#but also facilitate the younger generation to make further progress

[bees-with-swords]

I love how Discworld's mentor characters are all deeply flawed actually. Tired of old people having everything right, I love how these ones set up the next generation with room to grow and be idealistic, even if the mentors themselves are deeply rooted in the old practices of the system they've already changed so much. Pratchett really said we should revere our elders but also seek to push past their limits

[govindhtech]

Google Gemini Live Launch: Everything You Need to Know

Is Google Gemini Live?

Go live with Gemini and have a conversation on your Android phone.

Gemini Live facilitates more natural and organic communication with Gemini. You can even cut it short to add more information or shift the conversation’s subject. Gemini Live allows you to:

Talk back and forth: Gemini will vocally reply to your spoken communication if you speak to them without typing.

Ask for suggestions for gifts, help organizing an event, or help creating a business strategy to generate ideas aloud.

Explore: Learn more about subjects that pique your interest.

Practice speaking out loud: Get more comfortable and chatty when you prepare for key occasions.

Important: Gemini Live may not be accessible to you at this time as Google is progressively launching it exclusively in English on Android mobile devices.

What you require

A tablet or phone running Android.

The Gemini app on your phone, or Gemini as a personal assistant.

The Gemini web app, Gemini in Google Messages, and the Gemini tab in the Google app for iPhone do not currently support Gemini Live.

An individual Google account that you are in charge of.

Gemini Live is currently unavailable while logged into a Google account at work or school.

Gemini Advanced.

The language that you speak in settings the most is “English (United States).” Acquire the skill of language translation.

Be at least eighteen.

Gems are currently not compatible with Gemini Live.

Before using Gemini Live, ask for permission before filming or involving someone in a live conversation to respect their right to privacy.

Launch Now with Gemini

Open the Gemini mobile app on your tablet or Android phone.

You can also say “Hey Google,” if it’s available.

Click Live at the bottom.

Upon initially viewing the screen, adhere to any given instructions.

Take up a conversation.

Gemini Live Chat

Use Gemini to manage your live chat

Important: The transcript of your live chat is saved to your Gemini Apps Activity if you have enabled Gemini Apps Activity.

Pause live and pick up the live chat again

To put the Live chat on hold, tap Hold . This turns off the mic.

To resume the Live chat, tap Live  or Continue.

Exit or resume a Live chat & review the transcript

To exit the Live chat and review the transcript, tap End .

To resume a previous Live chat, open the chat and tap Live .

How to Upgrade to Gemini Advanced

As part of the Google One AI Premium premium plan, which also comes with the following features, you can upgrade to Gemini Advanced.

Gemini in Docs, Gmail, and Additional

Two terabytes of storage

And further advantages

When it comes to extremely complicated skills like coding, logical reasoning, following complex directions, and creative teamwork, Gemini Advanced is significantly more proficient.

Gemini Advanced features and benefits

Gemini Advanced allows you to:

Get a context window with one million tokens to access Gemini 1.5 Pro. This implies that you are able to examine, comprehend, and analyze materials that are up to 1,500 pages long.

Use the Gemini online app to upload files and receive instant summaries, tailored feedback, and useful insights.

Make Gems, personalized AI specialists that you can design to suit your requirements or inclinations.

What you require

Currently, Gemini 1.5 Pro is accessible in more than 150 nations and territories and more than 45 languages. In the future, it will be accessible in more languages.

Gemini Advanced on the Gemini web app: The following languages and nations support the use of Gemini Advanced on gemini.google.com.

Gemini Advanced on the Gemini mobile app: This feature is limited to users in the languages and nations where the Gemini mobile app is available.

Gemini Advanced is not accessible for accounts at work or school or for users who are younger than 18.

Your administrator needs to allow access to a Gemini Business, Gemini Enterprise, or Gemini Education add-on in order for you to use Gemini Advanced capabilities with a work or school account.

For a discussion, select Gemini or Gemini Advanced

You can opt to talk using Gemini or Gemini Advanced when you have access to Gemini Advanced. There is only one per chat. A fresh discussion is immediately started when you move between Gemini and Gemini Advanced in an ongoing conversation.

Go to google.com/gemini.

Click Gemini or Gemini Advanced at the top.

Choose between Gemini and Gemini Advanced for the talk.

Tip: You can check if a chat uses Gemini or Gemini Advanced at the top.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[drsanjayrawat]

How Long Does It Typically Take to Recover from a Sports Injury?

Introduction:

Sports injuries are an unfortunate reality for many athletes, whether they're amateurs or professionals. Whether it's a sprained ankle, a torn ligament, or a muscle strain, injuries can have a significant impact on an athlete's life, both physically and emotionally. One of the most common questions athletes ask when they're sidelined with an injury is: "How long will it take for me to recover?" While the answer varies depending on the type and severity of the injury, understanding the general timeline for recovery can help athletes better manage their expectations and focus on the rehabilitation process.

Understanding the Nature of Sports Injuries:

Before delving into recovery timelines, it's important to understand that sports injuries can range from minor to severe. Minor injuries, such as strains and sprains, may only require a few days or weeks of rest and rehabilitation, while more serious injuries, such as fractures or torn ligaments, can take months to heal fully. Additionally, factors such as age, overall health, and the individual's commitment to rehabilitation can influence the recovery process.

The Recovery Process:

The recovery process for a sports injury typically involves several stages, each with its own timeline and goals:

1. Acute Phase: The acute phase begins immediately after the injury occurs and can last for a few days to a week. During this time, the primary goal is to reduce pain and inflammation through rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE). Depending on the severity of the injury, athletes may also need to immobilize the affected area with a brace or cast.

2. Subacute Phase: The subacute phase typically lasts for several weeks and focuses on restoring mobility, strength, and flexibility to the injured area. Physical therapy exercises, such as stretching and strengthening exercises, may be prescribed to help facilitate healing and prevent further injury. Depending on the progress made during this phase, athletes may gradually begin to reintroduce sport-specific activities under the guidance of a healthcare professional.

3. Chronic Phase: The chronic phase marks the final stage of recovery and can last for several months. During this phase, the emphasis shifts from rehabilitation to functional training and gradually returning to full activity. Athletes may continue to work with a physical therapist or athletic trainer to address any lingering issues and prevent future injuries.

Factors Influencing Recovery:

While the general timeline outlined above provides a framework for understanding the recovery process, it's essential to recognize that individual experiences may vary. Several factors can influence how long it takes to recover from a sports injury, including:

- Type and severity of the injury: More severe injuries, such as fractures or torn ligaments, generally take longer to heal than minor injuries like strains or sprains.

- Age: Younger athletes tend to recover more quickly than older athletes due to their higher metabolic rate and greater healing capacity.

- Overall health: Athletes who are in good overall health and fitness may recover more quickly than those with underlying health conditions or poor physical conditioning.

- Adherence to rehabilitation: Commitment to following a comprehensive rehabilitation program, including physical therapy exercises and rest guidelines, can significantly impact recovery time.

Conclusion:

Recovering from a  sports injury  is a journey that requires patience, dedication, and perseverance. While the timeline for recovery can vary depending on numerous factors, understanding the stages of the recovery process and working closely with healthcare professionals can help athletes navigate the road to recovery more effectively. By prioritizing rest, rehabilitation, and a gradual return to activity, athletes can increase their chances of making a full recovery and returning to the sports they love. Remember, healing takes time, but with the right mindset and support, athletes can overcome injuries and emerge stronger than ever.

[swirlingdisobedience]

Artist-run collectives and self-organized initiatives

Taring Padi

The Institute of People Oriented Culture Taring Padi was founded in 1998 by a group of progressive art students and activists in response to the Indonesian socio-political upheavals during the country’s reformation era. As such, Taring Padi’s artistic practice is always part of and contextualised within their socio-political and cultural solidarity and action.

Street protests, woodcutting workshops, art carnivals, and exhibitions in unorthodox spaces are typical of Taring Padi’s practice of producing collective and individual works. Diverse ad hoc political alliances, farming and fishing communities, as well as their own localities are places where Taring Padi work and learn together. Banners, woodcut posters, and wayang kardus (life-sized cardboard puppets), as well as the ever popular Dendang Kampungan music group are Taring Padi’s artistic formulas to agitate, educate, and organise themselves, their community, and diverse solidarity actions they are involved in. In 2002 Taring Padi became a collective in order to further inclusivity and to facilitate personal dynamic of its members, whilst maintaining its progressive and militant character in realising the potential of art as a tool for social change.

Recently, Taring Padi produced a series of woodcut posters campaigning for a fair Indonesian general election (2018/2019) and two large scale banners on Papuan and human rights issues within the Black Lives Matter movement (2020). In 2019 Taring Padi participated in the Polyphony: South East Asia exhibition at the Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts.

Contextualization for Taring Padi in Documenta 15: https://documenta-fifteen.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Kontextualisierung_Taring-Padi_EN.pdf

Website: https://www.taringpadi.com/?lang=en

Atis Rezistans / Ghetto Biennale

Atis Rezistans (Resistance Artists) is a dynamic group of majority-class artists working in the Grand Rue neighborhood of downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

This is a shifting community made up of a number of experienced artists, primarily sculptors, and a range of younger emerging artists, who are working in sculpture and painting, but also, more recently, in photography, video, music, slam poetry, writing, and performance. In December 2009 Atis Rezistans hosted the 1st Ghetto Biennale, which was conceived and devised in 2008 by group member André Eugène and his partner, British artist and curator Leah Gordon. Atis Rezistans invited Haitian and international fine artists, filmmakers, academics, photographers, musicians, architects, and writers, via a global open call, to come to the Grand Rue area of Port-Au-Prince to make work or witness the event in their neighborhood and this event has taken place every two years since then.

...The majority of participating artists in the Ghetto Biennale undertook collaborative and process-based practices. For example, a video and accompanying blog by British artist and writer John Cussans traced his commissioning of a bus painting from Grand Rue sign-painters. But the Ghetto Biennale’s main focus is on art as social practice, providing residents and the local communities with different models of self-representation and self-organization."

On Arab Art Collectives:

Arts in the Americas:

Documenta 15:

Additional sources to look into:

Fucking Good Art -

The Autonomous Fabric of Rotterdam -

Arts Collaboratory -

Raqs media collective:  

Werker Collective: 

Institute for Queer Ecology 

Forensic Architecture 

[eldmandate339]

The Impact of ELD Mandate Pro on Driver Retention and Recruitment

In the dynamic landscape of the trucking industry, the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate has become a pivotal point of discussion. With the recent introduction of ELD Mandate Pro, the industry is witnessing a transformative shift, particularly in the realm of driver retention and recruitment. In this blog post, we delve into the significant impact that ELD Mandate Pro has on these crucial aspects of the trucking sector.

Understanding ELD Mandate Pro

Before we delve into its impact, let's grasp the essence of ELD Mandate Pro. It's an advanced version of the ELD Mandate, designed to offer enhanced functionalities and features for better compliance and efficiency. This sophisticated system not only ensures adherence to regulations but also facilitates seamless operations within the trucking ecosystem.

Enhanced Compliance and Efficiency

One of the key benefits of ELD Mandate Pro is its ability to streamline compliance processes. By automating logbook recording and monitoring, it minimizes the scope for errors and inaccuracies, thereby ensuring strict adherence to Hours of Service (HOS) regulations. This not only mitigates the risk of violations but also fosters a culture of accountability and responsibility among drivers.

Moreover, ELD Mandate Pro comes equipped with advanced tracking and monitoring capabilities, enabling fleet managers to gain real-time insights into driver activities and performance. This enhanced visibility not only optimizes route planning and scheduling but also allows for proactive intervention in case of any deviations or delays, thereby improving overall operational efficiency.

Impact on Driver Retention

In an industry grappling with high turnover rates, driver retention emerges as a critical concern for trucking companies. Herein lies the transformative potential of ELD Mandate Pro. By alleviating the burden of manual paperwork and administrative tasks, it significantly reduces the stress and workload on drivers, thereby enhancing their job satisfaction and overall experience.

Furthermore, the transparency and accountability fostered by ELD Mandate Pro instill a sense of trust and confidence among drivers, leading to stronger engagement and loyalty towards their employers. The implementation of advanced features such as driver performance analytics and feedback mechanisms further enables companies to recognize and reward top performers, thereby reinforcing a positive work culture.

Facilitating Recruitment Efforts

In addition to retaining existing talent, ELD Mandate Pro also plays a crucial role in attracting new drivers to the industry. The adoption of cutting-edge technology not only appeals to the tech-savvy younger generation but also positions trucking companies as progressive and forward-thinking employers.

Moreover, the enhanced efficiency and compliance offered by ELD Mandate Pro instill a sense of professionalism and reliability, making the trucking profession more appealing to prospective candidates. By leveraging these benefits as part of their recruitment efforts, companies can effectively differentiate themselves in a competitive market and attract top talent.

 Embracing the Future with ELD Mandate Pro

In conclusion, ELD Mandate Pro represents a paradigm shift in the trucking industry, with far-reaching implications for driver retention and recruitment. By harnessing the power of advanced technology, companies can not only ensure compliance and efficiency but also cultivate a culture of trust, engagement, and professionalism among their workforce.

As trucking companies navigate the complexities of the modern landscape, embracing ELD Mandate Pro emerges as a strategic imperative. By partnering with Eldmandate, industry players can unlock the full potential of this transformative solution and position themselves for success in the digital age.

[rjzimmerman]

This story is telling us that some of the more “intense” environmental and climate activism organizations and the Joe Biden campaign are playing nice in the sandbox and are discussing and agreeing on some principles, actions and proposals. When we face the stark choice we have between trump and the trumpist republican party and Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, the only rational approach is to play nice. We have to wait and see what emerges, but my guess is that the platform will be further toward progressive action than would have been thought possible just a few months ago. I’m also guessing that banning fracking will not be part of the package. Joe Biden needs Pennsylvania, and fracking provides a lot of jobs. But some reasonable emissions regulations will be part of the package.

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

From the earliest days of his presidential campaign, progressive climate advocates viewed Joseph R. Biden Jr. with deep skepticism. He declined to fully endorse the Green New Deal. He opposed a total ban on fracking. Young activists were scathing in their criticism of him, and he was at times openly dismissive of their concerns.

But now, less than four months before Election Day, Mr. Biden is moving urgently to unite and energize his party around his candidacy, aware of the need to engage younger, more liberal voters — and to ensure that they turn out in November. On climate issues, there are signs that Mr. Biden’s allies and some of the party’s leading progressives have quietly started to forge new common ground.

In recent weeks, supporters of Mr. Biden and of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, his chief rival in the Democratic presidential primary race, have met privately over Zoom, part of several joint task forces that the two contenders established to generate policy recommendations on core domestic priorities, and to facilitate party unity. After two months of those conversations, task force members representing both camps say they have finalized a set of ambitious, near-term climate targets that they hope Mr. Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, will incorporate in his platform.

“I do believe we were able to make meaningful progress,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, who headed the climate panel with former Secretary of State John Kerry, said in an interview last week. Representative Donald McEachin of Virginia, a Biden ally who was also on the task force, called it a “collaborative process” that developed wide-ranging policies.

[rachel-armstrong]

When Should You Begin Teaching Your Child to Read?

It is never too soon to start showing your child to read, or if nothing else establishing the framework for early education abilities, and it can be left past the point of no return!

In the event that you don't know, at that point consider this. Measurably, progressively American children endure long haul deep rooted hurt from the way toward figuring out how to read than from parental maltreatment, mishaps, and all other childhood infections and issues joined. In absolutely monetary terms, reading related troubles cost our country more than the war on fear mongering, wrongdoing, and medications consolidated.

Reading issues are a further test to our reality by contribute essentially to the propagation of financial, racial and ethnic imbalances. Anyway it isn't simply poor and minority children who battle with reading. As indicated by the 2002 national report card on reading by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the greater part of our children (64%) are not exactly capable in reading significantly following 12 years of our endeavors to instruct them.

Indeed, even without knowing these troubling insights we know that reading capability is fundamental to progress - scholastically as well as throughout everyday life. As the American Federal of Teachers expresses: "No other expertise educated in school and learned by younger students is a higher priority than reading. It is the passage to all other information. Instructing understudies to read before the finish of third grade is the absolute most significant errand appointed to primary schools. The individuals who figure out how to read effortlessly in the early evaluations have an establishment on which to construct new information. The individuals who don't are destined to rehashed patterns of dissatisfaction and disappointment."

More than some other subject or expertise, our children's fates are dictated by how well they figure out how to read.

Reading is completely basic. It has been said so frequently that it has gotten unimportant however it doesn't invalidate its reality. In our general public, in our reality, the powerlessness to read relegates children to disappointment in school and entrusts grown-ups to the most reduced layers of occupation and life openings.

What's more, exactly when we figured the stakes could get no higher, in the course of the most recent decade, educational examination discoveries have found that how well children figure out how to read has other, much more life-molding, outcomes. Most children start figuring out how to read during a significantly developmental stage in their turn of events. As they start figuring out how to read, they're additionally figuring out how to think uniquely. They are figuring out how to learn and they're encountering sincerely charged sentiments about what their identity is and how well they are learning.

I'm not catching that's meaning? Most children who battle with reading accuse themselves. For a long time, without fail, after quite a long time after month, after a seemingly endless amount of time after year, the way toward figuring out how to read shows these children to feel embarrassed about themselves- - embarrassed about their brains - embarrassed about how they learn.

Also, the pitiful truth is that they don't have anything to be embarrassed about. As Dr. Grover Whitehurst, Director Institute of Education Sciences, Assistant Secretary of Education, U.S. Branch of Education (2003) says: "Reading disappointment for about each child isn't the child's disappointment; it's the disappointment of strategy producers, the disappointment of schools, the disappointment of educators and the disappointment of guardians. We have to reconceptualize learning to read and who's answerable for its prosperity in case we're going to manage the issue."

Would you like to trust that the approach creators will discover an answer? Do you believe that they will? Or on the other hand would you rather ensure that the activity is done well by assuming responsibility yourself?

I comprehend what my answer is on the grounds that I know direct from seeing my sibling's deep rooted challenges what an unalterable effect a reading battle right off the bat in life can make. It can check your child forever!

I'm not promising that your child can figure out how to read early or that they won't experience trouble. All things considered, there is countless children experiencing learning incapacities. These children will battle. Be that as it may, early guidance may facilitate their affliction and make the battle somewhat simpler to deal with. At any rate you will realize that you did all that you could to support your child-and your child will realize that too. That can't be squandered exertion!

Furthermore, you have a head-start on each instructor since you know your child- - herr disposition, her qualities, and her shortcomings. You are the individual best prepared to start showing your child.

So we return to the focal inquiry when should your child's reading education start? Conventional American Education models call for showing a child to read between the ages of 7-9. Clearly we can't start showing a newborn how to read. In any case, we can start in early stages to establish the framework for proficiency which will at long last make your child a more grounded reader.

[liskantope]

A response to Aella’s essay “The Responsibility Narrative”

I initially planned to quickly link to this piece @aellagirl put up a few days ago just to highlight it as a piece of writing containing ideas that I’ve tried to express for a while (longer-time followers know that the whole agency/responsibility topic is right up my alley) and to thank her for expressing them so much more elegantly and from a much more powerful point of view. Then I noticed a bunch of points I wanted to pick apart a bit (while I overall really like this post there are some places where I think she goes a bit further than I do or just want to respond to in other ways). Also, it seems that she turned comments off for that post or something, so I guess this post is my way of dropping a (very long and slightly erratic) comment under hers while at the same time linking my Tumblr followers to her piece and providing a response.

I’ll start by saying that I really envy the author’s writing skills, in the sense that Aella seems to have an uncanny ability to put forth highly controversial theses that many would take offense to in an eloquent, concise, and direct manner (I might even go as far as to say “blunt”), and yet manages to do this in a way that facilitates in the audience opening one’s mind and listening rather than taking offense or feeling attacked. This is something I’ve noticed for a long time in her writing. An example is her piece on monogamists rejecting polyamory out of fear, where her thesis is one that I strongly disagree with and may well have responded to with resentment if it had been displayed by any other writer. I wish I knew how to emulate this. From time to time I argue positions that are controversial and potentially threatening or angering to some, but in my writing there’s all this hemming and hawing and insertions of softening qualifications and so on which can often make those essays look like sloppy messes by comparison in which my central point is nearly lost amid all the carefulness.

As for the actual content, first of all, I’m always happy to see someone else writing things like this:

Responsibility is weird. Ultimately there’s no free will and agency is a trick of the light, but we seem to have particular rules for when and where we throw responsibility at something. Sometimes we throw responsibility at the environment, and sometimes at the person.

...and I’m especially happy to see this (as most people in my vicinity have seemed to shy away from describing the Left vs. Right divide in this way or agreeing with me when I did):

Responsibility placement seems to occur along political divides, too. Conservatives see everyone holding their own glowing ball of responsibility, while liberals see the responsibility in the environment and the cruel, unchangeable past.

Aella’s views on how we assign free will (or responsibility, which after all is treated by most as equivalent to free will) in practice is the same view as mine and seems to be pretty much the universally-agreed-upon way forward on the pragmatic side, at least judging from the (admittedly very limited) set of people whose writing on that question I’ve read. I wish there were a way to translate that pragmatic solution to a metaphysical one that we could all agree on -- I think my solution is to say that “free will” is just a word that we have no choice but to define according to the pragmatic solution because any attempts at a more “cosmic” definition are in fact meaningless. Perhaps Aella would differ by emphasizing the term “responsibility” in place of where I used “free will” in the sentence above, as after all she does call free will nonexistent and agency “a trick of the light” -- that view seems equivalent to mine for pretty much all means and purposes, though.

And as for “if someone is very lazy, shouting at them to be less lazy sometimes works”, well yes, although a key word there is “sometimes”.

Then we get to the much more controversial thesis of the essay, which is initially presented with “In my old society, men were formally and strongly given the glowing ball of responsibility... [which] sucked bad enough that I don’t think being a woman was worse than being a man.” On first reading, I’m pretty sure I misread that last bit to instead say, “I don’t think being a woman was as bad as being a man”. When just now I read the phrase correctly, my eyebrows didn’t raise quite as high as before, but they’re still raised a little bit. Because while I’m really glad that the author is presenting this alternative view and wish more people could be exposed to it and take it seriously, I still lean fairly strongly towards believing that on the whole it was still better to be a man.

(In this and what follows, I do want to point out that the author is considerably more qualified than I am to speculate on such things given her experience as a woman who actually grew up imprisoned in an ultra-conservative community; however, let me offer my own speculation based on my general impression of how humans react to power and responsibility.)

The author comes across to me as emphasizing the seductiveness of believing that fault lies not in oneself but in the environment while seeming to ignore the potentially negative effects of such a belief, or equivalently, the benefits of feeling a sense of personal responsibility. Yes, the essay highlights the (very obvious) benefits of having power, thus drawing a rough equivalence between the benefits of power and the benefits of not being assigned responsibility in a society where men hold most of the power and most of the responsibility, but I’m talking about how the holding responsibility part comes with psychological benefits along with the psychological disadvantages. Namely, in my view and in my experience, feeling a sense of responsibility is empowering, while feeling a lack of responsibility or agency is certainly easier in many ways but also comes with a sense of weakness and helplessness that can create a lot of depressed feelings. As I remember reading once in an advice article (whose title and author I don’t remember), “It’s easy to be miserable.” In the context of that article, I think its author was trying to say that a lot of misery arises from a failure to take responsibility, which is seductive because of how easy it is... but of course, due to the being miserable part, that deal definitely isn’t better than one where one feels empowered through the weight of responsibility to not have to be so miserable.

(Rereading what I’ve written here the following day, my words in the above paragraph look like contradictory nonsense in the context of the essay I’m responding to: it may sound like I’m saying “Aella is wrong to equate the benefits of lesser responsibility with the benefits or greater power, because carrying lesser responsibility also comes with the disadvantage of having lesser power.” But this is because I’m struggling to make a clear distinction in words between power in the sense of institutional power or authority to make decisions -- the power that Aella refers to -- and the feeling of personal empowerment in the sense of being able to tolerate or withstand adversity. I’m saying that a direct negative consequence of not carrying the ball of responsibility is a feeling of personal weakness that comes with it, which is fairly separate from the fact that lesser responsibility tends to be correlated with less society-bestowed power. Perhaps I’m slightly confounded here by viewing everything primarily through the lens of modern times, where differences in concrete society-bestowed power have mostly disintegrated and a lot of the oppression that activists complain about boils down to some adversity being intolerable mental-health-wise. Not sure if this edited-in aside clarifies my position or makes it even more muddled.)

This is not to say that in practice people don’t choose the less-responsibility route far more often than taking the glowing ball of responsibility. They do, I believe increasingly as our society becomes more socially progressive, and the younger generations recently seem to be embracing a norm of doing it more than ever. And that’s in large part because in a certain sense, it is the easier path. But that doesn’t mean they’re better off psychologically for it. Here let me try my hand at saying something potentially offensive very concisely and directly *deep breath*: the people I know who are most committed to shooing away that ball of responsibility -- the “environment-changers” as Aella might call them or the low-agency-goggle-wearers as I might call them -- the ones who go to the most extreme deep end in that direction tend on the whole to be the most bitter and frustrated, the most terrified of life in general, and the least emotionally or psychologically healthy people I’ve known, to an extent that I don’t think can fully be directly explained by the disadvantages that were handed to them.

As for Aella’s observation that on average men tend to have a more high-agency mentality while women tend to have a more low-agency one... yes, this has certainly occurred to me although I don’t think I’ve ever noted it in writing -- for some reason, I hesitate to feel fully convinced. I still lean towards claiming that the tribe one belongs to is a bigger factor here than gender, but it certainly makes sense that gender is a factor, and her observation does jive with my experience.

Now we get to the part about the Gillette ad, and again I can’t bring myself to go as far as the essay does. I should probably write another post describing a fuller reaction to the ad. As a response to the essay, I would argue that the author is making a point I strongly agree with about modern feminism in general (perhaps it can be applied to some other wings of SJ but far less so since for most other axes of oppression the reality really is something much closer to members of one group directly oppressing the members of another), but that the Gillette ad is not really a great example of this.

I understand “toxic masculinity” in this context to refer to certain behaviors traditionally associated with masculinity that are harmful but still encouraged or normalized for men in our culture. I agree that the ad places responsibility for fixing toxic masculinity solely on men and that this is an overly-simplistic judgment (although to some extent a statement that brief has to be simplistic). I also have some of my own issues with the ad. But sometimes the solution to overturning a cultural norm for a particular group really does almost exclusively rest on the shoulders of that group.

Aella states near the end of the essay, “Women reinforced gender roles just as much, if not more, than the men did.” My personal impression is a variant of this: I think it always has been and continues to be the case that women are the primary enforcers of female gender roles (including some of the most oppressive ones to live under) while men are the primary enforcers of male gender roles. In other words, gender roles are policed most heavily among one’s own gender group. That would imply in this case that many of the traditionally-male behaviors brought up in the ad -- physical aggression, sexual harassment, objectification of women and so on -- are reinforced in men primarily by other men. This strongly jives with my personal experience: it’s never been girls and women in my life who shamed me for not being fiercely competitive about something or for not picking fights or for not being aggressive enough at approaching women for dating/sex. In my life, it’s almost exclusively other guys that have. Of course I’m not saying that these masculine norms are entirely not enforced by women -- in particular, objectification of women arguably is perpetuated on a certain level by some subset of the female population. But I think by and large women tend to promote values for everyone of all genders which are the opposite of the uglier traditionally-masculine norms: diplomacy, sensitivity, gentleness, and so on.

And one corollary of men being the main perpetrators of “toxic masculinity” behavior among fellow men is that the most effective way to push things in the opposite direction is for men to start pushing other men away from these behaviors (”Not cool, dude!”). Which is exactly what the Gillette ad is preaching.

[fatedroses]

Pokemon Au

N/: Alright, we’re starting off with this. This au (I have no name for it yet) works on some of the world building provided by the games/anime/manga to kinda synthesize it and make it more of, for a lack of a better word, a realistic universe (like the manga where, spoiler alert, several characters have been killed by both environmental causes and by each other and it is shown). It’s still a work in progress, so I might change how some things work or correct things I get wrong. Anyways, keep in mind this post is hella long, you have been warned.

The World:

Most of the regions remain the same, other than minor tweaks. Because this au is so far focused on the characters below, I’m mainly working on the Kalos region, as while I loved the xy games, the story really lacked details in some areas. I definitely encourage others to pose ideas for the other regions too, please, I’d love to hear from you guys. But anyways, here’s some world building stuff.

Changes to Areas: I’ll have a map drawn out eventually. But I wanted to include the Volcanion movie area, the Azoth Kingdom, and while I was looking at the regional map I noticed there are forest areas north and south east of the mountains that could still be considered part of the region. Hence west Kalos, where the setting is for gen six, is the main political/commercial hub and these two other areas are more closed off and reclusive for several reasons.

Kalos: This region, as shown by the war three thousand years before the game, and a war five hundred years before the anime with the azoth kingdom referenced in the volcanion movie, Kalos could be a very volatile and even admittedly unstable region based on its past. This region also didn’t have a professor until Augustine, as unlike Juniper he had to travel to get trained in sinnoh under Rowan (take that information for what you will, but for me it’s used to represent the instability based around 15-20 years before the xy series). Finally, like how it is implied in other regions, the Pokémon league is the political leadership of the area but there is still a royal family, they just serve more like a regional/national figure (which will be relevant later when discussing Lysandre).

Gyms: Eight gym badges are required to challenge the league (of course), however, there is usually more than eight in the region, based on local towns/populations, and they serve as defenders and local leaders for their communities, and have a higher responsibility of protecting the region as a whole (aka as seen in the ending of xyz).

Pokémon League: The primary council and political leadership, while the champion can vary drastically in age it is noted that the rest of the elite four always has at least one older and more experienced individual that can help lead, and in a normal scenario it is likely that the league was formed to a) create unity among the other regions to prevent further conflict between each other and b) organize a group strong enough to push back against threats that might arise. (In most cases this falls upon the gym leaders, likely the league gets involved as a last resort). The champions (Diantha, Steven, Wallace, Lance, Cynthia, etc) are chosen due to their charisma and likely are meant to be ambassadors between regions, mostly seen with Cynthia.

Legendary Pokémon: I mean this by the “god tier” pokemon, like the creation trio, arceus, yveltal and xerneas, basically any Pokémon shown to be able to communicate telepathically, (I’m definitely going to make a separate post about this topic but that’s for another time), can manifest themselves in a human like form. However this is very unlikely as it is shown that most of the legendaries really didn’t like humans and probably wouldn’t bother replicating their looks.

Humans: for the sake of keeping the anime/games pg of course pokemon aren’t outright killing people and other pokemon(lol but there have definitely been exceptions Jesus Christ), but in this au this can be explained by the idea that humans in the Pokémon universe are far more durable due to their exposure with pokemon (Ash getting thundershocked over and over again, trainers getting hit by stray attacks, resilience to fire, Meyer getting absolutely bodied by Zygarde and still being able to stand afterwards, etc etc.). This also plays into another concept (again something I’ll go more in depth in another post) that being exposed to a certain amount of certain types of pokemon have innate effects on their trainers.

Lysandre:

Look, we’re starting these sections off on the backstorys of these characters. Lysandre is referenced to very likely be a prince, a descendant of AZ’s brother due to both how he holds himself(plus his height) and the reference of sheer wealth Lys has. While I wouldn’t doubt he could’ve built himself from nothing, there are signs pointing that he is meant to be related to AZ so just as a note he and his family are relevant to Kalos for a variety of reasons. (I mean damn, his Japanese name is Fleur de Lis.)

Mier, Lysandre’s father and Sylvie, Lysandre’s mother, were members of the elite four until they eventually retire (Malva and Siebold take their place). In this au for the sake of it, despite the royal family not officially having control over the region, they still do what they can to look over it. Both Lysandre (and his brother Bastien that I’ll talk about later) are well educated and were, well, trained to be able to potentially take their place in the league. Lysandre didn’t really follow suit, instead founding his own research facility/business with the focus of improving Kalos technologically and making the region more accessible to itself. Bastien takes the role of actively representing the royal family, and is currently the king (despite that title meaning absolutely nothing). He also helps with facilitating communities, establishing relationships between towns, and reinforcing policies and proposing projects for economics first drafted up by the league.

Lysandre himself was very reserved and sheltered during his younger years. Their chateau, located in the forest area north of Geosenge, had very few neighbors. His family wasn’t really around that often due to his parents duty with the league and his brother residing mostly at the palace (which despite it being a museum it still has parts used for their average function... I might redesign it later on), but Lysandre spent most of his time with his childhood friend Augustine on his families ranch, up until the pair left to go explore Kalos (This time in the timeline Kalos, mostly in lumiose and the surrounding areas, is a dangerous place, due to a villain team that I’m working on.)

Lysandre was a very caring and an extremely generous individual (until later something so bad happens that it causes him to become a misanthrope. Referenced to be a bad event plus witnessing general human stupidity and greed). He was known for his love and admiration of life, human and Pokémon, and did what he could to protect it. (I still have some stuff to work out for the story during this time) He was willing to learn both the secrets of mega evolution and move based combat. He, alongside Augustine and the others, helped stop The Order of Midnight (the villain team, still a work in progress) from destroying Kalos.

After that, he establishes what eventually will become team flare (back when it wasn’t an evil organization and I’ll probably come up with a name for it later). He, with the help of Clemont (damn child genius), figure out how to provide lumiose and eventually Kalos as a whole with clean renewable energy. He is a known inventor and philanthropist around the region, he also took Clemont in as an apprentice up until Clemont took his father’s place as the lumiose gym leader.

Eventually something happens (still working out the details, but it will involve shadow Pokémon and maybe something with his brother), and Lysandre loses all hope in humanity. By this time and from his experience he hides his misanthropy very well, his friends notice something’s wrong but could never really pry enough to figure out what it really was, until events similar to a mix of the manga/the anime take place, (again this is a work in progress).

In a failed attempt to use the ultimate weapon the building collapses. Trapping Lysandre, who had direct exposure to the blast during the collapse, in and killing him in the process. However, because he used both xerneas and yveltal, became immortal (in a way were he can die but revives and heals /as long as he’s not impaled to something/ over and over again). Xerneas in an act of pity, as Lysandre helped her and yveltal when fighting the order, and an act of justice by freeing him from the debris and making him her champion to protect the world from those bent on making the same decision he did.

Despite his hesitation he also eventually reconnects with his friends, and through his service to xerneas rekindles his love for the world, despite knowing how unlikely it would be for the world to forgive him for his actions, but because the populace doesn’t know he’s alive he doesn’t really care as long as he could help and protect others, once again finding his purpose and his passion that he though he had permanently lost after ‘the event’.

(This is just a note, but as I scroll through sources I found that his misanthropy is also caused by his fear and his anger over his own shortcomings, as it is referenced in the anime and kinda in the games that his generosity was abused, and therefore holds himself to blame for not being able to help others because of his own blind willingness. It gives him character but isn’t something that isn’t easily incorporated into the timeline so I’m just putting it here.)

Augustine:

Augustine lived with his family (I’ll have names later, probably) on their estate/ranch, his father is a pokemon breeder and his mother is a pokemon ranger. Because of this, August grew up taking care of Pokémon to the point it became a literal second nature to him, and Pokémon are drawn to him naturally. However, even though he found that he was actually pretty good at both of his parents professions he didn’t really have a passion for them.

So as the years went on and he really didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, when Lysandre proposed that he could come with him across Kalos he jumped at the opportunity. He was joined by a gabite, one that tended to give the family a really hard time but over time developed a really strong bond with him (at the cost of the smoothness of his hands /rip/).

He hates seeing Pokémon get hurt, but due to his background is a rather epic opponent in battle (he just says he’s weak to avoid conflict). But he is really good at caring for Pokémon after battle (hey maybe you can pay him back with a cup of coffee later or something). Instead during the journey he participated more in entertainment and performing and tried to avoid battling as much as he could.

However, when they get to lumiose (around the time Lysandre gets his third badge and they try to see if they can challenge Meyer) he discovers mega evolution when they encounter blaziken mask for the first time. This sets him on the path, after learning that Kalos has been without a professor for a really long time, to learn the secrets and techniques of mega evolution, (he later discovers that he is capable of mega evolving any one of his team, and the weaker members of the order built up quite a reputation for the man that could pull a super powered monster on you in seconds).

Meyer and Auriel also teach him about using pokemon moves, and how you can boost the strength of your own Pokémon (think like similar to ash greninja or az’s flotte). Once again he becomes quite a force to be reckoned with (and I’m considering making him apart of Meyer and Auriel’s team as a band of super heroes because hero Augustine is cool, okay?)

He also encounters a disguised Alva (the main villain of the volcanion movie to which they are unaware that he’s associated with the azoth kingdom) and finds out that mega evolutions can in fact be forced which a) terrifies Augustine, and b) motivates him to teach others the importance of having a bond with you pokemon if you’re going to have access to mega evolution, hence the entries on everything that goes wrong or the bad stuff that can happen with mega evolution (he discovered them from Alva.)

After the events with the order and through his own notes and research he is able to get a position under professor Rowan, leaving Kalos for a bit so he can go study in sinnoh. (If you mess with Augustine in the presence of Rowan I’m sorry but you’re hella dead, that man becomes a son to him.) Augustine also becomes a pretty well known coordinator in sinnoh, not really to the surprise of his friends but a surprise to the populace of Kalos after some of those details resurface a decade later.

(Not much is really changed with Augustine afterwards, other than making him even more of a force to be reckoned with and adding in some background details for him).

Meyer:

(Oh look one of my favorite characters) So Meyer was the lumiose gym leader, known for being one of the strongest in the region behind Olympia and Wulfric, and he could have become one of the elite for had it now been for the fact the he just wanted to settle down with his kids, his mechanic shop, and his super hero alter ego. He focused primarily on electric types and was rather difficult to get past for most trainers.

He was one of the major reasons lumiose was even inhabited during the issues with the Order, as he was a defender of the people and did his damndest to keep everything in order. Of course he is just one man, and even beat himself up over that fact that he couldn’t be everywhere at once to protect everyone.

He was also a single father, I’m not exactly sure about the circumstances, but after Bonnie was born their mother just wasn’t in their life afterwards, but he was able to raise his kids pretty well (he gladly accepted the help from his friends when he could, especially when they offered to look over the siblings so he could do his superhero stuff).

No one really discovered his identity other than his friends either because people just didn’t equate his sweetheart mechanic personality with the flying badass that is blaziken mask. His suit, unlike Auriel’s, is actually made by him. He’s not an inventor just because he didn’t want to draw attention to himself, but it’s very Ironman-esk in concept to he doesn’t waste time changing if shit starts going down.

He eventually joins forces with Auriel, another vigilante living in lumiose at the time, (maybe also Augustine after he returns from sinnoh) and they work togther to try and stop the order from causing chaos and destruction in Kalos.

Unlike Auriel he learned the process of using Pokémon moves by himself, that in combination with close calls with the order means he has a few scars, they’re primarily on his palms, lower legs, and torso. He tries to avoid that as much as he can because he doesn’t want his kids worrying about him over this stuff (but that plan didn’t work).

(100% Best Dad)

[catherinedmccracken]

April 2021 Learning Network Resources

Trust in Healthcare

Quinn SC, et alt. Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy in BIPOC Communities — Toward Trustworthiness, Partnership, and Reciprocity. NEJM. March 2021 “A primary path toward trust and confidence is relationship building. In too many situations and circumstances, BIPOC communities are asked to ‘help us solve the problems in your community.’ Long-standing and reciprocal relationships between medical and research institutions and BIPOC communities are largely nonexistent. The relationships that do exist are generally short-lived, often enduring only as long as grant funding lasts. For health care and public health institutions to build a reputation of trustworthiness, partnerships rooted in bidirectional communication, capacity building, and reciprocity are required.”

Beach MC, et alt. Testimonial Injustice: Linguistic Bias in the Medical Records of Black Patients and Women. Journal of General Internal Medicine. March 2021 “Black patients may be subject to systematic bias in physicians’ perceptions of their credibility, a form of testimonial injustice. This is another potential mechanism for racial disparities in healthcare quality that should be further investigated and addressed.”

Pollard MS, et alt. Decline in Trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention During the COVID-19 Pandemic. RAND Corporation. March 2021 “As part of a nationally representative RAND American Life Panel (ALP) survey fielded in early May 2020 that assessed how Americans are coping with COVID-19, we asked more than 2,000 individuals to report their levels of trust in a variety of federal institutions, including the CDC, the United States Postal Service (USPS), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In October 2020, we resurveyed a random sample of 1,892 of the original respondents and asked them to report their levels of trust again. In this report, we compare individual-level changes in trust in the CDC, USPS, and FEMA between May and October 2020. Responses are weighted to match a range of population distributions in the Current Population Survey and voting behavior.”

 Carolla B, et alt. Are Health Centers Facilitating Equitable Access to COVID-19 Vaccinations? Kaiser Family Foundation. March 2021 “These early data show that health centers appear to be reaching people of color at a higher rate than overall vaccination efforts. While vaccinations at health centers represent a relatively small share of total vaccinations administered nationally to date, further ramping up health centers’ involvement in vaccination efforts at the federal, state, and local levels will likely be a meaningful step in reaching people of color and advancing equity on a larger scale.” 

Tharakan S, et alt. The impact of the globalization of cancer clinical trials on the enrollment of Black patients. American Cancer Society. March 2021 “The globalization of cancer clinical trials is associated with a widening racial enrollment disparity gap in the United States. The impact of global trials on domestic clinical trial generalizability warrants further consideration from a regulatory and policy standpoint.”

Bleich SN, et alt. Addressing Racial Discrimination in US Health Care Today. JAMA Health Forum. March 2021 “From the public statements and initial actions of the Biden administration, it is clear that addressing racial discrimination will be a high policy priority. This comes alongside a growing national awareness of the seriousness of this problem by leadership groups in health care and medicine. This article addresses 2 central issues related to racial discrimination in health care: the extent of reported discrimination in various health care settings among Black and Latinx households and recommended policies to hold health care institutions accountable for addressing racial discrimination.” 

Bogart LM, et alt. What Contributes to COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Black Communities, and How Can It Be Addressed? RAND Corporation. March 2021 “Recent polls show that Black Americans are less willing than Americans of other races or ethnicities to be vaccinated for COVID-19. These lower vaccination rates among Black Americans would further widen COVID-19 inequities in diagnosis, hospitalization, and mortality. A main driver of hesitancy among Black Americans is thought to be general mistrust of health care systems and providers. Such mistrust has arisen in Black communities as an understandable, rational, and self-protective reaction to history, knowledge, and continuous and repeated discrimination, racism, and harmful experiences toward Black Americans by the health care system, health care providers, and the U.S. government.”   

Blogs, Issue Briefs, Opinion Pieces and More…

Hyun D, et alt. Many hospitalized Covid-19 patients are given antibiotics. That’s a problem. STAT. March 2021. “As the Covid-19 pandemic continues into its second year, public health experts are increasingly concerned that the response to this global crisis may be accelerating another one: the development and persistence of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as superbugs. Why? All antibiotic use hastens the emergence of resistance. And although antibiotics aren’t used to treat Covid-19, which is a viral illness, they’re often prescribed to Covid-19 patients who are at risk for bacterial infection.”

 Khullar D, et alt. Imagining a World Without Low-Value Services: Progress, Barriers, and the Path Forward. AJMC. March 2021 “Low-value services are a major problem in the US health care system. We believe that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic’s unprecedented impact on the health system, and society writ large, offers an opportunity to reshape the conversation and incentives around low-value services. This article explores current barriers to and opportunities for accelerating progress toward high-value care delivery.”

 Brownlee SM, et alt. Better understanding the downsides of low value healthcare could reduce harm. BMJ. March 2021 “Today, efforts to quantify and tackle gaps in patient safety have expanded far beyond anaesthesia. A distinct discipline with its own emerging scientific framework, patient safety has been declared ‘one of the most important components of healthcare delivery’ by the World Health Organization. Yet there is one area of healthcare that remains sorely in need of similar data on harm and an equally sustained worldwide effort to reduce it. That area is overuse of low value healthcare services.”

 For Cancer Screening, COVID-19 Pandemic Creates Obstacles, Opportunities. National Cancer Institute. March 2021 “The pandemic may lead to other potential innovations in cancer screening. Some physicians are already using video conferencing tools to educate people about screening tests, while others are discussing ways to focus screening resources on those most at risk of developing cancer.” 

Journals

Maust DT, et alt. Prevalence of Central Nervous System-Active Polypharmacy Among Older Adults With Dementia in the US. JAMA. March 2021 “In this cross-sectional analysis of Medicare claims data, 13.9% of older adults with dementia in 2018 filled prescriptions consistent with CNS-active polypharmacy. The lack of information on prescribing indications limits judgments about clinical appropriateness of medication combinations for individual patients.”

 Park S, et alt. Trends in Use of Low-Value Care in Traditional Fee-for-Service Medicare and Medicare Advantage. JAMA. March 2021 “This cross-sectional study found that use of low-value care was similarly prevalent in MA and TM, suggesting that MA enrollment was not associated with decreased provision of low-value care compared with TM.”

 Soong C, et alt. Advise non-pharmacological therapy as first line treatment for chronic insomnia. BMJ. March 2021 “Guidelines recommend non-pharmacological approaches, including cognitive behavioural therapy, as first line treatment for chronic insomnia in adults (box 1).12345 Yet, sedatives are commonly prescribed to treat insomnia.” 

Habib AR, et alt. Recommendations From Breast Cancer Centers for Frequent Screening Mammography in Younger Women May Do More Harm Than Good. JAMA Internal Medicine. March 2021 “The most recent (2016) US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) breast cancer screening recommendations for women with average risk advise biennial screening in women aged 50 to 74 years. Among younger women (aged 40-49 years), the estimates of reduced breast cancer mortality are smaller and have more uncertainty, and the rates of potential harm are higher. Thus, the USPSTF does not recommend routine screening but suggests individualization based on shared decision-making.”

Jonas DE, et alt. Screening for Lung Cancer With Low-Dose Computed Tomography Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA. March 2021 “Screening high-risk persons with LDCT can reduce lung cancer mortality but also causes false-positive results leading to unnecessary tests and invasive procedures, overdiagnosis, incidental findings, increases in distress, and, rarely, radiation-induced cancers. Most studies reviewed did not use current nodule evaluation protocols, which might reduce false-positive results and invasive procedures for false-positive results.”

 Maust DT, et alt. Prevalence of Central Nervous System–Active Polypharmacy Among Older Adults With Dementia in the US. JAMA. March 2021 “In this cross-sectional analysis of Medicare claims data, 13.9% of older adults with dementia in 2018 filled prescriptions consistent with CNS-active polypharmacy. The lack of information on prescribing indications limits judgments about clinical appropriateness of medication combinations for individual patients.”

 Krist AH. Screening for Lung Cancer US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. JAMA. March 2021 “To update its 2013 recommendation, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) commissioned a systematic review on the accuracy of screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) and on the benefits and harms of screening for lung cancer and commissioned a collaborative modeling study to provide information about the optimum age at which to begin and end screening, the optimal screening interval, and the relative benefits and harms of different screening strategies compared with modified versions of multivariate risk prediction models.”

 Bai F, et alt. Stroke Risk Factor Status and Use of Stroke Prevention Medications Among Hispanic/Latino Adults in HCHS/SOL. Stroke. March 2021 “Hispanic/Latino adults in the United States have high prevalence and awareness of VRFs but low adherence to secondary stroke prevention strategies. Older adults, women, and uninsured people are vulnerable groups that may benefit from targeted interventions.”

Media

Moloney S. NYC Health + Hospitals Adopt COVID-19 Care Recommendations of Board of Internal Medicine. Norwood News. March 2021 “NYC Health + Hospitals announced on March 16, that it has adopted the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation guidelines, system-wide, to further reduce the potential spread of COVID-19, and keep staff and patients safe during the pandemic. The COVID-19 ‘Choosing Wisely’ guidelines advise healthcare providers on eliminating unnecessary testing and treatment in an effort to reduce exposure to COVID-19. The guidelines also incorporate specific, evidence-based recommendations clinicians should consider to utilize limited resources wisely, such as blood transfusions.”

 Harris R. Antibiotic Use Ran High In Early Days Of COVID-19, Despite Viral Cause. NPR. March 2021 “Doctors treating COVID-19 patients early in the pandemic often reached for antibiotics. But those drugs were not helpful in most cases, and overuse of antibiotics is a serious concern.”

 Davenport L. Swallowable Capsule-Camera Instead of Endoscopy for Use at Home. Medscape. March 2021 “A miniature camera the size of a capsule that is swallowed and that then transmits images of the inside of the gut can reveal cancer and gastrointestinal diseases. The device, which will be studied in a trial conducted by the National Health Service (NHS) in England, is used by patients at home instead of having to visit a clinic for an endoscopy.”

Marchione M, et alt. Researchers study impact of pandemic cancer screening pause. Associated Press. March 2021 “Millions of colonoscopies, mammograms, lung scans, Pap tests and other cancer screenings were suspended for several months last spring in the United States and elsewhere as COVID-19 swamped medical care. Now researchers are studying the impact, looking to see how many cancers were missed and whether tumors found since then are more advanced.”

The post April 2021 Learning Network Resources first appeared on Choosing Wisely.

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[ajofficialblog]

It is natural to be worried about our ageing parents. Whether we live in another country or live with them in the same house, emergency preparedness for seniors is a must. At our parent’s age, there is an overall decline in their physical and mental vitality. Unfortunately, this makes them more vulnerable to medical emergencies such as getting hurt unexpectedly or experiencing sudden illness.

One of our biggest fears is not being able to take action in a time when our parents need us the most. This is why availing of emergency services for the elderly is the best way to ensure that our parents receive timely care. Keeping this urgency in mind, Samvedna Care has specially designed their services to cater to medical emergencies in the elderly to make certain that seniors are provided with the best on-time care.

What constitutes an emergency for elderly?

First and foremost, it is important for you as well as your ageing parents to understand some of the common medical emergencies that seniors face. For patients over the age of 65, even small accidents can sustain severe injuries. For example, a ground-level fall, which may result in some scrapes and bruises in younger patients can result in serious injuries like hip and rib fractures in older adults.

Common Medical Emergencies in the Elderly

Some common medical emergencies in the elderly include:

Chest Pain: While chest pain can be a sign of something as minor as acid reflux, it is usually alarming when it occurs in older adults. It is important to be able to differentiate between cardiac pain (that is associated with the heart and can be life-threatening) and non-cardiac pain. Chest pain can also be a sign of respiratory issues or internal injury so it is best to consult with a doctor at the earliest.

Strokes: Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and reduced quality of life in senior citizens. A stroke can cut off oxygen flow to certain parts of the brain and its symptoms include weakness, slurred speech, confusion, loss of motor abilities, vision problems, and paralysis of a limb. When an elderly displays the signs of having a stroke, it is important to act quickly to prevent further damage to the body and brain.

Abdominal Pain: It may sound harmless but abdominal pain is the elderly should be taken seriously. For older adults, pain in the abdominal region can be caused by a variety of conditions such as general digestive problems, infection, dehydration, Urinary Tract Infection and a host of other issues. It is always best to get a medical opinion on the same.

Pneumonia: Adults over the age of 65 are more susceptible to pneumonia and at an increased risk for hospitalization and complications. This upper respiratory infection can often be serious and progress quickly. Symptoms of the infection include shortness of breath, coughing, and confusion. This condition is best treated in a hospital, so ensure that your loved one is hospitalized if these symptoms occur.

If your elderly loved one is experiencing any of these sudden or severe symptoms, Samvedna’s Care Manager for elderly will ensure the most effective and best-in-class emergency support for them.

The next question is, how can you ensure emergency support for the elderly in your family? With Samvedna Care’s Emergency Support Services that include ambulance assurance, emergency home care, and 24*7 on-call support, you can be assured of the best emergency elderly care. Other emergency services by Samvedna Care include-

Care Manager Support

In times of emergencies, Samvedna’s care managers support the elderly in distress by facilitating timely medical needs as well as providing emotional and logistic support. The care manager is present in the hospital and understands the line of treatment, providing medical history to the doctors and consulting with them to help with critical decision making for the family.

Hospitalization Support

Samvedna’s care manager will assist with hospital admission and arranging logistics and keeping the family informed. The care manager will take care of the bill payments, medicines and arrangement of special equipment.

TPA Clearance

Samvedna Care’s emergency services include assistance with the settlement of hospital bills and coordinating with insurance providers for cashless transactions and reimbursements.

Medical emergencies are common in older people and Samvedna Senior Care does everything to facilitate immediate assistance and makes sure they receive the best medical, physical and emotional support in the time of need.

[n1ghtcrwler]

So I think my denomination is going to be having another big internal fight soon and there’s a part of me that’s dreading the possibility of being involved in it simply because I may be a part of the denomination when it happens and I’m terrible at staying out of things like this. Now, I know who follows me and that a number of you will disagree with the current SBC stance on at least some of the issues at hand, and may have varied views on the possibility of a fight because of it. I want to remind you that, as the largest protestant denomination in the nation, a sufficiently large fight in the SBC could have consequences in other spheres of life for Americans.

So, here’s the quick and dirty backstory, and then I’ll get to my point:

The Southern Baptist Convention has had some degree of controversy pretty much since it was created*, but the event that is called The Controversy in-house (also known as the Conservative Resurgence in- and out-of-house, and the Fundamentalist Takeover by particularly disapproving outsiders) is an ideological fight that had roots as far back as the 20s but really took off in the very late 1970s and didn’t end until roughly 2000. Conservatives within the convention had reason to believe that at least some of the SBC seminaries were allowing universalism and a denial of the legitimacy of scripture to be taught in the classrooms**, while breaking from the standard SBC views on a number of moral issues. These included women in ministry and the nature of sexual relations (yes, this included homosexuality, but was not limited to it). In response, two men started writing and asking for information and urging other people to begin investigating and acting accordingly. These men were Paige Patterson and Judge Paul Pressler.

The concerns were affirmed. It had gotten to the point where they were able to prove that these teachings were happening, that the SBC was sending out missionaries who weren’t sharing the gospel and didn’t believe Christ was the way to salvation, and that the leadership of various SBC entities were actively lying about their views to the convention at large and attempting to bribe people who challenged them to stay quiet. The Executive Committee, the entity responsible for all SBC operations between annual meetings, was facilitating all of this and helping to hide it behind smokescreens and lies about political involvement. Various attempts were made to do something about it, but resolutions passed during the SBC annual meeting are pretty loosely binding, if at all. The real move to change things was for the messengers from the churches at the annual meeting to elect a conservative President of the SBC, who would appoint a conservative Committee on Committees, who would appoint a conservative Committee on Nominations, who would nominate conservative individuals to the Boards of Trustees of the various SBC entities, who will then make necessary changes. Yes, it is complicated. That’s how we roll. This would need to happen for a number of years in a row to gain a majority in each Board of Trustees because only a handful of Trustees get replaced each year. There’s a reason The Controversy lasted 20 years. There has not been a non-Conservative elected to the presidency or the Boards since the Controversy started to this day.

The issue at the center of the whole thing was what grounds Baptists use to define their theology. The conservatives argued that it was Biblical inerrancy, that the Bible was the sole rule of faith and that it was trustworthy in all it included. The progressives argued that the core Baptist distinctive was the priesthood of the believer as an interpretive tool, that the ability of individuals to interpret scripture was more important than the accuracy of that scripture itself. They both maintained that scripture should be primarily interpreted through the lens of Christ, but the conservatives used the words and life of Christ as recorded in scripture for this purpose while leadership in the progressive party held that Christ in direct communication with the believer was the lens through which scripture should be understood. In one extreme case, some faculty at one of the seminaries used this argument to defend their then recently discovered wife-swapping and drug abuse, as something they felt Christ told them was acceptable. Ultimately, the stance on Biblical inerrancy won the day and was incorporated into the updated Baptist Faith & Message in 2000.

During this time, at least two groups broke from the SBC at large. The very progressive parties formed the Alliance of Baptists, which I believe fully broke from the SBC. A number of moderates, who believed that the in-fighting was completely unjustified and that the conservatives were just trying to gain political control instead of concerned about theological issues, formed the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which has not fully left the SBC (most CBF churches and some state conventions are affiliated with both, and there are very few who are only affiliated with the CBF) but operates its own press, missions agency, and annual meeting.

So, in current events. Just a month or two ago, the conservative President of the Executive Committee resigned after confessing to an affair. Around that same time, the CBF announced that they would be shifting further left theologically and welcoming homosexuals into certain positions of authority. In response to that announcement, the two main state conventions in the CBF (Texas and Virginia) backed out. This is the most recent of a series of blows to the CBF as it has moved in a more progressive direction, and this last strike might actually be enough to remove its viability entirely. Pressler has gotten wrapped up in a series of legal issues over accusations of sexual misconduct and outright rape of younger men during his career, and Patterson was just this week fired in disgrace from his presidency at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary over statements that seemed to consider sexual abuse an invalid grounds for divorce and mishandling of a case during his tenure at Southeastern BTS in which a young woman was counseled to forgive her rapist rather than contact law enforcement.

We’ve got some issues that need to be sorted out and I’m not sure how it will be handled. The seminaries took the right approach in the case of Patterson, the Executive Committee was right to accept the resignation and begin looking for a new leader, so that’s a good sign. Obviously we don’t know yet what’s going to happen to Pressler and probably won’t before the annual meeting, but he also doesn’t hold a leadership position in the convention, so we don’t have much to say about what happens to him however this turns out. My issue isn’t that today’s SBC isn’t handling these things well--I would argue that it is--but that I see opportunities to use these situations to pick fights.

The leadership of the SBC most associated with The Controversy is being removed, through scandal or age, and the people who fought against their changes and never fully left the convention are in a position where they need to reassert themselves in some way or lose the ability to function as a denominational body. The systems to make widespread change in the SBC are no longer secret+, and attendance at the annual meeting has been on the decline since people no longer felt there was need to be sending significant delegations to deal with important issues. If there was ever a time for the moderates and progressives to start fighting again for a new direction to the SBC, it feels like now would be the time to do it. I don’t know if they will or not, but I see the opening, and I’m bracing myself for the possibility that The Controversy isn’t over. I’ll be sure to let you all know if that happens.

* In opposition to the Triennial Convention, at the time the main national gathering of Baptists for the purpose of supporting missionaries, who had decided not to send slave-owners out as missionaries. The southern delegates, most of whom supported slavery to some degree, took offense to this decision and broke away to make their own missions agency. It is worth noting that recent generations of SBC members recognize the errors in this but would rather keep the systems the SBC has created in place and use them for the purposes of the gospel than leave. Frankly, it is hard to find a Baptist denomination that can do some of the things the SBC can do at this point. Anyway, this caused a lot of strife between northern and southern Baptists, which got worse during and after the Civil War. And then we had Landmarkism and the anti-missions movement and basically the SBC has always been fighting about something, usually with other Baptists in and out of the SBC.

** This latter one is often summarized as saying that the SBC, during The Controversy, shifted toward a literal reading of scripture. This is...partly true. The denomination at large always held to about as literal a reading as it does now, but the seminaries had started to shift away from it and were being brought back in line with the churches, because that’s how Baptist seminaries operate. However, the issue was inerrency, and the fact that teachers were actively saying significant parts of the Bible weren’t true. In some extreme cases, literally anything miraculous was tossed out as an analogy, which one may note makes the Bible itself pretty useless as a testimony of anything. It also excludes almost everything Christ did to affirm His nature and teaching and calling, which makes one wonder how a person who believes that could be bothered to follow Christ at all.

+ In the years leading up to The Controversy, the Executive Committee was very quiet about the actual power of the SBC Presidency and encouraged messengers to vote people in as something of an honored figurehead who would ultimately just approve what the Executive Committee decided to do with his power, unaware that they actually had the power of decision.

[schoolofartsgent]

25 Surprising Facts About best keyboard for learning piano

A person this sort of millennial who knocked my socks off was this youthful girl named Anushka, a teen in her early twenties. Her white t-shirt with "MILLENNIAL" in massive, black, bold letters just caught our rapid focus and we couldn't end pondering her Unique Expertise Presentation, listed here at Nirmiti Academy. The Do it yourself (Get it done On your own) Craft was her distinctive expertise. She represented a younger face with the millennials. Moreover, it was her presentation that spoke a lot more of her like a millennial. She was a real go-getter when it arrived to current her exclusive talent in a novel way. We could see her beaming with delight and happiness to showcase her exceptional expertise to Many others. She was so enthusiastic that she was speaking a mile a minute. She experienced much to mention over it and she could go on and on and maintain us glued to her presentation. The millennials like Anushka and many Other folks are motivated to work on matters which interest them. At the same time, I could also see her becoming struggling to smile and existing herself Fortunately. Gone would be the moments to the millennials the place they experience existing and revel in their environment. They can be the technology who sense the regular will need for virtual notice which qualified prospects them to overshare their life and moments on social media or go inward in deep conscience to discover themselves. This leaves them unconnected with the Bodily globe all over them.

Millennials are a remarkably praised and confident technology. They may be a extremely optimistic generation. They've a bigger require to have lifetime experiences in lieu of to build up materials wealth, While they do like to obtain things that should help them to get pleasure from These activities. Millennials are essentially the most educated era. Since the cost tag of education is now so significant and continuing to climb each year, Millennials are getting to be incredibly savvy about their educational possibilities. Unlike preceding generations who observed schooling to be a ritual and an financial investment inside their foreseeable future, millennials look at schooling being an expense, Until it will empower them to be able to be a much better specific. They count on education that will help them put together for the new prospects and problems of this age, rather then assisting them by offering actuality-based mostly information and facts/understanding. The millennials want to be challenged by pondering the longer term And just how they can lead to developing a greater Culture and environment. They do not experience the necessity to become "textbook wise / e book worms".

They realize that specifics may be very easily found on the internet by means of their own individual unbiased action. They may be the generation that offers and thrive on know-how at finger "click". In the planet of open usage of know-how, it can make tiny sense to depend upon the classroom being a forum for your transfer of knowledge.

In its place, The scholars much prefer to understand within the stories and experiences of Other folks. These shared stories and activities assist them to reinforce their own individual practical experience by Studying with the achievements and errors of Other people. This will help them steer clear of producing a similar blunders as their influencers. As a result, they like to speculate more of their time and expense on these kinds of courses which assistance them to acquire many approaches that they could integrate into their thoughts and selection-generating system, thereby building a new ability established.

We simply cannot dismiss The point that millennials are a technology of uncertainties and fluctuations. These are the generation who likes to keep switching their devices. They grew up with technological innovation where every thing was at their fingertips. It results in being annoying for them not to get what they want when they want it. Many of the factors are handed to them on the silver spoon. This will make them experience entitled for getting what they need without Placing in Substantially hard work.

While They're the major workforce of the businesses currently, they don't believe in lifelong employment. Lifelong commitment is a fairy tale with the millennials. They generally bounce from on job to another given that they are always seeking anything new and greater. These substantial anticipations grow to be their downfall and would make them considerably less monetarily stable than their moms and dads.

Millennials are in this article to remain! They can be youthful, brilliant and energetic and they're the longer term. They are excellent belongings which the globe must harness and use. They can be the era that is definitely revolutionizing the whole world. They may be the budding leaders of tomorrow. They undertake technological know-how and stimulus in precisely the same breadth. This technology can be a collaborative and social generation that includes a target comprehending and building their awareness as a result of several types of medium to find out the solutions. It is actually to the educator like us to offer an arena for engagement and discovery in addition to become a written content specialist and mentor. It is for learning platform suppliers like Nirmiti Academy to provide an explorative and experiential expertise and convey out their true opportunity in everyday life and at work. It is this transformational journey that we at Nirmiti Academy sit up for on a daily basis to learn, unlearn and relearn with these youthful and magical era - the Millennials!

With the advancement of innovation, it's got gotten crucial to persistently study, unlearn, and relearn to extinguish the thirst of grave challenge. In distinction to customary time, the action of bookkeepers just isn't constrained to maintaining thick registers. With robotization, the concept of manual bookkeeping has become an outsider expression and now, a massive bit of bookkeeping operate could be addressed bookkeeping programming, by way of example, QuickBooks programming.

In this particular website, we will discuss a portion of the numerous specialised ability and abilities to develop into a professional Accountant now and continuously:

Simple Wondering

Source: magnapubs.com

At the point when we talk about the bookkeeping calling, we should take into consideration fundamental talents, such as, getting the critical info on the bookkeeping calling. In any situation, presently the situation continues to be modified and men and women are alluding applicants being able to burrow even further to take a gander in any way viewpoints from the quantities and the information equally as spotting designs and illustrations to be aware of the Tale inside. Be that as it could, this capacity cannot be developed medium-term. That is a sort of sensitive aptitudes that you can discover over a timespan, through successfully in search of knowledge Along with the work. Rather than carrying out things which ring a bell, endeavor to think of creative and out on the container preparations. Examine, evaluate, and Feel if you experience an issue to concoct essentially the most achievable and progressive preparations.

Receive Complex Capabilities

Supply: Domain.me

As indicated by Entrepreneur.com, cloud bookkeeping is going to be launched in above ninety% corporations. Mechanization has gotten inalienably elementary to support while in the organization. With innovation, for instance, the cloud, it can be at present very simple to appreciate the unpredictable facts and also to get to them from anyplace on the planet with barely any snaps. The cloud has grown to be The latest sample for that bookkeeping business enterprise.

With cloud facilitating it has grown to be A lot less complicated for that businesses to work cooperatively without trading off the safety element. On top of that, working with the cloud give nonstop accessibility of the knowledge from any remote corner of the globe. Accordingly, the fascination for just a bookkeeper getting specialized qualities would be the great choice in excess of the group.

Information on Federal government Legal guidelines

Resource: Money Convey

As a consequence of differed new and reconsidered tips, The task of bookkeepers has Moreover improved. Inside the calendar year 2020, realizing the stray pieces of those progressions can get principal for bookkeepers. As indicated by experts inside the bookkeeping enterprise, new governing administration rules and compliances will likely be constantly actualized to advance straightforwardness in organization. In this manner It'll be much more simple to the bookkeepers to get the information on new and current governing administration principles and tips. So, it is suggested to makeover your present mastery time allowing, and to enhance a significant most popular position above Many others.

Relational Competencies

Resource: Jarvee

You ought to have the choice to liaise with unique divisions, buyers and the customers. For this, bookkeepers are anticipated to possess solid relational skills, by way of example, customer the executives, arrangement aptitudes, compassion, and so on.

Presently, the activity in the bookkeepers usually are not restricted on the calculating, it includes customary gatherings with authorities, buyers, and associates to accommodate their Tastes. Within this manner, obtaining every one of these capabilities will include from the operate performance and accomplishment of the bookkeeper. One example is, it is prescribed to not make the most of interior abbreviations or specialized language when responding to inquiries of The shoppers. Getting excellent relational aptitudes will build strong connections and to carry clientele and to attract in new purchasers. This can be a significant aptitude to get.

Details Analytics

Source: amazing info mixture

Smarts are classified as the people who can fathom the information, however far more astute are the ones who will make it getting used. To investigate the knowledge and to consider a plausible arrangement, it is important to the bookkeepers to grasp the intricate details of the knowledge. Acquiring every one of those aptitudes can make you conscious of your existing fascination on the purchasers and buyers. Greedy the innovation and embellishment of our arrangement of skills as per the need of time will almost certainly assist.

[weeklyreviewer]

How Mezcal’s Boom Is Helping Lift Its Makers Out of Extreme Poverty

You can tell by the quiet smile on his face that Bonifacio Cruz Ruiz is proud of his agave plants. 

Inside a small handmade greenhouse in his backyard, Ruiz has thousands of plants growing on shelves lined with baking sheets. Each sheet contains hundreds of small seedlings that will one day grow into massive plants weighing hundreds of pounds. Bonifacio carries the trays with care, as if they hold his children, and in a way, they do.

The backyard nursery is the result of Ruiz’s work with nonprofit Heifer International, through its pilot program in Oaxaca, Mexico, Heifer’s first involving mezcal. The organization, which typically shares livestock such as chickens and goats with people in underdeveloped areas, came to Ruiz’s town and helped him and other residents build greenhouses for agave plants, showing them how to maintain those plants. Recently Ruiz was able to take things a step further and pass the gift along by sharing some of his beautiful seedlings, as well as directions on how to care for them, with neighboring villagers so they could do the same.

Bonifacio Cruz Ruiz holds a tray of agave seedlings.

After he delicately puts the tray back in its resting place, Ruiz leads me and a small group of Heifer employees down a slightly treacherous path roughly a half a mile behind his home. The journey takes us up and down hills and across a small river to a small garden, where he transplants the seedlings once they’ve outgrown their baking-tray beginnings. You can tell by looking at his face that he’s proud of what he’s accomplished and what the future might hold. 

Bonifacio Cruz Ruiz and Heifer project manager Rosario Isabel Gabriel Lopez talk about his young agave plants.

In the town of Santa Ana del Rio, there’s a saying: “Para todo mal, mezcal. Y para todo bien, tambien.” Translation: “For everything bad, mezcal. And for everything good, too.” It’s a saying best accompanied with a glass of the local spirit in your hand and commemorates a liquid that is used in the area for everything from an afternoon drink to a folk remedy to cure illnesses.

Mezcal has been an integral part of the local community for generations. However, families in the isolated town—which has exceptionally limited access to basic utilities like running water and electricity—have had trouble making the spirit a commercial success. They’ve also run into trouble keeping the tradition going, as younger members of the community tend to leave the area, seeking greater job opportunities. Many ultimately choose to immigrate to the United States. 

The agave used to make mezcal in the village has traditionally been harvested from wild plants. However, when something happened to those plants, the village was forced to buy them from other villages, cutting into their already meager profits. Wild agave can also be hard to find, making the process of collecting enough for a batch of mezcal a rather time-consuming task. 

Now, thanks to Heifer, that agave Ruiz is growing will ensure the area has not only a steady supply of the plant, but also that they’ll be able to locate them quickly.

In 2017, Ruiz along with other members of the village voted to sell their mezcal to Pernod Ricard, which is working with Heifer on the program, after a representative from the brand visited the area. The plan at the time was to ultimately integrate mezcal from the village into the company’s popular Del Maguey brand. That hasn’t happened just yet, but Pernod is consistently purchasing the mezcal and storing it with plans to release it in future.

Even without the official release, that partnership has fueled some tremendous results. Whereas the town once sold its mezcal for just eight pesos a liter (approximately 50¢), it’s now approaching 130 pesos per liter ($7.50), a significant improvement. The villagers are also selling more. Prior to Heifer and Pernod’s involvement, the Rodriguez family typically sold around 400 liters of mezcal per year. Now that number is closer to 1,000 liters. 

Heifer wants to help facilitate that growth, making the industry more sustainable for a community where the average annual family income is between $3,000 and $5,000. Now the community is making a consistent product and is aware of the spirit’s market value.

Beyond teaching Ruiz and others how to build greenhouses and nurture seedlings, the group also helps local farmers learn skills such as how to prevent pests from destroying the plants, which can often take five to seven years to reach maturity, and how to care for and prevent diseases in their livestock, which are often used to harvest those heavy plants on the steep hills where they grow.

Carlos Rodriguez and his father, Ciro, tie agave to a horse.

Ciro Rodriguez is one of the people responsible for harvesting agave in the village. Each day he, along with his two sons, labors in the sweltering sun, harvesting the agave plants, which can often weigh hundreds of pounds, and then cutting off their tough leaves with machetes before carrying the heart of the plant—the piña—back to their family’s outdoor distillery, called a palenque, to be turned into mezcal. 

It’s exceptionally hot, laborious work, even for an onlooker who isn’t actually wielding any tools or bearing any heavy loads. Plants often grow on steep, hard-to-navigate inclines, and they’re carried up or down these dusty hills, strapped to the back of the family’s donkeys.

“Heifer has provided us with vaccines for horses, mules, and donkeys,” Rodriguez says. “That has helped us a lot.”

Once the agave is harvested, a process that’s done by hand one plant at a time, the piñas are eventually loaded into the family’s truck and then driven back into town.

Members of the Rodriguez family load piñas on the back of their truck.

In town, the plants are placed in a large dirt pit filled with hot stones. Dirt is put on top, and the plants are cooked for roughly a week. Afterward, those piñas are manually pressed, and the fibers are placed in small stills where they’re distilled into mezcal.

Hired help at Abel Gil’s distillery prepare to cook the agave.

It’s a long process. And all these tasks are also performed outdoors in temperatures topping 100 degrees, making an already laborious process even more so. It’s also done in very much the same way it always has been from generation to generation in the village.

For now, that mezcal is only sold in bulk, and what is sold is made in a way that it meets quality standards Pernod has set in place. “If we wanted to bottle the mezcal that would mean a lot of money to pay to the authorities and to get permission,” Rodriguez says. Liquor sales in Mexico have high taxes, sometimes near 60%, which can make it hard to market the product in accordance with the law.

Cut agave piñas in a pit of hot rocks are prepared for burning at Abel Gil’s distillery.

Now that the village, and its mezcal production, can provide a living wage for its residents, the hope is that more of them will choose to stay in the area and keep those traditions going well into the future—and potentially grow the business further.

“Continue getting ahead. That is what we’re looking for right now,” Rodriguez says. “We would like the mezcal production to thrive. We used to plant agave and make mezcal just because, without seeing any improvement or progress. Now what we want is to have a brand of our own.”

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[tpsworldwide-blog1]

Just In Time Remittances

My left eye twitched. With my left hand on the phone and right hand reaching for my wallet in my back pocket, I picked the mobile on the first ring. Any happily married man would agreeably do the same when the dial screen flashes her name.

It was a little unusual for an early morning call at 0915. I heard my wife sobbing and I had to pull out of my Monday morning team meeting to attend to the emergency. Her favorite maid's son, a long haul driver had met an accident 1400 miles away from me. The savior had contacted our maid explaining how an immediate operation was deemed by the local hospital as necessary. In our part of the world where the public medical care system fails to reach the mark, such emergencies usually have to be dealt with-in the personal eco-system. This situation required me to transfer the basic operating expense to a town, the existence of which needed me to Google it. Bigger, however, was the challenge of remitting funds to this far off place, even though I work in the payments realm and know of many options.

Pakistan is completing 10 years of being introduced to the agent banking/branchless banking deployments. The country is the home to some of the world's best and fastest growing mobile money deployments. With 350,000+ agents covering the larger geo footprint of Pakistan (881,913 km2), the target of increasing and diversifying financial access points of agents, atm, pos and branches form the core of the National financial inclusion strategy. The banking agent network in aggregate performs more than 5 million P2P remittances per month with an average transaction size of ~$40. A Recent change in regulatory policy allows the cash out limit to be increased to ~$450 from the agent network. This opportunity can be seized but not without the challenge of having physical cash availability at all times.

Agent network seemed to be an obvious choice but I could not risk the availability of the cash at the location especially at 0915 when my beneficiary had to collect it in real time. It was not a case of financial access point but a challenge of making the cash available at the payout location. The same challenge has haunted the utilization of banking agents for cash payout of home remittances, where the average transaction size is about $350.

With the "war against cash', there is a debate on the longevity of the ATM business. The fact is that to date; ATMs have proved the cheapest 24x7 location for cash availability. Their deployments will slow down but we are going to have at least 4.3 Million ATMs globally by 2020. The banks are constantly looking at improving the utilization of these deployed ATM assets. Research shows improvement in operational cost per ATM i.e. cost per transaction and cost per replenishment when the number of transactions increase. A further improvement when these assets generate revenue from off-us transactions.

Before I talk about the famous cheque and bank relationship, I have a confession to make. Although I evangelize digital payments and make most of my payments digitally, I love the simplistic approach of a cheque and have butterflies in the stomach to think that they will soon be gone. When I saw, billionaire industrialist Linus Larrabee (Humphrey Bogart) baiting Chauffeur's daughter, Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) into leaving his playboy younger brother in my favorite classic 'Sabrina', I was introduced to cheques. A ‘bearer cheque’ is encashable to the amount written at the bank branch, after the writer's signature are verified. The cashier typically gets the bearer to sign at the back of the cheque and keep a copy of his photo id for record.

DigiCheQ our latest verified money transfer service closely emulates the experience. It leverages the magic of Mobile Connect (see my previous blog post) and allows money transfer from sender to a verified Mobile number instead of an account number. The sender is able to create a digital cheque from his internet/mobile banking and host the cheque in the cloud (DigiCheQ platform hosted on #Azure cloud). The receiver is notified of the issuance with a one-time password which can be input at a payout ATM along with a Citizen ID number to withdraw cash. Mobile Connect pairs the CitizenId and the receiver’s mobile for verification, at the time of withdrawal (in real-time). This addresses the challenges of fraud and AML reverberating in the agent banking cash-outs regime.

The fast growing 3G/4G mobile network is addressing the network challenge associated with ATM deployments beyond the metro towns. This has enabled Pakistan to commission the highest ATM in the world at 15,397 ft by National Bank of Pakistan. With a far reaching ATM network, high uptime, 24x7 operations and cash availability, the utilization of DigiCheQ is deemed to grow both for the payout of domestic and international remittances.

Since the past few years, I am seeing the mobile wallet teams in MFS providers focusing their innovation efforts to build adoption of mobile wallets both in the banked and unbanked world. The premise is simple, facilitate the banked customers to pay their domestic household workers and the recipients can transfer the money back home. Being a part of the same network is cheaper but the possibility of exchange between account-wallets or wallet-account is also enabled via IBFT (see earlier blogpost). When we envisaged DigiCheQ, we targeted the missing case of Connecting Banked to the Unbanked. Why are those who are yet to join the network be excluded from the digital transaction infrastructure? The power of DigiCheQ allows you to encash the cheque at an ATM with only your mobile number. Would you have a mobile wallet/account you also have the option of redeeming your DigiCheQ into your account, the option and more that I will be the subject of my next blog.

Domestic remittances using the agent network is typically a 3-5% fee income model for the mobile money provider where the revenues are split between the agents and the MM provider in a 60-40 split favoring the agents. Banks acting as Issuers and/or Acquirers in the DigiCheQ infrastructure will have the ability to utilize the ATM/CDM infrastructure for earning upto 0.5-1% from the fee income on DigiCheQ origination and withdrawal.

Mobile Connect is live with 52 mobile operators in 29 countries reaching East & South Asia, APAC, Europe, MENA and Latam. With our early deployments live with China Mobile, other operators including Mobilink, Telenor adoption is in progress. DigiCheQ is now expanding to integrate the Mobile Connect APIs of global operators to enable Just in Time remittances.

About Mohsin Termezy:

Mohsin has rich experience across full cycle digital payments ecosystem with banks (retail, corporate, microfinance, agent banking), regulatory consulting and fintechs. He is a futurist with a belief in the power of two currencies: Data & Trust.