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margotryan · 6 years ago

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hey cuties!!! my name is fiona and i’m here and i’m EXCITED!!!! this is margot (but her CLOSE friends call her marley) , and i apologize ahead of time. she’s hard to unpack, but she’s a whole lotta fun!! give this post a like if you want to plot!! i have some wc’s listed on my blog, but TBH i prefer brainstorming sometimes??? depends on the muses! but without further adieux, here she is!

CISFEMALE — ever hear people say MARGOT RYAN looks a lot like KENDALL JENNER? I think SHE is about TWENTY-TWO, so it doesn’t really work. The BARTENDER has lived in Livingstone for TWENTY-TWO. They can be +PASSIONATE, but they can also be -VOLATILE. I think MARLEY might be A SHEEP. ( f. 19. est. she/her. )

BASICS

full name: MARGOT JEAN MARTIN

nicknames: MAR, MARLEY ( given to her by her friends after watching marley and me)

age: 22

dob: feb 3, 1997.

zodiac: aquarius.

occupation: bartender/instagram model.

THE PAST

mar was born and raised in livingstone, vermont to an extremely successful lawyer couple.

the ryans work out of new york city mostly, so growing up marley grew bonds with her babysitters, nannies, teachers instead of her parents

BUT they work there because they’re celebrity lawyers, getting paid a pretty penny for representing high profile criminals, as well as your everyday tabloid actress/musician/you name it.

her whole life, her parents bragged about how their only daughter (unless someone wants a siblings plot?? im down!) would follow in their footsteps eventually

despite how some people might react after growing up in this lifestyle, marley always had a deep love and respect for her parents and their goal-oriented view of things. so, despite being more of a creative and having no real desire to fulfill her parents’ wishes for her career, growing up she would just smile and nod along at whatever they said

TW MURDER: in her freshman year of high school, she began growing popularity. (this is also when she met her boyfriend, kieran.) her parents were representing an actor going through an extremely public murder case, which meant everyone knew her last name. it started out as whispers and stares, and marley didn’t even know why. her parents could never talk to her about their cases, so she was completely unaware of the case until finally, one of her friends pulled up the article

she went home and began researching herself, and mar was genuinely interested in it. she watched the news and read all the gossip about the theories simply because she found the dark undertones fascinating. it was something she hadn’t really been exposed to in her life. everything had been glitz and glam and smiles and money and parties, and it was like she was seeing a different side of the world she never knew about

now that she was informed about the case, she began answering her peers’ prying questions. she wasn’t doing anything wrong since all her information was obtained from the internet and not her parents, and suddenly people seemed to be a lot more interested in her

it also didn’t hurt that this was around the time she started caring about her appearance. she was berated with paparazzi every time she left her house during this time period, and she couldn’t escape the watchful eyes even at school. so, with her parents’ credit card in hand she went on a shopping spree, redesigning her entire wardrobe as well as practically cleaning out sephora’s entire stock

kieran had been the first to notice this new look, and they soon began dating. he was her first love, and she was absolutely infatuated. perhaps an unlikely couple, but Marley couldn’t care less about that. she still doodled his name all over her notebooks, and told him all about her plans for their future

after some time, the case came to a close and by the time she graduated it was long forgotten about. but marley was never forgotten about. she solidified her place as the queen bee for the rest of her high school career. and just like she nodded along with her parents’ plans for her, she did the same with her popularity. her main focus, however, was on kieran.

she ended up the captain of the cheerleading team, prom queen, as well as class president and valedictorian.

she was never a mean girl, which is probably why she was so well liked. she was the kind of girl you looked at and you were like “damn, she’s so beautiful, there’s no way she’s nice too” but then bam. and then she’s smart too?? how could you not love her???

she was also a bit naive. because she’d never really experienced pain or any misfortune at all, she never even considered the possibility of anything bad happening to her. that was until she found out kieran had been cheating on her. practically the entire time they had been together. thankfully, this knowledge came to light after graduation, just before she was to leave for college.

this personality followed her through college, and yes, she did attend harvard like her parents had begged her to. it wasn’t hard considering her parents had attended there, and they’d donated more than their fair share to the school. however, it was because of the pain of being cheated on, and the alluring sense of being in a new place all on her own that she discovered her love for the arts. she began drawing, painting.. anything from portraits, to abstract pieces, to fashion designs. she also picked up the piano, and she did sing and write a little bit of music, but she was far too embarrassed of it to tell anyone. she won’t even sing in front of anyone.

however, she entered harvard with a major in pre-law, but after taking a random art class as an elective her first semester, she changed it to business. she knew she couldn’t switch to art without an entire revolution from her parents, so she concocted some excuse about wanting to be the CEO of her own corporation. this, of course, was equally as acceptable to her parents

but in reality, she just wanted to learn how to market herself as a creative. whether she decided to be an artist, a fashion designer, a singer, or whatever else it was, she knew a degree in that field would do almost nothing for her, while business knowledge could make or break her

THE PRESENT

Marley graduated in 2018, and moved back home to livingstone where she met who else but michael green. the two became friends soon enough, and her parents were absolutely thrilled

her parents were the main driving force between the two getting together. they hated kieran, of course, when they were together. but michael green was the golden boy of livingstone, so he was perfect for the golden girl of living stone.

ever since high school, marley had been blissfully separated from the rest of her parents’ cases. however, she hadn’t escaped the courtroom just yet

although this time, she was taking the stand in defense of michael, her boyfriend, in the trial for the murder of kieran, her first love. none of it seemed real. it still doesn’t seem real to her

she tries her absolute best to stay away from the entire situation. she hasn’t opened the app once since it’s been on her phone, and she hasn’t even spoken to her parents since court.

she lives by herself in an apartment she pays for with her bartending job that her parents have no idea about. but, it pays her bills while she gets to create art - her favorite coping mechanism

but this is the first time she’s ever experienced hate online. she’d been receiving negative press from those same sites she had bookmarked on her laptop. ever since that first case she’d grown an obsession with the macabre, and frequently checked up on her favorite news sites, conspiracy theory sites, and other things of the sort. she knew so much about serial killers and other high profile crimes that she could probably conduct the perfect one and get away with it scot free. hmmmmm. anyway.

now these sites were posting about her, questioning her involvement in the whole thing. even she had to admit that her presence in the case was simply uncanny

but just like everything else in her life, she never asked for this. now, she wishes she could just go back to being the girl who got good grades, wore ugly wire glasses, and always had greasy hair.

PERSONALITY

marley loves to shock people. whether intentionally or unintentionally, it constantly happens. at first glance, she’s just another rich, pretty girl who’s been pampered every moment of her life. after everything she’s been through, that’s the distance she likes to keep between her and most people. sure, she’s kind to everyone she meets, but it can come off as fake to those that don’t know her. she just has that face. queen of rbf. but, her true heart and her mind are reserved for those who have proven to be worthy of it.

she is fiercely independent. that’s shown by the way that she defied her parents, while still maintaining her adoration and respect for them. she never had a rebellious phase, never let their controlling nature change who she was. she never lets people tell her how to think. and as she grows older and experiences more, she’s breaking her silence. she’s starting to not bite her tongue and smile and nod so as to keep being a nice little girl and not start any trouble. instead, she’s starting to voice her opinion, despite what anyone else thinks of it.

she definitely has a laaaarge group of friends. the kind of person that just gets along with everyone?? if they’re so lucky as to keep her attention, that is. sure, she’s nice to everyone she meets and if they ask to exchange numbers she’ll oblige. but that doesn’t mean she won’t block that number as soon as she leaves or simply ignore all the texts and calls from her ‘new friend.’ if there’s something off about you, she cuts you off before you get too close to know too much about her. simple as that.

but despite that she considers herself mainly a lone wolf. no one has your back like you do kind of thing. she doesn’t believe people have it in them to genuinely love and care for another person, especially when it comes to her. as far as she’s concerned, she has yet to see proof of that and she is a very ‘i need to see it to believe it’ kind of person

her inner workings and thought processes are certainly intense, but outwardly, she’s pretty laidback and likes to joke around.

she’s also beginning to party more. she starts by drinking and trying drugs alone in her apartment, but if she met someone who was well versed in those kinds of things??? yeah they’d get into trouble

#livingintro #this... is very long and rambly #but that's my middle name at this point tbh!!#if u ACTUALLY read all this?! i owe u my life..#don't forget to SMASH that like button or shoot me a msg<33 #*+:｡.｡　ɪᴍ sᴛɪʟʟ ᴀʟʟ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ ʜᴏᴡ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴇ? \ ᴬᴮᴼᵁᵀ.　｡.｡:+*

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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Unemployment Pay May Again Require a Job Search. Is It Too Soon? A tenet of the American unemployment system has been that anyone collecting benefits, in good times and bad, must look for work. That quid pro quo changed early in the pandemic. Profound fears of contagion and the sudden need for millions of workers to become caregivers led states to lift the requirements for reasons both practical and compassionate. But as vaccinations increase and the economy revs back to life, more than half of all states have revived their work search requirements. Arkansas and Louisiana did so months ago in an effort to push workers off their swollen unemployment rolls. Others, like Vermont and Kentucky, have followed in the last few weeks. The rest may be on the way. President Biden on Monday ordered the Labor Department to “work with the remaining states, as health and safety conditions allow,” to put such requirements in place as the pandemic abates. Employers may welcome the moves as potentially enlarging the pool of job seekers. But for many workers, the search obligation is a premature declaration that the world has returned to normal even as legitimate concerns persist about contracting the virus and about child care constraints. “The work search thing is just a mess,” said Tyler Evans, 34, who lost his job of nearly four years at a restaurant in downtown Nashville early in the pandemic. Mr. Evans’s doctor has not cleared him for work, warning him that he faced extra risk from the coronavirus because he has an autoimmune disease. According to Tennessee, however, Mr. Evans must complete three job search activities a week to remain eligible for unemployment benefits. When he explained his situation to people at the State Labor Department, they suggested that he just say he had looked for work, because the state’s system had no way to account for health cases like his. Instead, Mr. Evans has diligently applied to jobs every week — even though he wouldn’t be able to accept any of them. “I would say one out of four times, someone would give me a call back,” he said. “And I would have to say, ‘Oh, I actually can’t work for you for health reasons, but the Department of Labor asked that I do this anyway.’” Research suggests that work search requirements of some form in normal economic times can compel workers to find their next job and reduce their time on unemployment. But the pandemic has added a new layer to a debate over how to balance relief with the presumption that joblessness is only transitory. Most states cut off unemployment benefits after 26 weeks. Business groups say bringing back work search requirements will help juice the labor market and dissuade workers from waiting to return to their old employers or holding out for remote or better-paying jobs. Opponents contend that the mandate keeps undue numbers of Americans from continuing to receive needed benefits because it can be hard to meet the sometimes arduous requirements, including documenting the search efforts. And they say workers may be forced to apply for and accept lower-paying or less-satisfying jobs at a time when the pandemic has caused some to reassess the way they think about their work, their family needs and their prospects. “I think the work search requirement is necessary as an economist,” said Marta Lachowska, an economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Mich., who has studied the effects of work search requirements on employment. But she added, “Perhaps given the big disruption we have observed to the labor market, people should be given some slack.” In Washington, the issue has become part of a larger clash over jobless benefits that intensified after the disappointing April jobs report, with Republicans asserting that Mr. Biden’s policies are deterring people from looking for work and holding back the economic recovery. A rising number of Republican governors have taken matters into their own hands, moving to end a weekly $300 unemployment supplement and other federally funded emergency assistance that otherwise isn’t due to expire until September. Mr. Biden has rebuffed the criticism of his economic recovery plan. But his embrace of work search requirements — more than a year after the federal government directed states to waive them — has made the practice a pillar in the effort to revitalize the economy. Tim Goodrich, the executive director for state government relations at the National Federation of Independent Business, said his members had complained that they were having trouble filling open positions — a challenge that restoring work search requirements may help alleviate. “They are seeing a lack of applicants, so a job search is certainly helpful,” Mr. Goodrich said. Job openings rose in March to 8.1 million, the Labor Department reported on Tuesday, yet there are more than eight million fewer people working than before the pandemic. Economists ascribe some of the incongruity to a temporary mismatch between the jobs on offer and the skills or background of those looking for work. They say that in a recovering labor market like the current one, there may not be enough suitable jobs for people seeking re-employment, which can frustrate workers and drive them to apply to positions haphazardly. That has been the case for Rie Wilson, 45, who worked in venue sales for a nonprofit in New York City before she lost her job last summer. To fulfill New York’s work search requirement, which generally makes unemployment applicants complete at least three job search activities each week, Ms. Wilson has had to apply for positions she would not typically consider, like administrative assistant jobs, she said. The prospect of accepting such a job makes her anxious. “There is always a thought in my mind that, ‘Well, what if I do get pulled in this direction just because I’m being forced to apply for these jobs? What does that look like for my career?’” she said. The process has been time-consuming, she said, “and it’s also a mental wear and tear because you’re literally pulled from all angles in a very stressful situation.” Alexa Tapia, the unemployment insurance campaign coordinator at the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, said work search requirements “harm more than they help,” especially during the pandemic. In particular, she said, such requirements perpetuate systemic racism by trapping people of color, especially women, in underpaid work with fewer benefits. And she noted that people of color were more likely to be denied benefits on the basis of such requirements. With state unemployment offices already overtaxed, she added, work search requirements are “just another barrier being put to claimants, and it can be a very demoralizing barrier.” In states that have reinstated work search requirements, worker advocates say an especially frustrating obstacle has been a lack of guidance. Sue Berkowitz, the director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, which works with low-income South Carolinians, said unemployed workers in the state largely wanted to go back to work. But the information on the state’s website about work search requirements is so confusing, she said, that she worries workers won’t understand it. Before the state reimposed the requirements last month, Ms. Berkowitz sent a marked-up copy of the proposed language to the chief of staff at the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce urging clarifications and changes. One of her biggest concerns was that the language as it stood was at a 12th-grade reading level, while the typical reading level of adult Americans is much lower. She did not hear back. “It was crickets,” she said. More broadly, employees in South Carolina, where the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, can be reluctant to take a job that pays less than the one they had before the pandemic, Ms. Berkowitz said. “It’s not that they are below taking a job that makes a lot less, but their financial needs are high enough that they need to continue to make a certain salary,” she said. Although work search requirements have become a political issue, their restoration does not fall solely along partisan lines. Florida, for instance, where the Republican governor has repeatedly flouted virus restrictions, had kept the work search waiver in place before announcing recently that it would reinstate the requirement at the end of the month. But many other states, particularly Republican ones, have rushed to bring their work search requirements back. That is what Crista San Martin found when they left their job out of health concerns at a dog boarding facility in Cypress, Texas, which reinstated its work search requirement in November. Mx. San Martin, 27, who uses the pronouns they and them, said there were very few job openings near them in the pet care industry, making finding a position onerous. “That made it really difficult for me to log any work searches, because there simply weren’t enough jobs that I would actually want to take for my career,” they said. The first job they applied to was at a Panera, “which is not in my field of interest at all.” Above all, applying to arbitrary jobs felt risky, they said, because there was no way to assess potential employers’ Covid-19 safety protocols. Mx. San Martin has since returned to their old job. “It’s pretty unfair,” they said. “Going out and just casting a wide net and seeing whether a random business will take you is not safe.” Source link Orbem News #Job #pay #require #Search #Unemployment

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eznews · 4 years ago

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Here’s what you need to know:

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Javier Alvarez donating his plasma at Houston Methodist Hospital in July, after his grandmother died from the virus.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Hold off approving plasma for emergency use, Fauci and others warn the F.D.A.: The data isn’t strong enough yet.

Last week, just as the Food and Drug Administration was preparing to issue an emergency authorization for blood plasma as a Covid-19 treatment, a group of top federal health officials including Dr. Anthony S. Fauci intervened, arguing that emerging data on the treatment was too weak, according to two senior administration officials.

The authorization is on hold for now as more data is reviewed, according to H. Clifford Lane, the clinical director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. An emergency approval could still be issued in the near future, he said.

Donated by people who have survived the disease, antibody-rich plasma is considered safe. President Trump has hailed it as a “beautiful ingredient” in the veins of people who have survived Covid-19.

But clinical trials have not proved whether plasma can help people fighting the coronavirus.

Several top health officials — led by Dr. Francis S. Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, and including Dr. Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert and Dr. Lane — urged their colleagues last week to hold off, citing recent data from the country’s largest plasma study, run by the Mayo Clinic. They thought the study’s data to date was not strong enough to warrant an emergency approval.

“The three of us are pretty aligned on the importance of robust data through randomized control trials, and that a pandemic does not change that,” Dr. Lane said in an interview on Tuesday.

The drafted emergency authorization leaned on the history of plasma’s use in other disease outbreaks and on animal research and a spate of plasma studies, including the Mayo Clinic’s program, which has infused more than 66,000 people with Covid-19 thanks to financing from the federal government.

An F.D.A. spokeswoman declined to comment.

Plasma, the pale yellow liquid leftover after blood is stripped of its red and white cells, has been the subject of months of intense enthusiasm from scientists, celebrities and Mr. Trump, part of the administration’s push for coronavirus treatments as a stopgap while pharmaceutical companies race to complete dozens of clinical trials for coronavirus vaccines.

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A proposal for pandemic relief by Republicans would provide less money than their previous offers.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, last week. Republicans are proposing a relief bill that would provide unemployed workers with an extra $300 per week.Credit…Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times

Senate Republicans are circulating text of a narrow coronavirus relief package that would spend less money, in fewer areas, than earlier offers, including reviving extra unemployment benefits at half the original rate.

The draft measure appears to be an effort to break through the political stalemate over providing another round of economic stimulus to Americans during the pandemic. And it comes at a time when rank-and-file lawmakers facing re-election from both parties have grown increasingly uneasy with the lack of congressional action.

The latest offer, however, is unlikely to alter the debate in Washington, where Democrats have repeatedly rejected previous Republican offers as insufficient, a theme likely to be raised Wednesday evening during the Democratic National Convention when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of California, is scheduled to speak.

Among the considerations in the new legislation is providing $105 billion for schools as students have begun returning to classes, and establishing liability protections — a longtime priority for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky — that President Trump has dismissed as not essential.

But the proposal drops one of the few areas of bipartisan consensus from the original Republican plan and something Mr. Trump has said he wants to see: a second round of direct payments to low- and middle-income Americans.

It was not clear whether senators, currently scattered across the country until early September for the annual summer recess, will vote on the measure anytime soon.

Ms. Pelosi called House members back early from their summer recess to vote Saturday on legislation addressing changes to the Postal Service and providing $25 billion to the beleaguered agency, which will be critical to ensuring voters can cast their ballots by mail this November to avoid the risk of infection by voting in-person.

Dozens of House lawmakers have signed on to a letter to Ms. Pelosi and Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader, asking for a second vote on Saturday, on legislation that would revive the full $600 weekly federal benefit and ensure an automatic continuation and adjustment based on the state of the economic and public health crises.

Lawmakers and aides are also discussing the possibility of using the looming lapse in annual government funding, which expires at the end of September, to jointly approve a short-term spending bill and relief package.

Venezuela is treating the infected like criminals in its coronavirus crackdown.

In July, National Guard officers raided a house in Caracas where people had broken lockdown rules by having a gathering.Credit…Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has tackled the coronavirus much as he has any internal threat to his rule: by deploying his repressive security apparatus against it.

Officials in Venezuela’s government are denouncing people who may have come into contact with the coronavirus as “bioterrorists” and urging their neighbors to report them. The government is detaining and intimidating doctors and experts who question Mr. Maduro’s policies on the virus.

And it is corralling thousands of Venezuelans who are streaming home after losing jobs abroad, holding them in makeshift containment centers out of fear that they may be infected.

In commandeered hotels, disused schools and cordoned-off bus stations, the returning Venezuelans are forced into crowded rooms with limited food, water or masks and held under military guard for weeks or months for coronavirus tests or treatment with unproven medications, according to interviews with the detainees, videos they have taken on their cellphones and government documents.

“They told us we’re contaminated, that we’re guilty of infecting the country,” said Javier Aristizabal, a nurse from the capital, Caracas, who said he spent 70 days in centers after he returned from Colombia in March.

In one major city, San Cristóbal, governing party activists are marking the homes of families suspected of having the virus with plaques and threatening them with detention, residents said. In another city, Maracaibo, the police are patrolling the streets in search of Venezuelans who re-entered the country without official approval. Local opposition politicians whose constituencies register an outbreak say they are threatened with prosecution.

“This is the only country in the world where having Covid is a crime,” said Sergio Hidalgo, a Venezuelan opposition activist who said he had come down with symptoms of the virus, only to find police officers at his door and government officials accusing him of infecting the community.

‘There’s only chaos’: Democrats keep hammering Trump’s response to the virus during their convention.

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Highlights From the Democratic National Convention: Night 2

On the second night of the virtual convention, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. officially became the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.

“Welcome.” “Welcome.” “Welcome —” “— to the second night —” “— of the Democratic National Convention.” “This is a different kind of convention.” “This year —” “— all of us are on the stage.” “And we’ve got a lot to say.” “The presidential election is the world’s most important job interview. At the end, we hire a leader to help us solve problems, create opportunities and give our kids better tomorrows. That’s a tall order this year, with the Covid-19 outbreak on a path to killing 200,000 people and destroying millions of jobs and small businesses. How did Donald Trump respond? Only when Covid exploded in even more states did he encourage people to wear masks. By then, many more were dying. When asked about the surge in deaths, he shrugged and said, ‘It is what it is.’ At a time like this. the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it’s a storm center. There’s only chaos. Just one thing never changes: his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there.” “Under our procedural rules, two Democratic candidates submitted nominating documents to our convention secretary for the office of president of the United States: Senator Bernie Sanders and Vice President Joe Biden.” “In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment and lack of health care, en el espíritu del pueblo, and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America.” “I take powerful people up on my elevator all the time. When they get off, they go to their important meetings. Me, I just head back to the lobby. But in the short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could tell he really saw me, that he actually cared. That’s why I nominate my friend Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.” “We’ll now proceed to a roll call by states.” “As an Arizona Latina, I proudly cast our votes: 29 for Bernie Sanders and 51 for our next president, Joe Biden.” “The calamari comeback state of Rhode Island casts one vote for Bernie Sanders and 34 votes for the next president, Joe Biden.” “Delaware is proud to cast its 32 votes for our favorite son and our next president —” “— our friend, Delaware’s Joe Biden.” [music, “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang] [cheering] “I’m pleased to announce that Vice President Joe Biden has officially been nominated by the Democratic Party as our candidate for president of the United States.” “Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all. It means the world to me and my family.” “Before Donald Trump, we used to talk about American exceptionalism. The only thing exceptional about the incoherent Trump foreign policy is that it has made our nation more isolated than ever before.” “Our country needs a commander in chief who takes care of our troops in the same way he would his own family. For Joe Biden, that doesn’t need teaching. It comes from the experience he shares with millions of military families: sending his beloved son off to war and praying to God he would come home safe.” “You know, motherhood came to me in a way I never expected. I fell in love with a man and two little boys standing in the wreckage of unthinkable loss, mourning a wife and mother, a daughter and sister. How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole: with love and understanding, and with small acts of kindness, with bravery, with unwavering faith. The burdens we carry are heavy, and we need someone with strong shoulders. I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: bring us together and make us whole, carry us forward in our time of need, keep the promise of America for all of us.” “Great job. God love you, I don’t know how you …”

On the second night of the virtual convention, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. officially became the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.CreditCredit…Democratic National Convention

Denied the chance to assemble in Milwaukee because of the pandemic, Democrats formally nominated Joseph R. Biden Jr. for the presidency on Tuesday from locations across all 50 states, the American territories and the District of Columbia.

While the bulk of the speeches addressed themes like national security, presidential accountability and continuity between past and future leaders of the party, the virus still made a few high-profile cameos:

Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee invited Democrats to come to his city once the coronavirus crisis had passed. “Unlike the president, we never made fun of face masks,” he said. “We understand why we can’t be together this week, and we hope you do too.”

Former President Bill Clinton accused President Trump of downplaying the virus crisis, and of collapsing under the pressure of a real management challenge. “At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center,” he said. “Instead, it’s a storm center. There’s only chaos. Just one thing never changes — his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there.”

Jill Biden, Mr. Biden’s wife and a former high school English teacher, expressed heartache over the losses from the coronavirus, as well as the frustration and fear it was inspiring among parents of schoolchildren. “Like so many of you, I’m left asking, ‘How do I keep my family safe?’” she said.

The convention’s central event — its roll call vote — was drastically revamped to accommodate the constraints imposed by the pandemic. This year, it consisted of a series of pretaped recordings of delegates listing their vote tallies, replacing the iconic and photogenic ritual of delegates shouting their state’s numbers into a hand-held microphone.

Australia signs a deal for a coronavirus vaccine, promising free doses for all citizens.

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Australia’s Prime Minister Announces Coronavirus Vaccine Deal

Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia signed a deal with the drugmaker AstraZeneca to manufacture a coronavirus vaccine and provide it free to 25 million Australians.

We’re here today to announce that we’ve signed a letter of intent with AstraZeneca which will enable Australia to access, should it be successful, the vaccine for Covid-19 here in Australia, manufactured here in Australia, distributed free to 25 million Australians, in the event that those trials prove successful. The next step in these arrangements is to see how those trials go, to complete the manufacturing agreements, and they are well advanced, and I feel very positive about those, and then to identify, as I said, other potential vaccine prospects that Australia can partner with. This particular vaccine, it’s an unproven technology so far, but the initial results are very positive in terms of both efficacy so the effectiveness of the vaccine will be trialled in larger groups of human trials over the coming months, but the efficacy in terms of developing antibodies against coronavirus has been shown to be true, as well as the safety in the Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia signed a deal with the drugmaker AstraZeneca to manufacture a coronavirus vaccine and provide it free to 25 million Australians.CreditCredit…Pool photo by Nick Moir

The Australian government has signed a deal with the drugmaker AstraZeneca to secure a potential coronavirus vaccine, and promised to offer it free to its 25 million citizens if clinical trials were successful.

The vaccine, a partnership between the British-Swedish drug maker and Oxford University, is in Phase III clinical trials. As of July, more than 10,000 participants in Britain, Brazil and South Africa had received doses.

“The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in the world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement on Wednesday.

He added that the vaccine doses would be manufactured domestically for its citizens, and that his office was working to secure early access for countries in Southeast Asia and those in Australia’s “Pacific family.”

Australia has also signed a $17.9 million deal with the U.S. medical technology company Becton Dickinson to supply needles and syringes.

Mr. Morrison said that Australia had so far invested $185 million in coronavirus vaccines, but did not specify the value of the AstraZeneca deal. Local news reports have estimated that the country’s overall plan to acquire vaccines would be worth billions of dollars.

The partnership between Oxford and AstraZeneca is among the most closely watched coronavirus vaccine efforts in the world. It was also the first to enter Phase III trials, and several countries — including Britain and the United States — have already agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a total of two billion doses even before the vaccine’s efficacy has been proven.

On Wednesday, Mr. Morrison cautioned that there was “no guarantee that this, or any other, vaccine will be successful,” and that his government was casting its net wide to find a vaccine.

Australia has reported 23,773 cases and 438 deaths. A recent outbreak in Melbourne, the country’s second-largest city, led to a lockdown with some of the toughest restrictions in the world.

Just one in five families will have any sort of in-person help this school year, a survey finds.

Janae Sturgeon and Demetrus Dugar at home with their children, Hannah, Isabel and Xayvion, in Kent, Wash.Credit…Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Parents across the United States are facing the pandemic school year feeling overwhelmed, anxious and abandoned. With few good options for support, the vast majority have resigned themselves to going it alone, a new survey for The New York Times has found.

Just one in seven parents said their children would be returning to school full time this fall, and for most children, remote school requires hands-on help from an adult at home. Yet four in five parents said they would have no in-person help, whether from relatives, neighbors, nannies or tutors, according to the survey, administered by Morning Consult. And more than half of parents will be taking on this second, unpaid job at the same time they’re holding down paid work.

Raising children has always been a community endeavor, and suddenly the village that parents relied on is gone. It’s taking a toll on parents’ careers, families’ well-being and children’s education.

In families where both wage earners need to work outside the home, parents have obvious logistical challenges because they cannot be in two places at once. Three-fourths of these parents say they will be overseeing their children’s education, and nearly half will be handling primary child care, according to the survey, answered by a nationally representative group of 1,081 parents from Aug. 4 to 8.

Eighty percent of parents who are both working remotely during the pandemic will also be handling child care and education.

One-fifth of parents are considering hiring a private teacher or tutor to help with their children’s education while school is remote, according to the survey.

“All the choices stink,” said Kate Averett, a sociologist at the University at Albany in New York who has been interviewing parents nationwide since the spring. “There is a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety. Parents tell me about not being able to sleep because they’re so anxious, or tell me they’ve been crying a lot. There’s been a lot of actual crying during interviews.”

education roundup

Pandemic precautions at U.S. military academies: Tight quarters at Annapolis, ample space at West Point.

A socially distanced Induction Day at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., in June.Credit…Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Military discipline gives the nation’s service academies one advantage over civilian colleges in dealing with the coronavirus threat: They can give students direct orders, and not just ask for compliance with safety precautions. But in many other ways, their traditions and long heritage creates complications, especially at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

When the midshipmen — the academy’s students — begin classes on Wednesday, not all of them will be seated in classrooms. And in what may be a first for the school, which was founded in 1845, not all will even be on campus — at least not right away.

Ordinarily, all midshipmen live in a single dormitory: Bancroft Hall, a sprawling building with eight wings. But this year, one wing has been set aside to quarantine students exposed to the virus and isolate those who contract it. (The nearest military hospital is 38 miles away.)

So the academy plans to house about 500 midshipmen off campus in the surrounding area — a major departure for a tightly guarded institution accustomed to curfews and strict discipline. The academy said it expected to bring the remainder of its midshipmen to Annapolis by mid-September.

The Naval Academy fills 338 acres, some of it reclaimed from the Severn River — a much tighter space than the U.S. Military Academy’s 16,000 acres at West Point, N.Y., and the Air Force Academy’s 18,000-plus acres in Colorado Springs, Colo.

With so much more space, the Army allowed all 4,400 cadets to be on campus when classes began Monday. Unlike Annapolis, West Point had several spare barracks available; two have been made ready to quarantine students if needed, and one has been converted to serve as an isolation ward. The Keller Army Community Hospital, with a 16-bed intensive care unit and a supply of ventilators, is on the post and can care for cadets who come down with Covid-19, according to Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt, an Army spokesman.

Cmdr. Alana Garas, a Navy spokeswoman, said that, wherever they are, all 4,600 midshipmen will be taking classes offered in a “hybrid” fashion, combining in-person and online instruction.

The Air Force Academy, a much younger institution established in the 1950s, did not respond to queries about its pandemic precautions.

The Pentagon prohibits the academies from releasing the exact number of midshipmen and cadets who have contracted the coronavirus, but both Annapolis and West Point have reported an infection rate of less than two percent among students.

In other education news:

A week into the fall semester, the University of Notre Dame announced on Tuesday that it would move to online instruction for at least the next two weeks in an attempt to control a growing coronavirus outbreak. Michigan State University also shifted its reopening plans, telling students not to return for the start of classes in two weeks.

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

The Philippines mostly reopens for business, against experts’ advice.

A market in Manila on Tuesday.Credit…Eloisa Lopez/Reuters

The Philippines largely reopened for business on Wednesday, against the advice of some health experts.

The Philippines has nearly 170,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, including nearly 30,000 that were reported in the past week, according to a New York Times database. Its total caseload is the highest in Southeast Asia.

Under the rules that took effect on Wednesday, more industries were allowed to open, limited church services were allowed to resume, and restaurants welcomed dine-in customers. The rules apply in and around Manila, the capital, and several outlying provinces, a region that has been under various stages of lockdown since March.

“Almost all industries will reopen, except for those that attract mass gatherings” like amusement parks, said Harry Roque, a spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte.

The easing of the lockdown was designed to revive a flagging economy that has taken a beating from the virus and that has officially slipped into recession in the second quarter. Mr. Duterte’s government has insisted that the majority of those infected in recent weeks have shown mild symptoms.

But health experts have warned that lifting lockdowns too quickly would lead to more cases and deaths. Nearly all of Manila’s hospitals are under severe strain.

“It’s really counterintuitive to reopen the economy amidst the steep rise of cases and the presence of fully loaded hospitals,” Dr. Anthony Leachon, a former adviser to Mr. Duterte’s government on the pandemic, said in an interview.

In other developments around the world:

South Korea reported 297 new infections on Wednesday, its highest daily rise since March. Kim Gang-lip, a senior health official, warned that new infections in and around Seoul, the capital, could lead to “massive nationwide transmission.” The country of about 51 million people has reported at least 16,000 confirmed infections during the pandemic, including at least 1,300 in the past week, according to a New York Times database.

The head of the organization responsible for approving vaccines in Germany expects the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine to be available in the country by the beginning of next year. Klaus Cichutek, the president of the Paul Ehrlich Institute, said the timing was contingent on whether “the data in the Phase 3 trials prove the efficacy and safety of vaccine products.” Germany recorded 1,510 new infections on Tuesday, according to a New York Times database, the country’s highest daily total since the beginning of May.

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that a coronavirus vaccine should be made universally available, especially to the poor. “How sad it would be if access to a Covid-19 vaccine were made available only to the rich,” the pope said during his weekly address, which since March has been broadcast from the apostolic library instead of being held in St. Peter’s Square. The pandemic, Francis said, was a crisis that could help improve the world by overcoming the “social injustice, lack of equal opportunity and marginalization of the poor.” He added, “We must come out better.”

Aiming to provide a better picture of how the virus is spreading across Britain, the government announced a rapid expansion of one of its testing programs. The program selects a random sample of the population, regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms. The survey, which currently tests 28,000 people every two weeks in England, will be expanded to all parts of the United Kingdom, and a new target has been set of testing 150,000 people every two weeks by October. At least 41,000 people have died from the coronavirus in Britain, which has struggled in its efforts to track down those who have been exposed.

Nepal plans to reimpose a strict lockdown and curfew in the Kathmandu Valley for a week, the country’s news media reported. All movement except essential services will be restricted. Nepal has reported at least 4,300 cases in the past week, for a total of at least 28,000.

Reporting was contributed by Peter Baker, Alexander Burns, Choe Sang-Hun, Emily Cochrane, Nick Corasaniti, Sheri Fink, Katie Glueck, Jason Gutierrez, Isayen Herrera, John Ismay, Mike Ives, Jennifer Jett, Anatoly Kurmanaev, Sharon LaFraniere, Jonathan Martin, Claire Cain Miller, Adam Nagourney, Elisabetta Povoledo, Frances Robles, Anna Schaverien, Christopher F. Schuetze, Eileen Sullivan, Jim Tankersley, Sheyla Urdaneta, Noah Weiland and Elaine Yu.

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2whatcom-blog · 6 years ago

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Acupuncture vs. Opioids for Ache Aid

Within the midst of the opioid disaster, acupuncture has been rising in reputation in america. Primarily used for ache administration, this historical Chinese language type of various drugs -- which includes skinny needles being inserted into the pores and skin -- has gained help from the U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs and Medicaid as a viable therapy in recent times. Whereas the scientific proof of acupuncture's advantages continues to be broadly debated, analysis from suggests it may be used to handle sure ache circumstances -- particularly again and neck ache, osteoarthritis ache, and complications. It is also been used to deal with a spread of different circumstances. As its reputation has grown, extra individuals in america have begun turning to acupuncture when typical drugs falls quick. Researchers are nonetheless attempting to find out whether or not acupuncture is usually a helpful therapy for numerous well being illnesses. Nonetheless, for individuals who could also be searching for various choices for hard-to-treat circumstances, listed below are 4 areas during which acupuncture might assist.

Acupuncture for relieving ache

Heidi Boyson had suffered from continual low-back ache for a decade when she tried acupuncture for the primary time in England. She'd already tried chiropractors, bodily remedy, and drugs. "Nothing worked," she advised Healthline. "The acupuncturist put needles in my head, and I fell asleep, which was great. When I woke up, I was much more relaxed." After only one go to, Boyson says her ache grew to become manageable. Western analysis has proven that acupuncture could be efficient in managing ache. Precisely why it really works continues to be unclear, although there are a number of theories. The primary written account of acupuncture, in "The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine," dates to 100 B.C. in China. The idea behind the observe suggests the stimulation of particular spots prompts the physique to launch a move of vitality, or "qi," which travels via "meridians." The Western rationalization: The needle stimulates a nerve, which sends a sign to the mind to launch beta-endorphins. These chemical compounds work because the physique's personal opioids, decreasing ache thresholds. One other proposes acupuncture adjustments cells in connective tissue across the strain factors in lasting ways in which result in much less ache. There may be additionally proof, based on a , that stimulating the vagus nerve, which runs from the mind stem to the colon, might decrease irritation all through the physique. Irritation is intently tied to continual ache. States seeking to minimize opioid prescriptions have been experimenting with extending Medicaid protection for acupuncture as an alternative choice for ache therapy. Rhode Island, Oregon, and Ohio all have applications that reach protection partially. When Vermont commissioned a small pilot research on acupuncture for continual ache in its Medicaid inhabitants, it concluded that 32 p.c of individuals taking opioids for ache in the reduction of. They had been eligible for as much as 12 remedies over two months. The U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs has educated greater than 2,800 suppliers of "battlefield acupuncture," a protocol that includes the ear to alleviate ache. Based on Dr. Charles Levy on the Gainesville VA heart in Florida, the protocol has helped with complications, acute and continual again and musculoskeletal ache, and neuropathic ache. The outcome relies upon dramatically on the ache, the practitioner, and the affected person. Final yr, when Boyson was dealing with occasional migraines, she went to an acupuncturist in New York Metropolis. "Traditional medicine wasn't helping, and was lovely and affordable," Boyson mentioned, including she'd really feel good after every go to, however this time the results did not stick. The checked out seven research that in contrast the impact of acupuncture in opposition to a sham (placebo) acupuncture process to deal with rigidity complications. The group that acquired the sham (placebo) process had complications 7 to 16 days a month, whereas those that had the actual acupuncture suffered two fewer days with headache. Everybody had a minimal of six weekly remedies. Narda Robinson, an osteopath who makes use of acupuncture, says that when she treats complications, she does a cautious examination of not solely the affected person's head, but in addition the neck and again and the affected person's posture. "I am accustomed to whole-person medicine -- not focusing on one part at the exclusion of others," she advised Healthline.

Treating neurologic harm

Robinson, who runs CuraCore Integrative Medication & Training Heart in Fort Collins, Colorado, can also be a veterinarian. She's seen acupuncture work wonders with each individuals and canines affected by nerve harm. Stimulating acupuncture factors in canines with paralyzed hind legs has allowed them to stroll, she says. "My veterinary colleagues and I witness remarkable turnarounds in dogs with thoracolumbar spinal cord injury from disc disease" she mentioned. One other exceptional turnaround occurred to an environmental scientist in his 50s who got here to see her for acupuncture. Due to a automotive accident 20 years earlier, he could not smile absolutely on one aspect of his face or clearly pronounce phrases. His face, palms, and ft had been numb. Quickly after she handled him, he started to regain sensation and motor expertise he had been advised would by no means return. "At every visit, he'd report on how he could now feel the fine edges of the computer keyboard, use his fingers well enough to button his own shirt, and smile as well as speak more normally," Robinson mentioned. Can acupuncture reliably assist severe neurological issues? "It's certainly something that should be explored more intensively in human spinal cord injury clinics, both to facilitate recovery and reduce the need for surgery," Robinson mentioned. Nonetheless, the analysis thus far has been largely inconclusive. A of utilizing acupuncture to recuperate after a spinal wire harm discovered solely 12 research, which did present enhancements in motor perform and functioning. But a of whether or not acupuncture helps stroke survivors discovered greater than 30 research on the topic, and it was inconclusive. However, Robinson strongly disagrees. She maintains that the proof is promising sufficient. She believes individuals with nerve harm needs to be supplied acupuncture, particularly if they've few different choices. The identical reasoning may apply to hard-to-treat ache. In 2018, 4 U.S. anesthesiologists carried out a of nondrug remedies for fibromyalgia (a situation marked by fatigue and ache in lots of spots of the physique). They concluded that meditation and cognitive behavioral remedy had been extra promising than acupuncture. As a result of it hardly ever causes any hurt, they wrote it additionally "should not be discouraged."

Selling weight reduction

New methods to shed pounds are normally a fad. There is no such thing as a gold-star analysis -- massive, managed, randomized research -- to help a case for acupuncture to shed kilos. Nonetheless, there's some early optimistic proof. Two factors within the ear have historically been related to urge for food. A discovered 18 randomized managed research of ear acupuncture for weight reduction. These had been small research. The biggest research solely concerned 200 members. The evaluate concluded that ear acupuncture was linked to a mean lack of about three kilos. Therapies that lasted longer than six weeks produced the very best outcomes. Quite a few research are being carried out on the impact of an individual's microbiome -- the micro organism contained in the physique -- on weight acquire. A small Shanghai research discovered that acupuncture lowered the variety of Bacteroidetes, that are extra ample in those that are overweight. Regardless of the widespread use of probiotics, we do not at present have focused methods of adjusting our intestine flora. On this research, among the many 30 girls who acquired acupuncture, the common BMI dropped from near 28 to a bit of over 25. Their Bacteroidetes ranges additionally fell. A small management group did not lose a lot weight or see the identical favorable adjustments of their intestine flora. There may be some information suggesting that electro acupuncture is simpler than needles alone for weight reduction, based on one other . Acupuncture might cut back irritation, which is expounded to weight problems in addition to ache. If it relieves ache or nervousness, that would assist individuals keep away from overeating too. "I don't see acupuncture as having that big an effect on obesity itself, but more on addressing problems with pain and mood," Robinson mentioned.

Taming nausea

Based on a 2017 evaluate, the Nationwide Most cancers Institute and different main medical organizations in america and Europe regard acupuncture as an acceptable therapy for post-chemotherapy nausea and vomiting. A of 30 randomized and managed trials involving greater than 2,500 volunteers concluded that stimulating numerous acupuncture factors minimize nausea and vomiting inside hours or a day after surgical procedure, which is a standard response to anesthesia.

Ongoing analysis into acupuncture as therapy

The helps analysis on acupuncture as a therapy for a spread of circumstances, together with sizzling flashes, ache associated to chemotherapy, and tinnitus. The opioid disaster has additionally restored curiosity in acupuncture not only for ache aid, but in addition for rest to assist wean individuals from addictions. Extra analysis is required to totally perceive all the advantages acupuncture may supply. Till then, individuals searching for options for hard-to-treat circumstances might discover aid via this Japanese method to drugs. "Conventional medicine is at a crossroads," Robinson mentioned. "The drugs-and-surgery dominant approach is costly and incomplete" and sufferers find yourself "misdiagnosed and overmedicated for problems medical acupuncture" may assist. Editor's word: This piece was initially reported on June 5, 2018. Its present publication date displays an replace, which features a medical evaluate by Debra Rose Wilson, PhD, MSN, RN, IBCLC, AHN-BC, CHT. Read the full article

#2what.com #acupuncture #medicine #research #robinson #studies #treatment #weight

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toldnews-blog · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/united-states-of-america/states-turning-to-drivers-licenses-to-help-immigrants/

States Turning to Driver's Licenses to Help Immigrants

Jorge was driving a friend’s car in December 2017 when a police officer in Long Island stopped him. Because the car’s registration had expired, and because Jorge was driving without a license, the officer slapped him with a $300 fine.

“Thank God he only gave me a ticket,” Jorge, 49, told NBC in Spanish.

It could have been much worse. Jorge, who asked to only be identified by his first name because of safety concerns related to his immigration status, knows that often when police stop drivers without a license, they contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Undocumented immigrants like Jorge are barred from getting driver’s licenses in most states, and routine stops or minor traffic offenses can escalate into detention or deportation.

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According to advocates, that has become increasingly true under the Trump administration. Even in a left-leaning state with immigrant-friendly policies such as New York, there has been an uptick in arrests and deportations of undocumented residents for driving without a license, said Anu Joshi, senior director of immigrant rights policy at New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC).

“Since the Trump administration has come into power, what we’ve seen is that Border Patrol and ICE are really operating with impunity, and in a much more reckless and seemingly random fashion,” Joshi said.

An ICE spokesperson said “the agency focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security” and “does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately.” But, he continued, “those in violation of immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to request for comment on their operations.

As states grapple with ramped up federal immigration enforcement, politicians and advocates are recommending safeguards for undocumented communities, including giving immigrants who are in the country illegally access to driver’s licenses. Already, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have systems in place that let residents drive legally, regardless of their immigration status.

Lawmakers in a dozen other states have introduced legislation that would allow undocumented residents to apply for licenses; Democratic strongholds such as Massachusetts and New Jersey are among them, as are states such as Kansas, North Carolina, Minnesota, Texas and Florida.

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In New York, as in many other states, proposed legislation would represent a restoration of rights for undocumented residents, who lost their ability to drive legally because of measures that took effect after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Immigrant rights groups have been advocating for access to driver’s licenses for years, and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer tried to reform the license policy more than a decade ago. When NYIC assesses priorities among its members through roundtables, one-on-one conversations, and surveys, this is the issue that rises to the top, Joshi said.

Beyond protecting undocumented immigrants from arrest and deportation, legislators and advocates in New York say their bill, the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, would improve public safety and contribute to state and local revenue. “It really is in the public’s interest, regardless of immigration status, to make sure that everybody who is already driving on the roads anyway is properly trained and licensed and is able to be held accountable for the way that they drive,” said New York Sen. Julia Salazar, who co-sponsored the bill.

In states that have already implemented such policies, research indicates that in some cases, uninsured rates, alcohol-involved crashes, and fatal crashes dropped after the law changed. In California, hit-and-runs decreased, “suggesting that the policy reduced fears of deportation and vehicle impoundment,” according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. One widely cited but contested statistic based on data from the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division showed that the uninsured rate in New Mexico plummeted from 33% in 2002 to 9.1% in 2011, coinciding with the change in law.

Port Chester, New York, Police Chief Richard Conway said licensing undocumented drivers would set a minimum standard of competency for people who will drive regardless. It would also save his department man hours. Whenever an officer catches a driver without a license, that usually results in impounding the vehicle, Conway said. If undocumented drivers were licensed, officers could spend that time more efficiently.

“I think it would be a big help to law enforcement, and I think it would make streets generally safer,” Conway said.

Fiscally, the New York bill that would license an estimated 265,000 people within three years would provide a one-time $26 million revenue bump as well as $57 million annually to the government, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI). The potential boon comes after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in February that New York was hit with a $2.3 billion budget deficit thanks in part to federal tax reform from 2017.

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It would also mean the purchase of an estimated 97,000 more cars at a time when auto sales are on the decline. And because undocumented immigrants would be able to legally obtain insurance, it would likely result in a modest drop in rates for all New Yorkers with an auto insurance policy, FPI found.

“I think on merits the driver’s license issue deserves a lot of support. There really is no doubt about it,” said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute’s (MPI) office at New York University School of Law.

But, Chishti countered, “Immigration is not ultimately about the merits of the argument.”

“When it comes to things like giving people privileges like driving, it sort of taps into the raw feelings about immigration,” he said.

The effort to license undocumented immigrants in New York has support from key players. The New York Times editorial board ran an opinion piece this month backing the measure, and Gov. Cuomo is among its advocates.

“As Attorney General, the governor was one of the few leaders willing to stick his neck out and stand up for this issue,” said Tyrone Stevens, spokesperson for the governor. “Now as Governor, he has repeatedly said that he supports legislative efforts to address this problem.”

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An ICE spokesperson said that “a state’s decision on whether to allow an alien to obtain a driver’s license is not relevant to ICE operations.” A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the record.

But among the wider public, support is lacking. A March Siena College poll of 700 New York registered voters found that 61% of people opposed allowing undocumented residents to get a New York driver’s license.

One commenter on the recent New York Times editorial wrote that “it is these types of ideas that turn an average Jane away from the Democrat Party,” and that by giving undocumented residents access to licenses, “you have as well as legalized them.” Another called the policy “a terrible idea,” writing that “enabling criminals is akin to aiding and abetting.” But in recent years, visa overstays — a civil offense — have far exceeded border crossings, meaning many of the people in the country illegally are not criminals simply by virtue of their immigration status.

New York Republican Sen. Daphne Jordan, one of the bill’s vocal opponents, authored a petition in which she outlined her misgivings: it would “open the door to voter fraud, bank fraud and ID theft” and create “a loophole for underage children to obtain valid DMV-issued IDs to unlawfully buy alcohol, cigarettes, and quite possibly soon, marijuana,” she writes, among other concerns.

Jordan did not respond to NBC’s repeated requests for comment.

The bill actually requires all applicants for the license to furnish proof of age and identity, and the license itself would include a line saying that it was “not for federal purposes,” such as flying domestically or entering a federal building.

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Already, noncitizens who are in the country legally can obtain a driver’s license. New York does not yet have automatic voter registration, there are serious immigration ramifications for noncitizens who vote, and there have not been reports of widespread voter fraud by noncitizens who do have licenses, according to Joshi.

Despite the realities of the bill, its sponsor, Sen. Luis R. Sepúlveda, said it suffers from “an education problem.” Once people begin to understand its benefits, he said, opposition dissipates.

Advocates and lawmakers said some people originally take issue with the measure because they believe it will provide a path to citizenship and give undocumented immigrants access to federal buildings for potential terrorism, none of which is accurate.

What the legislation does allow is for New York residents to use foreign-issued documents as proof of identity and sign an affidavit saying they have not been issued a social security number in order to obtain a standard license. For hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, that will mean being able to go to work or take a sick child to the doctor without fear of arrest, proponents say.

That could significantly improve the lives of some U.S. citizens as well as undocumented residents. In the United States, most undocumented immigrants have been in the country for a while, and many have laid down roots. MPI estimated that in recent years, 62% of undocumented immigrants had lived in the U.S. for at least a decade; that number clocks in slightly lower at 55% in New York.

Jorge, for example, came to the U.S. 17 years ago. He has two children; his 16-year-old daughter is a U.S. citizen, and his son is covered by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

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Like Jorge, one in four undocumented New Yorkers resides with at least one U.S. citizen child under 18. Through data collection and long interviews with immigrants in New York, Robert Smith, a professor of sociology, immigration studies and public affairs at Baruch College and CUNY’s Graduate Center, has identified preventable harms U.S. children with undocumented parents experience because their loved ones are unable to drive legally. Among them are fear and mistrust of the police and emotional harm.

“The kids are not kidding around. They see a police car and they immediately begin to cry,” Smith said.

He found that in three of the four New York counties where he’s conducting research, “no conviction” and “traffic offense” were among the top five reasons for deportation. Also in three of four counties, local authorities were responsible for turning over the highest number of immigrants to ICE, according to his databrief on the subject.

Nationally, ICE does not break down arrests and removals by whether an undocumented immigrant was stopped by local law enforcement for driving without a license, according to its spokesperson. But in fiscal year 2018, a traffic offense not involving driving under the influence was the third most cited reason for an administrative arrest, data from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations show.

Smith said the driving issue was an “unavoidable topic” among undocumented interviewees, and that increasingly, the people he spoke to would tell him police officers would pull them over and give them tickets for things they did not even do.

As to why U.S. citizen children fear law enforcement, Smith said, “Their parents are getting deported when they haven’t done anything wrong.”

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“I don’t think that anyone wants to see families being separated,” Joshi said. “Parents, fathers being taken away from their kids. Mothers losing their partners. And that’s what’s happening. Every time someone is arrested by ICE or Border Patrol, that is a New York family that is being ripped apart.”

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gaparime · 8 years ago

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Let's Talk About Gear!

While mental fortitude is ultimately what will make or break your success in completing a long distance hike, gear is equally as imperative. I began my thruhike of the Appalachian Trail by carrying 30 pounds (exactly 30.0 on the scale at Amicalola) and received a shakedown to 20, give or take a few pounds here and there depending on food and water supply, and my replacements/upgrades throughout the first quarter of the trail.

During your planning process for a thruhike or any kind of a long distance backpacking trip, it’s important to remember that there’s usually no right or wrong for good, necessary products. Albeit, you still want to use common sense (buy nice or buy twice, have a properly-fitted backpack, don’t wear cotton, don’t carry too much or too little, don’t buy cheap tents that can’t withstand all weather conditions, et cetera). Otherwise, your backpack and its contents are the oyster that is your world, and it’s your preference that matters the most. This sounds simple enough, but these are things I wish I knew before going into my thruhike.

You may like hammocks more than tents. You may prefer trail runners over boots. You may prefer a Kindle over a paper book, if that’s what you choose to bring as a luxury item. I just so happen to prefer tents, boots, and paper books. It’s okay to prefer hammocks, trail runners, and Kindles because your level comfort is going to be different from every gear list you come across online during your strenuous research. Whatever it may be, you have to test it out and know what works for you. Comfort and practicality are the major keys when it comes to gear for long distance hiking.

I made a lot of changes early on. That being said, I initially didn’t know what worked for me and had to figure it out the hard way. I took someone’s gear list and assumed if they were successful with those items, I’d enjoy them just as much. Wrong. Because of that, I now know exactly what does work after having tried just about everything else. This is why I can safely stress the importance of that, based on my own trials and errors. Replacing gear, especially if you’re getting it mailed to you 100 miles ahead of you, can be a pain in the butt. Trust me, I would know; I had to do this a few times. If there’s any advice you should take from my gear list or someone else’s when you’re preparing to live off of your back for six months, it’s that you really, really need to know what works for you, and then everything else will take care of itself.

For most of the trail, this is what helped me get from Springer to Katahdin. Before reading my list, line the entire inside of your pack with a garbage bag and know that ziploc bags are your friends. You can’t get more waterproof than that, and I happen to be neurotic about waterproofing so I had just about everything organized and protected in stuff sacks/ziplocs. Without further ado:

The essentials (shelter and sleep setup): - Osprey Aura 50 pack. I sent the detachable brain of the pack home because I didn’t need it. Brains only encourage carrying more crap. Should you decide to keep yours, some of the pros are: town purse/bag (since it is detachable), using it as a way of securing your tent/poles/etc, and storing easy-to-reach snacks. I kept my food at the bottom when fully resupplied, so it was easy to unzip and grab my food bag that way. As it got lighter, I’d move my food bag to the top of my pack for equally as easy access. The way you pack your backpack is a matter of preference for what will work best for you, and you’re the only person who can figure that out as you keep going. If something feels uncomfortable, stop and adjust it. Keep adjusting it until you find that perfect balance. All that matters is that the weight is distributed effectively, and that it’s not pulling you back or pushing you down. - Sierra Designs Lightning tent. I used Tyvek as a footprint, which fit just fine folded up in the sack for the tent. It’s cheaper, dries quickly, and works all the same. You’ll see a lot of people on the trail using Tyvek. Regardless of whether or not you choose to use Tyvek or the expensive footprint designed for your specific tent, you need some kind of protection between the bottom of your tent and the soil. This is to prevent rain and moisture from soaking through, and to preserve the condition of your tent. - REI AirRail inflatable sleeping pad. If you’re the type of person who values the quality of sleep, inflatable sleeping pads are worth the few extra ounces as opposed to foam pads. Of all times for mine to pop, it happened in the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine just days before I finished the trail. By this point, I was pretty careless with where my tent went and it was easy enough to tolerate for the remaining days. You’ll want to camp on the flattest surfaces you can find, free of rocks and roots. I found that I didn’t sleep well on a foam pad, and they’re bulkier. - Mountain Hardware Lamina Z Spark women’s sleeping bag in the dark raspberry color with orange interior. While this wasn’t as warm as I would’ve liked for it to have been, I liked how small it packed, so I made it work for me because that’s where my values were. Sleeping in cold weather was tolerable with all of my clothes on. Depending on the type of person you are, if you’re not like me when it comes to adapting and accepting, then you may not want to use this sleeping bag. There are certainly better options.

Stuff sacks of… well, stuff: *Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Stuff Sacks* - Food Stuff Sack: Self-explanatory. Amount of food carried = mile calculation to next resupply point. This is something you’ll figure out over time. Your mileage will change per region, thus, so will your food bag. The general rule of thumb is that you should never carry more than 4-5 days of food (with the exception of the 100 Mile Wilderness), and ideally, you want to be able to stroll into town as you’re eating your last snack from the food bag. I also kept my lightweight metal spork in my food bag, too. The longer the handle, the better; it’s easier to stir your food, especially for freeze dried meals. - Toiletry Stuff Sack: Compact tampons, travel sized toothbrush and paste, ibuprofen in a ziploc (note: ibuprofen is like candy for hikers- I used it for both inflammation and headaches, so I carried a lot of it at all times), small pack of baby wipes (“hiker showers”), small roll of medical tape (preventative blister care), and travel size Body Glide. - Clothing Stuff Sack: This changed with the seasons. I’ll just list everything I had. Before I list them, some important notes: If there was anything I did 100% right, it was preventative blister care and clothes. The key is minimalism. But don’t underestimate the beauty of dry socks and semi-clean undies; they weigh almost nothing and are worth carrying a couple extra of. You should generally have one pair of clothes for hiking and one for sleeping/town. All clothes were a dry fit material. I had a Marmot rain jacket and that stayed rolled up in the front mesh of my pack. I also had a Patagonia sportsbra, but that obviously stayed on me. *Winter/Spring (Georgia to Pearisburg, VA):* leggings, REI pants, Marmot tshirt, REI puffy jacket, long sleeve tshirt, three pairs of Exefficio undies, two pairs of Injinji toe socks, two pairs of Darn Tough socks, Outdoor Research glove liners (edit: I recommend Northface E-Tip gloves over the OR glove liners. Same glove style, but the Northface ones are warmer and a better material. For the most part, the OR liners were fine all on their own, except for one time when I was in the Smokies and it was 11 degrees and super windy), and a beanie. *Spring/summer (Pearisburg, VA to Hanover, NH):* Mountain Hardware shorts, Patagonia tshirt (eventually switched it out for a Northface shirt but that’s neither here nor there; point is, 1 tshirt at a time), a random tank top I found at Walmart in Pearisburg (usually wore the tank top for hiking and tshirt for sleeping/town), same three pairs of Exefficio undies, same Injinji and Darn Tough socks. I got the same things back in Hanover, NH that I used for Winter/beginning of Spring, and threw away the shorts/tank top. Ignore the rumors to send your winter gear home in Damascus. Seriously, don’t do that; everyone who did was really, really mad at themselves for it. It still gets cold on Mt Rogers (VA’s highest peak) and through Grayson Highlands. Somewhere in Vermont is usually a good time to get your winter gear back, but Hanover, NH (barely) worked for me. I had some issues with package timing, otherwise, I would’ve had them back in mid Vermont. - Electronic Stuff Sack: Anker battery bank, cord for phone, cord for battery bank, and an Apple USB adapter for my iPhone/Anker charger. I kept all of this inside of a ziploc inside of the stuff sack to ensure no water damage.

In between my stuff sacks: - Camp stove/pot/fuel. Kept stove and mini fuel canister inside of pot. All lightweight choices: MSR pocket rocket stove, GSI minimalist hallulite pot, and fuel canister brand varied depending on what was available at resupply points. Fuel is fuel, brand doesn’t matter. - Toilet paper in a ziploc. - Journal, pen, and stamps in a ziploc. - Paracord for hanging food bag. - My favorite luxury item: Sea to Summit inflatable pillow. It’s light, and you’ll thank yourself when you wake up well-rested every morning. You can get by just as well with using your clothing stuff sack as a pillow, but I am such a princess when it comes to sleep.

Side Mesh Pockets: - (2) 1L Smartwater bottles. Replaceable at any grocery or convenient stores, but if you’re gross like me, you’ll carry them for a long time before doing that. Carried a 3rd bottle through the Midatlantic because most water sources dry up. (PA, NJ, and NY). If you’re not carrying these from the beginning, at some point, you’ll notice most hikers around you are and then you’ll never look back at your Nalgenes or Platypus bottles. - Aquamira drops in a ziploc. Aquamira drops are in two 1-ounce bottles, part A and part B. The directions are directly on the bottles, and they’re easy to use/resupply with. - **This is super important. This is the lightest possible way to carry water and treatment. I tried a Sawyer Mini, and then a heavy Katadyn pump. I also had Platypus bottles, but they’re awkward to fill. I’ll never use anything other than Smartwater bottles and Aquamira for treatment.**

Front Mesh Pocket: - Aforementioned Marmot rain jacket rolled up. - Pack cover rolled up. - Headlamp. This is a 100% needed item, no matter which one you choose. Batteries can be resupplied; no need to carry extras unless you’re night hiking often. I night hiked often in the Midatlantic because of the brutal heat, so I definitely had backups then. - Bug net. Unless you enjoy prying about 15 dead bugs out of your eyeballs in the summer per day, you’ll appreciate having one. I should’ve had one much sooner than I did. - Trowel. Don’t be that person that leaves your poop close to the trail or a shelter. Bury it with a lightweight trowel. I stepped in someone’s poop once nearby a shelter, and I think that was understandably the angriest I was at any point during my hike. - Cheap sunglasses. Sunglasses aren’t necessary, but I like ‘em. I used them all the time through the open, rolling fields in VA-PA. - Travel size sunscreen. I eventually threw it away, but I needed it for a while. My Irish skin is quite fair. - Drink mix packets. These are also not necessary, but plain water does get boring after a while. Hawaiian Punch and Arizona Green Tea packets are delicious.

Side hip belt pockets: - Cell phone. - Earbud headphones. Be careful with headphones on the trail. I almost stepped on a huge rattlesnake curled up in the middle of the trail because I didn’t hear it while I was hauling ass and blasting music at full volume (I have a video to prove this story). They also make it difficult to hear if anyone is coming up behind you. - Lighter with a little bit of duct tape wrapped around it. - Needle and thread to repair tears on my pack. - Small knife. I am a huge fan of cheese, and that’s pretty much the only purpose I used it for. - Pepe the plastic dinosaur. My fiancé gave me this stupid little green dinosaur, and I just wanted to be able to say a dinosaur made it across the country. - ID, insurance card, debit and credit cards, and cash in a ziploc.

Hanging from the outside: - AT 2016 tag. - Crocs. - Bandana, off of one of the loops where the shoulder straps is. This is another must-have for me. I used it mostly to wipe sweat off, but it came in handy when I needed to give myself a “hiker shower” with just water in a stream, or the two times I got sick on the trail. I simultaneously hiked and blew infinite amounts of snot into it. (Yes, I washed it in towns before switching up its uses.)

Trekking poles: - Leki. Don’t ask me which ones because I don’t know, haha. They’re green and black. You can’t go wrong with any type of Leki poles.

Mode of transportation: Shoes - Superfeet insoles. Replaced them per every pair of shoes. - Keen boots (Georgia to Daleville, VA) - Salomon trail runners (Daleville, VA to Delaware Water Gap) - Oboz hiking shoes (Delaware Water Gap to Katahdin). These were my favorite. They were lightweight and like a combination of boots and trail runners (the best of both worlds). Very durable. Could’ve lasted longer than Katahdin, but they smelled like death so it was time to say goodbye.

Guidebooks: - Used both Awol and Guthook on my phone. Awol is available PDF and Guthook is an app. Both serve different purposes. Awol is good for knowing exactly what’s around the trail/in town/maps of towns/detailed descriptions of those places. Guthook is a GPS based trail guide that is perfect for the trail itself, and it’s pretty much idiot-proof (unless you’re me). It doesn’t require cell phone service, and you’ll know where you are at all times (although I somehow still managed to get horrendously lost twice; hence, the “unless you’re me” part). Another cool feature is that it allows you to comment on any listed waypoint, and the comments upload once you have service or Wifi. This comes especially in handy for planning ahead with water sources. If you’re the first person to notice a listed source is dry or almost dry, be a pal and leave a comment. Those behind you will love you.

#update

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douchebagbrainwaves · 5 years ago

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YOU GUYS I JUST THOUGHT OF THIS

One of my tricks for generating startup ideas is to imagine the ways in which we'll seem backward to future generations that we wait till patients have physical symptoms to be diagnosed with conditions like heart disease and cancer. And so you didn't get a lot of compound bugs. The effects of World War II was an extreme case of this. You enjoy it more if you eat nothing but chocolate cake for every meal. That problem is irreducible; it should be hard. T: Scheme has no libraries, and Lisp syntax is scary. The answer to the paradox, I think, is to have multiple plans depending on how much you can learn from Yahoo's first fatal flaw. So as animals get bigger they have trouble radiating heat.

Founders are often competitive people, and the best research solves problems that are not only new, but it has to be some point down the slope of consulting at which you can move into a big one or from which you can survive.1 One of the reasons Jane Austen's novels are so good is that she read them out loud to your friends as something you'd written, you'll feel all too keenly what an imposition that kind of thing is upon the reader. To use a purely Web-based applications. But a significant number do. I did; I knew I was learning so little that I wasn't even learning what the choices were, let alone which to choose. It would be great if a startup could do. 0 bubble.2 But the money itself may be more dangerous than Google because, like you, they're cornered animals. Second, I do it because I don't like the idea of starting their own company rather than work for someone else's. Chasing hot deals doesn't make investors choose better; it just didn't percolate all the way to an IPO, just as volume and surface area do.

For the average user, is far fewer bugs to start with. Some investors will let you email them a business plan, but you definitely want to keep out more than bad people. Microsoft now owned the PC standard, and the best research solves problems that are not only new, but actually they tend to; and vice versa. Relief. There are several ways to approach this problem. A round from Sequoia. Neither Bill Gates nor Mark Zuckerberg knew at first how big their companies were going to get rarer. I got there in 1998.

And indeed, things hadn't changed much yet. Meet such investors last, if at all. The core users of News. Starting a startup to launch them before raising their next round of investors would presumably have lost money. From the first conversation to wiring the money, and ambivalence about being a technology company, and in addition to writing software ten times faster than you'd ever had to before, they expected you to answer support calls, administer the servers, it would seem to have been headed down the wrong path. This was why they were trying to get people to fight for an idea.3 So for all practical purposes, there is still room for more. And during the Renaissance, journeymen from northern Europe were often employed to do the things a startup founder, and it's hard to design something for an unsophisticated user.

Users should not have to be trimmed properly; the engines have to be shaped by admissions officers. And beloved of the DoD, happens nonetheless to be a lot of plot, but they sometimes fear the wrong things for six months, and the customers would be individual people that you could actually make the finished work from the 1970s.4 Palo Alto, the original ground zero, is about thirty miles away, and the rate at which it grows is itself increasing. And because you can, try to ensure that all universities are roughly equal in quality.5 Being John Malkovich where the nerdy hero encounters a very attractive, sophisticated woman. Whereas if you're determined to stick around no matter what, they'll be going against thousands of years of medical tradition.6 The best intranet is the Internet. Whatever Microsoft's. The surprising fact is, brilliant hackers—can be had very cheaply, by the standards of the desktop to prevent, or constrain, this new generation of software? Gradually the government realized that anti-competitive policies were doing more harm than good.

The less you spend, the easier it is to believe now, the big economic story was the rise of startups.7 My wife thinks I'm more forgiving than she is, but my motives are purely selfish. Startups condense more easily here. Convince yourself that your startup is doing a deal, just assume it's not going to go out of business. Just pick a project that seems interesting: to master some chunk of material, or to answer some question. But other VCs will make no more than superficial changes.8 Though founders are rightly indignant when their plans get leaked to competitors, I can't think of a startup than that? No one is going to succeed. Professional athletes know they'll be pulled if they play badly for just a couple guys, either with day jobs or in school, writing a prototype of something that might, if it looks promising, turn into a big one.

It's slightly dickish of investors to care more about who else is investing than any other aspect of your startup.9 If you're an inexperienced founder, the only reason VCs are so sneaky is the giant deals they do. And this is not a single point where you don't need Microsoft on the client, and if you enforce them it seems possible to keep a lid on meanness. Which inevitably, if unions had been doing their job tended to be lower. Reading novels isn't. In fact it's the old model: mainframe applications are all server-based software gets used round the clock, so everything you do is immediately put through the wringer. When it turns up you often know what's wrong before you even knew what you were building, you've created a broken company. Inside your head, anything is allowed. Launching companies isn't identical with launching products.10

And that is just what I'm advocating. To a newly arrived undergraduate, all university departments look much the same way that a distributed algorithm protects you from investors who flake in much the same way that someone might design a building or a chair that's horribly uncomfortable to sit in, then simply explained this well to investors. I wouldn't do that. The inconvenience of this model becomes more and more college graduates. Dilution is a hard problem. Not understanding that investors view investments as bets combines with the ten page paper due, then ten pages you must write, even if they invest in. Julian knew a lot about law and business, but his advice ended there; he was not a startup guy he probably gave them useful advice.11 Sun's business model is being undermined on two fronts. Of course, prestige isn't the main reason they never considered this was that they hired bad programmers.12

Notes

My point is that they probably don't notice even when I read comments on e. Articles of this essay wrote: After the war, federal tax receipts have stayed close to starting startups since Viaweb, he'd get his ear pierced.

And no, you need a higher growth rate has to be. It's much easier to take a small amount of time and became the twin centers from which I removed a pair of metaphors that made it over a hundred and one VC. Add water as specified on rice package. The story of creation in the fall of 2008 but no one is harder, the group of Europeans who said the things you're taught.

Icio. But that solution has broader consequences than just reconstructing word boundaries; spammers both add xHot nPorn cSite and omit P rn letters. And though they have to solve are random, they still probably won't invest. Vii.

If they were. 001 negative effect on returns, but delusion strikes a step later in the general sense of the subject today is still hard to game the system? Digg is Slashdot with voting instead of uebfgbsb. The constraint propagates up as well use the word as in most competitive sports, the 2005 summer founders, like good scientists, motivated less by financial rewards than by you based on respect for their judgement.

I know randomly generated DNA would not be surprised how often have you read about startup founders are effective. There are a handful of companies that have economic inequality.

There were several other reasons, including both you and the low countries, where x includes math, law, writing in 1975, said the things attributed to Confucius and Plato saw themselves as teachers of administrators, and we should find it's most popular with voting instead of a liberal education than past generations have. They also generally provide a better source of food. The University of Vermont: The variation in productivity is the converse: that startups aren't the problem is that promising ideas are not written by the fact that they don't, but in practice investors discount merely predicted revenue, so if you were going back to 1970 it would take their customers directly, which in startups. This is why so many still make you expend as much difference to a woman who had made Lotus into the work that seems formidable from the government to take board seats by switching to what you really want, like storytellers, must have been in the belief that they'll be able to protect widows and orphans from crooked investment schemes; people with a cap.

These anti-dilution protections. Zagat's lists the Ritz Carlton Dining Room in SF as requiring jackets but I couldn't convince Fred Wilson for reading drafts of this essay, I would be vulnerable both to attack the A P supermarket chain because it is possible to have done and try another approach. The first version was mostly Lisp, because they were to work on stuff you love, or boards, or an acquisition for more of the statistics they use the phrase frequently, you produce in copious quantities. But it is to imagine how an investor they already know; but it wasn't.

So it may not have raised money on Demo Day pitch, the average major league baseball player's salary during the war had been a waste of time, which is as straightforward as building a new SEC rule issued in 1982 rule 415 that made them register. And for those founders.

They overshot the available RAM somewhat, causing much inconvenient disk swapping, but I took so long. 25. Most word problems in school math textbooks are not just the location of the latter without also slowing the former, and eventually markets learn how to execute them.

Not only do convertible debt at a 3 year old son, you'll find that with a clear upward trend. Even college textbooks are similarly misleading. If you're sufficiently good at generating your own mind about whether you can fix by writing library functions.

Though in fact had its own momentum. His critical invention was a very good. The solution to that mystery is that promising ideas are not merely blurry versions of great ones.

It's conceivable that intellectual centers like Cambridge will one day have an email address you can, Jeff Byun mentions one reason not to like to fight back themselves.

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kacydeneen · 6 years ago

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States Turning to Driver's Licenses to Help Immigrants

“Thank god he only gave me a ticket,” Jorge, 49, told NBC in Spanish.

Justices Seem Ready to OK Asking Citizenship on Census

Undocumented immigrants like Jorge are barred from getting driver’s licenses in most states, and routine stops or minor traffic offenses can escalate into detention or deportation.

Impeachment, Felons Voting Divides Democrats at CNN Forums

Dem Leaders Stress More Trump Probes, Downplay Impeachment

An ICE spokesperson said "the agency focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security" and "does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately." But, he continued, "those in violation of immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to request for comment on their operations.

“I think it would be a big help to law enforcement, and I think it would make streets generally safer,” Conway said.

But, Chishti countered, “Immigration is not ultimately about the merits of the argument.”

“When it comes to things like giving people privileges like driving, it sort of taps into the raw feelings about immigration,” he said.

An ICE spokesperson said that "a state’s decision on whether to allow an alien to obtain a driver’s license is not relevant to ICE operations." A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the record.

One commenter on the recent New York Times editorial wrote that "it is these types of ideas that turn an average Jane away from the Democrat Party," and that by giving undocumented residents access to licenses, "you have as well as legalized them." Another called the policy "a terrible idea," writing that "enabling criminals is akin to aiding and abetting." But in recent years, visa overstays — a civil offense — have far exceeded border crossings, meaning many of the people in the country illegally are not criminals simply by virtue of their immigration status.

Jordan did not respond to NBC’s repeated requests for comment.

Despite the realities of the bill, its sponsor, Sen. Luis R. Sepúlveda, said it suffers from “an education problem.” Once people begin to understand its benefits, he said, opposition dissipates.

Jorge, for example, came to the U.S. 17 years ago. He has two children; his 16-year-old daughter is a U.S. citizen, and his son is covered by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

“The kids are not kidding around. They see a police car and they immediately begin to cry,” Smith said.

As to why U.S. citizen children fear law enforcement, Smith said, “Their parents are getting deported when they haven’t done anything wrong.”

Photo Credit: New York Immigration Coalition and Greenlight Coalition States Turning to Driver's Licenses to Help Immigrants published first on Miami News

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 7 years ago

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The email problem no one is talking about: mistaken identity

This post is part of Me, online, Mashable's ongoing series digging into online identities.

In 2009, a San Francisco web strategist named Tim — last name withheld for reasons that will become clear — opened his Gmail to find a message from a Build-a-Bear workshop in St. Louis. The email was addressed to someone called Tamara.

That's odd, thought Tim, but thought little more about it. Days later he received an email directed at someone called Toby. It contained photos of a family eating an Easter meal with, his correspondent assured him, "lots and lots of BACON!"

SEE ALSO: Everyone's getting new Gmail — and old Gmail will soon go extinct

So far so mundane. But the misdirected emails — for Tyrells, Terrys, Thomases — kept coming at an alarming rate. They often contained the kinds of things you really don't want shared with strangers: hook-up notes ("I got a bottle so we could drink and I'm putting on a dress"), medical records, divorce papers, real estate deals, demands from a debt collector, a request from a police officer for his license plate, even an autopsy report.

Tim keeps a folder in his Gmail now, purely for the more random, weird, indiscreet ones he's received over the last nine years. The folder currently contains 1,355 messages.

"At first I would write back and say 'you have the wrong email,'" says Tim. But sometimes the correspondent would keep bugging him: Okay, what's the right email? The debt collector kept hounding him regardless. These days, with the misdirected emails coming at the rate of one a day, he simply deletes or sends them to spam.

Cases of mistaken identity like this are becoming more common as more people around the globe acquire email addresses — and more of their correspondents misremember or mistype them. But so far as we know there are no email providers, much less startups or security researchers, working to solve the problem. Unlike with spam, there isn't even a catchy name for it.

For many recipients, the problem is amusing at best and irritating at worst. Some misdirected emails can even be useful. (One Mashable editor receives regular discount coupons from a liquor store intended for someone else; she invariably uses them.)

a funny thing unconnected to anything else i have tweeted about this week is that someone named Alexis Mull apparently used my gmail (amull85) to purchase a background report on someone named Tiffany from a sketchy people-finder site and it got emailed to me today

— Amanda Mull (@amandamull) June 7, 2018

Yet the risk is real. Not just the risk of personal embarrassment when a stranger sees your family photos or love notes, but the risk of identity theft when they see your bank records, mortgage application, divorce decree, or any other of the astonishing amount of personal documents we send via the internet these days.

Examples are everywhere. You don't have to look very far on message boards for Microsoft or Apple to find people locked out of their accounts when a security code was sent to the wrong address. In 2016, the National Australia Bank admitted sending emails containing account numbers for some 60,000 customers to the wrong address. The cause? "Human error."

No confirmation required

I could empathize with Tim's problem because it was mine, too. We'd both heard about the arrival of Gmail before it launched in April 2004. We'd both rushed on day one to grab Gmail accounts based on our first initial and last name. We both celebrated our good fortune at the time, not realizing the tangled web that would await years later when you have a common initial-last name combo.

For me, it's been a long decade and a half of fielding emails for what seems like every Chris, Charles, Cynthia, Claire, Clare, Christian, Catherine and Cheryl Taylor on the planet. I'll often wake up to discover a flurry of follow-up emails from auto dealerships in North Carolina — this seems to happen in the Carolinas more than other states, for some reason — and surmise that yet another Charles Taylor has gone car shopping and misremembered his email address. (Or worse, he deliberately fobbed those pesky salesmen off with a Gmail address that sounded like it could be his.)

Like Tim, I've given up trying to respond and mark most of these emails as spam, even though that doesn't quite describe what they are. And even that doesn't fix the problem, because there are invariably more email newbies making fresh mistakes. It isn't the greatest thing for productivity; I probably spend a good half-hour of every day extracting misdirected missives from my poor beleaguered inbox.

If that's all it was, I'd be relatively fine with it. The even larger problem is this: Many popular online services don't require proof that your email says what you say it is — or they treat "ctaylor" and "c.taylor" as different addresses, whereas mail providers like Gmail treat them as one and the same.

That means you can sign up for Instagram, say, with someone else's email address, and they'll be hit with annoying messages from that day forward. Years ago, someone signed up for Instagram with my email address — or at least, the c.taylor version. Occasionally they'll try to log in, and guess where the reset code is sent?

PSA: My actual Instagram account is @futurechris.

Image: gmail

Meanwhile, someone named Lloyd Taylor successfully signed up for an Apple ID using my Gmail address. (I used a pre-existing account for my Apple ID.) He requests a password reset that gets sent to my email with such regularity, about once every two weeks, that I assumed it was part of some elaborate phishing expedition.

To its credit, when I contacted the company for this story, Apple was able to confirm that Lloyd is for real. As I write, Apple reps are going through the process of disentangling my address from his account.

How common is this problem? I asked Twitter, and 56% of those who replied said they'd never encountered it in their own digital lives. But that means a whopping 44% did.

[POLL] Have you ever received a private email intended for someone else with a similar name or email address?

— Chris Taylor (@FutureBoy) June 14, 2018

Granted, it's not a scientific poll, and more study is needed. But given that there are an estimated 4 billion email accounts in the world (owned by roughly 2 billion people), if 10 percent of people are encountering this problem "all the time," that's up to 200 million people affected. This is a hell of a problem for something that doesn't even have a name.

I’ve written back when I received an email about a job offer for another Heather, emails where a woman with a catering business thought I was her colleague; emails regarding family reunions; and one time when I got a very personal email with an apology meant for another Heather.

— Heather Lynn Weaver (@HeatherWeaverDC) June 14, 2018

I also get a lot of order confirmations from various websites for Heather Weavers across the country. I don’t contact the companies when i get those (though they often have personal info like address and phone). I also got medical records from a dr office once. I wrote back there

— Heather Lynn Weaver (@HeatherWeaverDC) June 14, 2018

I didn't even have to look that far. My wife Jess has a similar issue, even though she doesn't have a common last name like me or Tim. And she was smarter than both of us, reasoning at the time that merely using her first initial in the account would bring her more misdirected email than she bargained for.

Then in 2010, a woman with the exact same name in Vermont, evidently disappointed by being beaten to the account, signed up for an email using "Jes" rather than Jess. Ever since, it seems, almost everyone emailing that Jess reached my Jess by mistake — especially since the rise of autocorrect.

West Coast Jess has received dozens of wedding planning emails, job applications, rental contracts, Comcast logins, orthodontic and hospital appointments for Vermont Jess' kids, and a hospital ID login. She emailed "Jes" directly, who didn't seem to see the problem. She tried emailing her correspondents, but found the same thing that Tim and I discovered: Whereas you can say the words "wrong number" and people will understand you when they call, you don't get the same reaction when you write back and simply say "wrong email."

"People think you're crazy for pointing it out," Jess says. "They're adamant that they've reached the right person."

This is where technology could help. Gmail has a button that lets us easily report spam — and unsubscribe from annoying lists — with two clicks. How about a button that will have Gmail write a form letter back to the correspondent, explaining that they have not reached the person they think they've reached, to check their records and try again, and maybe don't hound this person for debt payments?

It's an interesting concept, but we're going to have to wait to find out whether Google is interested in implementing it. When I contacted the company for this story, I was told that the Gmail product team is "all heads down" in advance of Google Cloud Next, a conference that isn't happening for another month from now, and an official "no comment."

If and when Gmail and other email providers get around to implementing a fix for the mistaken identity problem, let's just hope those press releases make their way to the intended inboxes.

WATCH: Screen name confessions: Our most cringe-worthy online handles

#_author:Chris Taylor #_uuid:abd0ae84-6db4-3830-af45-a4b7012913b5 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DTrEpEAL #_revsp:news.mashable

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inhopswetrust · 7 years ago

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Brewing Stories #3: Dean and Erwin from Dorst Beer

Two dudes, one love and much effort. Check out the full interview below!

It seems like just yesterday that I first met the guys behind Dorst, Dean from Bulgaria and Dutch dude Erwin (both London based), in a cozy Sofia basement bar back in January. After years of home brewing and hundreds of brews they had finally decided to produce their first commercially available beer. However, they had chosen to compete in the emerging Bulgarian craft scene as opposed to the overly saturated London ocean of craft and pseudo-craft beer. They were friendly and excited but also anxious. Not only because it was their first release but also because they were kicking things off with the very unusual “Winter Bock”.

Now, almost a year later they are on their third release and seem to have gained their place and recognition as a legit brand of craft beer. In late spring they started their “Pink Future” Saison series of which you are now seeing the second installment - “Citra”.

What I can tell you for sure is that those dudes are true craft brewers. They do a lot of home brews, make up their own recipes and try to bring character to their beer. The main meaning of the word “craft” in “craft beer” is exactly that - crafting a beer, its ingredients, recipe and character. Those dudes are craft. It might take them a while to become great but they are on the right track. The rest is time and effort.

Even back then we talked about an interview but being the busy airhead that I am, we never got round to sitting down for it. This being said this interview is way overdue but hey, better late then never.

Tell me a little bit about youselves?

Erwin: I’m Dutch and grew up in Amsterdam. I moved to Oxford, UK with my girlfriend a bit over two years ago and this is where I met Dean. I’m a big beer nerd and love to talk and drink beer. I also love to travel and meet new people to learn and exchange ideas.

Dean: I’m originally from Sofia, finished Sofia High School of Mathematics before I went to study at Warwick University in UK. After my degree I moved to Oxford to work as a statistician at my current job where I met Erwin. I love football and the beer that follows after it.

How did you get started in the vast colorful world of beer? - what was your first brew? How was it?

Erwin: I grew up in the Netherlands so when I started drinking beer I could choose from a host of Belgian and Dutch beers. These beers were infinitely more interesting and flavorsome than the big brand pilsners like Heineken or Grolsch; which quickly made beer my drink of choice. By the time that modern craft beers came along I was already hooked on beer and their broad variety.

The idea to try my hand at brewing was born in one of my favorite beer bars in Amsterdam, Gollem. After a good evening of drinking beer, me and my friend Roland argued about brewing ourselves. Obviously we had no idea how to brew but it made a lot of sense at the time (we were slightly intoxicated).

Roland gave me a homebrew guide with mostly Belgian recipes for my birthday. A week later we bought a starter kit and ingredients from a homebrew store. It turned out that the starter kit was for simple beer kits and the recipe was for all grain brewing. We returned to the store and bought all the needed equipment, I believe it cost us about 5 times more than the starter kit “pro” we bought earlier.

Our first beer was a Belgian style tripel. It was somewhere in 2013, and I remember that brewing it was great fun. Because we started with all grain brewing and neither not us had taken much time to read up it was a real trial and error process. My taste for beer was at a much more refined level than my brewing skills and knowledge. The beer was not very good and I knew it, which motivated me to really dive into brewing theory. I was really determined to make my next beer better.

After the first batch we brewed some other types of beer and we quickly improved. When I moved to Oxford I bought a Speidel Braumeister brewing system, stainless steel fermenter tanks and built a fridge to temperature control my fermentation. These investments really boosted the quality of my brews and allowed me to brew more often and freely experiment. I’m also part of the local home brewing club and have learned a lot from them.

What is your end goal when brewing?

Erwin: When I home-brew I like to brew beers that I can’t easily get my hands on commercially. I also like to experiment with components of the recipe.

Now that we brew commercially I need to take other factors into account as well. The product should appeal to a wider audience than just me and my friends, but I still want our customers to tell our beer apart from the crowd. We want to make a great beer, learn from it, and make an even better one the next time. Hopefully this way we'll always improve and there will not be an end goal.

How do you come up with recipes?

Erwin: I usually start with one component and build my recipes around them. If I find an exciting new yeast or hop that I have not brewed with, I take that that as the basis of my recipe. Then I imagine how to best showcase that component. I'm also very fond of brewing Dutch/Belgian historical recipes. I like to read up on historical sources and guidelines and see if I can remake beer styles that are forgotten. Some examples of these styles are Koyt (an oat based beer), or Luyks (a spelt based beer). In the UK I’ve gotten some renown for my lowland brewing knowledge and sometimes get contacted by people asking me for advice.

How did you guys meet?

Dean: It’s such a romantic story! One day after work it was raining and I was just on my way to the bus stop with an umbrella, when I saw Erwin sitting there getting soaked. I offered him to share my umbrella. Soon after Erwin bought a car and started giving me lifts and we started hanging out more, drinking beers and watching Champions League. The rest is history involving carrying a 90kg fermenter fridge to the 3rd floor and building my gaming rig together. A lot of beer was had in this period!

How did this project come about and how long did it take from inception to launch?

Dean: Last summer I saw this offer on Ebay for a professional brewing kit and the idea came to my mind that we can try some commercial brewing. I’ve always wanted to have my own business and Erwin was just around the corner with probably the best beers I’ve tried in my life. We discussed this at the time but decided UK was a tough market to enter, mainly because of the initial investment. Still, the idea was on my mind and when I got back to Bulgaria for holiday I started asking around how popular craft beer was in Bulgaria and if venues would be interested in such a product.

By September I had the idea set and started doing some research, potential breweries to work with, setting up our own brewery, production and end costs, etc. End of November I found Blek Pine and after 1-2 weeks of negotiations our beer was on the way. During the Christmas break I was back in Bulgaria to register our company, meet Blek Pine in person and create some more local beer contacts. The result was our Bokbier launch mid-February.

Who does what over at Dorst?

Dean: Erwin is the beer nerd behind all our recipes, with his vast knowledge in the field we would hope to bring good and novel styles to the Bulgarian market. In an ambitious future, if we manage to start exporting, Erwin will also be ‘the Dutch contact’ when he moves back to Amsterdam.

I am ‘the Bulgarian boy’, running things locally: talking to our current brewing contractor and venues to sell our beer, managing our company, paying taxes (no joke), creating content for our Facebook page and looking for talent to involve in our beer project.

We also share together the financial risks of this venture.

Tell us about your first beer and how you decided upon the style?

Erwin: Things moved quite fast from the initial inception to needing to decide on a recipe to brew. I had recently brewed a bokbier and Dean really liked the style. Also, not too many craft breweries in Bulgaria are doing the style so it sets us apart from the rest of the crowd. That is perhaps the short and simple answer. The long and complicated one can be found here: http://dorst.bg/the-story-behind-winterbok/

For me personally Bokbier holds a special place in my heart. For a long time it was the only special beer that Dutch breweries would brew as an autumnal special. It was the first time that I experienced that beer could be something beyond pilsners. To brew this as our first commercial batch seemed fitting.

What more should we expect from you this year?

Erwin: The first single hop Pink Future saison was well received by Bulgarian beer lovers as it’s something rather unusual for Bulgaria, so we released a second batch with Citra. We plan to showcase a new hop whenever we can really and in case you haven’t noticed, we like modern American hops.

In general we want to be highly seasonal with our beers, so if I were you I’d expect something rather interesting and unusual for Christmas.

Dean: To the above I want to add that if things go well we have a couple of crazy recipes ready and waiting that will surely push the boundaries of your taste buds! I’ll just leave words here: bacon, peanut butter, Vermont, pineapple, milk.

Do you listen to music when you brew?

Erwin: Yes! I love music. When I was 17 I worked all summer and sold my Playstation 2 to buy a really nice stereo which I still use to this day. My taste in music, like my taste for beer, is quite broad. Some random artists that I enjoy listening to while brewing: Miles Davis, Kyuss, Arcade Fire, Stooges, Slint, Budos band and many others. For some beers I still distinctly remember what music I was playing while brewing – so they have their own soundtrack.

When was the last time you had a lager?

Erwin: Yesterday? Haha, I feel busted! This also tells you a story about the negative view most craft beer drinkers have about lager, and that is perhaps not completely justified. I sometimes really enjoy a well-crafted lager like Jever, or a craft lager by breweries like Fourpure. Other times there are no real alternatives available or you feel like drinking something light and easy.

When I have the choice I rather drink something more substantial and flavorsome. Yesterday we were in the airport and our plane was delayed – this is when I’ll have a lager and will make no excuses for it ;-)

Dean: I have a lager with almost every meal. Most of the time I’d have a tasty beer separately from food to enjoy its flavors more. Although my favorite style is IPA currently, I do enjoy a good lager.

Beer rating sites? Over or underrated?

Erwin: That depends on how you use them and what your expectations are. For a young brewery like us they are a good way to interact with people that drink our beer and see where our beers are drunk. People who use sites like untappd are obviously passionate about their beer and want to share this passion with others. I remember going specifically to a bar to drink a beer that someone had checked in earlier that evening. Any tool that helps people discover and find new flavors is awesome in my book.

Interpreting the scores themselves is a bit trickier. I see people that rate Heineken five stars and a beer like Rodenbach Grand Cru half a star. There is no way to be objective about personal tastes and preferences. That’s why I tend to not pay too much mind to the scores when I look for my next beer.

Most underrated style?

Erwin: Every style has it’s dedicated following so I don’t think there are many underrated styles. I do think that there are styles that are not brewed in a young market like Bulgaria because there is not a big audience for it yet. That’s why it’s great to see some breweries pushing the boundaries of beer already. When I last visited I had a Flanders brown ale by Rhombus which I really liked. I also had an experimental Berliner Weisse at the Blek Pine brewery which was amazing. I would love to see more breweries move beyond offering just a pale ale and an India pale ale. Don’t get me wrong I love a good IPA, but I get more excited to see brewers taking some risks or reviving older styles.

Dean: I’ll drop a bomb here and say Lager is underappreciated by craft lovers as it’s considered the beer for peasants while there are some absolutely gorgeous craft lagers out there.

Most overrated?

Erwin: I don’t really like the term overrated. Personally I’m not a big fan of heavily spiced Christmas ales, or pumpkin ales. These beers seem driven by seasonal events like Halloween or Christmas rather than the desire to make a great beer. There are many people who love this style so there is a market and audience for it.

Dean: Another bomb, IPA. While it’s my favorite style currently, it seems if your brewery doesn’t have an IPA it doesn’t exist. Which leads to some questionable tasting beers being produced just because.

#inhopswetrust #dorst #craftbeer #beergeek #interview

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spynotebook · 8 years ago

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There was no comment from Mr. Hurley’s lawyer.

The lawsuit was just the latest twist in the rocky road the messaging app has traveled in its short life.

In March 2014, a school in Massachusetts evacuated its students twice after Yik-Yak-based bomb threats, and during the same month, a high school in California was put on lockdown for a similar reason.

In October 2014, Jordan Seman, a student at Middlebury College in Vermont, posted an open letter about being targeted on the app for her weight. “I felt exposed, betrayed and mostly embarrassed,” she wrote.

The next month, two other high schools in California were put on lockdown after threats of violence, and in Michigan, the police arrested Matthew Mullen, a student at Michigan State whose Yik Yak post threatened a shooting. Mr. Mullen was eventually sentenced to two years’ probation and ordered to pay $800 in restitution for the investigation.

At the University of Missouri, campus police arrested Hunter M. Park and charged him with making threats of violence against black students on Yik Yak. Mr. Park received a three-year suspended sentence and five years’ probation after pleading guilty to making a terrorist threat. A former Virginia Tech student pleaded guilty to using the app to threaten a repeat of the 2007 campus shooting in which 32 people were killed.

The high point for Yik Yak came in 2014, when its founders raised $73 million in venture-capital funding. According to App Annie, a firm that tracks metrics for apps, downloads spiked in September of that year and stayed high for several months. But by early 2015, the decline began. App Annie estimates that Yik Yak had 1.8 million downloads in September 2014. By September 2016, it was 125,000.

Photo Tyler Droll, left, and Brooks Buffington created Yik Yak while college students in 2013. Once enormously popular and lucrative, it traveled a rocky road to oblivion. Credit Raymond McCrea Jones for The New York Times

At the end of that year, Mr. Droll and Mr. Buffington laid off 60 percent of their employees, and last month, they shut down the operation, selling off intellectual property and employee contracts to Square Inc., a mobile payment company, for $1 million. A few months earlier, Hive, a college-based chat app with a similar color scheme to Yik Yak’s, popped up in the iTunes and Google Play stores, with Mr. Buffington in one of the screenshots. Whether it was an attempt at reinvention under the Yik Yak umbrella or a side project is unclear, but it is no longer available.

Yik Yak’s image problems seemed to stem from its reliance on anonymous posts and the few solutions that were available to curtail racist, sexist, aggressive or threatening language. The app was community-monitored, meaning that users could vote down a post they found vulgar or offensive, and if the post received enough negative feedback, it was removed.

But the app’s privacy policy did not allow institutions to identify users who posed a risk without a subpoena, court order or search warrant, or an emergency request from a law-enforcement official with a compelling claim of imminent harm.

Though neither Yik Yak nor its creators were named as defendants in the suit against Mary Washington and Mr. Hurley, the app’s role was central. Its name is mentioned 51 times in the 35-page complaint, which outlines instances when members of the campus group Feminists United were targeted in “Yaks,” or messages on the platform, after they spoke out against Greek life on campus and were connected with the suspension of a rugby team, some of whose members had sung a song “that called for violence against women, including rape and necrophilia” at a party, according to the complaint.

Messages that cropped on Yik Yak disparaged and threatened the feminist group’s most visible members. Some of the worst are listed in the complaint: “Gonna tie these feminists to the radiator and [g]rape them in the mouth,” “Can we euthanize whoever caused this?”

Kelli Musick, one of the plaintiffs, who graduated in 2015, said: “There were days when I felt like I couldn’t look away from my phone because a friend or someone I knew would send me a screenshot of a threatening or harassing Yak. We don’t blame the app in and of itself. It was a tool. Tools can be used in any way that a person decides to use them.”

But the group did ask the university to request that Yik Yak place a virtual fence around its campus to disable the app. The solution was one Yik Yak had begun using in March 2014 in Chicago-area schools and one it gradually expanded to middle and high schools nationwide after facing criticism from parents and educators.

“We had parents reaching out to say their 9-year-old has been threatened and harassed on the app,” said Ross Ellis, the founder and chief executive of Stomp Out Bullying. “Kids get hysterical when people make mean comments. Their brains are not mature enough to handle it.”

The school administration, citing logistical and first amendment concerns, refused. So the group asked that Yik Yak be banned on the school’s Wi-Fi network, a gesture that was primarily symbolic given that students could continue to access it on their personal data plans. The university said no again.

“This was something over which we had no control,” said Anna Billingsley, the associate vice president for university relations. “We couldn’t remove the posts from Yik Yak.” She said that the school offered the protection of campus police and suggested that the students contact Yik Yak and the Title IX office at the university.

“They told us to report the Yaks to Yik Yak, and if they were found to be credible, Yik Yak would then respond, which is not the case for any other threats of violence on campus,” Ms. Musick said. “When it has been a threat of a bomb or a gun, other schools did not say, ‘Report it to Yik Yak and they’ll follow up.’”

In trying to react to complaints about its product, Yik Yak created geo-fences and added filters that recognized certain keywords, such as “bomb,” and would ask users if they wanted to proceed with the message by suggesting: “Pump the brakes, this Yak may contain threatening language. Now it’s probably nothing and you’re probably an awesome person but just know that Yik Yak and law enforcement take threats seriously. So you tell us, is this Yak cool to post?”

But little changed and students at schools across the country began to fight back. The College of Idaho student senate requested that Yik Yak geo-fence their campus, and in Georgia Emory University’s student government denounced the app in a formal resolution. Students at Clemson University in South Carolina unsuccessfully demanded that the school ban the app after a spate of racist messages.

And at the University of Mary Washington, Ms. Musick and her classmates turned to Ms. Katz to file a complaint with the Education Department. Its Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation, but before it could issue a decision, the White House changed hands and many of the office’s employees left. So the women went to district court.

Yik Yak tried to put in place further preventive measures in 2016 first by allowing users to have profiles and handles, then by requiring them. After blowback, the identity markers became optional once again.

Despite these efforts, by this past March, about two and a half years after it had closed a round of funding that raised millions in venture capital, its active users over age 18 had fallen to 264,000, an enormous decline from nearly 1.9 million in November 2014, according to comScore.

Was Yik Yak really that bad? A study at the MIT Media Lab that compared it to Twitter found that posts on the anonymous platform were only slightly more likely to contain vulgar words. The difference was less than 1 percent. “We find that on anonymous platforms, users are only slightly more likely to use vulgar language than on public ones, and when they do it is not acceptable and leads to negative feedback,” the authors wrote.

Morgan Hines, who will start her fourth year at Northeastern University in Boston this fall, never encountered nastiness on Yik Yak. “I thought it was funny,” she said. “It formed a lot of camaraderie between students. There would be random shout-outs to things happening on campus, like people who are attractive or being annoying in the library, or a fire alarm going off at 4 a.m.”

But Ms. Hines criticized Yik Yak’s hyper-localization. “Yik Yak was for pockets of people on campus,” she said. “If the fire alarm went off at 4 a.m., it only went off at your building, so no one else will give it a thumbs-up.”

That hyper-localization is also what made the cases of harassment particularly galling. Ms. Musick, one of the plaintiffs, said, “With Yik Yak, in the back of your mind, you know they’re not from around the world or other parts of the state, they’re right there in your classroom, in your dining hall. On a campus with 4,500 students, that’s a pretty small group of people. This isn’t some creepy guy in his mom’s basement in Indiana.”

In the end, it may have been this aspect of the app that really did it in. Danielle Levitas, the senior vice president for research at App Annie, pointed out that bad press would not necessarily override an app’s popularity if it fulfilled a useful function (consider Uber, for example). But, she said, if it does not have something sustainable to offer, it will burn out.

In this case, it seems that being local was to Yik Yak’s detriment. When Ms. Hines went home to Kentucky after her freshman year, she forgot about the app. “I wasn’t on campus anymore and I wasn’t with my friends anymore,” she said. And back at Northeastern, “no one was on campus to comment on anything.” She added, “It kind of just became irrelevant in my life.”

Continue reading the main story

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medicalmarijuana-news · 8 years ago

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The New Must-Have Accessory for the Sex-Positive Stoner

As we said in Today In Weed: sex and weed go together like milk and cookies. Like bread and (canna)butter. Like other things that go together really well. This has been proven by both individual experimentation and recently uncovered research.

The close connection between cannabis and sex has spurred THC- and CBD-infused lubricants, suppositories that can improve sexual health, strains specifically targeting sexual function and pleasure, and more. For the sex-positive stoner, there’s one more accessory you can add to your “must have” list this new year: this lovely porcelain pipe shaped like the iconic Hitachi Magic Wand, now known as the Magic Wand Original.

My face hurts from smiling. Thanks for supporting this crazy clay life everyone. @craftywonderland

A photo posted by Alex Simon (@makegoodchoices) on Dec 11, 2016 at 8:17pm PST

Many of us associate pot and free love with the late ‘60s and the hippie movement. The Hitachi Magic Wand is another iconic part of that history. Originally released as a back massager in 1968 by Hitachi—a Japanese company that produces everything from bulldozers to parts for nuclear reactors—it wasn’t long before the Magic Wand ascended to its position as one of the best-known (and strongest) vibrators available. Though the strong, broad vibrations of the Hitachi aren’t for everyone, it’s still one of the most popular products on the market.

Popularized for sexual use by Betty Dodson, author of Sex For One (and at the time, a sexual pleasure outlaw—distributing sexual content across state lines was illegal), the iconic Hitachi massager shares many parallels with the history of cannabis. Once thought of mainly for utilitarian health purposes, both were reclaimed for pleasure.

With this pipe, now you can use your Hitachi to get stoned and then use your Hitachi while you are stoned: good vibes only.

When I saw this art piece (thanks to a Portland friend who found it in a local shop and shared it with their sex nerdy friends) and read the positive reactions of many sex bloggers and nerds, I knew I had to talk to the artist and find out more.

Caitlin Murphy: I don’t know if I ever told you the story of how I learned about the Hitachi pipe, did I?

Alex Simon: Didn’t you say your friend got one?

Well, a friend of mine got one but it was after a different mutual friend and sex blogger posted a picture of one on instagram. Sex bloggers have a private Slack and it was a real hit! The power of social media.

Cool!!! You saw it on Instagram first?

I think my friend Aerie cross-posted it to Twitter, but yeah. It wasn’t long after that that people were talking about it and my friend bought hers, and that was around when I thought to email you. It’s just such a fun concept, especially because I know plenty of stoners who like to smoke and then use their Hitachi. Now they can get high with their Hitachi and use their Hitachi while they’re high. I feel like there’s an Xzibit meme in here somewhere.

Absolutely. For me it was about examining objects that are designed for pleasure, and then kind of glorifying the form of it and giving them a new meaning for another source of pleasure.

And of course finding the humor in all of it. Because it’s such an iconic object for feminists and sex toy lovers everywhere.

It’s a versatile vibe, for sure. Is there a particular moment you can pinpoint when the inspiration to make it hit?

Ha! Yes! Someone very close to me had an old Hitachi wand for over 15 years and one day it sparked when she was about to use it. I told her she had to retire the piece… and that I needed to make a mold of it as soon as possible. I have some process shots on my instagram.

Hahah, that’s amazing! That is definitely one way to memorialize a trusty sex toy that has to be put out to pasture. I’ve seen old Hitachis that have been bedazzled and mounted, but molding it to make pipes is a new one.

Another thing that’s pretty cool about the Hitachi is that it’s typically such a private object for people, and putting it into a pipe context gives it more of an opportunity to be worshiped, talked about, laughed about. It opens up a platform for people to share their own experiences with this badass toy—and make new memories with it. I love playing with form and function and going in opposite directions from what people might think. That’s why I made molds of my prescription inhalers, cast them in porcelain, and now they’re pipes for asthmatic stoners.

new batch of inhaler pipes ::: for the asthmatic stoners. ???? ???? ???? DM me if you want one (or more) and I'll reserve it for you.???? ???? ???? ???? #inhaler #asthmaproblems #asthmalife #asthmakid #asthmacantstopme #claypipe #clayisbae #handmadeinpdx #pdxart #potsgettingaction #etsyelite #etsyshop #etsypipe #legalweed #handmadepipe #asthmaticstoner #inhalerswag #inhalerlife #cannabis #420 #slipcast #etsy

A photo posted by Alex Simon (@makegoodchoices) on Oct 12, 2016 at 4:04pm PDT

Yes! I love them, which is why I got one for my asthmatic stoner partner.

Turning everyday objects, especially ones that we’re so used to seeing in specific forms like an inhaler or a vibrator, into a pipe makes the user do a double take and re-examine their own relationship with those pieces.

Can you talk a little bit about your ceramics background?

I studied Visual Art with a concentration in Sculpture and Ceramics at Bennington College in Vermont. One of my favorite things about that school was that every winter for seven weeks every student was required to do an internship in their field. So every year I went somewhere totally random around the country like DC, Aspen, Colorado, an Island in the Florida Keys, and Kansas City, Missouri to study with artists I admired, work in art centers, and to get involved in wild clay projects.

working on some fre$h magic wand pipes.????????????

A photo posted by Alex Simon (@makegoodchoices) on Sep 28, 2016 at 11:31am PDT

After I graduated from college, I moved to Portland, Oregon, and worked in a production pottery studio for six years. This is now my first full year of self-employment and it’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made. It’s definitely not easy but it’s super rewarding, as you know!

Self-employment is a constant learning process. What would you say has been your biggest lesson so far?

That I should continue to make pieces that I’m really passionate about and that really excite me, instead of making what I think people want to buy. My work is definitely a reflection of who I am and how I interact with the world. The more I embrace that, the more people are empowered to buy pieces and take that magic into their lives.

What would you say is your most popular product?

I make a lot of mugs that have a heart profile and a unicorn as the handle. Sometimes they’re hand-painted with rainbows, sometimes they have catchphrases of things that I say all the time on them like “glitter everything you can’t salt,” and they’re often adorned with 22-karat gold embellishments. One of my favorite things to do is to turn people’s routines into rituals. We drink out of mugs every day, why not turn that into something super special that makes you feel like you’re participating in self-care by just having coffee? I think it’s important to surround ourselves with beautiful handmade objects that make our lives feel more precious. And intentional.

You can find Alex Simon on Instagram, Etsy, and her website.

For all of HIGH TIMES’ culture coverage, click here

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#Medical Marijuana News

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douchebagbrainwaves · 7 years ago

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ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND RESEARCH

Most people who buy SUVs do it to seem manly, not to drive off-road. But that's not what you're trying to make more money. Better to release something and let them tell you. It seemed obvious that beauty, for example.1 It seems a fine plan to start students off with the list of n things is parallel and therefore fault tolerant. See what you can see how great a hold taste is subjective found such a receptive audience is that, historically, the things people have liked in the past, you'll probably be disappointed, because it's an artifact of the way our eyes work. So an artist working on a painting and trying to decide whether to change some part of it doesn't have to think Why bother? So if you make it clear you're going to start with something that doesn't do much, you better improve it fast.2 Seeing a painting they recognize from reproductions is so overwhelming that their response to it as a portrait by an unknown fifteenth century artist, most would walk by without giving it a second look.3 The most dangerous way to lose time is not to lie flat, but to curl yourself into a shape the wind will catch. In a small country, a startup has a harder task: they have to sell internationally from the start.4

Us flexibility.5 And you want to get rich, it's not saying much that America is the perfect place for startups. I assume they could have vetoed such a deal. But when you understand the origins of this sort of essay, you can assume larval startups will break most of them, like working in fast food. They were invented by McCarthy in the course of developing Lisp. I'll make them all read this, and then returned two months later and not one thing had changed.6 Humans have a lot in common, you're not in a position of having to choose one out of a random set of individual biases, because the local market. The company has, say, 6 months before they're out of business?7 Those are like experiments that get inconclusive results.

But for obvious reasons no one wanted to give that answer.8 In the US most people in CS PhD programs are there simply because they wanted to learn more. Livable towns? You have to be devious. One of my most vivid memories from our startup is going to love, and that's what it's going to be about the 7 secrets of success. And you can tell they really believe this, because there's an infrastructure that prevents such a staircase from being built. The first time it raised money.9 The trick is to use yourself as a proxy for the reader.10 One would be to have lower capital gains taxes. More often than not I have to give a talk and I haven't seen much since to contradict it. If universities are controlled by the central government, log-rolling will pull them all toward the mean: the new Institute of X will end up at the university in the district of a powerful politician, instead of where it should be. And beneath that there's edge-finding, which makes images with definite shapes more engaging than mere blur.

When McCarthy designed Lisp in the late 1950s, it was neither a success nor a failure; it was too early to ask.11 After writing the first draft, try explaining to a friend? So an artist working on a painting and trying to decide whether to change some part of it doesn't have to think Why bother? We know this continued to be true up till 2004, when the Facebook was founded—though strictly speaking someone else did think of that before? Startups make wealth, which means they make things people want, we are nowhere near it.12 While trying to balance them, keep in mind the eventual goal: to be a successful product company in the sense of art that does its job well, doesn't require you to pick out a few individuals and label their opinions as correct.13 I find it kind of weird. Since they're writing for a popular magazine, they start with the most radioactively controversial questions, from which—because they're writing for a popular magazine, they start with the most radioactively controversial questions, from which—because they're writing for a popular magazine, they start with the most radioactively controversial questions, from which—because they're writing for a popular magazine, they start with the most radioactively controversial questions, from which—because they're writing for a popular magazine—they will be very tempted to screw you in the details. So is it meaningless to talk about art being good, you also have to discard the idea of good art, in the course of developing Lisp.

I write one. This helps counteract the rule that gets beaten into our heads as children: that things are the way they are. Which means if you made a competing technology hub that let in all smart people, and channels the rest into unproductive jobs.14 And even if you forget the experience or what you read, its effect on your model of the world persists. One possible exception might be things that appealed particularly to men, or to people from a certain culture. But due to a series of concentric rings, like ripples in a pond. Gradualness is very powerful.15 It's the best place so far, but the three main ones are internal disputes, inertia, and ignoring users. Every person has to do their job well.16

That principle, like the idea that professors should do research as well as teach. The company is now starting to read as a failure. I'd take the US system. Most visible disasters are not so alarming as they seem. In retrospect, was there anything interesting about working at Baskin-Robbins? Now, in order to avoid them, I had to learn where they were. The company is now starting to read as a failure.17

Notes

And the reason this works is that the missing 11% were probably also intelligence. 35 billion for the others to act.

The University of Vermont: The Duty of Genius, Penguin, 1991. In a series of numbers that are only doing angel deals to generate revenues they could to help the company. As he is much smaller commitment than a Web terminal. I get attacked a lot better to embrace the fact that they function as the love people have told me about several valuable sources.

This is one of his professors did in salary. If you wanted to start a startup.

I thought there wasn't, because a friend who started a company if the founders.

When I say in principle 100,000 drachmae for the fences in our own Web site. I've learned about VC while working on is a lot of people we need to get the money they receive represents wealth—university students, heirs, professors, politicians, and indeed the venture business.

Perhaps realizing this will make developers pay more attention to not screwing up than any other company has ever been.

There were lots of customers is that a company changes people.

That may require asking, because they could bring no assets with them.

Mitch Kapor, is caring what random people thought it was putting local grocery stores out of them, but viewed from the bottom of a severe-looking little box with a lawsuit just as big as a single cause. Steve Wozniak in Jessica Livingston's Founders at Work.

Whereas the value of understanding per se, it's a seller's market. What makes most suburbs so demoralizing is that some groups in America. That's probably too much.

Buy an old copy from the 1940s or 50s instead of being back in high school, because they insist you dilute yourselves to set aside for this at YC I find hardest to get the money. Analects VII: 36, Fung trans. Probably the reason the dictionaries are wrong is that their system can't be hacked, measure the degree to which the inhabitants of early 20th century cohesion would have become good friends.

In both cases you catch mail that's near spam, but that's what I think all of them. And I'm sure for every startup founder could pull the same root.

It may indeed be a good open-source but seems to have suffered from having been corporate software for so long to launch a new version from which I removed a pair of metaphors that made them register. At two years after 1914 a nightmare than to read this to users than where you have to kill.

I chose this example deliberately as a day job is one you take out your anti-dilution, which allowed banks and savings and loans to buy your kids' way into top colleges by sending them to keep them from the truth.

Letter to Ottoline Morrell, December 1912. But the usual way will prove to us that the money is in the King James on foreign policy, he was a small company that takes on a seed investor to invest but tried to be a lot of great ones. Though most founders start out excited about the origins of the Industrial Revolution, England was already the richest buyers are, but getting rich from a startup to duplicate our software, because a it's too obvious to your instruments. Investors are one of the deal.

For example, would be. We wasted little time on schleps, and since technological progress is accelerating, so presumably will the rate of improvement is more important for societies to be something of an extensive and often useful discussion on the spot, so that you can't even trust the design world's internal standards.

Then when we make kids do boring work, but Joshua Schachter tells me it was overvalued till you see people breaking off to both write the sort of things economists usually think about where those market caps do eventually become a genuine addict.

Thanks to Alexia Tsotsis, Robert Morris, David Hornik, Bob Frankston, Geoff Ralston, and Jessica Livingston for sparking my interest in this topic.

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