. It's a lot of space for just one person, but she found it and fell in love with it when she and Doug were house-hunting before he broke things off and went back to San Francisco, so she just went ahead and bought it for herself when she saw it was still on the market.

She enjoys spending her days off at her father's shop, working on cars with him.

She loves kids and is great with them, but she's never felt the need to have any of her own. She prefers being "Auntie Tara" to Henry, Michael, and the Simmons kids, and regularly offers to babysit when JJ and Will or Matt and Kristy need a night to themselves.

#criminal minds #tara lewis #headcanons #i love tara lewis so freakin much she is so important to me!

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yhwhrulz · 3 years ago

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Today's Daily Encounter 16th June 2022

A Man Named John

“There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.”1

Six months before the birth of Jesus was announced, the angel Gabriel appeared to a man named Zechariah; a man well-along in years. The angel brought him a message of hope, telling him that he and his wife, Elizabeth, were going to be parents! It wasn’t the news that was hard to believe, it was more the timing that made Zechariah question. “Are you sure you have the right person? We’re so old!” (Luke 1:18) They were both admirable Senior citizens of their community and a baby wasn’t exactly the message that Zechariah had expected to hear that day, nevertheless they accepted their news and awaited the birth of their baby boy — a boy named John. After Elizabeth’s pregnancy, we don’t hear of this baby again in Scripture until 30 years later.

All grown up now, God came to John who was living in the wilderness. God told John that it was time to “prepare the way” for His Son, Jesus! (Whom incidentally was also John’s earthly cousin, Luke 1:36). John had waited his whole life for this moment, and he accepted his mission excitedly! He traveled from town-to-town proclaiming Salvation; urging all to repent from their sins and be baptized. He was not concerned for those who would contradict him or try to silence him; he made noise wherever he went for he needed the people to know that Salvation was on His way.

The people of John’s time lived very much like most of us today; busy with everyday tasks, getting on with life, working their jobs, making a living, not giving much thought to God’s plan for the world. People had heard that a Messiah was coming; it was written in Scripture. Most knew the laws of Moses and the way God wanted them to live. But until John started shouting it from the rooftops, did they really start to pay attention! Those familiar words proclaimed so long ago, by the prophet Isaiah, were now being yelled in their ears: Repent! John wasn’t about to sugar-coat such an important truth. He was bold, fiery even, NOW was the time of repentance! Many thought he was crazy, and others sought to kill him, but John did not back down, until the day that he looked up from his preaching and saw Salvation walking through the crowd. The time had come, and JESUS had arrived! A man named John prepared the way.

It is no different today and the time to repent is now! It is up to you and me to prepare the way and boldly go out into this world and shout that Jesus is coming again. Let us make ready to receive Him — Be that man named John.

Suggested Prayer:

Dear Lord, you will return, your Word has promised it. Give me the courage to be bold and show others the way to you. Our time runs out and this world needs more “Johns” to prepare the way. Use me to make the way straight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.1. John 1:6-7 (NIV).

Today’s Encounter was written by: Veronica B.

NOTE: If you would like to accept God's forgiveness for all your sins and His invitation for a full pardon Click on: http://www.actsweb.org/invitation.php. Or if you would like to re-commit your life to Jesus Christ, please click on http://www.actsweb.org/decision.php to note this.

Daily Encounter is published at no charge by ACTS International, a non-profit organization, and made possible through the donations of interested friends. Donations can be sent at: http://www.actscom.com

ACTS International P.O. Box 73545 San Clemente, California 92673-0119 U.S.A.

Phone: 949-940-9050 http://www.actsweb.org

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ezatluba · 3 years ago

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West Nile virus: another alarming side effect of US drought

Stagnant water caused by dry weather gives mosquitoes – the insect that spreads the virus – free rein, leading to an increased risk for humans

Gabrielle Canon

6 Aug 2021

For five days in the late summer of 2018, doctors battled to bring down John Hayden’s high fever.

Hayden’s sudden onset of symptoms, including high fever, had everyone stumped, said his daughter Ann Hayden, and his body seemed to fail to respond to any treatment. He succumbed to the inexplicable illness just after Labor Day, his family at his side.

Two days later, the single infectious disease doctor in California’s Yolo county, where Hayden lived, told his family that a spinal tap had shown Hayden had been infected with the West Nile virus, a rare virus spread by mosquitoes that can cause neurological disease and death. Symptoms often include fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, and severe cases can cause inflammation of the brain or its surrounding membranes. It is considered by public health officials to be the most serious vector-borne disease in the state of California.

“It was life changing for me,” said Ann, a senior director for the advocacy organization the Environmental Defense Fund. It added even more weight and urgency to the work she does.

The West Nile virus was once associated with higher humidity and moisture, conditions that help mosquitoes thrive. But a growing body of research has found that drought conditions – such as those being felt across the American west – could amplify its effects. States are already on alert.

California reported its first death of the year in July. By the end of that month, the state’s department of public health (CDPH) had documented the virus in 4 people, 94 dead birds, 563 mosquito samples, 10 chickens and 1 horse.

“West Nile virus activity in the state is increasing, so I urge Californians to take every possible precaution to protect against mosquito bites,” said Dr Tomás J Aragón, CDPH’s director, in a statement confirming the death of a man in San Luis Obispo county.

Serious cases of West Nile virus remain rare, and most people who contract the disease don’t experience symptoms. But scientists point to its spread as an indicator that rising temperatures spurred by climate change are bringing new threats to human health.

A spokesperson for CDPH told the Guardian that “hot temperatures contribute to increasing numbers of mosquitoes and the increased risk of virus transmission to humans”, but that activity remains within expected levels. People 50 years of age and older, or those with diabetes or hypertension, are most at risk.

West Nile virus is difficult to track, as most people don’t show signs of infection, and trends aren’t easy to spot year over year. But Cameron Webb, a medical entomologist and senior investigator with the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology – Public Health says research shows that drought hastens its spread.

“During drought, the water levels in pipes and pits and ponds drop, and the water is more likely to get stagnant,” he said. “Fish die along with other animals that live in these systems, and the mosquitoes have free rein.”

In storm water systems, regular rainfall flushes out young mosquitoes and puts a strain on their populations. “When it is dry it is actually better conditions in the man-made structures for these types of mosquitoes,” Webb added.

It doesn’t take much – mosquitoes are able to reproduce in mere milliliters of water, hatching hundreds of eggs that will be ready to bite people and animals in little more than a week.

Water scarcity also draws clusters of birds closer to human settlements, and they play a big role in transmitting the virus. “Because there’s limited water in the environment and everything is dry, the birds go looking for water and refuge, which tends to be around where people live,” Webb said. Birds that are typically dispersed through the environment become more concentrated in urban areas, amplifying infection rates.

“You bring together people, wildlife, and the mosquitoes, and that seems to be one of the key factors that might drive increasing risk of West Nile virus during drought years,” Webb added.

By mid-century, the increasing severity of drought could triple the number of West Nile cases in regions with low human immunity, according to a study published in 2017. Illustrating how the climate emergency can alter transmission dynamics, a team of scientists studied 15 years of data on human cases across the US and found that epidemics of the disease, which typically occur in summer and autumn, were larger during dry years.

“We thought epidemics would coincide with the most ideal temperatures for transmission,” Marm Kilpatrick, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said in a statement when the study was released. “Instead, we found that the severity of drought was far more important nationally, and drought appeared to be a key driver in the majority of individual states as well.”

But along with increased risks during dry times, the findings indicate there are also tools to combat the rise of transmissions – and they are the same strategies needed for conservation when water is scarce.

Water-use restrictions dramatically reduce the number of dangerous mosquitoes, according to a separate study released earlier this year. Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, and three other universities found that without the policies enacted to adapt to the last major drought, which lasted from 2012 to 2016, mosquitoes in Los Angeles county, home to 13.3 million people, would have been 44% higher, and they would be 39% higher in Orange county.

“We are going to have a warmer climate, and the demand for water for outdoor irrigation in particular will go up,” Dennis Lettenmaier, a UCLA professor of geography and the study’s senior author, said in a statement. “Efforts to reduce urban water use have a secondary benefit: they reduce the abundance of the mosquitoes that are responsible for West Nile virus.”

That’s why Hayden, of the Environmental Defense Fund, says she has hope.

“The connection between West Nile virus and the drought is yet another one of these unforeseen, really unfortunate impacts we are going to be seeing from climate change,” she said, noting that the loss of her father underscored how devastating the effects on individuals, families, and communities can be. “But improvement can be made. We can create a positive impact if we can implement more resilient practices.”

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differentnutpeace · 4 years ago

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The Future Of The Pandemic In The U.S.: Experts Look Ahead

A year after the pandemic shut down the country, a growing number of infectious disease experts, epidemiologists, public health officials and others have started to entertain a notion that has long seemed out of reach: The worst of the pandemic may be over for the United States. หวย บอล เกมส์ สล็อต คาสิโนออนไลน์

No one thinks that's guaranteed by any means. There are many ways the pandemic could resurge. But many say it's becoming increasingly possible that the end may finally be in sight.

Even experts who have raised the alarm about the severity of the COVID-19 crisis nonstop for more than a year are optimistic.

"The worst may in fact be behind us," says Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health, one of more than 20 people interviewed by NPR for this story. "To be able to say: 'I think, [I'm] cautiously optimistic that the worst may be behind us?' Boy, that does feel really good."

Now, to be clear, more than 50,000 people are still getting infected daily with the coronavirus and hundreds are dying. So there's a great deal of sickness and suffering still in store for the country before the pandemic ends.

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How Is The COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign Going In Your State?

And the newfound optimism comes with three big caveats: The worst may be over if too many people don't let down their guard too fast, if the more dangerous variants don't make cases surge before enough people get vaccinated, and if the vaccination campaign doesn't stumble badly.

But if none of those problems occurs, life could slowly but steadily return to something much more normal.

The optimism is based on the rapid ramp-up of the vaccination campaign combined with the fact that a significant proportion of the country already has some immunity from being exposed to the virus, and the warmer weather that is linked to slower viral spread.

"If all goes well, if we stick by the public health measures, if we effectively vaccinate, I think we are looking at a brighter future over the next several months. That's entirely conceivable and probably likely," says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Now, not everyone is quite ready to say the worst might be over. Several experts worry about the more contagious variants combining with too many communities lifting mask mandates and other restrictions and too many people letting down their guard, especially over spring break and Easter.

"I'm worried," says Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. "If you wanted to put all the viral ingredients in one big mixing bowl to cause them to transmit in ways that would be very damaging to us, do what we're doing right now."

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In fact, new hot spots may already be emerging, especially in Michigan and other parts of the Midwest, and in the Northeast, including New York City and New Jersey. Not only has infections started increasing in dozens of state, but hospitalizations may have also started creeping up again in at least a dozen states, according to new data from Pinar Karaca-Mandic and her team at the University of Minnesota COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project.

But while most experts agree that there's still a sword of Damocles hanging over the nation's hopes, most think that the country could avoid another big surge such as the one that occurred over the winter.

"There are nightmare scenarios that we can paint out. And I can't say that those are such remote possibilities that we can dismiss them," says Jeffrey Shaman, an infectious disease researcher at Columbia University. "But I do think that this was probably the worst, and it will continue to go down."

Here's a road map to what we can expect for the future of the pandemic in the United States.

Late spring and summer: a cautious return to social life

Experts NPR spoke to predict that this spring, as more people are vaccinated, more people may be able to return safely to stores, restaurants and work, more children could return to in-person learning, and small groups of fully vaccinated people can get together for dinner parties indoors without masks.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued guidelines that say vaccinated people can already start to get together that way.

And if case counts continue to decline and vaccination rates increase, many public health authorities think the summer could be even better.

"Life will get better for sure," says Ali Mokdad at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. "We will see more grandparents visiting and hugging their grandchildren. More restaurants will open. We will see sport events. Weddings. Church and religious events. We will have summer camp for kids. People will travel more."

In fact, Mokdad says, he has plans to fly to see his mother.

Still, Mokdad stresses that activities such as summer camps could only probably safely operate with precautions, such as random testing, mask-wearing and open windows to provide fresh air.

And Americans still need to be careful: Hot spots could flare up due to the variants, people getting careless and triggering superspreader events, and among pockets of people who haven't gotten vaccinated.

"Specific communities may see a resurgence because of the variants — there may be hot spots," says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "But I don't think there will be another wave like we saw in the winter."

Fall: Schools reopen, and life starts feeling almost normal

By the fall, while young children still won't be vaccinated because scientists have just started testing the vaccines on them, their teachers hopefully will be. So in places where infections are low, schools should be pretty safe, experts told NPR.

Students will probably still wear masks and may still need to keep their distance from one another. But hopefully no more slogging through school on laptops at the kitchen table for most kids.

Experts predict in-person schools will be able to open widely around the country by fall. Some places already have, such as Medora Elementary School in Louisville, Ky.

Jon Cherry/Getty Images

"I am counting on it, and I'm thrilled," says Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, who has a 7-year-old son. "Seven-year-olds aren't supposed to spend their entire days on a computer."

Researchers such as Fauci hope that more aspects of our day-to-day lives could edge back closer to pre-pandemic times.

"It is conceivable, and probably likely, by the time we get to the fall — late fall, early winter, by the end of this year — that we have a gradual but very noticeable and important return to some form of normality," Fauci says.

Winter: Brace for another possible surge — and booster shots

Some experts worry the virus could follow a seasonal pattern like the flu and surge again in the late fall or early winter. And that threat may be even greater because of the variants, especially the strains originally spotted in South Africa and Brazil that appear to be better at evading natural immunity and the vaccines.

The vaccine works against the U.K. variant, says Mokdad of the University of Washington, so with more vaccination, other variants may become dominant. "And by winter we assume these two will become the dominant one unless we have more that show up. And they will cause more infections and more mortality."

But even if there is no new winter surge, the virus won't be gone. It just hopefully won't be causing anything like the suffering that's already occurred.

It could, however, still be causing significant problems in parts of the world that haven't gotten vaccinated, which could spawn new, even more dangerous variants that could travel to the United States.

As a result, the country will probably need new versions of the vaccines for the variants and booster shots. And many experts say it's crucial that the U.S. help the rest of the world vaccinate as quickly as possible, too.

"If we don't get rid of this thing everywhere, it's going to just come back and get us again," says Robert Murphy, executive director of Northwestern University's Institute for Global Health. "The virus will continue to mutate. This is really a worldwide problem."

The pandemic's aftereffects

But even if the country is on the road out of this, the impact has been tremendous, and the aftereffects are likely to be long-lasting, many experts say.

"This pandemic is right up there as a world-changing event. It has already had a profound impact on society, on basic questions like the nature of our social interactions. It's already shaped and reshaped this particular generation," says Keith Wailoo, a historian at Princeton University. "And the ripple effects are likely to play out for years, perhaps even decades to come."

The pandemic revealed some deep problems, such as how society treats older people, poor people and people of color.

"Pandemics create what some people have called a kind of stress test for all of the weaknesses and vulnerabilities and fault lines of societies, and I think that's been especially true of COVID-19," says Allan Brandt, a historian at Harvard University.

It could change so many parts of our lives. Our homes. Our work. Travel. How we touch each other. Will the elbow bump replace the handshake for good?

Online schooling and social distancing have taken a toll on kids and adults during the pandemic. The aftereffects of such widespread social challenges may be felt for years, experts say.

Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

"There's a whole realm of everyday interpersonal practices that are going to be, you know, very, very hard to revisit and redevelop easily, like handshaking and kissing and hugging," Wailoo says. "Or even walking closely together with friends and laughing together. All of these things today carry the stigma of disease transmission."

The Black Death led to the Renaissance. The 1918-19 flu pandemic gave way to the roaring '20s. We've just begun the new '20s. It's impossible to know what world will emerge as the virus recedes. But it seems pretty clear we'll be hearing the echoes of this pandemic for a long time.

"The disruptions to our economy, to our sense of safety in the world are of an order that our established ways of thinking are likely to undergo some pretty significant changes," says Nancy Tomes, a historian at Stony Brook University.

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sgprc · 4 years ago

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Britney Spears Isn’t The Only One...

Britney Spears isn’t the only one whose life has been affected by California’s conservatorship laws. On June 8, 2021 the State of California became permanent conservator (“guardian”) of my intellectually disabled Deaf son, Cavan Argila, over strenuous family objections.

If you are the parent of a developmentally disabled adult you should be deeply concerned about the State of California taking over your child’s life. If you are an ordinary resident of the State of California, you should be deeply concerned about the power of the state to take over the life of any person, particularly when there is a loving family available to provide care. If you are a tax payer you should be concerned about the State of California taking on the enormous expense of supporting a young man for the rest of his life.

In this blog post I’ll do my best to explain how this situation came about.

On June 8th, 2021, Judge Michael Small of the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled that the State of California would be my son Cavan’s permanent conservator. This ended a case which had dragged on for three years and seven months.

My son was represented by a court appointed attorney, Mary O'Neill (Bar #102109). In my opinion Ms. O’Neill, a hearing woman with no apparent experience representing Deaf persons, demonstrated spectacular ignorance about Deaf people as members of a cultural/linguistic minority. Her only communication with my son was through interpreters -- some of whom were questionable. In my opinion Ms. O’Neill never grasped my son’s situation.

The State of California was represented by Meredith Nixon (Bar #240485). In my opinion Ms. Nixon allowed this case, at enormous expense for the tax payers, to go forward even though I believe that she was aware of possible retaliative factors.

I have been a thorn in the side of the State of California’s Department of Developmental Services (DDS), and their regional centers, for more than twenty years. I believe that my advocacy for my Deaf children has resulted in this act of retaliation against my family.

First of all, is it plausible that a state agency would retaliate against persons who challenge them?

Apparently so. The California State Board of Auditors reported that “Audit of regional centers finds nepotism, fear of retaliation…” In 2001 an administrative law judge found that it was “...plausible, if not likely, that the agency has acted in a retaliative manner...” [against Carl Argila] (OAH Case No. 2001020095).

What’s at the core of this twenty-year conflict between you and DDS?

Simple. The Department of Developmental Services, and their regional centers, have failed miserably to provide services, as required by the Lanterman Act, for developmentally disabled Deaf persons.

Do you have any evidence to substantiate this claim?

Absolutely. Recently a class action law suit was filed against DDS on behalf of Deaf regional center clients alleging what has been precisely my family’s experience – failed services by regional centers for Deaf persons. (See DDS Target of Class Action.)

In addition to failed services, I allege outright discrimination against Deaf clients. For example, at our home regional center, the San Gabriel Pomona Regional Center (SGPRC), a formal “Notice of Action” was issued refusing to hire a Deaf service coordinator for the benefit of my children and other Deaf clients. (See Deaf Community Service Disparities.) In addition, there are no Deaf vendors providing services for Deaf clients. In fact, to my knowledge, there are no Deaf persons involved with any aspect of DDS or regional center management

Doesn’t the Lanterman Act provide for a “fair hearing” process so that disputes about client services can be resolved?

The Lanterman Act spells out how the system is supposed to work so that disputes about client services can be resolved. What we learned early on was that regional centers would thwart the fair hearing process to win their cases. (See Whistleblower Complaint.)

That sounds a little far fetched. Do you have any evidence for that?

Of course. At the start of our journey, when we attempted to exercise the fair hearing process, to gain appropriate services for my children, the regional center made blatantly false statements at fair hearings. Judge Joseph Montoya wrote a scathing decision. (See Scathing Decision.) Judge Montoya ordered the regional center to reimburse our family $27,563 for services provided for my son.

Did any of this litigation produce any results?

Yes. We were advised that our best option would be to become a “family vendor” and provide services for my children ourselves. In 2001 we established Support Services for the Deaf under a special program, AB 637, which allowed for special programs as an alternative to regional center services. During these fourteen years my son Cavan thrived. He lived independently in his own apartment and maintained long-term competitive employment as a truck unloader at Wal-Mart for nine years.

Around the year 2012 the former SGPRC Executive Director, Keith Penman, attempted to remove us from the AB 637 program. I pushed back as hard as I could to preserve my children’s services. Eventually, on February 1, 2015, our family provided services were terminated and my children’s lives became chaotic. My son Cavan became homeless while under the care of a SGPRC vendor. (See How to Become Homeless...)

I felt that it was imperative that our family story be told in a public forum; I established a blog (www.SGPRC.net). My blog has also filed a whistleblower complaint against the SGPRC (Whistleblower Complaint) and documented what we believe to be violations related to the executive director’s salary. (See Executive Director’s Salary.)

So you think your blog may be the cause for retaliative action against you? Do you have any evidence?

On March 17, 2020 I was invited to meet with the new Executive Director, Anthony Hill, in his private office at the SGPRC. Also present were several senior SGPRC managers. At that meeting Mr. Hill offered to restore vendorization for Support Services for the Deaf so that our family could resume providing services for my children. In exchange, Mr. Hill asked that I “take down” my blog. Mr. Hill explained that if I would be a regional center vendor I couldn’t, at the same time, be working to “take down” the regional center.

This was one of the most traumatic events of my life. I suddenly realized how vulnerable my children were in the face of such enormous power wielded by this agency. I realized that if I capitulated to Mr. Hill’s request, we would always be living in a state of fear.

With hands shaking, I told Mr. Hill that I wouldn’t agree to his proposal. I left his office. I raced to the elevator. The executive assistant, Willanette Satchell, raced after me. She asked if I was alright. I was still shaking.

Very dramatic. But how would the SGPRC even begin to attempt to become your son’s conservator?

As described on my blog, my son became homeless while under the care of the SGPRC’s vendor (How to Become Homeless...). In late 2017 we became increasingly concerned about Cavan’s safety and his involvement with the criminal justice system. We were unable to protect Cavan because he was considered “an adult.” In late 2017 we filed for conservatorship in Los Angeles County Superior Court so that we could protect Cavan.

Shortly after we filed for conservatorship the SGPRC objected to our petition and “nominated” the Department of Developmental Services to become Cavan’s conservator.

Do you mean that the SGPRC, after terminating Cavan’s family provided services, and making Cavan homeless, wants to become Cavan’s conservator to “protect” him?

Yes!

But the SGPRC can’t become Cavan’s conservator on their own. Surely DDS will see what’s going on and prevent this from happening.

Typically the SGPRC “nominates” DDS to become a client’s conservator when the client has no family or anyone else to protect their interests. Frequently these are institutionalized persons.

In this case, Cavan has a loving and involved family. The SGPRC’s “nomination” was sent to DDS’ legal department for review. The SGPRC made numerous false statements in their “nomination” to DDS.

If the SGPRC made false statements in a “nomination” to DDS, then does DDS simply accept that “nomination” at face value and proceed to file the legal petition for conservatorship?

Apparently so. I subsequently discussed this with the assigned attorney, Meredith Nixon (California Bar No. 240485).

So, who is Meredith Nixon?

Meredith Nixon is a former criminal defense attorney who started working with DDS in 2014. She’s a graduate of UC Berkley and UC Davis law school with a specialization in “public law.” Ms. Nixon is the “face” of DDS in this case.

Are you accusing Meredith Nixon of being complicit in retaliating against you?

Meredith Nixon is too smart to overtly demonstrate bias. Never-the-less, there are two observations which cause me concern:

First, in early 2018, I met Ms. Nixon, face-to-face at the Stanley Mosk courthouse, on the second floor, outside of Department 5. We were seated on the marble benches outside of the court room. I told Ms. Nixon about my concerns that the SGPRC had filed declarations with the court which contained blatantly false statements. Ms. Nixon didn’t express surprise or concern – she said nothing. In my opinion, Ms. Nixon was simply “looking the other way.” In my opinion, Ms. Nixon failed to exercise “due diligence” in allowing the SGPRC’s court filings to go forward with false statements.

Second, some time later in 2018, all of the parties involved in Cavan’s conservatorship case agreed to participate in a “mandatory settlement conference” with Judge David Cowan. At the initial meeting in Judge Cowan’s office, each of the parties gave a brief description of the issues. Ms. Nixon’s introduction cited my 2001 conflict with the regional center and referred to me “burning his bridges” with the regional center. This was a huge “ah ha” moment for me – I realized that Ms. Nixon was not there for Cavan’s 2018 conservatorship case. Ms. Nixon was there to prosecute my past conflicts with the regional center.

So you allege that this case was initially filed with false statements by the SGPRC. Have there been other instances of false statements by the SGPRC filed with the court in this case?

I allege that Cavan’s service coordinator, Maria Casian, has filed a number of “declarations” with blatantly false statements.

What do you do when false statements are filed with the court?

The only thing I can do is file my own “declarations” rebutting false statements. The judge, however, is now in the position of evaluating a “he said, she said” situation.

How does all of this get resolved so that Cavan can move on with his life?

The ultimate resolution of more than three years of legal process is an “evidentiary hearing,” that is, a “trial.” At a trial I will be able to call witnesses and present evidence to demonstrate to the court that the SGPRC filed false declarations in this case.

So, when you go to trial, this long legal nightmare will be over?

Maybe. Superior Court judge Michael Small has suggested that he may make Cavan’s temporary conservatorship permanent, without a trial, when we meet on April 15, 2021. If this happens, my precious son will be consigned to a life of institutional mediocrity. Cavan will never fulfill his life potential under the care of the State of California.

So where do you go from here?

Our family feels helpless in the face of such an onslaught by the State of California. I have written a letter to Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of California Health and Human Services (see Letter to Dr. Mark Ghaly). The letter was forwarded back to DDS and I received a perfunctory reply.

I can only hope that people concerned about the lives of some of the most vulnerable among us will read this blog post and bring attention to my son’s situation.

June 8th, 2021

This decision came after a seven day trial which started on May 3rd, 2021. Trial dates are extremely difficult to schedule in the LA County Superior Court -- trial dates are scheduled nearly a year in advance. Never-the-less Judge Small gave me seven trial days to make my case. The trial was a showcase of government overreach. I was forced to represent myself while as many as six attorney’s were involved with the opposition. The principal attorney for the State of California was Meredith Nixon (Bar #240485). Ms. Nixon traveled from Sacramento to Los Angeles for six of the seven trial days. Other attorney’s included Aaron Abramowitz ( Bar #271305), Mary O'Neill (Bar #102109), Alyssa Carroll (Bar #294863) and someone identified as “Kristy Boyer.”

I tried my best to argue that the State of California had failed miserably to protect Cavan when they had the chance; that the State of California is woefully incompetent to provide services for developmentally disabled Deaf persons; and that Cavan’s family has the track record and the love for Cavan to provide him with a good life and a bright future.

But, in the end, Judge Small had to rule on legal matters -- not sentiment. And I had failed miserably to make my case legally. For example, I was unable to present my key regional center witnesses because, while I had subpoenaed them, the subpoenas were not properly served.

During the period of time that Judge Small presided over this case he treated me with the utmost courtesy and respect. Judge Small took valuable court time to mentor me in various legal technicalities. I honestly became quite found of Judge Small. However, in the end, he decided this case wrongly and here’s why:

Judge Small never took into consideration that Cavan is a culturally Deaf person. For example, that Cavan would be more susceptible to undue influence as a Deaf man navigating his way through a world of hearing people attempting to influence him. Early on in this case an attorney, Art Goldberg, was assigned to the case as a “best interest” attorney for Cavan. Mr. Goldberg has had a long association with the Deaf community as the parent of a Deaf daughter. Mr. Goldberg was the only voice opposed to DDS becoming Cavan’s conservator. Prior to trial, however, Judge Small dismissed Mr. Goldberg from the case. I never understood why.

And so, in the end, I thank Judge Small for giving me the opportunity to argue that our family is a better option for Cavan than the State of California. I will go to my grave with a clear conscience that I did the best I could to protect my son. However, the fact remains that Cavan will now live a life of institutional mediocrity; that he will never fulfill his life’s potential; and that the people of the State of California will pay the bills.

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bayshiresandimas · 18 days ago

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8 Key Aspects of Senior Living in San Dimas for Style and Support

Choosing the right senior living community is crucial for comfort, care, and belonging. Bayshire San Dimas offers exceptional care in a luxurious, resort-style setting. Located in the serene San Gabriel Valley, we combine state-of-the-art amenities with compassionate support, empowering residents to thrive in a welcoming, vibrant community. Keep reading our blog to learn aspects of senior living in San Dimas for style and support.

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mahometchristian · 4 years ago

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Golda Rosalyn Lackey

Bertram High School Graduation-May 1956

Golda Rosalyn Lackey passed away on Thursday December 3, 2020 at the age of 83 years old.

Golda Rosalyn Williams (Rosalyn) was born to Murray W. and Geneva Alta (Brizendine) Williams on September 24, 1937 at 12:05 o’clock Friday morning, at home on the Williams’ homestead, Bertram, Texas. Rosalyn’s nurses at birth were Grandmother Williams, Aunt Gladys and Aunt Thelma. Golda Rosalyn was named after her aunt Golda Brizendine. Rosalyn’s first steps were taken between Geneva and Eldon, her brother, at one year of age. Not surprising to anyone, Rosalyn’s first word was NO and her tendency to be too loud in church started at a young age, when she cried for some of the communion loaf being served. Rosalyn’s second haircut was at 4 years of age. According to her mother Geneva, documented in her baby book, Rosalyn looked into the mirror at her haircut and said she looked like “a horse’s ass”.

Rosalyn was a strong student while attending Bertram area schools (Grammar-8yrs, High School-4 yrs), excelling in many areas: Student Council, Annual Staff Business Manager (3 years), School Newspaper Editor, Basketball Letterwoman (3 years), Basketball Captain, Volleyball Letterwoman (4 years), District First Place in Typing and Volleyball, English and Commercial Who’s Who, Pep Squad Drummer, Salutatorian and being awarded a college scholarship.

Rosalyn met the love of her life, Walter Lee Lackey, early. As a child, Rosalyn complained about having to share her Bertram birthday party on each September 24th with Walt, who was born on the same day, a year earlier. Evidently, by high school, Rosalyn had a change of heart about Walt. The couple began dating in 1950, started going steady on March 21, 1953 and became engaged while Rosalyn was a high school senior, on April 16, 1955. The couple ultimately married on Murray’s birthday December 27, 1955. By that time, Walt was already serving as an Airman, Third Class, with the U.S. Air Force stationed at Lackland Air Force Base; the newlywed couple settled into their first home at 326 Madison, Apartment 4, San Antonio.

Rosalyn decided against college, but instead welcomed the role as a stay at home mom (until 1976), birthing four high energy, Type A, very individual children: Randy 1957, Princess 1959, Terri 1961 and Walt Jr. 1966. Rosalyn and Walt lived the longest in Austin, Beaumont and Pasadena, Texas, while raising their children, supported by careers with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (SWBT). Rosalyn retired from SWBT in 1991 as a Supervisor.

Upon the passing of Rosalyn’s much-loved parents in 1993, Rosalyn and Walt moved to the Williams’ Ranch and there they built a homestead, living in close proximity to her sister Glynda (husband Robert) and her brother Eldon Williams. Both Walt and Rosalyn lived on the ranch until their deaths. Rosalyn attended Mahomet Christian Church (est. 1851), was a fabulous cook, a devoted spouse/parent/grandparent/great-grandparent, professional seamstress and Rose loved, loved her ranch. Everyone will miss Rosalyn’s strong, fiery personality and the fact she called the “shots” exactly as she saw them, no matter what anyone else thought. John Davenport, her Pastor, lovingly called Rosalyn “feisty and faithful”.

Rosalyn was a fierce pillar in her community. Rosalyn was a dedicated donor to the Bertram Library Thrift Shop, a Master Gardener/trainer and was very proud to have revived the Burnet County Fair in 2010. In nonpublic, private ways, Rosalyn often reached out to families in need, many of them immigrants, needing work, financial assistance, help with work permits/VISAS and being an advocate for their precious children in the school system. The family has enjoyed many years of connection with these hardworking families, who have been successful, in a large part, due to Rosalyn’s assistance.

The family would like to thank Neurologist Darshan Shah and his nurse Charee, R Bank, Cindy Pesina, Christa Noland, Dr. Burkhardt (including her office staff) and Seton/Compassus Hospice, specifically Tim Denton, Amy Clegg and Mo.

Rosalyn lived every single day of her life to the fullest and was loved. We are comforted knowing that Walt and Rosalyn will be reunited, and we look forward to seeing them again, in God’s timing.

Those wishing to celebrate Rosalyn’s life are invited to attend a Visitation at the Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home, 306 E Polk Street on Sunday, December 6, 2020 from 2pm until 4pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to either the 1) Burnet County Area Fair, P.O.Box 163, Bertram, Texas 78605; 2) Friends of the Bertram Library, 170 S Gabriel Street, Bertram, Texas 78605; 3) Highland Lakes Master Gardener Association, 607 N Vandeveer Street, Suite 100, Burnet, Texas 78611.

-30-

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bookdragonlibrary · 5 years ago

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Fifth Tuesday YJ appreciation

1-3 ; 4-6 ; 7-9 ; 10-13 ; 14-16 ; 17 ; 18 ; 19 ; 20 ; 21 ; 22 ; 23 ; 24-26

—————————— Quiet Conversations

- 1st January. Ok so this is happening in the same time that part of the previous episode.

- Silas tries desperately to connect back with his son :( Now their motivations are reverse.

- He feels bad :( That’s why he wasn’t there in the previous episode :(

- I love than you still see Fred’s true form in his reflexion. How did you feel Vic? Wait, did he spend the whole day outside?!

- The Father box has spread :(

- Where’s Gar?

- Jeff is there! And so is Dreamer! What didn’t they call the New Gods sooner?

- So Metron is an inventor among New Gods as he created Motherboxes, Fatherboxes and boomtube and his Mobius chair I guess.

- So it was a runaway note :(

- “We’ve talk” Now the Team will ask questions and discover she’s dying.

- So cute Fred wants to stay for his BF and Tara is concerned for Violet.

- Brion is a little bit confused with everything going on...

- Is that a M for Metron? Nope, it’s a nose xD Wait, what? The Source Wall. Source of what? The universe? Are this people? Is it people who are the source of this wall?

- Aw Harper got a bruise :(

- “Must be great to have a lot of people worried about you...” Her father seems pretty careless, yeah.

- Love Tara’s big smile! :D This is promising!

- Dhabar. I suppose this is in Qurac? Violet had to boom tube there.

- Cousin? Oh it’s her mother! But Violet seems pretty emotionless. I mean, of course, she never met her :(

- Can Violet speak Arabic because she remembers it from Gabrielle’s memories or she can speak any languages thanks to the Motherbox technology like Scarab?

- So the Center is built near the Star labs. Erdel initiative again. It’s the Zeta lab. Ed talked about it in the previous episode.

- I wonder how Atantis was designed to be understood underwater. Are Atlantis also lips readers?

- Since they can’t communicate, how did Kaldur know she wants to go?

- This is Eduardo senior.

- A41. There are 40 Leaguers? :o Wait, what is the A designation for already? Since B is for the Team. Kaldur is now 27.

- His magic is rusty but it worked perfectly. Imagine how powerful he would be if he had finished the magic school! :D

- So she’s Indian! :D

- She is happy! :D That should have been so frustrating to not be able to communicate with people. I think they have no idea where she comes from since they can’t hear the language underwater.

- Silas Stone is A42. So Jace just authorized him. Nope. Dr Irons.

- Thanks for the body horror. That wasn’t necessary. I think Vic and Violet are cursed because they are both through enormous pain this season...

- So the nose from earlier belongs to Gog. So all the people in the wall are gods.

- Minosyss Ring. Must be outside our solar system.

- “My brother.” So Clark still considered him as a brother?!

- Put him in a coma? I know it’s logical but still :(

- Jace covers her phone. Should be her mentor. So they isn’t someone she wants the Team to see? Bad news :/

- Whoa! The parademons’ lasers are strong enough to put Superman inconscious :o

- This is a strike! :D

- So Conner has his Kryptonian name: Kon-El!

- “I’m glad to see you.” At least, this has changed :)

- So the League is still after the Furies and stolen minerals to finish whatever machine this was.

- Wait! Granny had finished her machine already?!

- Now the Team now she is also working for Darkseid.

- Clark as his best man? He didn’t have better choice?

- “1.5 Kryptonian” So Conner isn’t 50% from Clark and Lex.

- Harper’s brother, Colin, has a black eye? This can’t be rough housing.

- “If i say anything, you have to tell the authorities.” So Harper is more afraid of being separated from her brother than she is of her dad.

- Why “of Atlantis”? King Orin isn’t sufficiant? Oh it’s for introducing him to the girl :)

- She noticed he lied. Thanks to her meta powers? I know people think she is Dolphin, so maybe she has something similar to their sonar to... feel emotions and feelings of people?

- I love that their gesture of respect is a fist on their forehead, maybe to imitate the sonar of dolphins? This is the tiny details which show a fantasy culture ;)

- Yes, she must talk to her mentor as they’re talking about Violet.

- Brion is sad and lost :(

- Now she says Halo instead of Violet. Why?

- That was a good speech actually. It made him smile again.

- Aw! So Vic was still missing his father :3

- “I am here to watch him die.” Thas wasn’t the plan, dude!

- “I have never seen a Fatherbox completly override an organic system.” Wait to see Violet!

- “Death is common place.” The problem between humans and gods, they don’t see things the same.

- Clever idea, Jeff. And Conner just throw him xD And Metron just stand up like nothing happened xD

- “0.5 of nothing.” Is it because he half human? (mostly)

- Sha’lain’a and Clavin Durham, Kaldur parents! I know he was named after him but I ignored his character was also his adopted father.

- Dolphin (I will call her like that until she has a name, because refering as the girl isn’t pratical) doesn’t like hug. Or to be touched in general? Because of the trauma I think :(

- So Kaldur’s parents adopted her? Hey, Kaldur has a little sister now! I knew he was a good big bro figure! :D (So please don’t ship them, that would be gross I think :/ )

- Calvin comes from San Diego.

- “It is more than I ever received up there.” She should have a heartbreaking backstory :’(

- “I have known bad men” I don’t like when tragic backstory involve a young girl and bad men. They often take the same route... :/

- It’s great someone finally says to Kaldur is a good person :3 We waited for this since season 1 and he particularly deserved it after season 2.

- I live M’gann knows this is a lie but still acts like it’s true to make Harper talk :)

- So Harper has the gun to bring it away from her alcoholic father. And guess let’s try it after I suppose?

- “Alcohol and fire arms, not a good mix.” “Duh!” The call back xD

- I love how she said she’s a big sister protecting her little brother and reminds her she’s a kid too :’( And then telling her it’s normal to be more afraid of a unknown situation (what comes next) than the present situation (which is worse but at least familiar).

- Even her voice is hearbreaking! :(

- Did you notice on the board in the background “Living with abuse is not a life”?

- Violet still wants to “fix” people, meaning bring them peace?

- We see Brion watching Fatherbox’ soul and understand what Violet is/ the difference between Violet and Gabrielle.

- “The soul of the Fatherbox has returned to the source.” So all Mother and Fatherboxes come from the Mobius chair.

- Vic is now Mobius tech. No more Fatherbox. Good news.

- “No and yes.” What is that supposed to mean? And who was he looking at while saying no?

- Finally a hug between Vic and his father! Maybe now Fatherbox isn’t a threat anymore, Vic think it’s safe to be with his dad again :)

- So Violet wanted to heal Gabrielle and go stuck in her body instead. Could it still be possible to resucitate Gabrielle? Can it happen if Violet actually die for real?

- “Everyone reacts differently in difficult times.” Gabrielle’s mother has such a deep philosophy.

- Samad lost his brother and Gabrielle’s mother lost her husband and now her daughter :(

- She is so sweet to Violet! :’(

- Tara and Violet hug!

- M’gann bring Harper and Colin to Child Protective Services. I hope they would have new parents! Who would they be? Someone we know? Would they be heroes too? As Harped is a vigilante in the comics. Batman will adopt her? Or would it be M’gann and Conner?

- Dolphin is happy! :D

- And here is Wyynde, King Orin’s guard/councelor? AND KALDUR’S BOYFRIEND?! This is so great! I knew he was bi in the YJ show! (Edit: Greg said he’s polysexual actually.) This was straightbaiting for people who wanted to ship Kaldur with Dolphin!

- Jace is so happy to see Violet back! :)

- Tara is talking to Slade! And she seems wanting to stop her infiltration mission because it’s a good environment for her! :)

- The message at the end!

It was a really great episode with a lot of happy endings and characters moving on.

#young justice #YJ reviews #watch young justice #watch young justice outsiders

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nerdylittleshit · 8 years ago

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* there might be more than 13 fics on this list

For ages I wanted to make a Destiel Fic Rec List. For my own purposes, but of course for others as well to discover some new fics and for the writers to get the regocnition they deserve. Most of the fics on this list are a bit longer, meaning at least 10.000 words or more. If you look for shorter fics to read you can search through my fanfic tag, where I mostly reblog one-shots. (Also once a year or so I write a fic myself, you can find them here and here)

Alternative Universes

A Beginner’s Guide to Communing with the Dead by suspiciousflashlight/ @huntingthehaggis

Words: 77.159

Maybe it's the little girl whose disappearance turned into a murder, and whose murder turned into a cold case, and who has now apparently decided to move in with him. Maybe it's the unacceptable hole left in his life when his dumb best friend and partner in (the prevention of) crime decided to go and get himself killed. Maybe it's his brother, whose high-profile career and fantastic girlfriend and first-child-on-the-way are steadily leaving Dean in the dust. Pick one. Pick all of them. The why doesn't matter so much as the what, and the what is this: Dean is pretty sure he's going completely, certifiably insane. Sure, he hasn't started wearing all his clothes inside out, and he still showers on a regular basis (anyways, that's not crazy, just a little eccentric); but there's no getting around the fact that he just threw away his life, his career, and his reputation by dragging out his mom's old necromancy book and summoning a Class A Forbidden Entity to his attic. A cranky one, too. With horrendous bed-head.

Hands down, this is my favourite fanfic of all time. Exellent world building with an urban fantasy that takes a lot of the elements from Supernatural and makes it their own. As far as AU fics go this is the story that has Cas most in character. He isn’t human in this fic as well, and the author nailed down how otherwordly and at times scary Cas was when he first entered the show. There is also a lot of angst in this story too and some very dark themes. Though the fic ends happy it is rather bittersweet. One of the most beautiful written stories out there.

An Exercise in ‘Worthless’ by beastofthesky/ @basiacat

Words: 26.547

"I mean, you’re–” He gestures at Cas, in his neat oxford shirt and nice pants. “–and I’m a high school dropout who tattoos for a living.”

---

Wherein Dean makes a hefty living as a tattoo artist who owns the space next to Gabriel's cafe. Sam attends the local university. When Gabe's cousin comes to live with him while starting grad school at Sam's university, Dean thinks for sure that all his negative karma's coming to bite him in the ass because Cas clearly has a thing for Sam. No one would ever choose him over Sam. That's just logic.

Dean is a tattoo artist firmly believing he will never be good enough for Cas, trying the best friend thing and loving him from a distance. Sounds familiar? There is a lot of pining here, with some angst, but ultimately a happy end.

Asunder by rageprufrock/ @rageprufrock

Words: 23.817

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Matthew 19:6)

Though this is a Destiel fanfic with lots, LOTS of pining this is also a fic about Sam and Dean. Set in the real world Sam didn’t get addicted to demon blood but real drugs instead. Ruby is still part of the problem and the reason Sam and Dean had a fallout. Except that Ruby is also the one helping Sam getting better and now they get married and Dean is conflicted about attending the wedding at all. He does in the end, invinting Cas, as a friend, except not because he is in love with him for quite some time now. This is a fic that contains some very dark themes (drug use, child abuse, death & loss) but does it in the most beautiful way. A true masterpiece.

It’s Always the End of the World Somewhere by Annie D (scaramouche)/ @no-gorms

Words: 21.126

The status quo is this: Dean is the popular captain of the football team, and Castiel is the off-kilter nobody who doesn't so much as breathe the same air as Dean. Then senior year happens and the status quo is shot to smithereens.

Did someone say highschool-AU? Enter popular Dean and not so popular Cas, who used to be friends, until they weren’t but somehow manage to find their way to each other again. This Cas reminded me a bit of Endverse!Cas, except as a teenager. There are also several timestamps for this fic.

Kerouac and Thursdays by dilangley

Words: 6.356

"You think God thinks this is a sin?"

Castiel stared down his entire lifetime's worth of beliefs and denied them. "No."

"Me neither."

---

They met on September 11, 1959. The beginning was clear, but for Castiel Novak and Dean Winchester, the ending was anything but.

A non-linear look at a love story.

Can I call this retro-fic? Set in the fifties there are many reasons why Dean and Cas aren’t out & proud, with Dean being married one of them. As the summary says this is a non-linear-story. Short, but very poetic.

Not Part of the Plan series by Annie D (scaramouche) / @no-gorms

Words: 317.608

Castiel's spent most of his adult life keeping his head down and staying out of trouble. This is a deliberate choice on his part, because as a cousin of the King, he'd rather stay unimportant and forgotten. This changes abruptly when King Michael decides that he has a better use for Castiel: he is to be wed to a noble member of the neighboring Republic, as part of an agreement between their two nations.

Castiel knows he has to obey, but that doesn't mean he won't rebel in what small ways he can. Unexpectedly, his actions end up having far-reaching consequences.

In Search of a One Night Stand

Takes Two to Make a Pair

Elephant in the Room Makes Three

Four-Point Landing

Capital Five FM

Six Degrees in Either Direction

And On the Seventh Day...

As you can see this is one of the longest fics on this list. Even though it is an AU there are still a lot of the elements of Supernatural in this story. There is an exellent world-building in this fic, and Dean and Cas’s love story is the catalyst for an even bigger story. This is an arranged wedding fic, that has Cas and Dean coming from two very different backgrounds and the beauty of this fic is how they both come together, how they try to understand where the other is coming from and over time fall in love with each other. The same I fall in love with this fic over and over again.

Out to Drift by beenghosting/ @beenghosting

Words: 20.898

Dean drives a black car with a loud engine. He lies too easily. He keeps a gun in the back of his jeans, and Castiel isn’t sure, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Dean has killed someone before.

This is a fic that works with so many canon elements that it had me wondering if it isn’t canon adjacent, especially in the beginning when this story was still a one-shot and before the author added some more chapters. Though it turns out it is an AU, it is still pretty close to canon and also rather dark, but ultimately it ends happy. A rather unique read.

So Glad We Made It by Annie D (scaramouche)/ @no-gorms

Words: 16.421

At twelve years old, Dean makes a friend, who becomes his best friend, who will eventually become the love of his life.

Your classic friends-to-lovers/Dean-and-Cas-through-the-years fic. Dean and Cas are best friends until Dean realizes he is in love with Cas. He doesn’t make a move though because... well because. You know the drill.

The Colour ‘Verse by whelvenwings/ @whelvenwings

Words: 10.746

Dean the Firefighter lives in a world of greys, reds, oranges and yellows. He's a lower-spectrum, and the only way he can get his kick of green or blue is by sharing his colours with strangers in back alleys - until one day Cas crashes into his world, bringing the whole of the glorious upper spectrum with him.

This story is set in a world where most people are only able to see a few select colours, but not all of them. The only way to see other colours is to touch someone who can. Enter Dean and Cas, who realize they can only see the entire rainbow whenever they touch ;)

(I made this fic sound gayer than it already is #noregrets)

The open sky (is mine tonight) by weatheredlaw/ @weatheredlaw

Words: 21.932

Castiel Novak is a wedding planner in San Francisco who doesn’t have the time or the energy for a relationship right now. After an accident introduces him to the charming pediatrician Dean Winchester, he thinks that might change. Unfortunately, Dean is engaged to Castiel’s new favorite client, Anna Milton, and it’s suddenly a game of tug-o-war between what Castiel wants and what Castiel needs — but as he comes to find out, often times those things are exactly the same.

Yes, this is loosely based on “The Wedding Planer”, but what can I say? I have a soft spot for wedding fics that aren’t about Dean and Cas’s wedding (it’s a niche). Have all the nonsense wedding planing stuff, a Dean who is questioning all of his choices and a Cas stuck in the worst moral dilemma.

The World at Your Feet by casfallsinlove/ @casfallsinlove

Words: 8.207

When he was a kid, Dean Winchester learned to dance in secret. Now he's twenty-six and has arrived at ballet school in New York City on a scholarship. He's homeless, lonely, and spends his days doing the only thing that keeps him sane: dancing.

Castiel is, ostensibly, a librarian. But when his younger sister Anna needs another dancer for the routine she has to choreograph, he finds himself agreeing to fill the role. He expected a few weeks of rehearsals with three ballet school suck-ups. He did not expect Dean Winchester.

What can I say? I love ballet, I love ballet movies, so when I found this Destiel ballet AU I couldn’t resit. This is a very sweet short story. And because Dean and Cas dance together it involves a lot of touching. And a lot UST. Enjoy.

Canon Fics

A turn of the earth by mishcollin/ @mishcollin

Words: 95.274

Dean’s your typical half-orphaned, monster-killing 22-year-old until a trenchcoated stranger crashes into his back windshield one September night, claiming he’s an angel that knows him from the future and that he’s on the run.

Frigging fantastic.

(Or, in which Castiel gets stuck in Dean’s timeline preseries and Dean kind of hates it—until he doesn’t.)

Did you ever wonder how pre-series Dean would have reacted to Cas? Especially a Cas from the future, who remembers all of their past and all the reasons why they can’t be together, but he can’t tell Dean, because this is the first rule of time travelling. On top of that there is also a reason why Cas travelled to Dean’s past in the first place and why he never stays for too long. And it’s not a good one.

This is the perhaps best time-travelling fic I have read. It combines cocky young Dean with a Cas burdened by his past, a lot of pining, a lot of angst, and even though it doesn’t look like it, a happy end. A must read.

Any port in a storm by mishcollin/ @mishcollin

Words: 52.738

The angels have fallen, leaving Castiel graceless and Dean with, well, more of other people’s problems. When a string of couples goes missing on the east coast, Dean and Cas decide to investigate—and find themselves trapped and hunted on a couples’ counseling cruise. Although battling monsters at sea is dangerous enough, sorting through emotional baggage proves to be far more deadly. (And, in which Cas embarks to find his missing grace and Dean is put out. Not necessarily in that order.)

This fic is set after the season 8 finale, with a newly human Cas living in the bunker with Sam and Dean. Some of my fondness for this fic (other than the exellent writing) is that I joined fandom in the hiatus between season 8 and 9 and I remember the exictment about human!Cas and the possibility of him living in the bunker and all the domestic fics it produced. This fic though is more a case fic, including a cruise and fake boyfriends and Dean and Cas forced to talk about all their crap (something I wish the show would force to do them as well). The pace in which their romance develops feels just right, the characterisation is on point, it is pretty much perfect.

Coda Fics by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Deancas codas: season 9

Deancas codas: season 10

Deancas codas: season 11

Deancas codas: season 12

Xylodemon is hands down the master of canon fics and has written a lot of coda fics over the years. I love them all.

Dean (and Cas’) Top 13 Zepp Traxx by pantheon_of_discord/ @pantheonofdiscord

Words: 82.450

Dean eases Baby down the frontage road, trying not to look in the rearview mirror as his home gets smaller and smaller behind him.

He’s done this a hundred times. He’s driven down this road in the soft morning light, heading out to some little town in some distant corner of the country. This is a job like any other.

“It’s not like we’re never coming back,” Cas says from the passenger seat.

---

Dean and Cas and the open road, to the tune of Led Zeppelin. A post-series story in thirteen parts.

Set somewhere after season 12, this fic is a case fic as much as it is a Destiel fanfic, and something I could totally see happening on the show and how I wish the show would end. You get a bit of everything with this fic: case fic, hurt/comfort, smut, and even Sam gets his fair share (and a dog!). This really reads like a season of the actually show, with the only difference that Destiel finally becomes canon. So whatever the future brings this fic already provides the perfect happy ending.

Equinox by luchia/ @luchia13

Words: 12.101

In which Castiel is the weird time-traveling freak who just might be the love of Dean Winchester's life.

A short but well written time-travel-story that works with the established canon. And somehow manages to make Dean and Cas’s love story even more epic.

Face to Face with the Skies by quiddative/ @quiddatively

Words: 42.168

(Set right after 4.22) Castiel was not killed by Raphael on the night of Lucifer’s release. Instead, he’s sent to the year 1996 and encounters the Winchesters. Unable to return to the present, Castiel resigns himself to traveling with them on their hunts across the states.

Meanwhile in the year 2008, Dean has barely gotten used to being back in the land of the living when he gets the biggest shock of his life; the man he fell in love with when he was eighteen has seemingly come back from the grave as well, claiming to be an angel of the Lord. The thing is, he doesn’t have a clue who Dean is.

This is a time-travel fic that works in two-time-lines: 1996 and 2008. As a teenager dean falls in love with Cas, until he disappears, only to come back to him a decade later, revealing himself to be an angel but with no memory of Dean. Next to the actual love story there is also the mystery of who Cas is and how and why he travelled through time.

Good One’s Gonna Be Me by remmyme/ @remmyme

Words: 37132

Castiel Novak receives a rather alarming text message from an unknown number, and what started as a simple misdial quickly turns into the greatest friendship Castiel has ever known. But Dean has many secrets, dangerous truths about the life he lives, and would like to tell Castiel exactly none of them.

A (slightly) AU, (mostly) text fic, S3 fix-it romance (of sorts).

A canon divergent story that tells season 3 from a new perspective, with an author who has a great feeling for their characters and the right amount of angst (as if season 3 wasn’t angst-ridden enough).

Like a Thrift Store Jacket, Still Good But Used by triedunture/ @stuffimgoingtohellfor

Words: 5.656

Dean is a natural bottom, loves to take it up the ass like no one's business. Problem is, he's hung like a horse, or at least big enough he pings every guy's secret size kink. So, Dean ends up topping even though that's not what he wants. Enter Castiel.

A short very smutty story, that satisfies all your bottom!Dean needs. Set in season 4 this Cas is still very other, and this isn’t an epic romance story. But so so hot.

More Than Ever by Sass_Master/ @sass-master-stina

Words: 20.277

Dean’s getting some pancakes together for breakfast when Cas saunters in after a run.

He’s trying to focus on whisking batter, unfairly distracted by Cas a few feet away, breathing heavily and shining with perspiration. Dean’s been painfully aware for a long time that Cas is pretty easy on the eyes, but he’s used to seeing Cas buttoned-up and unflappable, looking straight-laced in a stiff oxford and an unflattering trenchcoat.

Now Cas is sweating, Dean’s borrowed t-shirt clinging to his skin, flushed from exertion and Dean really can’t deal with that in his kitchen right now.

A classic case fic, with lots of UST, until the levee finally breaks. This fic is part of a longer series, though I have only read this first part.

Sweet Home by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 7.209

Dean hates Alabama, and this hunt is turning into a pain in the ass.

Set in season 10 this features some exellent jealous and angry Dean, with a special guest appearence by Hannah. Dean and Cas never talk it out but they sure know how to use their mouths.

The little engine by orange_crushed/ @robotmango

Words: 13.347

"He, uh," Sam says. "He just needs space, I think."

"Of course," Castiel says. His own voice sounds like it is a million miles away. "I understand." It’s an outrageous lie, the kind of thing he is learning that people tell all the time, because they must, to keep afloat. He does not understand. He does not understand at all. He does not actually like the flaxseed bread Sam buys. He is almost never fine.

He pins the postcard on the board in the library and then goes into the bathroom to splash water on his face. He runs the tap and puts his hands over his eyes but he still sees them, sees the handwriting and the smudge where the ink was still wet, where the skin sat across it and drew it over the paper, the last mark, the proof of life, the only touch he’s had in months, this ghostly impression of an absent hand.

I’m not coming back.

This is set after season 9, with demon!Dean on the run and a desperate Cas trying to find him and to bring him home. It’s a short but rather poetic story, with a different Dean than the one we saw at the beginning of season 10. Though it features some dark themes it is a rather beautiful story.

The Mirror by cloudyjenn

Words: 24.568

When Dean touches a strange mirror, he's whisked away to one alternate reality after another and it doesn't take him long to realize the universe is trying to tell him something.

This is somewhat of a fanfic classic and one of the first stories I ever read. Through a magic mirror Dean is send to different realities, where he meets alternative versions of himself, his brother and Cas. The only thing they all have in common: he is in love with Cas. It’s almost as if the universe wants to send him a message.

The Tunnel of Love by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 21.421

"We might," Cas starts slowly, pausing like he's choosing his words. "We might have to kiss."

Dean just stares at him.

A classic case fic that forces Dean and Cas to make out, brought to you by the master of canon fics. What more is there to say?

The Way Out by awed_frog/ @awed-frog

Words: 67.482

Things are going pretty good, which is why Dean should have seen it coming. Sam and Toni are so in love it’s disgusting, the big monsters are all gone or dead, and Dean and Cas - yeah, okay, so they kissed and now they're kind of together, okay? Shut up.

No, the second Dean had caught himself thinking about food processors and beach holidays, he should have fucking known his happy ending would turn around and kick him in his fucking teeth. And now it has, and they're supposed to get on a damn plane and put on monkey suits and have Christmas dinner at Lord and Lady Bevell's, and Dean just can't - he can't face it, he can't breathe, he can't even see through the injustice of it all, because Cas - Cas -

Tell me why. I deserve that much, at least.

This is perhaps one of the most fascinating stories I have read. It is told from different perspectives: one set after season 11 with canon Destiel, the other some strange AU that has Dean in Italy with Charlie at his side, meeting a handsame stranger. The mystery is how those stories are conected. And how the author managed to work this in within the esrablished canon.

This story features some of the most heartbreaking scenes I have read. It is sad in the most beautiful way (but don’t worry, there is a happy ending). One of the best stories I ever had the pleasure to read.

This Story has a Happy Ending by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 3.399

The one where Cas tries to fuck the Mark of Cain away.

The summary tells it all. How season 10 should have ended.

Unfinished duet by mishcollin/ @mishcollin

Words: 5.894

Sam watches Dean and Cas over the years and notices a few things. (Or, Dean and Cas unscripted.)

I love Destiel fanfics from an outsider perspective, in this case Sam. Fullfills all your shipper!Sam needs.

Unknown Quantities by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 8.568

No one ever tells Dean anything.

(or: Dean Winchester and the not-relationship crisis of 2014)

I think I have read this story so many times I know it off by heart. Dean and Cas finally end up together, but in true Winchester fashion they don’t talk about it. Come in for the smut, stay for the miscommunication.

We shovel all the ashes out by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 15043

Dean’s always known things were headed this way. He just figured getting dragged under would be cleaner and easier than jumping in feet-first.

A case fic that is beautiful linked to Dean and Cas’s own love story.

#supernatural #destiel #fanfic #fic rec

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epacer · 5 years ago

Text

Cal Matters

State-Mandated Ethnic Studies Curriculum Draws Widespread Criticism

As Americans grapple with shifts in culture and demographics, majority-minority California is developing a high school curriculum in ethnic studies, one of the first nationally. Not long ago — while managing his extracurriculars and winnowing his college choices — Eli Safaie-Kia, 17, found time to discover a draft of it.

Its contents were, in some ways, standard-issue: readings and projects aimed at fostering tolerance, offering non-traditional perspectives and helping a massive, multicultural populace better understand one another. But in other ways, the draft was confusing even to a Generation Z kid from a blue-state. For one, it presented Israel in a way that went heavy on Palestinian oppression and scarcely mentioned the Holocaust.

So unsettled was the Israeli-American teen by the California Department of Education’s proposed model curriculum, required by a 2016 law, that the Los Angeles high school senior fired off a comment to the department. “I kinda came across the document,” he said, “and once I began reading through it, it was a little bit disturbing to see how one-sided some parts of the ethnic studies proposal was.”

Now, as the comment period for the draft approaches its Aug. 15 deadline, hundreds of complaints, suggestions and op-eds have posted, from conservatives who don’t like its depiction of capitalism as a “form of power and oppression,” to parents stumped by its academic jargon to no small number of Californians who, like Safaie-Kia, wonder why it says so little about anti-Semitism. A bill winding its way toward the governor’s desk (Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed an earlier version) would make ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement.

The model curriculum is intended to serve as a guide for high schools in a state in which non-Hispanic whites represent only 42% of the population, and its proponents say it’s the logical next step for a state that has already adapted, more than most, to an increasingly diverse culture.

But as anti-immigrant rhetoric, violent white nationalism and rising hate crime roil the nation, the furor around it, even here, underscores how far even California has to go.

For example, some commenters have complained that the curriculum’s language, examples and tone are so left-leaning that they won’t work effectively in more conservative parts of California. “After reading this latest school curriculum twist to the left, it makes the decision much easier to go with charter schools and private education,” one critic commented this month.

Supporters of the draft say it’s time for students to learn about the U.S. through a lens often ignored by those in power.

“Sometimes people want to approach ethnic studies as just a superficial diversity class and that’s it,” said R. Tolteka Cuauhtin, a member of the advisory committee that worked on the draft. “Ethnic studies is an academic field of over 50 years that has its own frameworks, its own academic language, its own understandings of how it approaches subjects and our world.”

He pointed to criticism of the draft that questions the curriculum’s repetition of academic jargon — words like misogynoir, cisheteropatriarchy and hxrstory.

“It seems to be fine for other academic disciplines to have their own academic language,” he said. “AP Chemistry for example has some very complex academic terms, difficult to pronounce, but it’s expected because it’s AP Chemistry.”

Colloquial language, Cuauhtin said, doesn’t always sufficiently express the nuances of race, ethnicity and society, and academic terminology can bridge that gap.

Also controversial, including among state lawmakers, is what the draft appears to have left out. The California Legislative Jewish Caucus submitted a letter to the department expressing its concerns:

“While the [model curriculum] specifies the importance of studying hate crimes, white supremacy, bias, prejudice and discrimination, and specifically discusses bias against other communities, it omits any meaningful discussion of antisemitism,” wrote the caucus.

Democratic Assemblyman Jose Medina of Riverside, the author of the bill making ethnic studies a graduation requirement, also signed the letter and is a member of the Jewish caucus. Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat from the San Fernando Valley and vice chair of the caucus, said he supports teaching ethnic studies in schools, but found the draft offensive.

“Our caucus meetings tend to be relatively low-key but really across the board people were really really upset, really disturbed by the model curriculum and by the way it treats the Jewish community,” he said. “It really reflects an anti-Jewish bias. It’s pretty outrageous that it omits anti-Semitism.”

The draft’s glossary lists other forms of bigotry like islamophobia and xenophobia. “It’s really hard to understand how that could possibly happen given everything that’s going on in the world given the statistics about the dramatic increase in anti-Semitic violence,” Gabriel said.

Earlier this year a report released by the Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center found that anti-Semitic violence has increased around the world. In April, a gunman opened fire in the Chabad of Poway synagogue near San Diego. One woman was killed and three others were injured.

Critics also say the draft takes a one-sided approach to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement which calls for countries to sever ties with Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The draft’s glossary defines BDS as a “global social movement that currently aims to establish freedom for Palestinians living under apartheid conditions.” Gabriel, the Democratic assemblyman, called the definition “one-sided propaganda” and said the draft appeared to bend over backwards to include BDS.

“If you’re going to get into issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — I don’t know why that would be something you’d do in an American Ethnic Studies course — then do it in a way … that’s inclusive and presents perspectives that young people could do critical thinking about these issues,” said Gabriel, adding that he understands the draft will go through multiple revisions. But he said the caucus was also concerned with the draft’s inclusion of a song stating that Israelis “use the press so they can manufacture,” perpetuating an anti-Semitic trope.

The portrayal of Israel was what prompted Safaie-Kia, the Los Angeles teenager, to share a public comment.

“Being a proud Californian and Israeli-American, I would never want to feel hated or discriminated against at my public school, and the inclusion of anti-Israel bias in curriculum would threaten my safety as a minority student,” he wrote.

Stephanie Gregson, the Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction said the draft currently posted will look very different after review by the Instructional Quality Commission in September. The department is recommending edits and the commission will consider those edits at the meeting.

She said while public comment is posted as open until August 15, people can send comments to [email protected] anytime throughout the process, which will continue until January or March of next year. She added that the department is aware of concerns.

Cuauhtin, a committee member who helped create the draft, said the draft is a work in progress, and he agrees that it should say more about anti-Semitism as a form of oppression.

“Given our time constraints, the limited parameters we were given to work with and the public comments we received at the time, I’m proud of our work,” he said in an interview with CalMatters. “If we were still meeting today with the public comments that have been received since, I’m confident there would be some changes made.”

Incoming 12th-grader Safaie-Kia said he has confidence in California to come up with a lesson plan for the diverse demographics that are spreading to the rest of the country. The U.S. Census has determined that, by 2060, America will, like California, be majority-minority.

“As a state I think that we really excel in trying to promote a sense of large community and we are a humongous state and it is difficult,” he said.

“But I think pieces like this curriculum, if done correctly, can really help make such a big state feel like a big community instead of such a place where people aren’t friends with their neighbors or people aren’t connected to someone who may live 300 miles away from them.” *Reposted article from The Times of SD by Elizabeth Castillo of August 10, 2019

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tomoyanosekai · 8 years ago

Text

Follow the Wind ~Lingering Feelings and Standing Confidently~

With school having been over for a few weeks, or rather, almost a month now, it’s time to relax... Well, at least in theory. I’m finding that this summer for me won’t be filled with relaxing. After a long day, I walk back into my room. It’s certainly not the cleanest or dirtiest, but it is what it is. “There we go.” Something I grunt as I open up my window. As I open my window, I see the night sky and the lights of Downtown Los Angeles all the way from my window, accompanied by a cool breeze that comes into my room. I stand there in silence for a moment, taking in that gentle summer breeze passing by. I recently noticed that for a while, in most of my posts, the wind seems to be a recurring theme in everything. However, just as the wind continues to move on through and blow on by, I’m still doing the same as usual, and also moving with the wind.

As I feel the wind passing through, a familiar feeling filled with memories gets stirred in me, and I’m reminded of my high school graduation from two years ago.Two years. It was two years ago from these days that I stood by my window, feeling that same wind pass me by, where I felt anxious about the future, but excited for everything that would subsequently happen in the next two years. Something that’s hard for me to believe was that my high school graduation was two years ago from this time. It’s hard to believe that so much time had gone by in what hasn’t felt like that at all. In a mere two years, many of the people whom I’d thought I would keep in touch with from my class have been left behind, my dog passed away, I’ve broken my non-social shell in one night, made lots of friends, experienced heartbreak, become the one of the officers of Hope Rising, but overall, I’ve learned more and more how to be more human than ever, and have also learned to, and still am learning how to become more of a God-fearing and God-praising person above all else. However, it’s around this time of the year where I look back at past photos on my facebook, and look through my Senior Yearbook where I remember many fond memories from those times in high school. Being able to smile and look back and remember all of these people are something that I’m truly appreciative of, and know that all of these people have affected and blessed me in one shape or form, just as I have for them too. At the time of this writing, I know that the Class of 2017 just graduated from my high school, and it’s hard to believe that I was in their shoes just two years ago. Likewise, this also means I’m basically halfway done with college. (In theory at least, if there aren’t any weird twists or turns that delay my graduation, fingers crossed.) Nonetheless, who would’ve thought that I’d be where I am, alongside many others two years later? I guess this is what it means to continue to grow and mature, and just being able to watch a cycle of life continue from a distance.

Aside from two years passing by, I actually didn’t attend the graduation ceremony this year. I talked with a few people in my class, and we simply felt that it wasn’t our place anymore to go over and celebrate with the graduating class, despite us only knowing a handful of the said class. However, as this summer continued, something that did begin for me was my internship apart of the Nikkei Community Internship program; an internship run by the Japanese American Community Organization called “Kizuna” based in Little Tokyo. However, what fascinated me the most was the interactions that came from this internship, in a sense of being aware how much my time at Biola has shaped me. The first two days of my internship was an opening retreat that was spent with all the other interns. Throughout my time spent with all of them, I found that most of my experience and thoughts were all centered around the Church and God. There was one moment where we were supposed to draw out a road map of our lives, where we would include the most significant experiences of our lives and put them into a time line. This little assignment was something I had done before in past years with the organization, however, unlike past times, my road map was very centered around God and my thankfulness towards him. In past times, when I did this, I remember that there wasn’t much of a basis around anything, other than the events that I remember happening throughout my childhood. This time, however, I noticed that my road map and life was centered around the church and all the connections that came from there, especially Biola, where Sigma and Hope Rising were two connections that I knew had the biggest impacts on my life most of all.

As the retreat came and went, it was actually time for me to start working at the site I had been placed at: the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center, or ESGVJCC for short. There, I found that the work environment there was much more different than I had originally expected, as it was very relaxed and small. However, as an intern, I almost found myself complaining about the two projects I was required to do. For my first project, I would be responsible for planning summer festival games for the senior citizens to play when the other interns visited my work site, and would initially be helping me out by manning different game stations. The other project I’m responsible for is painting a mural for the gymnasium in the community center that will later be presented in front of the Board of Directors of the Community Center. To give a little bit of context to this situation: I am the first guy intern to come to this location in many years, I’m not artistic, and my mural will be the only one out of the six murals to be painted by a guy where I would be taking the last spot for a mural in the gym. However, as easy as it is for me to continue to make excuses or complain, it just isn’t necessary or useful at all. It’s just work, as well as life. There will be things at work and in life that I’d rather not do, but still need to do anyways. Simply, I just need to stop complaining and do it. Furthermore, instead of complaining, I’ve begun to try and take another look at this in another lens. Instead of complaining, I’m trying to be grateful, despite having another wall in front of me, followed by more pressure. I’m trying to constantly reminder myself to be more grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given from God, and that out of the many others, I’m the one that has the chance to be in this position at this time. If I have an opportunity to glorify God, I’ll do it to the best of my abilities. I’ll grin, challenge this wall with confidence, and do my best to overcome and crush it, just as I’ve done in the past.

As two years have passed since high school, my first weeks of summer began with a bit of a bang, filled with good memories and also work. Just as the wind passes through, I’ve also been travelling along with the wind and have been busy visiting friends and family all around Los Angeles, aside from working. Being able to venture out into other parts of California is something I’m grateful for, but I’m even more grateful that I’m able to still hold the bonds that I have with many other people. Being able to spend time with these all these people I’m blessed to call friends and family were truly enjoyable. However, even though I visit all these people, I realized that almost everyone I know is going somewhere, and doing something with themselves. Two of my friends will be out in Japan, one will be in Vietnam, one will be in Cambodia, one will be in London, one will be in summer school in LA, one will be in South Asia, and one of them will be moving to Berkeley next semester. Many of my friends are going out into the world for various reasons, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be left behind as well. Likewise, although many of them are travelling, I still have my internship as well, and I’ll also be taking an online class, aside from trying to train and sharpen my body by jogging, planking, dieting and (eventually) going to the gym. I still need to grow spiritually, mentally, and physically. Everyone is on their own journey this summer, and I’m on my own journey to allow myself to grow even more. It excites me to see how everyone will mature and change this summer, as we will definitely be shaped by the experiences we go through this summer.

This summer is just beginning, and as I continue to admire the wind blowing through my window in the night time, I can only look outward towards the lights from Downtown Los Angeles with excitement. In the past, I felt frustrated that the world was moving on too quickly without me, and at some point, felt that I was travelling at the speed the world was travelling at. Coming up to this point, I’m being pushed forward by the wind filled with the encouraging words of people who’ve supported in the past, followed by the words of those people who are still supporting me. I’m running forward at full speed, running where the wind is blowing and leading me: to another adventure. As I feel the wind blow past my face through my window in my room, I leave my window open, and lay down on my bed, contemplating thoughts. Pressure? Yes, it’s there. Challenges? Yeah, those are all there, standing in my way. Excitement? It’s definitely there, waiting to overcome the walls in my way. Time to follow the wind towards another adventure.

“From here on out, it’s my stage!”

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