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childcareseer · 4 years ago

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The Child Care Industry is in Crisis. Solutions Lie in Innovation

With demand for quality childcare spots far outstripping supply, the childcare industry is begging for innovation. Successful operators of the future will respond to Americans�� changing lifestyles by offering more flexible care arrangements. Technology can help centers become more profitable by better matching available capacity to the precise hours parents want.

The career that led up to that fateful 2017 decision to purchase the daycare—a business I have expanded into two locations and a child care management software business under the umbrella of Callahan Learning Center—gives me a somewhat unconventional perspective on the needs of this essential industry. My background is in engineering development. I earned a degree in electrical engineering from Grove City College in 1997, obtained my MBA in 2002 and worked for decades to build a successful career as an executive and entrepreneur in the wireless communication technology and software industry. I hold numerous patents, I’ve invented multi-million-dollar product lines, and I’ve been involved in more than four startups from cradle to exit, including my most recent startup selling for $200 million in 2019.

At heart, I am a problem-solver. I have found great professional joy in combining the problem-solving skills I learned as a software engineer with time-tested philosophies on managing and motivating teams to build healthy and profitable enterprises. When I bought a local daycare business, I discovered an industry screaming for software innovation. That discovery launched my journey to build a better daycare—one of the most fascinating problems I’ve worked on.

An industry in crisis

You don’t have to look hard to find people sounding the alarm on the severe imbalance between supply and demand in American child care. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a mere 23% of children under age 3 could be served by the available licensed child care slots in their communities, according to a survey of child care supply in 19 states and the District of Columbia conducted by the Center for American Progress. The mismatch between child care supply and demand costs the American economy an estimated $57 billion a year in lost earnings, productivity and revenue, according to research by the Council for a Strong America.

These studies were conducted before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put a ton of bricks on the accelerator of what was already a worrisome trend. In April 2020—just weeks into the crisis—the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) surveyed workers in child care centers and family child care homes in all 50 states. At that time, nearly half of respondents reported that their center—like Callahan Learning Center at the time—was completely closed. Of those that were open, 85% were operating at less than half of their enrollment capacity. The stress on these centers as the pandemic has continued has been immense. A July survey by NAEYC found that if the reduced enrollment and increased operating costs brought by the pandemic were to persist, only 18% of child care programs expected to survive another year. Yet the demand for good child care is only going to grow as the post-pandemic economy thankfully starts putting more Americans back to work.

This is an economic inefficiency that is begging us for a market solution.

Matching demand more precisely

At its most basic level, child care is the business of matching people who need care for their children with individuals who are willing to provide that care. In America, we’ve been going about the business of addressing this market demand pretty inefficiently for years. Most child care centers sell care in standard quantities designed to match a typical “9-to-5” work schedule, while only 62% of Americans would prefer to work the ‘typical banking hours’ of the 50s, according to a 2018 survey.

In complete truth, to keep a spot in these centers, many parents end up paying for child care hours they aren’t using, be it unused hours each week, or needing to pay for care during vacations to hold their spots. This setup also prevents center operators from being able to charge a higher rate for smaller and more irregular quantities of care, which would benefit both the center and the families who would gladly pay more per hour for the hours they need versus paying by the week for hours they can’t use.

In the 21st century, we’ve learned that matching market supply more precisely to demand can reap rewards for both consumers and providers. For instance, Uber and Lyft have allowed urban dwellers to stop paying for cars that stay parked most of the time—or make an economic return on that excess automotive capacity. Another example is Airbnb, which has allowed travelers to find lodging in the heart of the neighborhoods they wish to visit, and often without the minimum-night requirements of traditional resorts. Instacart lets us be more efficient in the time we allocate to buying food—while allowing grocers and paid shoppers to charge a premium for items purchased through the service.

We often don’t like to think about applying cold economic principles to something as personal as the care of small children, but the reality is that this is already happening, to the detriment of American working families. The American 9-to-5 office job is quickly disappearing, and the child care industry has not kept pace with this trend. In addition, many existing jobs—from surgeons to paramedics to restaurant workers—demand irregular and unconventional hours that aren’t often served by traditional care offerings. As the millennial generation—whose members seek unprecedented flexibility in their work-life arrangements—is now entering parenthood, it is urgent that the child care industry evolve by providing a product that matches their lifestyles.

Strong child care businesses can no longer be built on providing set offerings of full- or half-time care, but instead must offer a more customizable menu of options. This requires some of the same software-based solutions that have brought us on-demand transportation, lodging and grocery shopping.

Defining the problem

Labor makes up more than half of a typical child care center’s costs, so in the first few months I owned Callahan Learning Center, I spent a lot of time trying to understand how my center director scheduled staff. I watched as she worked her intuitive magic week after week to match our available educators with the children in our care. While this skill was highly impressive, it was also impossible to replicate. As I watched the process, I wondered, “What happens if she gets sick or leaves this job?”

I thought for sure someone had created a tool to help with this.

I tried some of the leading software tools on the market. While many of them kept good data on where children and teachers were yesterday, and where they were today, nobody was helping me answer the question that I believe lies at the heart of making this business better: Who will be in your care tomorrow, next week, and next month? Who will care for those children, and what will that care look like?

Solution: Child Care Seer

This problem sent me back to my software development experiences. I assembled, then spent a year and a half working with an internationally recognized team of developers to build a tool that would relieve child care managers of this ongoing burden, allow them to better understand their available capacity, and plan efficiently to improve the quality of care they could provide. As we worked on this problem, we realized it would impact so many aspects of the business.

Essentially, we were building an all-in-one platform that would free up dedicated caregivers to do what they love—care for children—while minimizing the time they needed to spend on repetitive tasks that keep their business going. We were building something that could allow them to focus on the quality of care they were providing, while giving them ways to increase the profitability—and longevity—of their business.

The result is Child Care Seer. Named for the seers, or prophets, who saw the future in biblical times, Child Care Seer’s job is to smooth out the roadblocks—from late payments to irregular schedules—that cause so much stress for the dedicated child care center workers that our nation needs to keep in business. Seer also allows providers to identify their excess capacity and sell it to parents who need more flexible options. Giving providers this ability to sell program-based and hourly care simultaneously has incredible potential to strengthen these businesses—an outcome that has important benefits for both hard-working child care center operators and the American workforce as a whole.

We’ve been using Child Care Seer to run our operations at Callahan Learning Center since we reopened in August, after using the pandemic shutdown as an opportunity to fully reimagine how we do business. Now that we use Seer, our weeks begin much more peacefully, as we are not spending hours on Monday mornings running credit cards for tuition payments—Seer automates this for us. When parents arrive with their children, our workers don’t have to have difficult conversations about late payments, as all of this is facilitated through the daycare billing software. Our director can see in real-time which children and teachers are in and out of all of the rooms in both of our locations, which makes on-the-spot decisions faster and more efficient. Seer allows us to more fairly and efficiently manage our waitlist, and lets us give parents the convenience of going online to request two hours of child care next Tuesday—or whatever irregular quantity of care their schedule may require. Seer also gives us the tools to engage parents in a way that is consistent, valuable and not burdensome to our educators.

Seer’s capabilities continue to evolve and grow as we begin to offer this product for use in child care centers across North America. Our development team continues to build Seer out as an indispensable platform that can enable child care businesses to offer both unparalleled flexibility and uncompromising quality, while also relieving them of some of the heavy logistical burden that adds hours to their work days.

I think child care is a huge part of the success of the country and the success of the local community, and I truly believe it can be massively better than it is. Let’s look for ways we can bring the American ingenuity that has improved so many other industries to bear on the business of matching caregivers with parents who want a safe place to take their kids while they work. My solution to this problem is a daycare software tool that can make it easier for parents to purchase the care they need, and far less stressful for center operators to run a sustainable business.

To me, that’s a win for everybody.

About Tom Callahan

Tom Callahan is a serial entrepreneur and seasoned executive with a track record of starting, growing and leading companies of all sizes. He is the owner of Callahan Learning Center, a Virginia-based family child care management company that operates centers providing high-quality and highly flexible child care. He is the founder of Child Care Seer, an all-in-one platform that can make child care a more manageable and profitable business. He came to the child care industry after more than two decades in the software and technology industries, where he invented multi-million-dollar product lines and guided multiple startups from cradle to exit, including his last startup selling for over $200 million in 2019. Learn more about Child Care Seer at childcareseer.com.

#childcare #childcare industry #software

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healinghurtssometimes · 4 years ago

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The Cycle (Pt. 1)

I’m not really sure where to start, so I’m going to opt for my current situation and how I got here. This blog isn’t meant for attention, but rather a way for me to get my experiences out in the open. Maybe some people will find this, relate, and somehow become my tribe. Let me tell you, I need good people. If you stick around long enough, I’m certain you’ll quickly start to see that. With that being said, I’m going to start with a very rough outline of the past 14-15 months.

For just a brief back story, I got offered the best paying job I’d ever had in January of 2017. A lot of stuff had happened (which I’ll cover another time) and I would have been stupid not to take the job when it was given to me. After 2 years, I got my Real Estate License since the company required it for all Property Managers, and I got promoted. The problem was that we were used to running our office with 3 Admins - one had been taken to fit a different role months earlier and still hadn’t been replaced, and I was the second one to be moved while the company STILL did not make an attempt to refill those roles until AFTER my promotion was finalized. I got stuck doing my job as an Admin AND my new job as a Property Manager with all training put on hold until those roles were filled, while also being expected to heavily assist in training the new Admins they hired since I had been there longer than the last Admin standing and was damn good at my job.

I then spent months filling multiple roles, being asked to train people coming into the new roles (including another Property Manager when I STILL wasn’t trained), and being asked regularly to go out of my way to do things face-to-face with/for my residents that was not being asked of my peers (many of which took up a substantial amount of time, like delivering portable AC units and having to walk through someone’s whole house with our Field Manager for maintenance complaints that I had no authority over). I BEGGED for help getting the new Admin team to fulfill the tasks I was trying to delegate to them, begged for training, begged for clarity on expectations that were never laid out. I begged for help for 6 months, and was consistently met with “we don’t have the resources,” “we aren’t properly staffed,” “there isn’t time,” etc. I was buried up to my nose from the day I took the position, and not one person agreed to help me dig myself out of the dirt. Instead, they buried me and then fired me for not being able to fulfill the role to their expectations (while the other two Property Managers weren’t expected to do ANY of the extra stuff they’d put on me to deal with). That was early September 2019. I filed for unemployment, and my now-former supervisor dug up information from my role as an Admin that had been approved by the District Manager at the time until they both got in trouble for letting me slightly stagger my schedule to make sure I could take care of my kids and be able to pay my rent after a HUGE change in the custody and child support of my children (a situation I’ll cover at another time). I didn’t get the notice letter for the unemployment appeal meeting until after it had taken place, about a week before Christmas, at which point I was VERY depressed, stressed, and couldn’t begin to fathom taking on a multi-million dollar company on my own. I now owe the state almost $900 in “overpaid unemployment benefits” that I have yet to be able to pay back.

I spent the next few months trying to find another job. Hoping to find something still in the world of Property Management, even if it wasn’t the same role or anywhere near the same pay or if it didn’t come with the same benefits. The company I worked for is well-known and very disliked by the ENTIRE property management community in the area I lived in at the time. They’re a very young company that is buying up houses left and right and helping make rent prices SOAR for those that aren’t able to buy a house (or just like renting instead of owning the home they live in for whatever reason) - they make it their goal year over year to increase renewal rates as much as they can get away with, knowing many people won’t do the research, question their numbers, or walk away from their house...they’ll just pay the rent increase and keep moving through their complaints of how high their rent is for the lack of improvements the company makes and their poor excuse of a maintenance department that’s directed to penny-and-dime every vendor and look for any reason the resident could possibly be held responsible for higher priced maintenance items. They’re in 20 different states and their maintenance department for their entire operation runs out of ONE state with a local “liaison” at each office that’s function is only for vacant homes. Hopefully they’ve changed some of this in the past year, but I don’t have any reason to believe they would have made things better for anything outside of their own bottom line. I won’t use their name because I don’t want to get sued, but if you know, you know.

I had to take the name of the company off of my resume, replaced with the word “Confidential,” in order to start getting call backs for interviews with other property management companies...all of which ended up being for apartment complexes where I was used to single-family and the two worlds are vastly different from one another. I had ONE company that actually offered me a job sometime around October/November 2019, and it turned out to be an absolutely awful situation to be in. They lied about what they offered for health insurance in my interview, treated their residents like garbage, their property manager played favorites and treated other staff like they were incompetent toddlers, leasing staff and maintenance weren’t allowed to communicate with each other outside of breaks and absolute emergencies, and operated with a LOT of drama. One situation got brought into our leasing office (while open to the public) where their outsourced IT guy and management proceeded to yell at each other in the lobby, calling each other things like “fucking liars” and just generally making a big scene, which made me incredibly uncomfortable to be around. I was already dealing with not having my much-needed anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications, and the way this company was operated was making my already spiraling mental health WORSE. So after a few weeks, I left knowing that they were not a good fit for me nor I for what they apparently needed. I applied for literally hundreds of jobs, got a few interviews, and never got offered another position.

All this time, I’m just trying to figure out how I’m going to pay my rent (my now ex-boyfriend’s parents were paying our $1500 monthly rent and all of our utilities at this point so we wouldn’t get evicted with my kids), how I’m going to pay my phone bill or my car payment, dealing with being uninsured and ashamed of the situation I was in, debt piling up all around me with no way out of it, no health insurance, battling withdrawal from my heavy dosage of SSRI drugs. I know I haven’t talked much about them here, but all of this was really starting to affect my children - who were only 5 & 7 at the time - which was really making the entire situation SO MUCH WORSE to deal with. I was self medicating with marijuana and was high 98% of the time, or in the process of getting high. While weed by itself is not an addictive drug, I developed a dependency on it like I had come to depend on my mental health medications, because it was numbing the reality of the situation I was in and helping keep me somewhat functional and kept me from falling deeper into the darkness as my world crumbled around me.

At the end of January, I finally decided that I couldn’t justify staying in the place I’d lived my whole life anymore. I had lost my job, all of my income, my health insurance...I was on the brink of losing my car, my relationship was failing due to financial strain (though I was also done with the relationship beforehand and started cheating on him before I lost my job anyway and was really only with him at that point for convenience...not a moment I’m proud of by any means), I wasn’t able to support myself or my kids and was no longer able to hide the situation from them for what it was. The only thing I was able to protect them from was KNOWING I was always high, which I’m sure from my own experience with my parents, they’ll end up figuring out when they’re older and weed is legal across the board. So I started thinking “what’s next, how do I change this situation?”

By January 2020, I’d been back in contact with an old high school boyfriend for a number of months. Not only was he an old boyfriend, but he was also one of my best friends in the whole world. I trusted him with every fiber of my being, he is the only soul that knows me the way he does, and he has stuck by my side through all of the mud trudging I’ve gone through since I was 15 other than our own disastrously messy breakup. He was roughly 400 miles away from my hometown, and was the only viable option for me to ask for help in the form of a roof to look for work and try to get myself back up on my feet. So I took my kids to their dad (who is a very petty and ugly human) because he is/was at least financially stable, packed a few things, and went looking for work 400 miles away. 3 days in, I was offered a menial serving job...but hey, working on 6 months of no consistent job or income, it was better than what I was working with back home. I started that job the end of February. For anyone that’s been alive this year, you know what’s coming next...4 weeks later, the restaurant was shut down for COVID lockdowns, and I immediately started looking for another job to take on once those shutdowns were lifted. So now, I’m 400 miles away from my kids and my family, and I’m also unemployed.

I thought I found one doing leasing with an apartment complex. I got the job offer, the offer letter, was working on finalizing a start date even though some of their requirements were ridiculous (like not being able to how any semblance of a tattoo or piercing not in your ear and only being able to wear black and white on the job). Then I asked what they were doing to protect their employees, residents, and potential residents from COVID. I lost that opportunity for asking questions, because they were the ONLY complex locally that was not observing any pandemic-related precautions, and had referred to a colleague as a “titty baby” for simply asking them to step up their game by providing hand sanitizer and a thermometer for their offices. I opted not to go back to serving over precautions for COVID so I could still go home and see my kids again at my dad’s house, as my step-mom was dealing the return of her Breast Cancer after nearly 2 years in remission and no way of getting treatment until the doctors decided it was safe again for her to be in a hospital or cancer treatment center.

Realizing now that I’ve only gotten to sometime around April/May, I’m going to leave this post for now and come back for a Part 2. If you’re still reading this and are planning on returning for the next installment, thank you for taking this journey with me as I lay my life out one piece at a time in the hopes of healing.

#depression #depressionawareness #anxiety #self healing #mental health #mental health awareness #unemployment #unemployment through COVID #healing

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c-kern · 4 years ago

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My (Ongoing) Weight Loss Journey

252.4.

That was my weight on July 1, 2018. I wish I could say that I have no idea how I got there, but that would be a lie. To put that number in prospect, when I graduated high school, I weighed in at just under 160 pounds. Many freshmen in college put on some additional weight. My freshman fifteen, though, was actually closer to a freshman fifty.

When I graduated college, I became an organizer. My job led me to travel all of the time, often eating an unhealthy diet that consisted of fast food at odd hours. I did that for several years.

By summer of 2018, my weight had exploded. There were a few times before then that I had “resolved” to change the way I ate or committed to working out, and I would enact those changes, well-intentioned, but they all ended the same way.

I would give up.

I wish I had some magical story about some life-changing event that made me see the error of my ways, but the truth is, that didn’t happen. I weighed in on that morning, saw that number of 252.4, and I laid back down in bed and told my wife the obvious, “I’m fat.”

A few weeks prior, I had read about intermittent fasting. I loved the idea of it as a diet. Intermittent fasting is basically limiting the time window in which you can eat. On previous diets, where I had to give up certain types of food never worked. Impulse eating of whatever I was craving would eventually be too hard to ignore. I would breakdown once, then twice, and eventually, I would give up the diet all together.

Intermittent fasting solved that issue for me, though. There was no real requirement to stick to only eating certain foods. I could eat whatever I wanted, as long as I stuck to the window. Obviously, eating better would help, but it wasn’t required.

So, the next day, I decided to try this out. My goal was to get under 200 pounds in a year. I felt even more motivated by the fact that my wife had planned a big family trip for the Fall to France. I wanted to look good for those pictures, and that was impossible at my current weight. At first, it was hard. I only allowed myself to eat during the hours of 7 am and 3 pm. Of course, my body was used to eating at later in the evening, because like many, for my whole life, I had eaten dinner between 6 pm and 7 pm, well outside that window.

After a couple of weeks, though, my body adjusted to the change. I fell into a routine, and the results began. By September of that year, when we left for France, my weight was already down to 235. For me, it was a major accomplishment. Seeing the weight continue to drop motivated me to keep going. I became addicted to accomplishment.

By January 2019, my weight had hit a new low of about 218 lbs. In six months, I had lost 34 lbs, and for the first time in nearly a decade, 200 was in sight. I knew I could make my goal.

Then, it all went terribly wrong.

The beginning of 2019 was a very stressful time for me, particularly professionally. During January and February, we accomplished great things in my profession, but the long hours and stress made sticking to my diet nearly impossible. I would make one day’s exception, then another, and before long, I was telling myself that I would get back as soon as things were back to normal. I needed the fuel to keep going. Unfortunately, once work slowed down, I also came to deal with mental health issues (maybe I will talk about those another time) that prevented me from being able to worry about my weight during the Spring and Summer. I stopped the diet completely.

In August 2019, I was a mess. My weight had ballooned back up. I was at 235 lbs. The same weight I had been nearly a year earlier during the France trip. I was devastated. I had missed my goal, and even worse, I was going backwards. Again, I decided to give it another go.

During the Fall of 2019, I resumed the intermittent fasting diet that had gotten me down to 218, and it worked for a while, but during the holidays, I would yo-yo between 225 and 230, never again making that previous low of 218.

In January 2020, a personal trainer friend who my wife and I had talked to about dieting quite a bit and knew that I had been stuck, suggested a nutrition plan to me. It was similar to ones I had done in the past and was really restrictive. I thought about it for a few days, and decided I was ready. I was stuck. I felt good about the progress but wanted more.

So, I started, and so far, so good. I have managed for the last six months to stick to it. Sure, COVID shutdowns and everything else life has thrown at all of us this year has challenged, me, but through support of my wife and rediscovering my addiction to success has gotten me through.

This morning, for the first time since at least 2010, I weighed in at under 200 lbs. I have lost 52.8 lbs, so far and finally made that goal.

I have read so many weight loss stories on the internet about magic diets or pills or remarkable journeys of losing lots of weight in a short amount of time. That didn’t happen to me. I have no idea if this is the point of no return. I don’t know if this is the time that I stop giving up on this, but I hope it is.

Whatever you’re working at, keep at it.

#diet #lose weight

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kramlabs · 5 years ago

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If you’re going to dance on someone’s constitutional rights you better have a good reason, you better have a really good reason, not just a theory,” he said. “The data is showing us it’s time to lift (the stay-at-home orders) so if we don’t lift, what is the reason?

Whisteblowing ER Docs Urge "Open Up Society Now" Because "Lockdowns Are Weakening Our Immune Systems"

“We’d like to look at how we’ve responded as a nation, and why you responded. Our first initial response two months ago was a little bit of fear: [the government] decided to shut down travel to and from China. These are good ideas when you don’t have any facts. [Governments] decided to keep people at home and isolate them. Typically you quarantine the sick. When someone has measles you quarantine them. We’ve never seen where we quarantine the healthy.

So that’s kind of how we started. We don’t know what’s going on, we see this new virus. How should we respond? So we did that initially, and over the last couple months we’ve gained a lot of data typically. We’re going to go over the numbers a little bit to kind of help you see how widespread COVID is, and see how we should be responding to it based on its prevalence throughout society—or the existence of the cases that we already know about….

So if you look at California—these numbers are from yesterday—we have 33,865 COVID cases, out of a total of 280,900 total tested. That’s 12% of Californians were positive for COVID. So we don’t, the initial—as you guys know, the initial models were woefully inaccurate. They predicted millions of cases of death - not of prevalence or incidence - but death.

That is not materializing. What is materializing is, in the state of California is 12% positives.

You have a 0.03% chance of dying from COVID in the state of California. Does that necessitate sheltering in place? Does that necessitate shutting down medical systems? Does that necessitate people being out of work?

96% of people in California who get COVID would recover, with almost no significant sequelae; or no significant continuing medical problems. Two months ago we didn’t know this. The more you test, the more positives you get. The prevalence number goes up, and the death rate stays the same. So [the death rate] gets smaller and smaller and smaller. And as we move through this data—what I want you to see is—millions of cases, small death. Millions of cases, small death.

We extrapolate data, we test people, and then we extrapolate for the entire community based on the numbers. The initial models were so inaccurate they’re not even correct. And some of them were based on social distancing and still predicted hundreds of thousands of deaths, which has been inaccurate. In New York the ones they tested they found 39% positive. So if they tested the whole state would we indeed have 7.5 million cases? We don’t know; we will never test the entire state. So we extrapolate out; we use the data we have because it’s the most we have versus a predictive model that has been nowhere in the ballpark of accurate. How many deaths do they have? 19,410 out of 19 million people, which is a 0.1% chance of dying from COVID in the state of New York. If you are indeed diagnosed with COVID-19, 92% of you will recover.

We’ve tested over 4 million… which gives us a 19.6% positive out of those who are tested for COVID-19. So if this is a typical extrapolation 328 million people times 19.6 is 64 million. That’s a significant amount of people with COVID; it’s similar to the flu. If you study the numbers in 2017 and 2018 we had 50 to 60 million with the flu. And we had a similar death rate in the deaths the United States were 43,545—similar to the flu of 2017-2018. We always have between 37,000 and 60,000 deaths in the United States, every single year. No pandemic talk. No shelter-in-place. No shutting down businesses…

We do thousands of flu tests every year. We don’t report every one, because the flu is ubiquitous and to that note we have a flu vaccine. How many people even get the flu vaccine? The flu is dangerous, it kills people. Just because you have a vaccine doesn’t mean it’s gonna be everywhere and it doesn’t mean everyone’s going to take it… I would say probably 50% of the public doesn’t even want it. Just because you have a vaccine—unless you forced it on the public—doesn’t mean they’re going to take it.

Norway has locked down; Sweden does not have lock down. What happened in those two countries? Are they vastly different? Did Sweden have a massive outbreak of cases? Did Norway have nothing? Let’s look at the numbers. Sweden has 15,322 cases of COVID—21% of all those tested came out positive for COVID. What’s the population of Sweden? About 10.4 million. So if we extrapolate out the data about 2 million cases of COVID in Sweden. They did a little bit of social distancing; they would wear masks and separate; they went to schools; stores were open. They were almost about their normal daily life with a little bit of social distancing. They had how many deaths? 1,765. California’s had 1,220 with isolation. No isolation: 1,765. We have more people. Norway: its next-door neighbor. These are two Scandinavian nations; we can compare them as they are similar. 4.9% of all COVID tests were positive in Norway. Population of Norway: 5.4 million. So if we extrapolate the data, as we’ve been doing, which is the best we can do at this point, they have about 1.3 million cases. Now their deaths as a total number, were 182. So you have a 0.003 chance of death as a citizen of Norway and a 97% recovery. Their numbers are a little bit better. Does it necessitate shutdown, loss of jobs, destruction of the oil company, furloughing doctors?

I wanted to talk about the effects of COVID-19, the secondary effects. COVID-19 is one aspect of our health sector. What has it caused to have us be involved in social isolation? What does it cause that we are seeing the community respond to? Child molestation is increasing at a severe rate. We could go over multiple cases of children who have been molested due to angry family members who are intoxicated, who are home, who have no paycheck. Spousal abuse: we are seeing people coming in here with black eyes and cuts on their face. It’s an obvious abuse of case. These are things that will affect them for a lifetime, not for a season. Alcoholism, anxiety, depression, suicide. Suicide is spiking; education is dropped off; economic collapse. Medical industry we’re all suffering because our staff isn’t here and we have no volume. We have clinics from Fresno to San Diego and these things are spiking in our community. These things will affect people for a lifetime, not for a season.

I’d like to go over some basic things about how the immune system functions so people have a good understanding. The immune system is built by exposure to antigens: viruses, bacteria. When you’re a little child crawling on the ground, putting stuff in your mouth, viruses and bacteria come in. You form an antigen antibody complex. You form IgG IgM. This is how your immune system is built. You don’t take a small child put them in bubble wrap in a room and say, “go have a healthy immune system.”

This is immunology, microbiology 101. This is the basis of what we’ve known for years. When you take human beings and you say, “go into your house, clean all your counters—Lysol them down you’re gonna kill 99% of viruses and bacteria; wear a mask; don’t go outside,” what does it do to our immune system? Our immune system is used to touching. We share bacteria. Staphylococcus, streptococcal, bacteria, viruses.

Sheltering in place decreases your immune system. And then as we all come out of shelter in place with a lower immune system and start trading viruses, bacteria—what do you think is going to happen? Disease is going to spike. And then you’ve got diseases spike—amongst a hospital system with furloughed doctors and nurses. This is not the combination we want to set up for a healthy society. It doesn’t make any sense.

…Did we respond appropriately? Initially the response, fine shut it down, but as the data comes across—and we say now, wait a second, we’ve never, ever responded like this in the history of the country why are we doing this now? Any time you have something new in the community medical community it sparks fear—and I would have done what Dr. Fauci did—so we both would have initially. Because the first thing you do is, you want to make sure you limit liability—and deaths—and I think what they did was brilliant, initially. But you know, looking at theories and models—which is what these folks use—is very different than the way the actual virus presents itself throughout communities….

Nobody talks about the fact that coronavirus lives on plastics for three days and we’re all sheltering in place. Where’d you get your water bottles from? Costco. Where did you get that plastic shovel from? Home Depot. If I swab things in your home I would likely find COVID-19. And so you think you’re protected. Do you see the lack of consistency here? Do you think you’re protected from COVID when you wear gloves that transfer disease everywhere? Those gloves have bacteria all over them. We wear masks in an acute setting to protect us. We’re not wearing masks. Why is that? Because we understand microbiology; we understand immunology; and we want strong immune systems. I don’t want to hide in my home, develop a weak immune system, and then come out and get disease.

When someone dies in this country right now they’re not talking about the high blood pressure, the diabetes, the stroke. They say they died from COVID. We’ve been to hundreds of autopsies. You don’t talk about one thing, you talk about comorbidities. COVID was part of it, it is not the reason they died folks. When I’m writing up my death report I’m being pressured to add COVID.

Why is that? Why are we being pressured to add COVID? To maybe increase the numbers, and make it look a little bit worse than it is. We’re being pressured in-house to add COVID to the diagnostic list when we think it has nothing to do with the actual cause of death. The actual cause of death was not COVID, but it’s being reported as one of the disease processes and being added to the death list. COVID didn’t kill them, 25 years of tobacco use killed.

There’s two ways to get rid of virus: either burns itself out or herd immunity. For hundreds of years we relied on herd immunity. Viruses kill people, end of story. The flu kills people. COVID kills people. But for the rest of us we develop herd immunity. We developed the ability to take this virus in and defeat it and for the vast majority 95% of those around the globe. Do you want your immune system built or do you want it not built? The building blocks of your immune system is a virus and bacteria. There’s normal bacteria in normal flora that we have to be exposed to bacteria and viruses that are not virulent are our friends. They protect us against bad bacteria and bad viruses.

Right now, if you look at Dr. Erikson’s skin or my skin we have strep, we have stuff—they protect us against opportunistic infections. That’s why for the first three to six months [babies are] extremely vulnerable to opportunistic infection. Which is why, when we see a little baby in the ER with fever who is one month old, you do a spinal tap, you do a chest x-ray, you do blood cultures, you do urine cultures. But if you had a fever I wouldn’t do that for you. Why? Because that baby does not have the normal bacteria and flora from the community, whereas you do. I guarantee when we reopen there’s going to be a huge, huge amount of illness that’s going to be rampant because our immune systems have weakened. That’s just basic immunology.

Do we need to still shelter in place? Our answer is emphatically no. Do we need businesses to be shut down? Emphatically no. Do we need to have it, do we need to test them, and get them back to work? Yes, we do. The the secondary effects that we went over—the child abuse, alcoholism, loss of revenue—all these are, in our opinion, a significantly more detrimental thing to society than a virus that has proven similar in nature to the seasonal flu we have every year.

We also need to put measures in place so economic shutdown like this does not happen again. We want to make sure we understand that quarantining the sick is what we do, not quarantine the healthy. We need to make sure if you’re gonna dance on someone’s constitutional rights you better have a good reason. You better have a really good scientific reason, and not just theory.

One of the most important things is we need our hospitals back up. We need our furloughed doctors back. We need our nurses back. Because when we lift this thing, we’re gonna need all hands on deck. I know the local hospitals have closed two floors. Folks, that’s not the situation you want. We’re essentially setting ourselves up to have minimal staff, and we’re going to have significant disease. That’s the wrong combination.

I’ve talked to our local head of the Health Department and he’s waiting… for the powers that be to lift. Because the data is showing it’s time to lift. I would start slowly [open up schools sporting events] I think we need to open up the schools start getting kids back to the immune system you know and the major events the sporting events these are non-essential let’s get back to those slowly let’s start with schools let’s start with cafe Rio and the pizza place here… Does that make sense to you guys and I think I can go into Costco and I can shop with people and there’s probably a couple hundred people but I can’t go in Cafe Rio so big businesses are open little businesses are not….

Eventually we treat this like we treat flu. Which is if you have the flu and you’re feeling fever and body aches you just stay home if you have coughing or shortness of breath—COVID is more of a respiratory thing—you stay home. You don’t get tested, even when people come with flu a lot of times we don’t test them. We go, “you have flu. Here’s a medication.” You have COVID, go home, let it resolve and come back negative.

If you have no symptoms you should be able to return to work. Are you an asymptomatic viral spreader? Maybe, but we can’t test all of humanity. Sure we’re gonna miss cases of coronavirus, just like we miss cases of the flu. It would be nice to capture every coronavirus patient, but is that realistic? Are we gonna keep the economy shut down for two years and vaccinate everybody? That’s an unrealistic expectation. You’re going to cause financial ruin, domestic violence, suicide, rape, violence and what are you going to get out of it? You’re still going to miss a lot of cases. So we need to treat this like the flu, which is familiar, and eventually this will mutate and become less and less virulent…

I don’t need a double-blind clinically controlled trial to tell me if sheltering in place is appropriate, that is a college-level understanding of microbiology. A lot of times in medicine you have to make you have to make educated decisions with the data that you have. I can sit up in the 47th-floor in the penthouse and say we should do this, this, and this, but I haven’t seen a patient for 20 years—that’s not realistic.

If you’re healthy and you don’t have significant comorbidities and you know you’re not immunodeficient and you’re not elderly you should be able to go out without any gloves and without a mask. If you are those things you should either shelter in place or wear a mask and gloves. I don’t think everybody needs to wear the masks and gloves because it reduces your bacterial flora… and your bacterial flora and your viruses your friends that protect you from other diseases [if they] end up going away and now you’re more likely to get opportunistic infections infections that are hoping you don’t have your good bugs fighting for you.”

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patriotsnet · 3 years ago

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Are Republicans Trying To Cut Social Security

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/are-republicans-trying-to-cut-social-security/

Are Republicans Trying To Cut Social Security

The Republican Record On Social Security

Huff Post Reporter: Biden’s documented history of trying to cut social security

1935: Almost all Republicans in Congress oppose the creation of Social Security.

1939: 75 percent of Republicans in Senate try to kill legislation providing Social Security benefits to dependents and survivors as well as retired workers.

1950: 79 percent of House and 89 percent of Senate Republicans vote against disability insurance to defeat it.

1956: 86 percent of Republicans in Senate oppose disability insurance; program approved nonetheless.

1964: Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and future president Ronald Reagan both suggest that Social Security be made voluntary.

1965: 93 percent of Republicans in House and 62 percent in Senate vote to kill Medicare.

1977: 58 percent of Senate votes against amendment to provide semiannual increases.

1977: 88 percent of Republicans in House and 63 percent in Senate vote against an increase in Social Security payroll tax needed to keep the system solvent.

1981: President Reagan proposes $35 billion in Social Security cuts over the next 5 years. The cuts would have included the elimination of student benefits, lump-sum death benefits, and a retroactive elimination of the $122 minimum benefit for three million recipients.

1981: Reagan administration begins a wholesale review of the Social Security Disability rolls, resulting in over 560,000 eligibility investigations in 1982 360,000 more than the year before. Ultimately, at least 106,000 families were removed from the rolls.

Republicans Aren’t Going To Take Away Social Security

Without beating around the bush, the Republican Party is often associated as being the party of the well-to-do — and the rich typically aren’t reliant in any way on Social Security income. There’s, therefore, been a long-running belief that Republicans would aim to do away with Social Security sometime in the future. This is nothing more than another in a long line of pervasive Social Security myths.

Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have an understanding of the importance that Social Security plays in keeping some 22 million people currently receiving benefits above the federal poverty line. Though both parties may have suggested tweaking how revenue is generated for the program, neither party would remove or replace any of the three funding sources: the payroll tax on earned income, the taxation of benefits, and interest income on the program’s asset reserves.

In other words, no Republican is going to advocate scraping Social Security. And even if they did, the idea would have no chance of gaining traction in Congress.

The Average Retired Worker Benefit Could Be Cut By More Than $4300 In Less Than 15 Years

The good news, if there’s a silver lining to pull out of this mess for seniors and future retirees, is that Social Security won’t be bankrupt, even if Congress fails to act. Two of Social Security’s three sources of funding — the 12.4% payroll tax on earned income and the taxation of benefits — are recurring sources of revenue. As long as the American public continues to work, money will be flowing into the Social Security program for disbursement to eligible beneficiaries.

On the other hand, no money left in asset reserves would mean that the existing payout schedule, inclusive of cost-of-living adjustments, would no longer be sustainable. Translation: Benefit cuts would be necessary to maintain Social Security’s solvency for decades to come.

According to the latest Trustees report, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust would only be able to pay 76% of scheduled benefits once its coffers are cleaned out. Put another way, it means retired workers and survivors could face an across-the-board benefit cut of 24% by 2035.

Now, think about this for a moment. In May 2020, the Social Security Administration published data showing that the average retired worker was bringing home $1,512.63 a month. That’s $18,151.56 a year for the typical retiree. A 24% benefit cut would, in May 2020 dollars, equate to a benefit cut of $4,356 a year. That’s terrifying when you consider that 62% of retired workers rely on their monthly payout to account for at least half of their income.

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The Average Retired Worker Could Be Taking Home A Lot Less From Social Security In 15 Years

This has been a challenging year in so many respects for the American public. The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the way we interact with one another, and its displaced more than 20 million workers. If youre an investor, you were also taken on a wild ride, with the stock market packing about 10 years worth of volatility into a period of four months. And dont even get me started about the murder hornets.

But one of the few solaces working Americans have always been able to take is the idea that, if they earn 40 lifetime work credits, a Social Security benefit will be waiting for them when they retire.

The Social Security program has navigated through 13 recessions prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite some obviously grim outlooks during those previous recessions, youll note that Social Security is still here, and its been paying continuous retired-worker benefits for more than 80 years. This is why its often referred to as Americas most successful social program.

But just because its been a historically successful program doesnt mean its necessarily in great shape to service future generations of retirees.

What You Should Know About The Gop And Social Security

Who’s to blame for this mess? Well, some Americans would point their fingers specifically at Republicans in Congress. While they absolutely do take some of the blame, the inaction by Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill makes them equally culpable in exacerbating Social Security’s problems.

When it comes to Republicans and Social Security, here are the four things you absolutely need to know.

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With A Potential Debt Ceiling Increase Afoot Liberals Brace For Obama To Once Again Push For Social Security Cuts

Paul Ryans Wednesday Wall Street Journalop-ed was perhaps the starkest sign of a striking shift: a government shutdown and debt ceiling showdown pitched by Tea Party members to be about blocking Obamacare is being framed by GOP leaders as a push towards entitlement reform. In Wednesday interviews, leaders of liberal groups commended the presidents consistent insistence on not offering new budget concessions in exchange for reopening the government or averting debt default. But they pledged an all-out effort to defeat Social Security or Medicare cuts if Obama offers them once again after the default threat is delayed. GOP leaders push for a six-week debt ceiling increase suggests that moment could come very soon.

Charles Chamberlain, who directs the Dean campaign offshoot Democracy For America, told Salon that it would be a huge mistake for Obama to once again push the Social Security cut called chained CPI, and the president would face a gigantic amount of opposition from progressives nationwide if he did. Still, said Chamberlain, he put her on the table once before. I dont think hes going to take it off.

Meanwhile, the presidents support appears to have tempered opposition to Social Security cuts within the Democratic Caucus. A work-in-progress whip count from Social Security Works so far counts a dozen Democrats in the Senate and 46 in the House whose statements suggest they would oppose any deal including chained CPI .

They Haven’t Taken A Dime From The Social Security Program That Isn’t Accounted For

Another misconception is that the Republican Party stole money from the Social Security Trust and used it to fund wars. More specifically, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush have come under intense scrutiny for borrowing from Social Security and “not putting the money back.”

However, the truth of the matter is that Congress has been able to “borrow” Social Security’s excess cash for five decades, and it’s happened under every single president over that stretch. In fact, the Social Security Administration is required by law to purchase special-issue bonds and certificates of indebtedness with this excess cash. Please note the emphasis on “required by law” that I’ve added above. The federal government isn’t simply going to sit on this excess cash it borrows from Social Security. It’s spending this cash on various line items, which may be wars and the defense budget, as well as education, healthcare, and pretty much any other expenditure you can think of.

This setup is actually a win-win for both parties. The federal government has a relatively liquid source of borrowing with the Social Security Trust, and the Trust is able to generate significant annual income from the interest it earns on its loans. Last year, $85.1 billion of the $996.6 billion that was generated by the program came from interest income.

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Trump Keeps Proposing Entitlement Cuts And Then Denying That He Did So

In 2015 and 16, Trump differentiated himself from the rest of the Republican presidential hopefuls by campaigning on a vow to not cut entitlements.

Im not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and Im not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid, Trump told the Daily Signal, a conservative publication affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, in 2015.

As his budget proposals indicate, this promise was an empty one. Trump, however, seems to realize that cutting entitlements is a political loser for him, and as a result has continued to make assertions about preserving them that are at odds with reality.

All Republicans support people with pre-existing conditions, and if they dont, they will after I speak to them. I am in total support. Also, Democrats will destroy your Medicare, and I will keep it healthy and well!

Donald J. Trump

Last month, however, Trump seemed to have a moment of radical honesty when he told CNBC during an interview conducted in Davos that at some point entitlement cuts will be on the table.

CNBC: Will entitlements ever be on your plate ?TRUMP: “At some point they will be”CNBC: But you said you wouldn’t do that in the pastTRUMP: “We also have assets that we never had”

Aaron Rupar

Those comments created a negative stir, so the very next day Trump tried to walk them back.

Democrats are going to destroy your Social Security. I have totally left it alone, as promised, and will save it!

Donald J. Trump

Democrats Have Already Signaled Trumps Budget Is Going Nowhere

Trump Vows To Protect Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid

While Trump tries to have it both ways by proposing entitlement cuts while claiming hes not really doing that, Treasury Department spokesperson Monica Crowley was somewhat more straightforward during a Monday morning appearance on Fox Business.

Asked by host Stuart Varney if she agrees that the new budget hits the safety net, Crowley said the president understands that Washingtons habit of out of control spending without consequence has to be stopped.

Treasury Secretary Assistant Sec. Monica Crowley defends cuts to entitlements in Trumps new 2021 budget proposal: The president also understands that Washingtons habit of out of control spending without consequence has to be stopped.

Aaron Rupar

But for Trump, not all spending is bad. While his budget cuts non-defense spending by 5 percent, he actually slates defense spending for an increase to $740.5 billion for fiscal year 2021.

Budget proposals are just that proposals. And while Trump insists that Republicans are the ones trying to save entitlements from destruction, the irony is that the truth is exactly the opposite: Entitlement cuts are dead on arrival as long as Democrats control a chamber of Congress.

House Budget Committee Chair John Yarmuth alluded to this reality in a statement he released on Sunday blasting Trump for proposing deep cuts to critical programs that help American families.

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Is The Gop Really Trying To Do Away With Social Security

Social Security is unquestionably the nation’s most important social program, with more than three out of five current retired workers leaning on it to account for at least half of their monthly income. Yet, this crucial program is on shaky ground, with the latest annual report from the Social Security Board of Trustees painting a grim intermediate- and long-term picture for the program.

According to the report, Social Security is facing an inflection point this year. For the first time since 1982, aggregate expenditures, which almost entirely includes benefits, but also takes into account administrative expenses and Railroad Retirement exchange contributions, will exceed revenue generated. Although the net cash outflow is only estimated at $1.7 billion, which is relative peanuts when compared to the $2.89 trillion currently in asset reserves, it’s a conclusive sign that the existing payout schedule isn’t sustainable.

Things begin to get really dicey in 2020 and beyond. Beginning at the turn of the decade, ongoing demographic shifts are expected to cause the net cash outflow to balloon. By 2034, following 16 years of outflows, the $2.89 trillion in excess cash is expected to be completely gone. Should this happen, Social Security would survive, but payouts to then-current and future retirees could be cut by up to 21%. That’s not a pleasant forecast given the noted reliance of seniors on the program.

Meet The New Gop Plan To End Medicare Same As The Old Gop Plan To End Medicare

We here in the Democratic Whip Press shop will give Republicans credit for their transparency. They are not even trying to hide the fact that their Cut, Cap and End Medicare bill would end the programs guarantee.

Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said yesterday the plan basically mirrors the budget proposal that the House passed this year.

That would be the same Republican budget proposal that ends the Medicare guarantee and more than doubles heath care costs for seniors, all while preserving tax breaks for the wealthy.

And the Republican Cut, Cap and End Medicare plan is no different.

But dont just take our word for it. According to theCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities, the measure:

stands out as one of the most ideologically extreme pieces of major budget legislation to come before Congress in years, if not decades.

The legislation would inexorably subject Social Security and Medicare to deep reductions.

In addition, the extreme and draconian Republican proposal would reverse decades of precedent that exempt cuts to basic services for the most vulnerable among us. More from the CBPP:

Since the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law of 1985, all such laws have exempted the core basic assistance programs for the poorest Americans from such across-the-board cuts. Cut, Cap, and Balance, by contrast, specifically subjects all such programs to across-the-board cuts if its spending caps would be exceeded.

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Republicans Will Cut Social Security And Medicare After Tax Plan Passes Says Marco Rubio

Update | Florida Senator Marco Rubio admits that the Republican tax cut plan, which benefits corporations and the wealthy, will require cuts to Social Security and Medicare to pay for it.

To address the federal deficit, which will grow by at least $1 trillion if the tax plan passes, Congress will need to cut entitlement programs such as Social Security, Rubio told reporters this week. Advocates for the elderly and the poor have warned that entitlement programs would be on the chopping block, but this is the first time a prominent Republican has backed their claims.

Expect all the guests on the Sunday shows to be Republicans explaining how they now have no choice but to slash Social Security & Medicare because the deficit has suddenly and mysteriously gotten much worse.

Bruce “Snarking and Barking” Bartlett

“You have got to generate economic growth because growth generates revenue,” Rubio said at a Politico conference. “But you also have to bring spending under control. And not discretionary spending. That isn’t the driver of our debt. The driver of our debt is the structure of Social Security and Medicare for future beneficiaries.”

Rubio’s talk of structural change is vague but will likely include changing the rate and age of Social Security and Medicare payouts.

So where does that money come from?

Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch said Thursday that “liberal programs” for the poor were wasting Americans’ money.

The Political Outlook For Social Security Reforms

But the Biden administration and its Congressional allies are instead focused on threading the political needle for an ambitious $3.5 trillion infrastructure spending package, while also dealing with the fallout from the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Leading Republican legislators have called for so-called entitlement reform , but that’s a tough sell in the current ;Democratically controlled Congress.

“Does the report mean the timetable argues for real concrete action on Social Security? Probably not. Will it revive the rhetoric that the sky is falling? Sure,” says Robert Blancato, national coordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition advocacy group, president of Matz Blancato and Associates and a 2016 Next Avenue Influencer in Aging.

The issue over how best to restore financial solvency to Social Security isn’t going away. That’s because the program is fundamental to the economic security of retired Americans. Social Security currently pays benefits to 49 million retired workers and dependents of retired workers .

However, the tenor of the longer-term solvency discussion has significantly changed in recent years.

To be sure, a number of leading Republicans still want to cut Social Security retirement benefits to reduce the impending shortfall. Their latest maneuver is what’s known as The TRUST Act, sponsored by Utah Sen. Mitt Romney.

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Democrats Urged To Reject Latest Gop Attempt To Hold Social Security ‘hostage’

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday said he would be willing to vote to raise the federal debt ceiling in exchange for a policy that could result in cuts to Social Security and Medicare, a proposed trade-off that progressive advocacy groups implored Democrats to reject.

“Fortunately, Democrats can protect Social Security and Medicare by raising the debt ceiling in the forthcoming reconciliation package.”Alex Lawson, Social Security Works

With members of Congress staring down an to increase the debt limitthe amount of money the federal government is legally permitted to borrow to meet its financial obligationsGraham toldBloomberg that he could bring himself to vote yes on a debt ceiling hike if Democrats agree to legislation establishing commissions tasked with crafting Social Security and Medicare “reforms.”

But Social Security Works, a progressive advocacy organization, was quick to warn that Graham’s offer is a thinly veiled trap.

“Lindsey Graham and his fellow Republicans will stop at nothing to cut the American people’s earned Social Security and Medicare benefits,” Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, said in a statement. “Graham has now telegraphed his party’s intention to demand a commission to cut Social Security and Medicare as the price for raising the debt ceiling.”

Social Security Works and other groups warned at the time that the proposal was nothing more than “a plot to gut Social Security behind closed doors.”

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your-dietician · 3 years ago

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NHL officiating in the playoffs has been nothing short of haphazard

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nhl/nhl-officiating-in-the-playoffs-has-been-nothing-short-of-haphazard/

NHL officiating in the playoffs has been nothing short of haphazard

You may be thinking of several more incidents left unmentioned. Maybe something from the Bruins’ playoff run?

Rage against the referees has been a part of hockey since the puck was a chunk of wood and the sticks were fashioned from saplings. There used to be a few cameras in the building, and now there’s a few hundred, and we can clearly see what the officials a few feet away miss, as the players skate by in a blur. Maybe we should accept that they’re going to miss some bad ones.

Judging by the numbers, nothing should change. On average, officials call more penalties in the playoffs than in the regular season. According to the NHL, playoff games in the last two seasons have averaged 8.33 penalty calls, compared with 7.05 during the regular season.

But that doesn’t sound right, does it? When the prize is greater, players battle harder, empty their tanks completely, finish checks more violently. Why aren’t there more penalties called?

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, through a league spokesperson, told the Globe that players, not officials, determine the calls.

“Officials are directed and encouraged to call the same standard as in the regular season,” Daly said. “That’s always been the case, but it’s been an even greater point of emphasis in recent years. What changes in the playoffs is the way the game is played on the ice, and that changes how officiating is perceived.”

Not everyone buys that.

“It’s different from regular season to playoffs. The refs are letting a little bit more stuff go,” Vegas winger Jonathan Marchessault said, calling it “adversity that teams need to face in the playoffs. Good teams will find a way to go through it. Just have to battle through it. Find a way.”

More bluntly, NBC analyst Brian Boucher tweeted he was “tired of people crying about officiating. Deal with it!”

Sure … but … why? Do we want what amounts to a different rulebook for the postseason?

Does it make sense that Connor McDavid can go eight games over the last two playoffs without drawing a penalty, despite numerous clear-cut infractions against him? Analyst Rachel Doerrie said she watched every McDavid shift from the Oilers-Jets series and counted 30 non-calls. McDavid, as you’d expect from the league’s premier talent, had the most offensive-zone puck possession time of any player during the regular season, according to Sportlogiq. He earned 53 penalty calls in 120 games, ranking sixth in the NHL. Not one penalty call in the postseason?

Longtime NHL official Kerry Fraser, who retired in 2010, said the missed calls this year have been “troublesome,” pointing to a “regression” in the performance of veterans in stripes.

“This is painful to say, and to watch, because I know all these guys, and worked with some of them,” Fraser said on TSN 1050 in Toronto. “They’re good people. They don’t deserve the kind of work that they’re putting forth.

“That’s not fair. That’s not right. As a player, you would look at yourself first. But you would also look at the kind of direction you’re getting … you’ve got to look at the game plan.”

Paul Stewart, the longtime former NHL ref from Dorchester, noted in a phone conversation that officials don’t have regular pregame meetings during the season, but they do in the playoffs. That’s where all kinds of bugs can be put in their ears — like “No. 11 is cheating on faceoffs,” he said, conjuring an example that would perk the ears of Bruce Cassidy.

Though the league has denied it, “letting the players play” is a long-accepted practice. A few seasons ago (2017), the NHL told its men in stripes to focus on slashes to the hands. That’s how we get what happened in Game 4 of Vegas-Montreal: Joel Edmundson retaliated by cross-checking William Carrier into the boards (no call), Suzuki hooked Alec Martinez on the hands (penalty).

“This is an annual event,” Fraser said. “We have one set of rules in the regular season, and then a whole different standard in the playoffs.

“Yes, we like to let them play, but when you let the players decide the outcome of a game, which I never subscribed to, then you’re actually as a referee letting things go that could affect the outcome of the game.

“Draw the line. Players will play within it. They’re smart. But if you let the inmates run the prison, the warden might as well take his skates off and watch it on TV.”

Canada’s best

Canadiens an unlikely finalist, or are they?

Few expected to see the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final, but the Habs are four wins away from lifting their first Cup since 1993.Vaughn Ridley/Getty

This is as deep as the Canadiens have been in a generation. They have not been to the Stanley Cup Final since 1993, when they won the most recent Cup in their (and Canada’s) history.

And they got there on an overtime goal. The last time they went to the Final on an OT winner was … for the sake of anyone who remembers 1979, let’s not go there. Already too much discussion of penalties here.

But give the Habs their props. They took it to a Vegas team that rolled over the West Division, and now we have to question whether the West, not the North, was the weakest division in hockey. The Knights went a combined 33-6-1 against the Ducks, Coyotes, Kings, Sharks and Blues, two of which (Arizona and St. Louis) made the playoffs last year. They split with Colorado (4-4-0) and went 3-4-1 against surprising Minnesota.

Entering the postseason, the commonly held belief was that Colorado, Vegas and Tampa were the three best teams, and that an eventual Avalanche-Knights series would be a de-facto Cup Final. But the Avs flunked out, and the Habs shut down that raucous party in the scorching desert summer.

This, from a team that fired Claude Julien and finished 18th in the regular-season standings. Montreal was supposed to be blown out by Toronto in the first round. But after offing the Maple Leafs in seven (coming back from a 3-1 deficit) and sweeping the Jets, here they are.

Not enough offense? Young talent too unreliable? Carey Price is washed up? Oublie ça. Forget it.

A major key, to this eye: after Julien was fired in February, interim coach Dominique Ducharme — who last week gave way to assistant Luke Richardson because of a positive COVID-19 test — asked his team to play more passively in the neutral zone. Similar to the Islanders, the Canadiens play patient and reliable defense, work as a unit, and strike off turnovers. They don’t dominate the puck or own the offensive zone. It doesn’t matter. They had 14 different goal scorers, a dozen among the forwards.

Nick Suzuki is making plays all over the ice, showing why Julien liked to compare him with a Patrice Bergeron-in-training. Shutdown center Phillip Danault neutralized Mark Stone (0-0—0, seven shots) to a degree rarely seen, after having a similar effect on the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews. Brendan Gallagher, after missing the last six weeks of the regular season with a broken thumb, is back in his heart-and-soul role, irritating Vegas stalwart Alex Pietrangelo enough to draw consistent attention away from the play. Corey Perry is still an on-ice jerk, albeit one with some gas left in his tank.

Montreal leans heavily on four big defenders (Ben Chiarot, Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson), all of whom play 23-25 minutes a night. Jon Merrill (13) and Erik Gustafsson (sub-10) don’t see much action, the latter used mostly for power plays. Montreal is 11-0 this postseason when scoring twice. While Price has been stellar, he isn’t making a slew of spectacular stops. He’s seeing pucks.

It’s a team that blends age (Perry and Eric Staal, both 36; Weber, 35; Price, 33) with youth (Suzuki, 21; Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Cole Caufield, 20) and had enough grit to withstand whatever Vegas threw its way.

Caufield, the Habs’ version of Alex DeBrincat, scored four times in the series, including a Game 6 goal that showed his touch, acceleration, shot and verve. After Vegas netminder Robin Lehner shut him down on a Game 4 breakaway and cracked how five-hole or high glove were Caufield’s two moves, the rookie roasted him upstairs.

After sitting Caufield for the first two games against the Leafs (and Kotkaniemi for Game 1), Ducharme found one of the breakout stars of the playoffs. Game 6 was the ex-Wisconsinite’s 24th career game, his 14th in the playoffs. Caufield won the Hobey Baker some 10 weeks ago. He can still win the Calder Trophy next year.

If Tampa is next, Montreal won’t shrink. They enter the final having killed 30 consecutive power plays — a league-record 13 straight games without a PPG allowed — so why would the Lightning’s man-advantage scare them?

Abuse allegations

Ex-Blackhawks video coach accused of sexual assault

Think of the Chicago Blackhawks of the 2010s and what comes to mind? Probably the names of star players — Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith — and the three Cups they won.

The legacy of that team might be shifting.

TSN recently uncovered stunning claims of sexual assault on the watch of the Blackhawks’ management. The Canadian outlet reported that two former Blackhawks reported to then-skills coach Paul Vincent in May 2010 that they had been abused by video coach Brad Aldrich, who went on to abuse others at subsequent career stops.

Vincent, of Beverly, told TSN recently his plea to Hawks management to take the allegations to Chicago police was rejected. He says he is willing to testify on behalf of the plaintiffs in court.

In May, two unnamed players filed lawsuits against the franchise, alleging the team covered up alleged abuses by Aldrich.

According to multiple reports, Aldrich was convicted of abusing a 17-year-old player in Houghton, Mich., in 2013. He resigned from his position as Miami University hockey operations months before, under suspicion of “unwanted touching of a male adult,” according to police records obtained by TSN.

A former Blackhawks marketing official told TSN that Alrdich would “routinely befriend young interns” and invite them to hang out at his Chicago apartment. The official said he was told to “steer clear” of Aldrich because he had “tried something” with a few players, and that “the entire training staff, a lot of people knew” about Aldrich’s behavior — it was “open secret,” the official said.

It is a situation the Blackhawks and the NHL must address. Neither entity has commented.

Raising awareness

Ex-Stars defenseman roller-blading for mental health

Former Stars defenseman Stephen Johns is roller-blading and road-tripping across the US to raise awareness for mental health.Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

Got big summer plans? Stephen Johns didn’t, until a couple weeks ago.

The former Dallas defenseman, who did not play last season because of post-concussion syndrome, retired June 13 and announced a new adventure: he’s roller-blading and road-tripping across the US to raise awareness for mental health.

Johns, from Wampum, Pa., reports he traveled from Pittsburgh to Wisconsin in his first week, logging roughly 40 miles a day. He’s on three wheels, with a helmet, elbow pads and wrist guards, and has a friend, Jeff Toates, driving alongside him, documenting the trip and carrying necessities. There has been lace bite and leg burn. In Chicago, the former Notre Dame standout skated to Lake Michigan and did a front flip into the water.

The genesis of the trip was Johns’s battle with depression, which sank him during a 2018-19 season in which he suffered a head injury during training camp in Boise, Idaho. He did not play the entire season. After 22 months away from the game, he returned to play 17 games in 2020, earning a finalist nod for the Masterton Trophy.

Johns recently wrote on Instagram that he was “tired of letting depression destroy my life,” and wanted to provide the same kind of inspiration to those facing their own battles.

“What I miss most about the game of hockey is providing inspiration,” he wrote. “If I can inspire one person to climb out of their hole, then that’s a successful trip.”

Loose pucks

Former Flyers coach Dave Hakstol is taking over the expansion Seattle Kraken ahead of their first season.Ken Lambert/Associated Press

Swerve in Seattle: Dave Hakstol, who coached the Flyers (and made a pair of first-round exits) from 2015-19 and was a Maple Leafs assistant the last two years, is the expansion Kraken’s first head coach. Hakstol did good work with Toronto’s defense (in two years, 26th to seventh in goals against). Bruce Cassidy and Mike Sullivan, among many others, would tell you that all you need is a second chance … Gerard Gallant, the Rangers’ replacement for David Quinn, wants to coach the “hardest-working team in the league,” which is a thing often said during introductory press conferences. Will GM Chris Drury add a few gritty types to fill out the roster? Are the Rangers a playoff team next season? We say yes, and no … Expecting some team to overpay for Vegas’ Alec Martinez, the defense-first, top-four defender with two Stanley Cup rings from Los Angeles. Same feeling about Tampa’s David Savard and Blake Coleman, and whichever UFAs the Islanders don’t re-sign on their fourth line … The Sedin twins are back in Vancouver, Canucks GM Jim Benning hiring them as special advisers to learn the management side. “We care about this team,” Henrik said, noting that he and brother Daniel have a lot to learn. Any fresh ideas on how to sign RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, with $15 million in cap space and a roster that currently includes 15 skaters? … The NWHL’s Toronto Six made a splashy move, hiring Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James as an assistant coach … Who’s going to be a more interesting TV analyst: Wayne Gretzky on Turner or Mark Messier on ESPN? Not expecting spicy takes from either … RIP to René Robert, a member of the Sabres’ famed French Connection line, who died at 72. Robert gave Buffalo its first win in a Stanley Cup Final game by finishing Game 3 against the Flyers in 1975 with an OT strike in a foggy Buffalo Auditorium … Podcast recommendation: Bernie Corbett’s “Games People Play,” featuring lengthy interviews with a range of sports figures (including the Globe’s Bob Ryan and John Powers). Hockey subjects include Keith Tkachuk, Theo Fleury, Bryan Trottier and Eddie Johnston … Draft trivia: forward Cole Sillinger, a first-round prospect, is the son of well-traveled Mike Sillinger, who made an NHL-record 12 stops during his 18-year career. Cole was born during his father’s two-year stay in Columbus … The aluminum bottles and cans were likely empty — why would anyone waste a drop? — when Islanders fans celebrated a Game 6 win by giving the Nassau Coliseum sheet a silver shower. Throwing objects is normally a protest, not a celebration, but that’s life at the old barn in Uniondale. “That building coming into overtime was smelling like cigarettes,” mused winning goal-scorer Anthony Beauvillier. “Now it smells like beers.”

Matt Porter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.

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donveinot · 4 years ago

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What Can I Do?

Photo by Christine Roy on Unsplash It’s a question that frequently comes up when faced with the looming reality of our changing world. Understandably so: Whether we’re encountering the Great Reset Agenda of the World Economic Forum, recognizing the influence of the interfaith movement, or watching the cultural great leap backwards take place before our eyes, we desire to act – what can I do? Often this question is couched in a sense of despair. It’s like witnessing an unstoppable train-wreck in slow motion, but the momentum has suddenly increased just as we’ve realized the gravity of the situation, and now we’re frozen in place by its magnitude. Something else is often in play, a strained hope that somehow, someone, somewhere will put a stop to it; to right this topsy-turvy world. Now you could – and you should – voice your concerns to elected officials. In a nation where the government is “from the people, by the people and for the people,”((Abraham Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address”)) that is part of your spiritual and civic responsibility. It is their job to hear and respond. You could – and you should – take some prudent personal measures, like shoring up one’s finances and shedding consumer debt. You should invest in personal relationships, in building up networks of trust. Other responses crop up, but in this article, we will tackle five short points, taking a slightly different approach than what’s often expected when we encounter the question, what can I do? 1) Understand your own worldview, and then take the time to understand theirs. No matter what is going on in culture in any given time period, believers in Jesus Christ must know what they believe, and why. The Apostle Paul’s letters consistently reinforced theological truths, instructing the early church in matters of doctrine while challenging them to remain in the faith. Furthermore, Paul’s instructions weren’t given in a vacuum; early believers faced mounting religious, political, and cultural pressures. His messages to those churches are as important today as ever. Like those believers, we too must understand the truths of God and how this shapes our worldview. We should also grasp the nature of competing worldviews, being willing to juxtapose those claims against the truth of scripture. Paul did, as exemplified in Acts 17:16-33. With the above in mind, it’s important to consider the ninth of the Ten Commandments: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Exodus 20:16) What is a false witness? It is a person who stands up and swears before others that something untrue is true. Unfortunately, in our world of sound bites and social media, it can be hard to distinguish fact from sensationalism and fiction from well-intended messages. Nevertheless, before we throw our voices into the mix, we should exercise due diligence to ensure the accuracy of what we’re communicating – both in terms of the Christian message and what others are saying. Then, by understanding all viewpoints – yours and theirs, to the best of your ability – you position yourself with an informed opinion and an accurate context for truth. You become a truth teller, guarding against falling to slander, even unintentionally. But recognize this: before endeavoring to seriously understand a competing worldview, know your own line-in-the-sand lest you end up compromising it. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8) 2) Inform yourself and your circle of influence, without resorting to hyperbole as the facts are sensational enough – do this with honesty and respect, so that you can become a trusted source. Quality, Christian-based resources are available to help you understand the questions and concerns of our age – Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc and Forcing Change are two examples. Then, as you study and seek knowledge, pay attention to what’s around you, carefully applying a Biblical lens while gaining an increased awareness. Soon you’ll notice how prevalent competing messages are, from what’s posted on your grocery store bulletin board to content on social media. Moreover, you’ll begin to understand how so many of our political and social changes are outgrowths of competing worldviews. For some of us, the next step is to find source material that demonstrates the intentionality of cultural changes. For example, when discussing the Great Reset of the World Economic Forum, you’ve taken the time to watch some of their videos and have read selected WEF articles. In doing this you’ve also gained insight into their language, discovering that word meanings and definitions are not always as they seem, that many social, environmental, and political concepts and nuances are either redefined or placed within a new narrative. Like anything else, there is a learning curve. Nevertheless, you’ve gleaned the overall picture, compared and contrasted worldviews and their potential outcomes, and can speak with some measure of knowledge. Not only can you “tell” but you can “show,” and this takes away the slippery slope of second-hand sensationalism. Then when you talk to others, including those who support that opposing worldview, you can use “their own words.” Thus equipped, hopefully, you’ll find yourself talking with them and not at them. In some respects, this was the approach Paul used in Acts 17; he employed their own lingo and leveraged their philosophy so as to reason with them about who the “Unknown God” is. Paul was able to discern an opportunity within an opposing culture and pursued this in a respectful manner. His approach is a good reminder: don’t let your validity be lost in your delivery. In doing the above, we have to understand who the real enemy is – “principalities and powers” – and represent ourselves as truth-tellers, ambassadors for Jesus Christ,((2 Corinthians 5:20)) as we engage in worldview conversations. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 4:12) So, who’s in your circle of influence? Anyone you are in front of, anyone you rub shoulders with. While we mainly stay within our own social circles, we ultimately influence everywhere we go. So, when out and about, consider who it is you’ll be in front of. And like Paul, look for those opportunities to speak truth. 3) Encourage your Pastor to stick with the truth of Scripture, for churches are not immune from these pressures. In fact, churches and seminaries have become vocal promoters of spiritual fads, counter-worldviews, and the political religion that we can build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Encourage your Pastor to stand on God’s Word, testing trends and cultural shifts – including those coming from inside denominations – against the standard that does not change. And as we’re writing this in 2021, we are acutely aware that Covid has exposed rifts within the Christian community while adding extra political challenges – from church shutdowns to others standing against lockdowns. We need to be discerning while recognizing that worldviews are in tension, and for some, this will be and has been costly. Encourage your Pastor to stand as a watchman, one who not only warns against coming dangers but calls people to be spiritually ready as we enter perilous days, the birth pangs. Likewise, you too are to be watchful. Indeed, this is a serious calling. Let us not be as those found in Isaiah 56:10, His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. 4) Don't be scared of the world – concerned, yes – but don't let it drive you into fear. Don't let the fear of Man overshadow what's really important, the fear of God. Crisis creates fear, and when fear is used against us, we naturally want to protect ourselves. Hence, when a “solution” to a crisis – real or perceived – is presented as the way forward, as “salvation,” we welcome the reprieve, even if it’s something we would (or should!) rationally abhor. The Great Reset as presented by the World Economic Forum fits this bill, presenting a range of collectivist approaches in dealing with global fears. 2 Timothy 1:7 implied that if we fear, it robs us, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. And Proverbs 29:25 reminds us that “the fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” Let us put fear in its proper place. 5) Recognize world agendas like that presented by the WEF, or the Parliament of World’s Religions or the United Nations, for what they really are; an alternative salvation message – by uniting to save the Earth we redeem ourselves and can therefore usher an age of peace and prosperity. This is an unmistakable messianic impulse. Will doing or adopting any of the above stop the world from moving in the direction it's going? No. But that's ultimately not your job – your task is to be responsible, to be salt and living in grace, wherever you are. If your work is in the realm of high-power politics and finance, great, that’s your front line. If it’s in journalism and research, welcome to the club. If it’s as an educator or pastor or teacher… whether you’re involved in business or a trade or health care or a homemaker... the list goes on. Wherever your feet are, that’s where your mission field is, to be truth tellers – to your family, neighbors, and church – and even to your elected officials. Our world is changing. The Great Reset is just another point of evidence. If God told us this was going to happen – that people and nations would seek their own way (2 Timothy 3:13, Psalm 2) – be assured that He also has a plan: It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. (Psalm 118:8)Ω

Carl Teichrib is the author of Game of Gods: The Temple of Man in the Age of Re-Enchantment, and excerpts can be read at Game of Gods: The Temple of Man in the Age of Re-Enchantmenthis research reports and articles can be found at Game of Gods: The Temple of Man in the Age of Re-Enchantment Forcing Change Co-author Audrey Vanderkley is the administrator at Remnant Online Fellowship, which exists to connect people to relevant Christian resources on Bible prophecy and worldview issues © 2021, Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc All rights reserved. Excerpts and links may be used if full and clear credit is given with specific direction to the original content. Read the full article

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perfectirishgifts · 4 years ago

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Q&A: Young The Giant’s Francois Comtois On Leading A Cooking Class And The Bond Between Food And Music

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/qa-young-the-giants-francois-comtois-on-leading-a-cooking-class-and-the-bond-between-food-and-music/

Q&A: Young The Giant’s Francois Comtois On Leading A Cooking Class And The Bond Between Food And Music

INGLEWOOD, CA – DECEMBER 09: (L-R) Francois Comtois, Payam Doostzadeh, Sameer Gadhia, Jacob Tilley … [] and Eric Cannata of Young the Giant attend KROQ Absolut Almost Acoustic Christmas at The Forum on December 9, 2018 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for KROQ/Entercom)

As Young The Giant drummer Francois Comtois explains, food is a big part of a touring musician’s life. Whether it’s finding a favorite restaurant on the road, bonding with another band over a meal or enjoying cooking while at home, food and music share a symbiotic bond for artists.

So as someone who loves food and cooking, Comtois is thrilled to be leading an online cooking class this Friday, December 11, at 7 PM EST/4 PM PST for Impastiamo. Comtois will lead the virtual class in cooking Moqueca De Peixe, a Brazilian seafood stew, followed by an acoustic performance by Young The Giant.

ImpastiamoMoqueca De Peixe (Fish Moqueca) with Young the Giant | Impastiamo

The proceeds from the class, the first in a series called Feed The Music, will benefit Crew Nation, a fund dedicated to helping out of work live music crews. It’s a natural next step for Impastiamo, which, as I wrote about earlier this year, is the brainchild of Silvia Carluccio, a former Live Nation Los Angeles employee originally from Italy, who brought together her loves of food, music and events.

I spoke to Comtois about the bond between music and food, his favorite meal with another band, the artists he’d love to see lead a cooking class and the creativity behind cooking.

Steve Baltin: What are you going to be cooking for this first class?

Francois Comtois: I’m going to be making Moqueca [De Peixe], which is a Brazilian seafood soup. My wife is from Rio and it was one of the first dishes I tried to learn how to make to ingratiate myself with her family. I think it’s close enough to authentic now that I feel comfortable making it in front of a group of people.

Baltin: Good cooking can be very creative in a similar way that music is. Many artists love cooking, sometimes as a sort of a therapeutic release. Is that the case for you?

Comtois: Definitely. I’ve been cooking probably 95 percent of our meals since the lockdown started. I always enjoy cooking when I come home from tour, but I’m using this time as an opportunity to dig a little bit deeper into some of the techniques I’ve been playing around with, and sort of revamp my approach. I do see such a huge connection between food and music as art forms; particularly where you have this group of, whether they’re ingredients or sounds, and you have your basic techniques which allow you to manipulate them, and then beyond that, the world’s your oyster. You can kind of do whatever you want. I’ve found that they’re connected, and I do find a lot of peace in disconnecting myself and taking a moment to cook whenever I can.

Baltin: Is cooking a creative process for you as well? Do you cook off a recipe or go with what you know?

Comtois: I do a little bit of both. I learned a lot of the techniques I know from watching my mom cook, So I would make her recipes, and then after a while, you sort of figure out what works and what doesn’t. You can start to bend those rules or incorporate different flavors or ingredients. So, half the time I find new recipes that excite me, and the other half of the time I’m just trying to build up a repertoire.

Baltin: So take me through what Moqueca is. Is it a traditional family recipe of yours, or do you get to be creative with it as well?

Comtois: It is pretty traditional. There’s an ingredient that you really do need to add to make it taste authentic—red palm oil. Basically it’s just the Brazilian version of that quintessential seafood stew. You have all these different cultures that have coastal presence that have come up with their own iterations of it. So this is the Brazilian version from the region called Paella, I think. It’s tough; I tried to make it a couple of times early on when I was dating my now wife, and she would always say, “This isn’t right. It’s good, but it tastes like maybe a Thai version of the dish because there’s a lot of coconut milk in it.” So, I resigned myself to reading a bunch of recipes for it in Portuguese and trying to figure out what it was that made it authentic. I realized you just have to put a bunch of one ingredient in it and that gave it the traditional Moqueca taste. You can go crazy with seafood, too. This one I’m making with shrimp and white fish, but you could incorporate muscles and squid, basically anything that you have handy.

Baltin: Well, that does sound really good. Now I’m getting hungry for seafood. So readers understand, the proceeds from this cooking show are going to help crew that have been out of work.

Comtois: Yeah, that’s correct. The food service industry was hit disproportionately and so immediately by the shutdown. We’re trying to see if there’s a way that we can do what that industry did in response, but for the live touring industry which has also been hit just as profoundly. There does seem to be a huge connection between cooking and music. There are a lot of artists in the touring world who are very interested in going out to different restaurants and also cooking themselves. It just felt like a natural pairing. Basically, we’re opening up artists to find a dish that means something to them, do one of these cooking classes that Silvia [Carluccio] started through Impastiamo, and then add a little performance, acoustic streaming component to it. We think it’s an interesting way of raising funds and a profile of what is happening in the live touring industry right now.

Baltin: Do the other guys in the band cook a lot as well?

Comtois: I think I probably cook the most. But I would say it’s a huge part of our lives on the road though, to find a good restaurant and we’re always on the lookout for that. There’s definitely a huge connection with food and the band.

Baltin: Are there other bands that you’ve shared a bond over food with that should have their own class, that would be good to participate in this program?

Comtois: We just started to reach out to different artists and we got some interest back from COIN. They’re on our management, we toured with them last year, and they’ve got a couple of recipes of theirs, so we’re talking about possibly working with them. I was just on a call with Brian [Aubert] from Silversun Pickups. His wife owns this amazing catering company, so he has a connection to food. Silvia has been in touch with Roy Choi about possibly playing with a couple of different artists. It’s still definitely early days, and we’re hoping that December 11th shows that this is a viable solution, and beyond that, we want to get the word out. We do think it’s kind of an interesting way to address this issue.

Baltin: How far back do you and Silvia go? I love what she’s done with the cooking classes, coming from music.

Comtois: It’s just so inspiring to see what it started as and what it’s become. I’ve had a chance to do a couple of the classes and they they’re really, really great for a host of reasons. I met Silvia ten years ago, maybe more. We were doing our residency at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, which is not Detroit Bar anymore, but was a really fun venue in Orange County. She came to one of our shows and kept in touch with the band. She worked at the Wiltern for years. She’s been a friend of ours and part of our friend group for a really long time. When this all started to happen, I basically told her, “Hey, whatever I can do with the Impastiamo side of things, even if it’s just posts and stuff on our socials, I’m so happy to help because it’s such a cool idea.” Then it evolved from there. We were thinking, because she does have that connection with food, how can we pair these two things together and do something that’s interesting, that’s different, but also doing some good.

Baltin: Do you feel like you’d be able to lead multiple classes or is this your one specialty dish?

Comtois: I would love to do multiple classes. The only restriction is you don’t want to include this ten-hour braise. Usually a lot of recipes call for that sort of preparation, which I guess you could have the participants do some of early on, but I do have some other recipes that I would be interested in bringing up. The other cool thing is we would love to be able to pair chefs in different cities with artists from the same city. There are a few different restaurants and chefs here that I really admire. I did a class with Natalia Pereira from Woodspoon, which is an amazing Brazilian restaurant in Downtown LA. We’re hoping, maybe there will be some sort of partnership in the future there where we’re just kind of watching and helping cut onions and stuff. Basically, they take the food side of things and we can focus on the music. I’m definitely hoping that this can become more consistent and can continue to raise those funds for the touring world.

Baltin: Silvia and I talked about the fact that this started out of necessity coming from the pandemic. But the reality is that this is something that could continue on afterwards. Would you mix a cooking class and shows?

Comtois: Yeah, it has been discussed loosely in the past. Obviously, COVID has been just such a disaster and it’s impossible to overstate how tragic everything surrounding it has been, but I am trying to maintain some sort of perspective and see if there is any sort of silver lining here. I think that a lot of people have been forced to become more creative and open their minds to what is possible, and I think this is a really good example of that. So moving forward, I would love to be able to incorporate more of this. Young The Giant just did a live stream of the first album for its ten-year anniversary and that was successful. It’s things that we wouldn’t have really tried to do. The saying that necessity is the mother of invention really comes into play here. I think that, moving forward, we’re going to be more open to different ways to engage with fans. Sharing your food tradition and sharing food with people are some of the ways, in my opinion, where you can connect almost immediately. And I think that it’s a really cool way to share a part of yourself with your fan base, if they’re into it. So, yeah, moving forward, we’d love to do more of this type of stuff.

Baltin: What would be your dream combination of food and artists to do a class with?

Comtois: I’m a giant Radiohead fan. Any time this happens, I automatically think of Radiohead. I don’t know, maybe fish and chips with Radiohead. Something along those lines would be pretty fun.

Balin: I actually saw them in a sushi restaurant here in L.A. once, so when I think of them, I think of sushi.

I can see sushi. There’s something about seafood and Radiohead that pairs nicely. Yeah, so sushi, fish and chips, depending on what they’re in the mood for. I would be open to either.

Baltin: It came up in an interview I was doing recently where Billy Corgan had joked about the fact that part of Smashing Pumpkins success came down to having the right chicken piccata recipe on the right day. Is there a dish that you credit the success of Young the Giant to?

Comtois: There are probably a couple. When we first started recording and we dropped out of school, quit our jobs, and decided we wanted to try to pursue music, we basically ate Trader Joe’s orange chicken, like all the time, because it was really cheap, we could make big batches, and it’s like fried rice. Trader Joe’s orange chicken is pretty much what sustained us while we were writing the first album. So, I don’t know if it was a single version of that dish, but we might not even be here if we hadn’t had that to rely on. That and chicken Cesar salad. Beyond that, I think just in general sharing food, there’s always the meal when you’re on tour. It’s kind of weird, there’s a summer camp vibe to touring, and like you’re a little apprehensive, you’re kind of trying to play it cool in your corner, and there’s always that meal where you finally go out with like all of the crew and the touring acts all go out together and bond over food. And to me, that’s always the moment where a tour goes from being maybe a little apprehensive to we’re all really good friends and we’re going to hang out after we get back home and all that stuff. So it is a huge part of our lives as musicians.

Baltin: What’s for you been the favorite meal with the favorite touring band? That one memorable one that really stands out?

Comtois: One of our first tours was with Incubus. We supported them, and they actually took us out to Nobu. I just remember being so blown away. They obviously had been successful for a while. They knew how to operate in that world, and we did not at the time—we were probably eating at a lot of like Subways and places like that. So we go out to this meal and they’re ordering just the whole menu. I was like, “Man, we should stick with this music thing. We’ll be here in a few years’ time.”

Baltin: What do you want people to know who sign up for your class on December 11th?

Comtois: I’m just making food and shooting the s**t essentially, and just trying to make a connection with these people. We’re going to do a very quick performance after, but this is unvarnished. You’re going to be in our kitchen at our band house, and we’re looking forward to sharing that part of ourselves with our fans. Also, it’s a moment where the crew touring world really does need support and needs to be acknowledged for how big of a part they play when you go see a concert. You see the band and you’re enjoying yourself, but I don’t know if a lot of people really recognize this giant team that has to come behind that band to make it happen. It’s important to acknowledge just how important they are. I’m hoping that this grows into something bigger, but for the time being, we’re just gonna see if it works. I feel pretty optimistic about it.

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diaspora9ja · 4 years ago

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On-time start for South Dakota high school winter sports and activities approved

The South Dakota Excessive Faculty Actions Affiliation board of administrators voted Wednesday to approve an on-time begin for the winter sports activities season. The movement handed unanimously.

In accordance with the SDHSAA web site, gymnastics practices are cleared to start instantly (first allowable apply date was Nov. 2). Wrestling practices could start Nov. 16, adopted by women basketball on Nov. 23 and boys basketball on Nov. 30.

Equally to the autumn return to play plan, the winter sports activities/actions proposal was drawn up by the SDHSAA process pressure and features a set of guiding rules and rule modifications for every sport/exercise.

MORE: Breaking down the task force’s winter sports proposal

A notable addition is an publicity notification. Within the occasion a competitor checks constructive for COVID, faculties are required to inform the varsity of any opponents of the constructive particular person throughout the earlier 48 hours.

“Coaches, athletes, directors and households should be vigilant in reporting and precisely sharing data relating to symptomatic athletes, getting examined as vital, and finally, constructive circumstances,” the proposal states. “Failing to take action could end in large, statewide shutdowns of the exercise for a interval of a number of days, very similar to different communicable ailments have precipitated in different situations.”

Faculties are requested to “encourage and help” the usage of masks by spectators and are requested to judge native circumstances in figuring out crowd restrictions.

With respect to sport modifications, wrestling — which occupied “the lion’s share” of the duty pressure’s time, SDHSAA govt director Dan Swartos informed the board — carries probably the most security protocols.

Groups are required to develop pods whereby a gaggle of athletes solely interacts inside that group. If somebody in a pod turns into contaminated, the entire pod can be thought of for publicity. Moreover, coaches needs to be “particularly restricted” to demonstrating to a singular group of athletes. In the event that they choose to bodily work together with wrestlers in a number of pods, all pods that they arrive in touch with can be thought of for publicity within the occasion of a constructive case (coach or athlete).

If a crew decides to not use the pod system and an athlete or member of the teaching workers checks constructive, the doc states, the complete crew can be thought of for publicity.

Common season occasions — consists of any and all matches, duals, tournaments, and so forth. that happen in a day inside that facility — are restricted to a most of 112 contributors from not more than 12 groups. If a women division is obtainable, as much as 24 feminine contributors can attend.

Faculties are requested to “strongly take into account” proscribing tickets or no followers at particular person/multi-team tournaments to permit area for wrestlers to socially distance when not competing.

“I am a wrestling man and wrestling goes to offer me ulcers and switch my hair grey this winter,” Swartos stated. “”In wrestling greater than the opposite sports activities, the CDC pointers are actually not relevant. I believe we simply have to be trustworthy and take a look at this as it’s with wrestling.”

Maybe the most important change for basketball includes postseason qualification. Groups are required to play simply 10 video games. For every recreation distinction between precise video games performed and the minimal, the crew can be granted a Tier 4 energy level loss. Its precise document can be used to calculate factors for the opponent’s win/losses.

If a area has two or fewer groups initially of area play, they are going to be paired off with one other area to kind an excellent area (Pairs: 1-2; 3-4; 5-6; 7-8). These groups would then play out for 4 spots within the SoDak 16.

This can be a creating story. Stick with the Argus Chief for replace.

Observe Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

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from Diaspora9ja https://diaspora9ja.com/on-time-start-for-south-dakota-high-school-winter-sports-and-activities-approved/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=on-time-start-for-south-dakota-high-school-winter-sports-and-activities-approved

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dipulb3 · 4 years ago

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Thanks to Covid-19, some folks are broke and some are flush. Here's how to talk about it

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/thanks-to-covid-19-some-folks-are-broke-and-some-are-flush-heres-how-to-talk-about-it/

Thanks to Covid-19, some folks are broke and some are flush. Here's how to talk about it

America was already economically divided and a “don’t-talk-about-it” money culture, said Alex Melkumian, a licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of the Financial Psychology Center in Los Angeles. Now, with people finding newly exposed sensitivities and dividing lines, gaps are widening and conversations have become even more difficult.

We’re already in a period of financial trauma for people, said Melkumian. Conversations, which leave people feeling judged or insulted, don’t help.

Here’s how to talk about money while being sensitive to those around you.

Jake Morris was starting a financial advisory business and his wife Whitney was a verbatim hearing recorder for the Social Security Administration in New York’s Hudson Valley when the pandemic struck. Very quickly, Whitney’s work dried up as hearings were put on hold then went to a telephone format and the launch of Jake’s business was delayed.

Then he got a text from someone in his inner circle: “Do you both still have jobs?”

Morris said it was so insensitive that he had to laugh.

“To me, that was so stark. It was almost funny,” Morris said. “But so harsh.”

With their job situations turned upside down in a matter of days, they still weren’t over the shock. They have each found work in their own ways, but it is not at the level it was before.

“Anyone who has had a job loss or gone into retirement knows there is a loss of identity,” he said. “We need a little sensitivity training, I think. It isn’t helpful to say, ‘How does it feel to have your whole life torn out from under you?'”

Based on his experience, he now asks people he meets, “How has this impacted you?”

“I let them talk about it the way they want to,” he said.

If you’re the person who has remained employed and is financially unscathed, do more listening, Melkumian advised.

“The most important thing we can do is listen and resist the urge to jump in and fix it, because much of this can’t be easily changed.”

Suggesting that someone ‘pivot and do something else,’ for example, can be good advice, Melkumian said. But your friend or loved one needs to be ready to hear it.

“You may have connections to offer them, but it is your connection with them that is most important,” he said.

Pick up the phone

These serious conversations are best had in person. If social distancing is preventing that, a phone call works best.

Nothing on the topic of personal livelihood and well-being is better conveyed by a text, said Ashlee deSteiger, a certified financial planner with Gunder Wealth Management in Michigan.

“With friends and family, I don’t want a text,” she said. “There is just too much tone to be lost in a text.”

She suggests setting boundaries like not texting in frustration or sharing things in which tone can be misinterpreted.

“Those conversations need to happen over the phone or face-to-face,” she said.

If you’re the one receiving the insensitive texts or messages, avoid getting defensive and try to consider where the other person is coming from.

“I suggest reframing the situation to, ‘I know my friend or family member is doing the best that they can for themselves and their family.'”

That, she said, may help you see beyond the posts and conversations that you think lack empathy.

Be direct

If you are having financial difficulties, now is the time to speak up about it, Melkumian says, because you’re not alone.

“If you are really struggling and feel you can’t say to your friend, ‘I don’t know where my next rent payment is coming from’ — then when can you say that?”

When Ed Hart was able to reopen his hair salon in Hermosa Beach, California, he noticed many of his clients experienced the shutdown much differently than he had.

While Hart was struggling after a major loss of income, his customers were working from home, earning the same income, some even more than before.

“People that I know who retired well are fine,” he said. “Younger people I know that work for large companies are working out of their homes, they are okay. But the people who are consistently struggling and having trouble are business owners, entrepreneurs.”

So he decided to address this awkward disparity directly.

“I made a sign and put it by my station,” he said. “It says that there is no secret that we are going through a financial hardship. I understand that they may be going through a hardship, too, so we won’t raise prices. However, if you are financially strong, pay more if you can.”

And they have.

After one client received a $200 treatment, he said, she included a tip and left.

“It was a $1,000 tip,” he said. “I called her right away to thank her. I didn’t know what to say. It was overwhelming. ‘Don’t worry,’ she told me.”

Don’t be tone deaf

Some people who have celebrated things like buying a house, taking a trip or getting a new job, have been met with anger by hurt friends and family who say it smacks of being tone-deaf to the moment. Just look at the public reaction to Kim Kardashian’s post about her 40th birthday celebrations on a private island earlier this month.

The response was largely not enthusiastic.

“Congrats on this nomination for most tone deaf tweet of the year,” Twitter user @beyondbrighton replied to Kardashian. “You want normal? Try people unemployed, at food banks, teaching kids at home, or worse in the hospital by the tens of THOUSANDS! Oh the plight of the wealthy & their struggle to an escape to a private island.”

The context matters when sharing good news, said Melkumian.

“If you post your celebration in a way that says, ‘I’ve been struggling and in order to overcome something and I did this, this and this,’ documenting and chronicling your fight, it isn’t out of context,” he said.

But in this moment, there are other things to keep in mind, he said.

“There are political factors, sounding tone deaf, other people being broke,” he said. “How do you tell your truth without coming off as insensitive?”

It may be that there isn’t a way to do that, he said, and it is better right now to keep it to yourself and just to listen.

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theliterateape · 4 years ago

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Uncertainty of Purpose in 2020 Las Vegas

by Don Hall

Gabrielle is a single mother in Las Vegas. She’s twenty-eight years old, has three children, and works as a cocktail waitress in my small Off-Strip casino. She’s bubbly and pretty so her tips usually make up for the dismal hourly wage (less than $10.00 an hour) but then the virus descended, the country tanked the collective response, and Nevada shut things down for a time.

Gabrielle has been clinging to the the fact that the corporation that owns the casino, while defiantly non-union, opted to pay its employees consistently throughout the 78 days of hard shutdown (sans tips, of course) but with the opening and subsequent bar shutdown, business has been limping forward.

Now the schools in Vegas are going to be online only. Her daycare person is no longer comfortable watching her kids because of the virus.

She used to be a nurse but like so many who come to Vegas, her prior experiences meant next to nothing. That’s something they don’t tell you when moving out here — your work experiences, education, and resume don’t mean much. You’re a tourist until you aren’t and stripping down and starting from scratch is the required path. The smaller industries in Vegas circle the wagons and block those who come in from bigger cities from access. It isn’t so much snobbery as a protective measure because most people aren’t looking to make a life here but to strike it rich and move on.

Gabrielle has been paying her dues for a few years. When the state slowly reopens casinos yet still has the bars closed, she makes her money but looks for ways to game the system. She takes a COVID test without symptoms because she knows that the results will take ten days and she can’t come into work until she brings in the paperwork. Thus two weeks of figuring out the bizarre Zoom home school situation.

At forty-seven, white, shaggy in that Wayne Campbell still living in his mom’s basement sort of way, Del Mar is what is called a long-term hotel resident. He has been squatting at the Days Inn off of Tropicana and I-15 for twenty-five days. His room looks like a dorm room from the 1980’s — he even has posters up on the walls.

Del Mar was sacked from his Reno-based truck driving gig. No long-term contract, no unemployment benefits, no medical. He hitchhiked down to Vegas after a couple of months doing pick up handyman work despite statewide shutdown protocols. He figured he’d take his meager savings and gamble some of it to see if he could strike some gold. He did because he was smart enough to play conservatively and has been using his winnings to pay his hotel bill.

He confesses at one point that he may having a drinking problem as he spends every day sleeping and watching television and every night playing slots and drinking comp’d liquor until early the next day. He asks me for resume tips and assures anyone who will listen that he has a job in Reno that will pay him $87,000 a year but he has to get there first.

He gets temporarily banned from the casino because one night he brings his electric guitar and amp into the Sportsbook and starts playing for tips. The graveyard manager squashes that but he decides to ditch his amp and walk around the slot floor playing acoustically until the manager has had enough. He almost gets evicted from the hotel when he hooks up his amp in the pool area and does the same.

Despite the moratorium on home evictions in Nevada, Lisa and her boyfriend Rick are homeless. Knowing that the couple didn’t have the money or education to fight the eviction, their landlord of three years waited until they were out one evening, had a crew clear out their one bedroom apartment and changed the locks. They came home to everything they owned on the sidewalk with some of the more pawnable items gone.

With nowhere else to go, they loaded up Rick’s pickup with what they could salvage and book a week at the hotel. She tells me a week is all they can afford and hopefully will give them time to fix their situation. Rick is fixated on the landlord and has so much anger at the eviction he spends most of his time ranting on his phone and drinking Michelob Ultras in cans.

Lisa drinks, too, but tells me that this is new to her. She never used to drink. These days, she relates, she can’t afford her anti-depressants so booze will have to do. I tell her that alcohol is a depressant and she shrugs. Before things were shut down, she worked as a blackjack dealer at MGM. Rick has been between jobs for a year and change. They walk across the street to the gas station to buy their beer — they don’t gamble and the prices at the casino gift shop are marked up too much.

Gabrielle recognizes that the corporation took care of her during the shutdown but, with three kids, she is wholly focused on her family. She decides to apply for FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) benefits to carve out another paid two weeks at home. She’s healthy so she decides to get her six-year old son circumcised as a medical reason. Both her doctor and HR approve but her vacation time is used to pay the two weeks.

When she returns, the bars are open again but the schools are still closed. She hasn’t paid her rent in four months. Rock meet hard place.

Del Mar, on Day 28 of his stay, is told that he has to vacate the property for 24 hours. He has to take all of his belongings and leave. He can come back and re-book but Nevada law states that if the hotel allows him to stay 29 days, he becomes a legal tenant and cannot be evicted without court intervention so he has to go temporarily. He doesn’t have a car so he loads up what he can carry, stashes the rest behind a dumpster off-property (which will almost certainly be picked through and then trashed before his day is finished) and decides to go spend the night on the Strip.

He doesn’t come back.

After the week is up, Lisa and Rick load up his truck. They have no plan. They have little money. Rick swears he can get work up in Utah but the look in Lisa’s eyes say that she’s heard that song and dance before. Without many choices, they decide to drive to Utah and see what happens.

The world at this point has been in pandemic for 205 days with 215,000 Americans dead from the virus. This is over 1,000 COVID deaths per day. This is just slightly worse than if two fully-loaded 747’s crashed into the sea or a mountain every day for 205 days.

For Gabrielle, Del Mar, Lisa, and Rick things weren’t gravy before having to wonder if a random encounter with some idiot who refuses to wear a mask in public will result in infection and potential death. Combining the hooded figure of the Corona Reaper with the sudden lack of economic possibility has created an uncertainty of purpose, a lack of clarity, and an impenetrable fog through which to navigate.

Will things get back to normal? Doubtful. For these three, normal wasn’t so hot to begin with and I’d hazard a guess that an awful lot of people would agree. Will the new normal feel…normal? Who can say but the most and least adaptable among us. We will go on. That’s what we do. Move forward, one step at a time, one decision after another.

At least that will seem normal.

#las vegas #casino life #pandemically yours

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ghosttownaz · 4 years ago

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Underground Uprising: Artist of the Week - Deez

The world is starting to move again and we are glad to keep the trend continuing with our latest interview. The Underground Uprising "Artist of the Week" DEEZ is an up and comer with a sound and vibe all his own. Dive in and find out what drives him and his music in our interview below.

Where are you from? What was it like growing up there?

"Born in Phoenix, AZ went to school up north in Prescott Valley. What was it like? For me it was small & slower than I wanted, though these days I can appreciate that. "

How did you come up with your name Deez?

"I actually didn’t haha. My government name is Darius & growing up I chose to hang out with a mostly older crowd. Nicknames come about… first it was “lil deezy” being the youngin n all. But yeah eventually it just stuck when I started to get more serious with the flows."

What inspired you to pursue music?

"I’ve been around it my whole existence. My pops sings / played the drums in his own band and various others, so I think in some sense I’ve always effortlessly, gravitated towards music of all types. Words are another love of mine. Like I was always writing poetry etc. I even published a small book. This is a tough question to answer in a short manner. Ultimately I think what inspired me was a feeling of wanting to express myself. I believe we all have an identity & I’m embracing mine hoping to provide a positive impact on society."

Biggest challenge up to this point in your career?

"You mean besides Covid-19? I was just getting my feet wet with the live performing when the shutdown happened, so having that halted was a real hurdle I’m currently working around. Just more opportunities to be creative :) "

What do you think of the current state of AZ hip-hop?

"We have such a wide variety of talent here, not to mention ITS ALL LOVE. A beautiful thing we have in common is we all want to see each other win. Excited for what this state has to offer the future of Hip-Hop."

Advice for up and coming creators and artists?

"The only way to get better is to do it. Don’t just invest in what you desire, invest in yourself."

Favorite independent artists?

"Tyler The Creator, locally though Joseph Bills, Sincerely Collins, thekaleidoscopekid… to name a few."

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back to where you started?

"None, I wouldn’t be me if we changed something."

Who would you like to collab with in the future?

"JOSEPH BILLS & THEFONZARELLIPROJECT "

What’s the next move for Deez?

"Moves are consistently in motion, for I am ever-evolving, just tune in to find out."

by: Steven Sandage

#ghost town media #ghosttownmedia #hip hop #hiphop #undergroundhiphop #underground hip hop #azwaytooactive #azhhf #azhiphop #az hip hop #Music Journalism #music #musicjournalism

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atlanticcanada · 4 years ago

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Pandemic politics; elections on the horizon in Maritimes and beyond

After partisanship largely took a break during the early days of COVID-19, politics is ramping up across the board and throughout all levels of Canadian government.

Even a political junkie like Christina Hayes has been finding it a challenge to keep up with everything in this day and age.

“I usually am the one that keeps up the most in the family, but I think we’ve all been kind of distracted with COVID, so we’re all losing touch with everything going on in the world,” says Hayes.

“I think the pandemic really showed the benefit of non-partisan political problem solving,” says Don Wright, a political science professor at the University of New Brunswick.

Wright says that trend of parties working together was never going to last forever, and this month’s call for a New Brunswick election displays that politics are returning to normal.

And New Brunswick isn’t the only Maritime province where politics is returning to the spotlight.

Municipal elections in Nova Scotia will be held on October 17, with residents able to vote in person, online or by phone, depending on where they live.

Nova Scotia’s Liberal party will choose a new leader in February, who will become Stephen McNeil’s replacement as Premier. Candidates have until October 9th to register. That vote will happen electronically and by phone.

In Ottawa, Canada's Parliament has been shut down. The Trudeau minority government will present a Throne Speech when Parliament resumes in late September, which will prompt a confidence vote.

Many Canadians also are following the events south of the border, where Americans will vote on whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States on November 3.

“You can vote now,” says Ariel Harper Nave, a dual American/Canadian citizen who has already mailed in her ballot for the U.S. election. “Democracy is so fragile, we will lose it if we don’t exercise it. This is the way we can make our voices heard consistently.”

“I’m very concerned as a scholar and citizen about voter disinterest and voter decline over the past couple of decades,” says Wright. “I really hope the pandemic doesn’t dissuade people from showing up to a ballot box, or requesting a special ballot and voting by mail.”

The New Brunswick election is the first election to happen in Canada since the pandemic shutdown the country in March.

“I’m confident it can set an example for the rest of the country, how you can have an election during a pandemic,” says Wright.

Municipal elections in New Brunswick were scheduled to be held in March, but have been delayed until May 2021, although it is possible they could be held before that.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/2CSB37f

#new brunswick #prince edward island #nova scotia #news #politics #canada #CTVAtlantic

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andrewdburton · 4 years ago

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Socially Responsible Investing: Is It Also More Profitable?

Since the Dawn of Mustachianism in 2011, the same question has come up over and over again:

“MMM, I see your point that index fund investing is the best option. But when you buy the index, you’re getting oil companies, factory farm slaughterhouses and a million other dirty stories.

How can I get the benefits of investing for early retirement without contributing to the decline of humanity?”

And in these nine years since then, the movement towards socially responsible investing has only grown. Public pension funds have started to “divest” from oil company stocks, and various social issues like human rights, child labor, climate change or corporate corruption have bubbled to the surface at different times.

And all of this has led to the exploding new field of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), and a growing array of new ways to do it.

So it seems that this is not just a passing trend – people just might be starting to care a bit more. And since capitalism is just an expression of human behavior, the nature of capitalism itself may be starting to change.

This leads us naturally to the question:

What can I do with my money to help fix the world? And even better, is there a way I can make money in the process of fixing it?

The answer is a good, solid “Probably.”

As long as you don’t get too hung up on getting every last detail perfect, because just like real life, investing is a haphazard and approximate and unpredictable thing. But by understanding the big picture, you can make slightly better decisions on average, which lead to slightly better results. And slightly better results, stacked up consistently over time, can lead to a much better life, or even a much better world.

This is true in all of the main areas we care about – personal wealth, fitness and health, even relationships and happiness. And while your money and investments are certainly not the most important thing in life, they are still worthy of a bit of easy and effective optimization.

So anyway, the first thing to understand with SRI is, “what problem am I trying to solve?”

The answer is, “You are trying to make your investing (especially index fund investing) have a better impact on the world.”

On its own, index fund investing is ridiculously simple. You just get an account at any brokerage like Vanguard, Etrade, Schwab or whatever, and dump all your money into one exchange-traded fund: VTI.

When you do this, you are buying a stake in 3500 companies at once(!), which is both impressive and overwhelming. How do you even know what you are holding?

Well, this is all public information, and easily available with a quick Google search. For example, here’s a list of the top 90 holdings in VTI (click for larger):

Top 90 holdings in Vanguard’s VTI Exchange Traded Fund

As you can see, the biggest chunk of money is allocated to today’s tech darlings, because this index fund is weighted according to market value, and these are the most valuable companies in the US today.

Through a convenient coincidence, the total value of the VTI fund happens to be just under $1 trillion dollars, which means you can just throw a decimal point after the ten billions digit of market value to get a percentage. In other words, about 4.7% of your money will go towards Apple stock, 4.4 towards Microsoft, and so on. Together, these top 90 companies are worth more than the remaining 3,540 companies combined, so these are what really drive your retirement account.

And within this list, you will see some of the usual suspects: Exxon and Chevron (oil), Philip Morris (tobacco), Raytheon and Lockheed (bombs), and so on.

But what about the less-usual suspects? For example, I happen to think that sugar, and especially sugar-packed beverages like Coke, is the biggest killer in the developed world – a major contributor to 2 million of the 2.8 million deaths each year in the US alone. Should I exclude that from my portfolio too?

And what about drug and insurance companies – aren’t they behind the political stalemate and high costs of the US healthcare system? Comcast funded some election disinformation campaigns here in my home town in the early 2010s, should I exclude them too? And if you’re part of a religion that is against charging interest on loans, or in favor of pasta and Pirate costumes, or against a spherical Earth, or any number of additional ornate rules, you may have still more preferences.

The higher your desire for perfection, the more difficult this exercise will become. However, if you are like me and you just want to get most of the desired result with minimal effort, you might simply have a look at the Vanguard fund called ESGV.

ESG stands for “Environmental, Social and Governance”, and in practice it just means “We have tried to avoid some of the shittier companies according to some fairly simple rules.”

And the result is this:

Vanguard’s ESGV Exchange traded fund (ETF) – top 90 holdings

The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s almost the same. In fact, the top five holdings – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Alphabet (Google) and Netflix not far behind, collectively referred to as the FAANG stocks – are completely unchanged – and this means that there will be plenty of correlation between these funds.

It’s also the reason that the stock market as a whole has recovered so quickly from this COVID-era recession: small businesses like restaurants and hair salons have been destroyed by the shutdowns, but big companies that benefit from people staying at home and using computers and phones are making more money than ever. The stock market isn’t the whole economy, it’s just the publicly traded companies, which are the big ones.

But let’s look at the biggest differences between the normal index fund versus the social version.

The following large companies listed on the left are missing in the ESGV fund, in order of size. And to make up the difference, the stake in the companies on the right have been boosted up to take their place in your portfolio.

Main differences between VTI and ESGV (source: etfrc)

The omission of Berkshire Hathaway was a bit of a shocker, as it is run with solid ethical principles by Warren Buffet, one of the worlds most generous philanthropists. And in fact the modern day nerd-saint Bill Gates is on the Berkshire board of directors, another person whose work I follow and respect greatly.

(side note: Apparently the company fails on the “independent governance” category. And Buffet disputes this category, but in his characteristic way has decided to say, “Fuck it, I’ma just keep doing my own thing with my half-trillion dollar empire over here and you can have fun with your little committee” – I’m paraphrasing a bit but he totally did say that.)

Furthermore, both funds hold the factory meat king Tyson foods, while neither holds Roundup-happy Monsanto, because it was bought by the German conglomerate Bayer AG a while back. Nextera is a giant electric utility in the Southeastern US that claims to be the world’s largest generator of renewable energy. Some do-gooders are against nuclear power, while others (including me) think it’s the Bee’s Knees and we should keep advancing it. And all this just goes to show how nobody will agree 100% on what makes a good socially responsible fund.

But What About The Performance?

In the past, some investors were nervous about giving up oil companies in their portfolio, because while it was a dirty substance, it was also what made the world go round – which meant it was a cash cow.

Now, however, oil is on its way out as renewable energy and battery storage have crossed the cost parity threshold – meaning it’s cheaper to make power (and vehicles) that don’t use oil. In its place, technology is the new cash cow, and tech is heavily represented in the ESG funds. The result:

Traditional index fund (VTI) vs Socially Responsible equivalent (ESGV)

As you can see, the performance has been similar but the ESG fund has done significantly better in the (admittedly short) time since it was introduced at Vanguard.

Of course, we have no idea if this will continue, but the point is that at least our thesis is not a ridiculous one – environmentally sustainable companies do have an advantage, if the world gradually starts to care more about these things. And if you look at the share price of Tesla and other companies that surround it in electric transportation and energy storage, you will see that there are many trillions of dollars already lining up to benefit from this transition. And the very presence of so much investment money creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Tesla is now building or expanding five of the world’s largest factories on three continents simultaneously.

So What Should You Do? (and what I do myself)

My latest home-brewed ebike project – this one can reach 42MPH / 67km/hr!

First of all, it helps to remember a fundamental piece of economics: your spending dollars will probably have a much bigger impact than your investment dollars. This is because you are sending a direct message to the world rather than an indirect one:

When you buy a new gasoline-powered Subaru (or a tank of gas for your existing guzzler) or a steak at the grocery store, or a plane ticket, you are telling those company directly that consumers want more of these products, so they will produce more of them immediately.

When you buy shares in Exxon, you are only subtly raising the demand for those shares, which raises the average price, making it ever-so-slightly easier for Exxon to maybe issue more shares in the future. In other words, you are making it easier for them to access capital. But capital is only useful if there is demand for their products. And with oil there is a nearly constant surplus, which is why OPEC and other cartels need to work together to artificially restrict supply, just to keep prices up.

Plus, as a shareholder you are theoretically eligible to place votes and influence the future direction of companies – even companies that you don’t like. If you look up the field of “shareholder activism”, you’ll see this is a tradition that goes way back.

So I have tried to take a few simple steps on the consumer side myself, and I find it quite satisfying: Insulating the shit out of all of my properties, building a DIY solar electric array on one of them, and buying one electric car so far to eliminate local gas burning. And a few electric bikes including a super fast one I made myself.

Each one of these steps has provided a very high economic return, percentage-wise, but that still leaves a lot of money to account for, which brings us back to stock investing.

As someone who loves simplicity, I have done this:

Bought almost entirely VTI (or similar Vanguard funds) from 2000-2015

Started experimenting with Betterment in 2015, liked it, and have been adding a percentage of my ongoing savings to that account to that since then. (Note that Betterment now also offers a socially responsible portfolio option.)

Switched the dividend re-investing of my old Vanguard VTI over to Vanguard ESGV, to avoid “wash sales” in making the most of Betterment’s tax loss harvesting feature.

Bought some shares of Berkshire Hathaway separately, and also make a few sentimental investments in local businesses, including the MMM HQ Coworking space.

But you could choose to be more hardcore in your ESG/SRI investing:

Buy your own basket of stocks based on the index, but with different weighting based on your own values

Spend more money on other things that generate or save money (a bigger solar array on your house, better insulation, electric car, an ebike to reduce car trips, etc.)

Invest in local businesses of your choice, rental real estate, community solar projects, or other things which generate passive income – publicly traded stocks are just one of many ways to fund an early retirement!

Like most areas of life, investing is not something you have to do perfectly in order to succeed – even socially responsible investing. If you apply the 80/20 rule to get the big picture right, you have probably found the Sweet Spot and you can move on to the next area of life to optimize.

In the Comments: What is your own investment strategy? Have you thought at all about this ESG / SRI stuff? Did this article bring anything new to the table?

from Finance https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2020/08/22/socially-responsible-investing/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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