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FEB. 9, 2014 Matthias Mayer of Austria won the men's downhill by remaining consistent, especially in the course's challenging middle section, according to Scott Macartney, a former member of the United States Ski Team. American Bode Miller, a favorite, finished eighth. 1 Mayer, who didn't have the fastest start, is late to put pressure on his skis in an early turn, and his skid sends snow flying. Miller and Christof Innerhofer, the silver medal winner from Italy, make a smooth transition. 2 Innerhofer, skiing an aggressive but clean line, leads about 25 seconds into the course, followed by Miller. 3 The middle section starts with a huge jump, known as the Russian Trampoline, followed by a series of turns and uneven terrain in the Big Pan. mayer miller Photographs by Andrey Batalov/Sochi360.ru 4 Mayer excels in this section, maintaining his ideal line so he can continue accelerating. Miller is thrown off by the uneven terrain, however, and he spends the next several turns trying to get back on track, even skiing through gates. 5 Millers wider line around this curve indicates that hes running late on his turns, contributing to his time loss. 6 Three quarters of the way down the course, Mayer has overtaken Miller and gained on Innerhofer. 7 By the finish line, Mayer has overtaken Innerhofer, who didn't do as well in the turns of the middle section. More on NYTimes.com | Sports |
Politics|An explosive device is found at the R.N.C., and the D.N.C. is evacuated.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/pipe-bomb-rnc.htmlAn explosive device is found at the R.N.C., and the D.N.C. is evacuated.Jan. 6, 2021An explosive device was found at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee in Washington and the nearby headquarters of the Democratic National Committee was evacuated after the discovery of a suspicious package on Wednesday, according to three people briefed on the discoveries.The device that was found at the R.N.C. was a pipe bomb that was successfully destroyed by a bomb squad, according to an official for the R.N.C. The package at the D.N.C. has yet to be identified, according to a top Democrat briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.The R.N.C. and D.N.C. are headquartered just a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol, which Mr. Trumps supporters stormed on Wednesday afternoon soon as Congress had gathered to certify President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.s victory and shortly after the president addressed the crowd near the White House. As a mob breached the Capitol, Vice President Mike Pence was rushed from the Senate chamber and the building was placed on lockdown. Shortly after, Mr. Trump tweeted that Mr. Pence didnt have the courage to do what should have been done because he did not try to reject the electors. The National Guard for Washington and Virginia was activated Wednesday afternoon to respond to the unrest.And the federal authorities arrested a 70-year-old man from Alabama near the Capitol in possession of a firearm and materials to make several Molotov cocktails. | Politics |
Chicago West Birth Certificate Out 1/23/2018 Kim Kardashian and Kanye West already revealed the name of their third child -- Chicago West -- but now we've got her birth certificate. According to the doc -- obtained by TMZ -- Chicago was indeed born at 12:47 AM on January 15 and weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. The delivery doctor is listed as Dr. Paul Crane ... who also delivered North and Saint -- as well as just about every other Kardashian. As we first reported, the birth was via surrogate. See also Kim Kardashian Kanye West Baby Watch Exclusive The Kardashians | Entertainment |
SNL Weekend Update Skewers Trump Over Gov Shutdown, Stormy Daniels 1/21/2018 SNL took aim at Donald Trump and fired. Weekend Update hit the Prez hard on the government shutdown, but the Stormy Daniels commentary was hilarious. Michael Che mused that Trump's comment to Stormy that he was afraid of sharks was understandable, because he has the body of a seal. And check out Cecily Strong as Stormy herself. Super funny. On the government shutdown, Colin Jost observed even a fake government -- "House of Cards" -- didn't shut down after Kevin Spacey was booted from the show. | Entertainment |
Antibodies from Winter, a 4-year-old llama with great eyelashes, have neutralized coronavirus and other infections in lab experiments.Credit...Tim CoppensMay 6, 2020Winter is a 4-year-old chocolate-colored llama with spindly legs, ever-so-slightly askew ears and envy-inducing eyelashes. Some scientists hope she might be an important figure in the fight against the novel coronavirus.She is not a superpowered camelid. Winter was simply the lucky llama chosen by researchers in Belgium, where she lives, to participate in a series of virus studies involving both SARS and MERS. Finding that her antibodies staved off those infections, the scientists posited that those same antibodies could also neutralize the new virus that causes Covid-19. They were right, and published their results Tuesday in the journal Cell.Scientists have long turned to llamas for antibody research. In the last decade, for example, scientists have used llamas antibodies in H.I.V. and influenza research, finding promising therapies for both viruses.Humans produce only one kind of antibody, made of two types of protein chains heavy and light that together form a Y shape. Heavy-chain proteins span the entire Y, while light-chain proteins touch only the Ys arms. Llamas, on the other hand, produce two types of antibodies. One of those antibodies is similar in size and constitution to human antibodies. But the other is much smaller; its only about 25 percent the size of human antibodies. The llamas antibody still forms a Y, but its arms are much shorter because it doesnt have any light-chain proteins.This more diminutive antibody can access tinier pockets and crevices on spike proteins the proteins that allow viruses like the novel coronavirus to break into host cells and infect us that human antibodies cannot. That can make it more effective in neutralizing viruses.Llamas antibodies are also easily manipulated, said Dr. Xavier Saelens, a molecular virologist at Ghent University in Belgium and an author of the new study. They can be linked or fused with other antibodies, including human antibodies, and remain stable despite those manipulations.This antibody is a genetic characteristic llamas share with all camelids, the family of mammals that also includes alpacas, guanacos and dromedaries.Sharks have these smaller antibodies, too, but they are not a great experimental model, and are a lot less cuddly than llamas, said Daniel Wrapp, a graduate student affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin and Dartmouth College, and a co-author of the new research. Dr. Saelens said that llamas are domesticated, easy to handle and less stubborn than many of their camelid cousins, although, if they dont like you, theyll spit.In 2016, Dr. Saelens, Mr. Wrapp and Dr. Jason McLellan, a structural virologist at the University of Texas at Austin, and other researchers looked to llamas and, specifically, Winter to find a smaller llama antibody that could broadly neutralize many different types of coronavirus, Dr. McLellan said.They injected Winter with spike proteins from the virus that caused the 2002-03 SARS epidemic as well as MERS, then tested a sample of her blood. And while they couldnt isolate a single llama antibody that worked against both viruses, they found two potent antibodies that each fought separately against MERS and SARS.The researchers were writing up their findings when the new coronavirus began to make headlines in January. They immediately realized that the smaller llama antibodies that could neutralize SARS would very likely also recognize the Covid-19 virus, Dr. Saelens said.It did, the researchers found, effectively inhibiting the coronavirus in cell cultures.The researchers are hopeful the antibody can eventually be used as a prophylactic treatment, by injecting someone who is not yet infected to protect them from the virus, such as a health care worker. While the treatments protection would be immediate, its effects wouldnt be permanent, lasting only a month or two without additional injections.This proactive approach is at least several months away, but the researchers are moving toward clinical trials. Additional studies may also be needed to verify the safety of injecting a llamas antibodies into human patients.There is still a lot of work to do to try to bring this into the clinic, Dr. Saelens said. If it works, llama Winter deserves a statue. | science |
The creation of the union, a rarity in Silicon Valley, follows years of increasing outspokenness by Google workers. Executives have struggled to handle the change.Credit...Damien Maloney for The New York TimesJan. 4, 2021OAKLAND, Calif. More than 400 Google engineers and other workers have formed a union, the group revealed on Monday, capping years of growing activism at one of the worlds largest companies and presenting a rare beachhead for labor organizers in staunchly anti-union Silicon Valley.The unions creation is highly unusual for the tech industry, which has long resisted efforts to organize its largely white-collar work force. It follows increasing demands by employees at Google for policy overhauls on pay, harassment and ethics, and is likely to escalate tensions with top leadership.The new union, called the Alphabet Workers Union after Googles parent company, Alphabet, was organized in secret for the better part of a year and elected its leadership last month. The group is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, a union that represents workers in telecommunications and media in the United States and Canada.But unlike a traditional union, which demands that an employer come to the bargaining table to agree on a contract, the Alphabet Workers Union is a so-called minority union that represents a fraction of the companys more than 260,000 full-time employees and contractors. Workers said it was primarily an effort to give structure and longevity to activism at Google, rather than to negotiate for a contract.Chewy Shaw, an engineer at Google in the San Francisco Bay Area and the vice chair of the unions leadership council, said the union was a necessary tool to sustain pressure on management so that workers could force changes on workplace issues.Our goals go beyond the workplace questions of Are people getting paid enough? Our issues are going much broader, he said. It is a time where a union is an answer to these problems.In response, Kara Silverstein, Googles director of people operations, said: Weve always worked hard to create a supportive and rewarding workplace for our work force. Of course, our employees have protected labor rights that we support. But as weve always done, well continue engaging directly with all our employees.The new union is the clearest sign of how thoroughly employee activism has swept through Silicon Valley over the past few years. While software engineers and other tech workers largely kept quiet in the past on societal and political issues, employees at Amazon, Salesforce, Pinterest and others have become more vocal on matters like diversity, pay discrimination and sexual harassment.ImageCredit...Damien Maloney for The New York TimesImageCredit...Cody O'Loughlin for The New York TimesNowhere have those voices been louder than at Google. In 2018, more than 20,000 employees staged a walkout to protest how the company handled sexual harassment. Others have opposed business decisions that they deemed unethical, such as developing artificial intelligence for the Defense Department and providing technology to Customs and Border Protection.Even so, unions have not gained traction in Silicon Valley. Many tech workers shunned them, arguing that labor groups were focused on issues like wages not a top concern in the high-earning industry and were not equipped to address their concerns about ethics and the role of technology in society. Labor organizers also found it difficult to corral the tech companies huge work forces, which are scattered around the globe.Only a few small union drives have succeeded in tech in the past. Workers at the crowdfunding site Kickstarter and at the app development platform Glitch won union campaigns last year, and a small group of contractors at a Google office in Pittsburgh unionized in 2019. Thousands of employees at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama are also set to vote on a union in the coming months.There are those who would want you to believe that organizing in the tech industry is completely impossible, Sara Steffens, C.W.A.s secretary-treasurer, said of the new Google union. If you dont have unions in the tech industry, what does that mean for our country? Thats one reason, from C.W.A.s point of view, that we see this as a priority.Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, said the Google union was a powerful experiment because it brought unionization into a major tech company and skirted barriers that had prevented such organizing.If it grows which Google will do everything they can to prevent it could have huge impacts not just for the workers but for the broader issues that we are all thinking about in terms of tech power in society, she said.The union is likely to ratchet up tensions between Google engineers, who work on autonomous cars, artificial intelligence and internet search, and the companys management. Sundar Pichai, Googles chief executive, and other executives have tried to come to grips with an increasingly activist work force but have made missteps.Last month, federal officials said Google had most likely wrongly fired two employees who protested its work with immigration authorities in 2019. Timnit Gebru, a Black woman who is a respected artificial intelligence researcher, also said last month that Google had fired her after she criticized the companys approach to minority hiring and the biases built into A.I. systems. Her departure set off a storm of criticism about Googles treatment of minority employees.These companies find it a bone in their throat to even have a small group of people who say, We work at Google and have another point of view, said Nelson Lichtenstein, the director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Google might well succeed in decimating any organization that comes to the floor.The Alphabet Workers Union, which represents employees in Silicon Valley and cities like Cambridge, Mass., and Seattle, gives protection and resources to workers who join. Those who opt to become members will contribute 1 percent of their total compensation to the union to fund its efforts.Over the past year, the C.W.A. has pushed to unionize white-collar tech workers. (The NewsGuild, a union that represents New York Times employees, is part of the C.W.A.) The drive focused initially on employees at video game companies, who often work grueling hours and face layoffs.In late 2019, C.W.A. organizers began meeting with Google employees to discuss a union drive, workers who attended the meetings said. Some employees were receptive and signed cards to officially join the union last summer. In December, the Alphabet Workers Union held elections to select a seven-person executive council.But several Google employees who had previously organized petitions and protests at the company objected to the C.W.A.s overtures. They said they had declined to join because they worried that the effort had sidelined experienced organizers and played down the risks of organizing as it recruited members.ImageCredit...Bebeto Matthews/Associated PressAmr Gaber, a Google software engineer who helped organize the 2018 walkout, said C.W.A. officials were dismissive of other labor groups that had supported Google workers during a December 2019 phone call with him and others.They are more concerned about claiming turf than the needs of the workers who were on the phone call, Mr. Gaber said. As a long-term labor organizer and brown man, thats not the type of union I want to build.The C.W.A. said it had been selected by Google workers to help organize the union and had not elbowed its way in. Its really the workers who chose, Ms. Steffens of C.W.A. said.Traditional unions typically enroll a majority of a work force and petition a state or federal labor board like the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election. If they win the vote, they can bargain with their employer on a contract. A minority union allows employees to organize without first winning a formal vote before the N.L.R.B.The C.W.A. has used this model to organize groups in states where it said labor laws were unfavorable, like the Texas State Employees Union and the United Campus Workers in Tennessee.The structure also gives the union the latitude to include Google contractors, who outnumber full-time workers and who would be excluded from a traditional union. Some Google employees have considered establishing a minority or solidarity union for several years, and ride-hailing drivers have formed similar groups.Although they will not be able to negotiate a contract, the Alphabet Workers Union can use other tactics to pressure Google into changing its policies, labor experts said. Minority unions often turn to public pressure campaigns and lobby legislative or regulatory bodies to influence employers.Were going to use every tool that we can to use our collective action to protect people who we think are being discriminated against or retaliated against, Mr. Shaw said.Members cited the recent N.L.R.B. finding on the firing of two employees and the exit of Dr. Gebru, the prominent researcher, as reasons to broaden its membership and publicly step up its efforts.Google is making it all the more clear why we need this now, said Auni Ahsan, a software engineer at Google and an at-large member of the unions executive council. Sometimes the boss is the best organizer. | Tech |
Credit...Kang Kyung-Kook/Newsis, via Associated PressNov. 21, 2018BRUSSELS Interpol elected a South Korean police veteran as its next president on Wednesday, in the face of pressure from Western diplomats who said choosing a Russian candidate who had been considered the front-runner could jeopardize the independence of the worlds largest international policing organization.The South Korean, Kim Jong-yang, was elected by secret ballot at Interpols annual conference in Dubai, where its top official downplayed the controversy surrounding the vote and offered assurances that the agency would remain independent.No matter what the nationality of the president is, it is not affecting Interpols neutrality and the independence of our organization, the secretary general, Jrgen Stock, told reporters after the vote.American and European officials lobbied behind the scenes early this week to prevent a senior Russian security official, Aleksandr V. Prokopchuk, from winning the organizations presidency. The Russian government has tried for years to use Interpol and its international warrants, known as red notices, to track down and arrest political enemies and dissidents living abroad.Human rights groups said that electing Mr. Prokopchuk would be seen as rewarding the Kremlin for those efforts. They warned that it would undermine confidence in Interpol and make it susceptible to political interference.That turned Wednesdays vote into an unusually closely watched diplomatic event. The Kremlin accused its adversaries of meddling in the elections of an independent international body, while opponents countered that Russia was trying to hijack Interpol.Mr. Stock said Wednesday that Interpol had been working to tighten oversight of the warrant process and said those reforms would continue. We accept the fact that systems can be improved, and recognize that a very small number of noncompliant red notices can seriously affect the lives of innocent citizens.The election came at a difficult time for Interpol, which has faced controversy over its handling of the disappearance in September of its president at the time, Meng Hongwei of China. The Chinese government later produced a resignation letter in his name and acknowledged that it had secretly arrested him on unspecified corruption charges.Interpols tepid response to that highly unusual action sparked criticism that it was too quick to yield to influence from an authoritarian government. Mr. Stock did not directly address those criticisms but said, Interpol has to work in a space neutral to geopolitics, but not of course neutral to human rights.Mr. Kim has served as interim president of Interpol since Mr. Mengs disappearance. Mr. Prokopchuk has served as a vice president of the organization and is well regarded by his colleagues.But Mr. Prokopchuk has also worked for more than a decade in a Russian department that has flooded Interpol with requests for international warrants, known as red notices, seeking the arrest of political dissidents and others. Interpol has rejected requests that it viewed as baldly political, but the Russian government has at times found workarounds by seeking a different type of warrant, known as a diffusion. Diffusions are circulated through Interpol but do not get reviewed there.The investor Bill Browder, one of the highest-profile Kremlin critics, is the most public target of this effort. The Russian government has repeatedly sought his arrest. Early this year, he live-tweeted his detention in Spain on a warrant issued out of Moscow.On Tuesday, Mr. Browder held a news conference in London and warned that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was trying to use Interpol to intimidate his opponents.This is a perfect way for Putin to basically breathe the fear of God into all of his enemies, he said. So they know they cant even escape Russia if one of his guys is at the head of Interpol.The presidency is in many ways a ceremonial position at Interpol, where executive power is held by the secretary general. Former Interpol officials said that if he had become president, Mr. Prokopchuk would have had little ability to influence the issuance of red notices. They said that Interpol delegates are encouraged to vote on the merits of individual candidates, not on their home countries.Interpol, despite its portrayal in spy movies, has no power to investigate crimes or make arrests. Instead, it functions as a sort of United Nations for police organizations and a clearinghouse for the circulation of law enforcement tips and data.Still, the prospect of Russian interference loomed over the election. American officials did not speak publicly about the vote, but in a speech to Interpol leaders, Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, warned against countries that harbored cybercriminals and tried to manipulate the international extradition process two frequent criticisms of Russia.Shortly after the vote, Latvias foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, congratulated Mr. Kim on his victory. He said he was confident that Interpol will continue to uphold rule of law as one of its fundamental values. | World |
Credit...Andreea Alexandru/Associated PressMarch 1, 2017BUDAPEST Emboldened by encouraging signals from the Trump administration, populist leaders across Central and Eastern Europe are mounting simultaneous crackdowns on nongovernmental organizations, once protected by Washington, that promote open government, aid refugees and often serve as checks on authoritarian governments.In Hungary, where the movement has reached a fever pitch, supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban are vilifying foreign-funded N.G.O.s especially those succored by George Soros, the liberal American billionaire and accusing the groups of wanting to flood Europe with Muslim refugees and transform Christian nations into multicultural stews of left-wing globalism. Earlier this week, Zoltan Kovacs, Mr. Orbans chief international spokesman, described the organizations as foreign agents financed by foreign money.Macedonias former autocratic prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, has called for a de-Sorosization of society, labeling opponents Soros-oids and inspiring a Stop Operation Soros movement in January. Polands governing party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, says Soros-funded groups want societies without identity, and backs fresh efforts to regulate them. In Romania, where hundreds of thousands of anticorruption protesters took to the streets in recent weeks, the leader of the governing party charged that Mr. Soros financed evil and has vowed to defeat him. Similar efforts have begun or accelerated in Serbia, Slovakia and Bulgaria since Mr. Trumps victory.These organizations must be pushed back with all available tools, Szilard Nemeth, vice chairman of Hungarys governing Fidesz party, told journalists. I think they must be swept out, and now I believe the international conditions are right for this with the election of a new president.For more than a half-century, as Europe first struggled from the ashes of World War II and then shrugged off its Soviet shackles, American-backed nongovernmental organizations have been active across Europe, often called upon to explain the Wests style of democratic capitalism to people who have known neither. Their presence often annoyed the Continents more authoritarian-minded leaders, who regard many of the groups to be irritants at best, and threats at worst.Traditionally, United States administrations of both parties have promoted the spread of democracy and stubbornly defended these advocacy groups. But Mr. Trump has said he will not press Americas political system on other countries and has embraced some of Europes far-right leaders. He also has criticized the European Union and made disparaging remarks about some democratic principles including his frequent criticism of the news media.For populist leaders like Mr. Orban, who has steadily steered Hungary toward so-called illiberal democracy, this new tone from the White House is regarded as a major opportunity.They see it as a historical moment, said Jozsef Peter Martin, executive director of Transparency Internationals Hungary branch. The geopolitical situation has changed.ImageCredit...Laszlo Balogh/ReutersFor years, populist and authoritarian governments have been targeting foreign-funded organizations in many parts of the world, from China to India, and especially in Vladimir V. Putins Russia. Similar talk was common in Central and Eastern Europe, but now governments in Hungary and elsewhere are pushing beyond political speeches to propose legislation.Orban has talked about the Trump era being a new international opportunity for Hungary, said Marta Pardavi, co-founder of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, which gets about 30 percent of its funding from Soros-backed foundations. He said it was a gift to us.Gergely Gulyas, a vice president of Hungarys governing party, agreed that Mr. Trumps victory had created a geopolitical climate more attractive to Hungarys current leaders, but he cautioned against seeing that as the decisive reason for the crackdown.I think we would have done this even if Hillary Clinton had won, he said.He and other supporters of the Hungarian government say the outcry by civil society is a vast overreaction to what is simply a common-sense attempt to force the organizations to be more transparent effectively turning the language of the advocacy groups against them.In Hungary, governing party officials first began criticizing foreign-funded N.G.O.s in 2013. The following year, state investigators targeted organizations that received money from the Norway Grants, which the Scandinavian nation uses to promote social and economic equality in the formerly communist East. Agents raided the Budapest offices of three organizations and demanded documentation from dozens of others. But the investigators final report, released last fall, found no serious infringements of Hungarian law, and no charges were leveled.But shortly after Mr. Trumps election, Fidesz leaders immediately renewed their attacks on foreign-funded N.G.O.s, as the new villains were groups sponsored by Mr. Soros, while also proposing new legislative restrictions. Fidesz officials have not unveiled their proposals but say they intend to create a registry of such organizations and force them to disclose their financial details. Some officials have proposed forcing local N.G.O. leaders to disclose their personal finances.It is only about transparency, Mr. Gulyas said. This is a debate that is taking place around the world. An important debate about the future of democracy.But advocacy groups say it is more about harassment and intimidation. Stefania Kapronczay, executive director of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, which gets over half its funding from Soros-backed organizations, said Hungarian officials were testing the waters to see what they can get away with. New restrictions would have a chilling effect, she said.Some small N.G.O.s just quit, she said. The willingness of people to cooperate with us decreases.Born in Budapest in 1930, Mr. Soros and his Jewish family survived the Nazi occupation with false identity papers. He eventually became a Wall Street financier and ultimately made billions through his own hedge fund, Soros Fund Management. He established the Open Society Foundations as an umbrella group for his philanthropy and has given more than $12 billion to date. His philanthropic work promotes democracy, government accountability and freedom of expression and, he has said, is driven by his memories of life under the Nazis.ImageCredit...Joshua Bright for The New York TimesYou couldnt come up with a better enemy figure today, said Jan Orlovsky, director of the Slovak branch of the Open Society Foundations. George Soros brings up all of the stereotypes we have lived with all our lives about Jews, bankers and, in Slovakia, also about Hungarians.Chris Stone, the president of the Open Society Foundations, described the governmental crackdowns as a campaign by government leaders who are impatient with the institutions of democracy.Macedonia, struggling to form a new government in the debris of a two-year political crisis, has taken perhaps the most forceful anti-Soros stance. The Stop Operation Soros campaign pushes the idea that international pressure from N.G.O.s and Western governments forced the recent fall of the right-wing government of Mr. Gruevski, who hopes to return to power.We believe that, in these murky times, it is really important to take away the mask of the so-called civic organizations and to clearly reveal their political goals and actions, as well as their financing, said Nenad Mirchevski, a founder of the movement.In Poland, against a flare-up of anti-Soros statements, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said her government intended to create a new body to coordinate state funding for all nongovernmental organizations. In Slovakia, a far-right-wing party proposed forcing foreign-funded N.G.O.s to register with the government. That effort did not succeed, but that did little to slow the tide of anti-Soros speech.Demonic forces of evil, represented by Soros, the Clintons, the Bush family and others, have not come to terms with losing the election, so they keep attacking Trump and want to get rid of him, said a recent article in Hlavne Spravy, a right-wing Slovak daily.From the moment Romanias nominally socialist party was returned to power in December, its populist leader, Liviu Dragnea, has pressed for more control over N.G.O.s. I have something against Mr. Soros, Mr. Dragnea said in a late January interview. In Bulgaria, both Mr. Soros and organizations that defend human rights have come under attack. A local newspaper, shortly after Mr. Trumps victory, described Mr. Soros as a liberal terrorist. In Serbia, local right-wing and pro-Russian publications have linked Mr. Soros to the Rothschilds, highlighted his Jewishness and described his efforts as an anti-Trump radical movement.And we are only at the start of the story, said Laszlo Majtenyi, director of the Eotvos Karoly Institute in Budapest, a Soros-founded organization, and a left-wing coalition candidate for president in April. Once the government has stigmatized the groups as foreign-funded, he said, future crackdowns will be easier.And there is always the chance that authoritarian governments will feel emboldened enough to simply toss out the offending organizations.This is where European democratic values will be defended, said Goran Buldioski, director of the Open Society Initiative for Europe. In Hungary and Poland, not in Western Europe. Democracy is more than just the ballot box, and it is more than something that happens every four years. | World |
James Corden Good Genes or Good Docs? 1/28/2018 James Corden's good looks deserve an award! Here is a 26-year-old baby-face version of the 'Late Late Show' host back in 2004 (left), and 13 years later ... the 39-year-old "60th Annual Grammy Awards" host showing off some scruff at an event in Los Angeles earlier this month (right). Noteworthy. The question is ... James Corden ... Share on Facebook TWEET This See also James Corden Good Genes or Good Docs | Entertainment |
As lawmakers debate whether Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon are monopolies, a reporter recalls her attempt to avoid interacting with the companies.Credit...Efi ChalikopoulouJuly 31, 2020The chief executives of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple were called before a House antitrust committee this week, ostensibly to answer questions about whether they have too much power and whether that hurts consumers.The tech bosses, who appeared via videoconference, fended off questions about being cyber barons, saying they have plenty of competition and that consumers have other options for the services they offer.But do they? Last year, in an effort to understand just how dependent we are on these companies, I did an experiment for the tech news site Gizmodo to see how hard it would be to remove them from my life.To do that wasnt easy. From my years writing about digital privacy, I knew these companies were in the background of many of our online interactions. I worked with a technologist named Dhruv Mehrotra, who designed a custom tool for me, a virtual private network that kept my devices from sending data to or receiving data from the tech giants by blocking the millions of internet addresses the companies controlled.Then I blocked Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft, one by one and then all at once over six weeks. Amazon and Google were the hardest companies to avoid by far.Cutting Amazon from my life meant losing access to any site hosted by Amazon Web Services, the internets largest cloud provider. Many apps and a large portion of the internet use Amazons servers to host their digital content, and much of the digital world became inaccessible when I said goodbye to Amazon, including the Amazon Prime Video competitor Netflix.Amazon was difficult to avoid in the real world as well. When I ordered a phone holder for my car from eBay, it arrived in Amazons signature packaging, because the seller used Fulfillment by Amazon, paying the company to store and ship his product.When I blocked Google, the entire internet slowed down for me, because almost every site I visited was using Google to supply its fonts, run its ads, track its users, or determine if its users were humans or bots. While blocking Google, I couldnt sign into the data storage service Dropbox because the site thought I wasnt a real person. Uber and Lyft stopped working for me, because they were both dependent on Google Maps for navigating the world. I discovered that Google Maps had a de facto monopoly on online maps. Even Googles longtime critic Yelp used it to tell computer users where businesses could be found.I came to think of Amazon and Google as the providers of the very infrastructure of the internet, so embedded in the architecture of the digital world that even their competitors had to rely on their services.Facebook, Apple and Microsoft came with their own challenges. While Facebook was less debilitating to block, I missed Instagram (which Facebook owns) terribly, and I stopped getting news from my social circle, like the birth of a good friends child. I just assume that if I post something on Facebook, everyone will know about it, she told me when I called her weeks later to congratulate her. I tried out an alternative called Mastodon, but a social network devoid of any of your friends isnt much fun.Apple was hard to leave because I had two Apple computers and an iPhone, so I wound up getting some radical new hardware in order to keep accessing the internet and making phone calls.Apple and Googles Android software have a duopoly on the smartphone market. Wanting to avoid both companies, I wound up getting a dumb phone a Nokia 3310 on which I had to relearn the fine art of texting on numerical phone keys and a laptop with a Linux operating system from a company called Purism that is trying to create an ethical computing environment, namely by helping its users avoid the tech giants.ImageCredit...Josep Lago/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesYes, there are alternatives for products and services offered by the tech giants, but they are harder to find and to use.Microsoft, which is not in the antitrust hot seat this time around but knows what it feels like, was easy to block on the consumer level. As my colleague Steve Lohr notes, Microsoft is mainly a supplier of technology to business customers these days.But like Amazon, Microsoft has a cloud service, and so a few sites went dark for me, as did two Microsoft-owned services I used frequently, LinkedIn and Skype. Not being able to use tech giant-owned services I love was a hazard of this experiment: As The Wall Street Journal noted, the tech giants have bought more than 400 companies and start-ups over the last decade.Critics of the big tech companies are often told, If you dont like the company, dont use its products. My takeaway from the experiment was that its not possible to do that. Its not just the products and services branded with the big tech giants name. Its that these companies control a thicket of more obscure products and services that are hard to untangle from tools we rely on for everything we do, from work to getting from point A to point B.Many people called what I did digital veganism. Digital vegans are deliberative about the hardware and software they use and the data they consume and share, because information is power, and increasingly a handful of companies seem to have it all.There were two very different types of reaction to the story. Some people said that it proved just how essential these companies are to the American economy and how useful they are to consumers, meaning regulators shouldnt interfere with them. Others, like Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and ex officio member of the Houses antitrust committee, said at the time that the experiment was proof of their monopolistic power.By virtue of controlling essential infrastructure, these companies appear to have the ability to control access to markets, Mr. Nadler said. In some basic ways, the problem is not unlike what we faced 130 years ago, when railroads transformed American life both enabling farmers and producers to access new markets, but also creating a key chokehold that the railroad monopolies could exploit.If I were still blocking the tech giants today, I wouldnt have been able to watch this weeks antitrust hearing online. C-SPAN streamed it live via YouTube, which Google owns.After the experiment was over, though, I went back to using the companies services again, because as it demonstrated, I didnt really have any other choice. | Tech |
Feb. 9, 2014Ireland will be chasing a Triple Crown when the European Six Nations resumes in two weeks. While victories over the three British nations in the tournament (England, Wales and Scotland) may not carry the aura it did in earlier generations, it remains something to be proud of, especially a season after a British and Irish Lions tour. Ireland took a big step toward the Triple Crown when it followed its opening day victory over Scotland with a 26-3 humiliation of the reigning champion Wales in Dublin on Saturday. The foul weather that has lashed the British Isles meant the match was no thing of beauty. It was no day for free-flowing rugby, but Wales was both outfought and outthought.It was the most disappointing performance from us since I have been the Wales coach, Warren Gatland, who has had the job since December 2007, told reporters after the game. There was a lot at stake emotionally for the Irish. Thats a huge part of the performance. Now we have to take a long hard look at ourselves and maybe change personnel.Ireland scored 13 points in each half and allowed only a single penalty by Leigh Halfpenny after the break.It scored a try in each half. The flanker Chris Henry forced his way over from close range in the 32nd minute, and the replacement flyhalf, Paddy Jackson, crossed a minute before the end.Part of the emotion referred to by Gatland came from Irish perceptions that he had favored Welsh players in selecting the Lions team last summer, especially after he dropped the longtime Irish center Brian ODriscoll for the final test against Australia.Any such slights were repaid. Almost every Irishman outplayed his opponent, and Ireland monopolized possession and field position as it followed tactics perfectly calibrated for the conditions.It was all pulled together by an Irishman whom Gatland had picked for the Lions tests: Jonathan Sexton, the flyhalf. He kicked 14 points and controlled the game with his tactical kicking.A marvellous display by Jonathan Sexton, said the legendary Welsh outside Jonathan Davies on BBC television. The variety of his kicking has been brilliant. Wales contributed to its own downfall. As the former Ireland player Philip Matthews told the BBC, Wales made too many mistakes and didnt have a Plan B. Despite having won the past two Six Nations, Wales has been criticized as one-dimensional and unlikely to beat teams that it cannot outmuscle, and Saturdays performance did little to shatter that belief. It was completely overpowered by Ireland and conceded 17 penalties. It trailed by 16 points for almost the entire second half, yet it stuck to conservative tactics kicking possession away instead of attacking with the ball in hand until the game was nearly over. Of the two potential game-changers on the Welsh bench, loose forward Justin Tipuric appeared only for the final few minutes, and the midfield playmaker, James Hook, did not play at all.It was Waless first Six Nations defeat away from home in three years, and its biggest loss in the competition since February 2006, when it fell, 31-5, to Ireland in Dublin. But that Wales team was riven by dissent among the players and had just lost a Grand Slam-winning coach. This years team had talked up its chances of winning a third consecutive championship.The Australian Scott Johnson had presided over that debacle in 2006 as the interim coach of Wales, and the loss helped ensure that he would not get the job permanently. Eight years later, Johnson is an interim coach again, but this time he knows that Vern Cotter will take over as Scotland coach at the end of the season, no matter how he does. One thing is the same, though, for Johnson: the results are no better. Scotland lost, 20-0, to England at Murrayfield. It was the first team to be shut out at home since an earlier Scottish team fell 31-0 to France in 2004. Johnson is justifiably famed as an attacking coach, but his Scottish team has scored only six points, and no tries, in losing its first two matches.It was a tough day at the office, made tougher by the fact there were 60,000 people in my office, he said, England outmuscled us really, they got us down there and squashed us. Ive got to be honest, the scoreboard flattered us. England, like Ireland, led 13-0 at the break and scored a try in each half.The center Luther Burrell made it two tries in his first two matches for England before halftime, and then the fullback Mike Brown crossed after a break by rookie wing Jack Nowell. Brown also scored a try in the opening weekend of play. Englands superiority in all aspects of play underlined its credentials as a championship contender, despite its 26-24 loss to France on the opening weekend in Paris.Next for England is Ireland, which after two wins at home must win at Twickenham to complete its Triple Crown. If England wins on Feb. 22, it will itself have a shot at the Crown, two weeks later at home to Wales.And if England keeps on playing at its current level, it has a very good chance of doing so. | Sports |
Credit...Andrew Medichini/Associated PressMarch 10, 2017Pope Francis this week signaled receptiveness to appeals from bishops in the remote and overwhelmed corners of the Roman Catholic Church to combat a deepening shortage of priests by ordaining married men who are already committed to the church.In an interview with a German newspaper, the pope made clear that he was not advocating an end to celibacy for current priests or those aspiring to join the clergy. But his seeming openness about the prospect of ordaining married men in places hardest hit by a dearth of priests was unusually explicit and brought the issue to the forefront.We need to think about whether viri probati could be a possibility, Francis, using the Latin phrase for such tested men, said in an interview with the newspaper, Die Zeit. If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities.For years, the pope has noted that an element of married clergy already exists in the church. Eastern Rite priests in union with Rome have married for centuries. In 1980, John Paul II created a provision by which some married Protestant ministers who converted to Catholicism could maintain their ministry. And historically, priests in the first centuries of the church were free to marryBut monastic influences at the turn of the millennium led to the adoption of a celibacy requirement at the First Lateran Council of 1123, and that tradition has held ever since. It is not doctrine or dogma, but instead a code of canon law that essentially reasons that priests unburdened by spouses or children are both more reflective of Christ and devoted to pastoral demands.Francis, who has made clear that he sees little possibility for allowing women to be priests, called the vocation crisis an enormous problem.The issue is less a question of theology than arithmetic.In the United States, there are now about 2,500 Catholics per priest, compared with 851 per priest in 1972, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which is affiliated with Georgetown University.The chasms are far wider in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where the faithful can go months without access to a priest and married deacons are increasingly called on to conduct the business of parishes. In Brazil, according to the center, there are roughly 8,000 Catholics per priest.The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior analyst for The National Catholic Reporter, said that in the face of such a crisis, the church had to decide whether upholding the celibacy rule was worth depriving the faithful of Mass and confession, which can only be performed by priests. He said that while the pontiffs most recent predecessors had hoped for a turnaround in the diminishing numbers of priests, Francis seemed eager to push the issue.This is now an open topic in the church today, Father Reese said, whereas under John Paul II or Benedict, you could not talk about this.Before being chosen as pope in 2013, Francis who was then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio said in remarks included in the book On Heaven and Earth that clerical celibacy was a matter of discipline, not of faith. It can change.In 2014, as pope, he took a step that made it easier for married men to serve as priests, when he lifted a ban imposed in 1929 that had prohibited Eastern Catholic bishops from ordaining married men to the priesthood in Australia, Canada and the United States.Until Francis made that change, the Eastern Rite churches could ordain married men only in their own territories.Also in 2014, Bishop Erwin Krautler, of Xingu, Brazil, a territory where only 27 priests served 700,000 Catholics, brought up the issue with Francis. The bishop told an Austrian newspaper at the time that the pope had told him such a change could not be done by Francis in Rome, but that local bishops, who are best acquainted with the needs of our faithful, should be corajudos, that is courageous in Spanish, and make concrete suggestions.Soon after, in 2015, Bishop Leo OReilly of Kilmore, Ireland, said that the popes message to be creative in confronting priest shortages had led him to establish a commission on the possibility of ordaining married men. I think the other bishops would be open to the idea, he told the Catholic Herald newspaper.Veteran observers of Francis have noted that the pope appears especially willing to broach the issue.In August, the papal biographer Austen Ivereigh wrote on the Catholic news website Crux that Francis has given many signals of his willingness to open up the question of ordaining married men, even encouraging local Churches to put forward proposals.Any formal discussion of changing the rule would surely engender opposition among a small but intense group of canon lawyers and traditionalists upset about Francis flexibility on issues of church law. In the meantime, the 80-year-old pope seems to be using the media to plant the idea directly with the faithful.The glacier is moving forward, but there are forces that want to move it back, said Paul Bumbar, a former priest and the co-secretary of Corpus, an organization founded more than 40 years ago by men who had left the priesthood to marry. And Francis has made it clear that he does not want to stop. I just pray his health holds out. | World |
Update: Britain has voted to exit the European Union. It is a historic decision sure to reshape the nations place in the world. For more about the fallout, The Times prepared an updated explainer of the basics. Britain held a referendum on Thursday on whether to leave the European Union, a process often referred to as Brexit. Photo Supporters of Grassroots Out campaign outside the Electoral Commission in London in March. Credit Andy Rain/European Pressphoto Agency What is Britain deciding? The referendum question will ask voters whether the country should remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union. Photo A slogan of the Vote Leave campaign was projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover in southern England this month. Credit Peter Nicholls/Reuters The reasons for and against Those who favor leaving argue that the European Union has changed enormously over the last four decades with regard to the size and the reach of its bureaucracy, diminishing British influence and sovereignty.Those who want to stay say that a medium-size island needs to be part of a larger bloc of like-minded countries to have real influence and security in the world, and that leaving would be economically costly. Photo Credit Toby Melville/Reuters What are pollsters and bettors predicting? As the campaign progressed, the odds against Brexit gradually became smaller, then they rose again. Betfair, a betting exchange, had the Remain camp with an 80 percent chance of winning on the day of the vote. Who is arguing to stay, and who to go? REMAIN Prime Minister David Cameron leads the Remain camp, and he could lose his job if his effort fails. Behind him are most of the Conservative government he leads, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party, which is strongly pro-Europe.Most independent economists and large businesses favor staying in, as do the most recent heads of Britains intelligence services. President Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Xi Jinping of China also want Britain to stay in.LEAVE The Leave camp is led by Michael Gove, the justice minister, and Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London. Nearly half the Conservative members of Parliament favor leaving, as do the members of the U.K. Independence Party, or UKIP, and its leader, Nigel Farage. Their main issues are sovereignty and immigration.Abroad, the French National Front leader, Marine Le Pen, favors Brexit, as do other anti-Europe parties in Germany, the Netherlands and elsewhere. Photo A vigil in Parliament Square in London for Jo Cox, a member of Parliament who was killed in northern England on Thursday. Credit Daniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse Getty Images Campaigning stopped for several days. Why? Jo Cox, a member of Parliament, was shot and killed outside a library in her district of Birstall, England, last week. With the referendum days away, campaigning was immediately suspended as a gesture of respect. It resumed on Sunday.Ms. Cox, 41, was a vocal supporter of Britains remaining in the bloc. When the suspect in her killing, Thomas Mair, was asked in court for his name, he answered, My name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain. Photo Credit Francois Lenoir/Reuters What is the history? The European Union began in 1951 as the European Coal and Steel Community, an effort by six nations to heal the fissures of World War II through duty-free trade. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community, or Common Market.Britain tried to join later, but President Charles de Gaulle of France vetoed its application in 1963 and in 1967. Britain finally joined in 1973. Photo Has a vote like this happened before? Yes. A referendum was held in 1975, two years after Britain joined the European Economic Community, on whether it should stay. More than 67 percent of Britons voted in favor. Photo London is a major financial gateway, the biggest and busiest in Europe and rivaling Wall Street as a hub of international trading in stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities. Credit Andy Haslam for The New York Times What impact would an exit have on Britains economy? This is an essential and divisive question. The economic effect of an exit would depend on what settlement was negotiated, especially on whether Britain would retain access to the single market for duty-free trade and financial services. But that would probably require accepting freedom of movement and labor for European Union citizens, which is one of the main complaints the Leave camp has about bloc membership.Most economists favor remaining in the bloc and say an exit would cut growth, weaken the pound and hurt the City of London, Britains financial center. Even economists who favor an exit say growth would be affected in the short and medium terms, though they also say Britain would be better off by 2030.In late October, the chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, said that the better-than-expected 0.5 percent growth in gross domestic product in the third quarter was evidence that the British economy was able to cope with Brexit. Photo Prime Minister David Cameron in Warsaw during an official visit to Poland this year. Credit Radek Pietruszka/European Pressphoto Agency Why now? It has to do with a decades-long rift in the governing Conservative Party. A vocal minority has demanded that Britain leave the European Union since the time of Margaret Thatcher. That minority grew in opposition during the Tony Blair years, and views on Europe have become a litmus test for Tory candidates, because grass-roots Conservatives tend to favor a British exit.To pacify his party and undermine the anti-European Union U.K. Independence Party, Mr. Cameron promised to hold the referendum should he be re-elected prime minister. Nearly half of all Tory members of Parliament, including six cabinet ministers, now favor leaving the bloc. Photo Unlike in general elections, Commonwealth citizens in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, can vote in the referendum. Credit Jorge Guerrero/Agence France-Presse Getty Images Who is voting? British citizens 18 and older can vote, as can citizens abroad who have been registered to vote at home in the last 15 years. Also eligible are residents of Britain who are citizens of Ireland or of the Commonwealth, which consists of 53 countries, including Australia, Canada, India and South Africa.Unlike in general elections, members of the House of Lords may vote, as can Commonwealth citizens in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory. Citizens of the European Union living in Britain cannot vote, unless they are citizens of Cyprus, Ireland or Malta. Photo Credit Andy Rain/European Pressphoto Agency Why the unusual name? The referendum is often called Brexit, for British exit from the European Union. It is a variant of the label Grexit, invented during the Greek debt crisis (which, by the way, is not over). Photo Credit Philippe Wojazer/Reuters Is this vote final? Yes, at least for the foreseeable future. If Britons vote to leave, there will be an initial two-year negotiation with the European Union about the terms of the divorce, which is unlikely to be amicable.The negotiation will decide Britains relationship with the bloc. The major issues would surround trade. If Britain wants to remain in the European Unions common market the worlds largest trading bloc, with 500 million people Brussels is expected to exact a steep price, in particular to discourage other countries from leaving. | World |
Letter 82Credit...Zan WimberleyNov. 22, 2018The New York Times creates a holiday gift guide each year for readers in the United States. But why stop there?This year, we have an extra special gift guide for you, Australia.Our bureau collaborated with Wirecutter, the obsessively rigorous review site owned by The New York Times, to select dozens of items from all over the world and Australia (like that festive gin above) to help you find presents for your savviest friends and loved ones.Everything in the guide can be purchased from Australia. So get shopping!______3. Nick Caves Extravaganza ImageCredit...Zan WimberleySometimes art requires immersion.Take Nick Cave, the American artist who has a new and wildly ambitious installation at Carriageworks in Sydney.Matthew Anderson, The Timess European culture editor, is here for a public event with Nick to discuss his work, and the exhibit is very much worth checking out.Heres Matt, explaining why:It is a series of monumental installations including a chandelier that weighs nearly 6,000 pounds and a flapping wall of fan-blasted tinsel that are awe-inspiring, but also playful. Behind their witty exteriors, though, they are asking us to think about serious issues: race relations, gun violence, gender and sexuality.ImageCredit...Mick Tsikas/EPA, via ShutterstockLisa Pryor, a lifelong Sydneysider who writes regularly for our opinion section, pulls no punches in her latest piece.Noting that Australia recently passed Switzerland to become home to the wealthiest people in the world, if considered on the basis of median adult wealth, she notes that recent years have been ones of good luck, but also thwarted opportunity.Politics, she notes, hasnt helped.For all our good fortune, there is a sense in the country that these times, the best of times, have not brought out the best in us, she writes.Youll want to read the whole essay to decide whether you agree or disagree.For the rest of our local coverage this week from immigration news to Besha Rodells latest review of a hidden gem in Brisbane go to our Australia page.______5. Marijuana to the Rescue?ImageCredit...Cornell Tukiri for The New York TimesOur reporter in New Zealand, Charlotte Graham-McLay, traveled recently to Ruatoria, a remote hamlet hours from anywhere else, where a group of residents has created a business they hope will save their town from economic oblivion.After The Letdown (from the ABC, now on Netflix), this New York Times series has the next best real-life video portrayals of parenting found anywhere.Conception is what its called, but with a mix of animation and interviews, it covers so much more.ImageCredit...David Rama Terrazas Morales for The New York TimesVanessa Friedman takes her fashion criticism to the malls of Asia and finds quite a lot to contemplate. Its a fascinating look at both retail and culture.When I visited Siem Reap a while ago, there were certainly no malls with art like the piece above!______9. Books. Lots of Them.ImageCredit...Esther AartsFinally, heres another attempt to help you be both informed and generous: the Book Reviews 100 Notable Books of 2018.See if your favorite book of the year made the cut and find something to give to your favorite reader. Each category, from nonfiction to thrillers and sports, has something worth coveting.Let the holiday rumpus begin! | World |
Credit...Natalie Keyssar for The New York TimesAt the peak of the pandemic in New York, a longtime city employee joined a crush of patients in desperate need of treatment.Shehran Uddin holding a photo of Jamal Uddin, his father, and himself as a baby, outside their family home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.Credit...Natalie Keyssar for The New York TimesMay 1, 2020Orphaned as a youth in Bangladesh, Jamal Uddin worked in a ribbon factory in Lower Manhattan while attending high school, before graduating from college and ultimately finding a career helping people with H.I.V./AIDS.Over his 68 years he had proved that he was a survivor, but the battle of his life would take shape in a Brooklyn intensive care unit as the new coronavirus swept the city.He had a ventilator to help him breathe, the one piece of equipment everyone feared would be unavailable if the hospitals were overwhelmed. What Mr. Uddin lacked, his family says, was adequate access to dialysis, a common treatment for impaired kidney function that was not available in sufficient quantities to deal with wave after wave of Covid-19 patients arriving in ambulances at the emergency rooms.His wife, Jesmin, and son, Shehran, grew increasingly anxious and then desperate over four days in April as Mr. Uddin received no dialysis treatments. As a physician its hard for me to fathom that thats even a possibility, said Dr. Rasel Rana, an orthopedic surgeon and Mr. Uddins brother-in-law, who said that he and his sister begged for dialysis in calls with the hospital as tests showed worsening kidney function.At the peak of the outbreak, the number of Covid-19 patients fighting kidney failure led to soaring demand for dialysis at hospitals around New York City, including at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where Mr. Uddin was being treated. Nephrologists sounded the alarm that they did not have the medication, staffing or machines to deal with the unexpected influx of patients.The hospitals own records indicate that the specialized dialysis known as continuous renal replacement therapy was in short supply when Mr. Uddin was severely ill with Covid-19 there. A note in his file on Tuesday, April 14, said it was not currently available for the patient in his current location, even as Mr. Uddins potassium level, a crucial indicator of kidney function, soared to a critically high level.Every day there were decisions made as to whether he was stable, whether he required an emergency intervention, and on each of these days he did not, said Dr. Joseph M. Weisstuch, chief medical officer at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where Mr. Uddin was treated. We went above and beyond taking care of an extremely sick patient.ImageCredit...via Shehran UddinMr. Uddins struggle with the coronavirus is chronicled in the notes his brother-in-law scrawled on a white pad during those anguished phone calls with doctors and unspools in meticulous detail over 1,403 pages of digitized medical records, obtained from the hospital by The New York Times with the consent of his family.With his potassium level spiking to a new, dangerous high, Mr. Uddin went into cardiac arrest that Tuesday evening, but doctors were able to jump-start his heart and resuscitate him. The head of nephrology requested the specialized dialysis for Mr. Uddin, which family members said they had pleaded for over the phone for days. The treatment was scheduled to begin almost immediately, if he could just hold on.NYU Langone-Brooklyn was not the only place where shortages left doctors making life-or-death decisions. I was basically just trying to hold the floodgates back from bursting open. It burst open a couple times, said a physician in another New York City hospital treating I.C.U. patients with Covid-19 without enough advanced dialysis machines for the number of patients with damaged kidneys.Had these people received what they needed, some of them, at least, would have lived longer, said the doctor, who requested anonymity for fear of workplace retaliation for speaking out.In response to the unexpected demand for emergency dialysis, Dr. Howard A. Zucker, the state health commissioner, last week requested specialized dialysis machines from the federal stockpile. This week, the state received 50 of the advanced machines and is looking at how to distribute them where the need is greatest.It would be difficult to calculate how many patients have died during the coronavirus outbreak because of a lack of kidney treatment. Many of the most severely ill were dealing with multiple-organ failure, and even with adequate dialysis their lungs, hearts or other organs might have given out later.What weve seen with this disease, over and over, is people that have transient improvement and crash despite everything that were doing, Dr. Weisstuch said.Mr. Uddins hospital records detail just how much effort went into keeping him alive, the dozens of doctors, nurses and technicians, the ventilator and medications including hydroxychloroquine the unproven treatment touted by President Trump.He initially received the specialized dialysis treatment often used in intensive care units. But at the height of the crisis, New York hospitals, including NYU Langone, began to run low on the more specialized machines. The hospital turned to a procedure called peritoneal dialysis that can be quite effective for some patients, but is not always optimal in hospital patients whose conditions are less stable. Even that was delayed for several days until Mr. Uddins condition had deteriorated significantly.I just want this out so people know about this so the next time they are prepared, Jesmin Uddin, his wife, said of the need for more dialysis resources in future Covid-19 hot spots. I dont want anybody to go through it anymore.ImageCredit...Marian Carrasquero for The New York TimesDialysis takes over the essential role the kidneys usually play, cleansing the blood of toxins and removing excess fluids, among other tasks. Around the country, kidney specialists estimate that 20 percent to 40 percent of I.C.U. patients with the coronavirus suffered kidney failure and needed emergency dialysis. In some hospitals in New York City, demand for dialysis rose threefold during the crisis.They said his numbers are so good, said Ms. Uddin, crying as she spoke. There are other patients doing worse than him. We need to do the dialysis machine to them, she recalled the doctors telling her.Aches, Fever and No TestsMr. Uddin was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, where the Karnaphuli River flows into the Bay of Bengal. He was not poor, but he knew what it was like to share a small bowl of rice with his brother as his only meal before school. After his parents died, he immigrated to the United States, where he had an uncle.On a visit back to Bangladesh in 1985, Mr. Uddin met a young woman, Jesmin, and they soon married. She recalled how as newlyweds in New York they would drive around the city in his Toyota Starlet, going to movies or parks. They moved to a red brick house in Bay Ridge and had a son, Shehran, now 23 and preparing to attend CUNY law school in the fall.A neatly dressed man who favored sports jackets with an open collar, Mr. Uddin worked as a supervisor at the citys H.I.V./AIDS Services Administration and was active in the union there. Everybody knew that although he worked in a cubicle, his door was always open to anyone, said his boss at the administration, Elnora Whitten.He liked to jog along the water under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and down toward Coney Island. On weekends, Mr. Uddin enjoyed driving to his old neighborhood in Manhattan for pastrami sandwiches at Katzs Delicatessen.Mr. Uddin loved to travel and to garden and combined those two passions by bringing home tulip bulbs from the Netherlands and planting them in a small plot in front of the house in Bay Ridge, where he also planted a weeping cherry tree.On March 20, Mr. Uddin told his wife that his body ached and he had a fever. Like many in the city, Mr. Uddin had trouble getting tested for the coronavirus. His cough worsened and his fever climbed, but he was sent home from nearby Maimonides Medical Center without a test or chest scan. His wife and son also fell ill but could not get tested either.On March 31, the family bought an oximeter to measure his lung function and an oxygen tank to help him breathe. They discovered that his oxygen saturation had fallen to 78 percent and the family called an ambulance.Shehran watched his father walk down the steps to the back of the ambulance while his mother collected medications. Jesmin said she put on her shoes to run to him, but the paramedic stopped me, saying I couldnt go. She waved goodbye to her husband from the front door as they drove away.I said, Fight, fight, fight, his wife recalled.ImageCredit...Natalie Keyssar for The New York TimesBy his fifth day in the hospital, Mr. Uddins blood oxygen saturation had slipped to the low 70s. Just before he was sedated and placed on a ventilator, his wife and son spoke to him.We just got to see a minute on the FaceTime, Ms. Uddin said. He said he loved us. We told him we loved him. We started to pray.A Bad SignMr. Uddins lungs improved a little, but his kidney function began to falter.Rising potassium levels can be an indicator of how badly a patients kidneys are doing. When the level rises much above 5, its a sign something is wrong, said Dr. Alan Kliger, a Yale nephrologist and co-chairman of a Covid-19 response team for the American Society of Nephrology. If it continues to rise, then you say before it gets dangerously high, we start the dialysis.Mr. Uddins potassium level climbed to 6.3 on April 7, a critical high according to his records. But he received dialysis for the first time and his numbers improved.If this was the only concern left, the only thing he needed was dialysis, I finally was able to breathe, his son, Shehran, said. He would come home, he recalled thinking. This was a simple thing.Dr. Michael Connor Jr., an associate professor of medicine and a nephrologist at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said that under normal circumstances, patients who require dialysis for sudden kidney failure in the I.C.U. have a mortality rate as low as 40 percent and as high as 60 percent.Its always better to intervene with more invasive means of life support before they get into extreme situations, and its true in kidneys, too, Dr. Connor said.To prevent further infections, relatives cannot visit loved ones in the hospital during the outbreak, which has reduced, even scrambled, communication between front-line medical personnel and family decision makers.That became clear when, three days after Mr. Uddin first received specialized dialysis, the hospital asked for permission to place a catheter in his abdomen so he could receive the alternative form of treatment, known as peritoneal dialysis. Mr. Uddins family members were worried that with the tube in his abdomen, he could not be turned over to increase air flow and did not see the need for what they believed was unnecessary surgery.Mr. Uddin received hemodialysis on April 10, a common form of outpatient dialysis. The family said that the doctor in the I.C.U. told them that after a few more dialysis treatments there was a chance he could be taken off the ventilator. But each time they checked in the following days, he had not received dialysis.NYU Langone-Brooklyn was facing three to four times the usual number of I.C.U. patients, and doctors were working grueling shifts of up to 18 hours a day. The hospital was treating more patients with those specialized machines than ever before, sharing one machine between two patients for 12 hours each instead of the usual 24. All with some of the trained dialysis nurses out with Covid-19 themselves.On April 12, a note in his file called for the specialized treatment today if available, but Mr. Uddin did not receive it. He was scheduled for hemodialysis the next morning, but it was held off without explanation. Hospital officials said they made multiple calls to convince the family of the need for the operation.The Plans UnravelFamily members realized that Mr. Uddin would not receive sufficient treatment without the surgery, and reversed course, agreeing to the catheter operation. Had they understood earlier that kidney care was so scarce that it could be the peritoneal option or nothing, the family said, they would have consented immediately.Mr. Uddins catheter surgery was planned for April 13, but the operation was delayed a day by what appeared to be a miscommunication between the surgical and I.C.U. teams. Still, Mr. Uddin was not given dialysis.I was desperate, said Dr. Rana, the brother-in-law. I said, Youve got to get him some dialysis tonight.ImageCredit...via Shehran UddinMr. Uddin had the surgery on April 14, but his potassium level shot up in the afternoon, cresting at 7.2, the words Critical Hi!! in his records. Instead of waiting till morning to start the peritoneal dialysis as planned, it was begun early that evening. Mr. Uddin went into cardiac arrest at 8:15 p.m. and had to be revived.Finally, the doctors scheduled him for specialized dialysis starting at 9 p.m. Before he could receive the treatment, Mr. Uddin flatlined a second time. Doctors could not bring him back. His time of death was officially declared as 9:01 p.m.Jamal Uddins life mattered to us and his death mattered to us, said Dr. Tanzib Hossain, who spoke with Mr. Uddin in his native Bengali before he was intubated and would check on him at night while he was ventilated.What is sometimes leading to despair and despondency among some of us is, in spite of our best efforts to do everything possible, patients are dying, said Dr. Tshering D. Amdo, who oversaw the I.C.U. while Mr. Uddin was a patient.Fighting their own likely Covid-19 infections, mother and son remained angry with the hospital.The only thing I asked was, give us the body clean, the younger Mr. Uddin recalled. The tube was still there, he said, incredulous at the equipment left lodged in his fathers mouth. They didnt have the decency to wipe the blood off his cheek.He was saddened by the thought that his father would not be there to see him start law school or someday meet his grandchildren. Jesmin and Shehran found solace in a pair of birds nesting in the weeping cherry tree Mr. Uddin had planted, flowering pale pink as they mourned.You give everyone an equal chance to survive, Shehran said. Instead of proceeding, they decided to take a chance with his life just to give those other people a chance.He was someone who was supposed to come home.Katie Thomas contributed reporting. | Health |
TrilobitesThe Horse You Rode In On May Have Been Made in Southern RussiaA comprehensive new paper tested 273 ancient horse genomes to pinpoint when and where modern horses were domesticated.Credit...Ludovic OrlandoOct. 20, 2021For thousands of years, the grassy plains of Europe and Asia were home to a mosaic of genetically distinct horse lineages. But a single lineage galloped ahead to overtake and replace all the other wild horses. This domesticated lineage became the horse of our modern imagination: slender legs, a muscular back and a mane that shimmers in the wind.For decades, scientists had tried to sleuth out when and where modern horses were first domesticated but had yet to find the smoking hoof they needed.Now, in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, scientists have finally solved the mystery. After collecting and sequencing 273 ancient horse genomes, a team of 162 authors concluded that modern horses were domesticated around 4,200 years ago in steppes around southern Russia, near where the Volga and Don rivers intersect.This new paper comes as close as currently possible to solving the mystery of the origins of the domestic horse, according to Peter Heintzman, a paleogenomics researcher at the Tromso campus of the Arctic University of Norway, who was not involved with the research. Its a monumental effort, Dr. Heintzman said, noting that they collected a wall of data from hundreds of horses.Ludovic Orlando, a paleogeneticist and research director of the Center for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse in France and an author on the paper, has toiled over this question for a decade.In recent years, scholars homed in on a Botai settlement in the Kazakh steppes that was brimming with horses bone fragments and clay pots that were lined with what appeared to be mares milk. This was the earliest archaeological evidence of horse domestication, and seemed promising as the birthplace of modern horses.But in 2018, a team of researchers including Dr. Orlando sequenced the genomes of the horse bones at Botai. To the researchers surprise, the Botai horses did not give rise to modern horses, but were instead the direct ancestors of Przewalskis horses, a stocky lineage originally thought to be the last wild horses on the planet. They revealed Przewalskis were not wild after all, but instead the feral descendants of domestics. So the puzzle of the origins of modern horses remained unsolved. Every time I was expecting something, it was wrong, Dr. Orlando said.He said that to solve the mystery, we decided to be exhaustive and really look everywhere.Everywhere, in this case, meant across Eurasia. Starting in 2016, Dr. Orlando collected samples across the region from archaeological collections and new digs, essentially every ancient horse bone they could get their hands on.To preserve the remains for the future, the researchers drilled tiny holes into the ancient horses inner ears, teeth and other bones to retrieve tiny samples.As the researchers gradually mapped the horse genomes across time and space, the picture became sharper. A little over a year ago, they were able to pinpoint the precise location: the Volga-Don region in what is now Russia.With such a gargantuan data set, the researchers ended up answering additional horsy historical details. They found modern horses had two stark genetic differences from other ancient lineages one gene linked to docility and another to a stronger backbone which may have facilitated the animals spread.Domestic horses transformed human history, allowing people to travel great distances and develop new technologies of warfare. Everyone wanted the horse, Dr. Orlando said.Accordingly, the papers genetic findings constitute major advances in our understanding of the human societies which bred these horses, said Pauline Hanot, a postdoctoral researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research who was not involved with the research.The study also knocked down ideas about horses role in earlier human history. For instance, one pre-existing theory suggested a pastoralist people called the Yamnaya were able to migrate on horseback in massive numbers into Europe around 5,000 years ago. But the new genetic map found no evidence; the researchers point out oxen, not horses, could have been the driving factor of their expansion.The new paper also reveals domestic horses spread across Eurasia along with the Bronze Age Sintashta culture, which possessed spoke-wheeled chariots, around 3,800 years ago.After taming all of this horse data, Dr. Orlando has taken on a new hobby: He started taking riding lessons.Like all other humans, he rides domestic horses descendants of the ancient animals that galloped in southern Russia.I would not dare approach a Przewalskis horse, Dr. Orlando said. They kill wolves. I am not that fast of a runner. | science |
Health|How does the Delta variant dodge the immune system? Scientists find clues.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/health/delta-variant-covid-vaccine-immunity.htmlHow does the Delta variant dodge the immune system? Scientists find clues.VideotranscripttranscriptC.D.C. Warns Delta Variant Is Most Pervasive in the U.S.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the more transmissible and lethal variant is spreading rapidly in communities with low vaccination rates.This week, the Delta variant is estimated to be the most prevalent variant in the United States, representing over 50 percent of sequenced samples across the country, up from 26 percent from the week ending June 19. And in some parts of the country, the percentage is even higher. For example, in parts of the Midwest and upper mountain states, C.D.C.s early sequenced data suggest the Delta variant accounts for approximately 80 percent of cases. Although we expected the Delta variant to become the dominant strain in the United States, this rapid rise is troubling. We know that the Delta variant has increased transmissibility and it is currently surging in pockets of the country with low vaccination rates. We also know that our authorized vaccines prevent severe disease, hospitalization and death from the Delta variant and these results have been observed not just here in the United States, but in other countries as well. Of course, widespread vaccination is what will truly turn the corner on this pandemic. Please know if you are not vaccinated, you remain susceptible, especially from the transmissible Delta variant, and are particularly at risk for severe illness. If you are an elderly person or if you have a person with an underlying disease, you might want to go the extra mile of protection of wearing a mask if you were indoors in an environment with a high degree of infection in the community and a low level of vaccination.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the more transmissible and lethal variant is spreading rapidly in communities with low vaccination rates.CreditCredit...Bryan Anselm for The New York TimesPublished July 8, 2021Updated July 19, 2021The Delta variant of the coronavirus can evade antibodies that target certain parts of the virus, according to a new study published on Thursday in Nature. The findings provide an explanation for diminished effectiveness of the vaccines against Delta, compared with other variants.The variant, first identified in India, is believed to be about 60 percent more contagious than Alpha, the version of the virus that thrashed Britain and much of Europe earlier this year, and perhaps twice as contagious as the original coronavirus. The Delta variant is now driving outbreaks among unvaccinated populations in countries like Malaysia, Portugal, Indonesia and Australia.Delta is also now the dominant variant in the United States. Infections in the country had plateaued at their lowest levels since early in the pandemic, though the numbers may be rising. Still, hospitalizations and deaths related to the virus have continued a steep plunge. Thats partly because of relatively high vaccination rates: 48 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, and 55 percent have received at least one dose.But the new study found that Delta was barely sensitive to one dose of vaccine, confirming previous research that suggested that the variant can partly evade the immune system although to a lesser degree than Beta, the variant first identified in South Africa.French researchers tested how well antibodies produced by natural infection and by coronavirus vaccines neutralize the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants, as well as a reference variant similar to the original version of the virus.The researchers looked at blood samples from 103 people who had been infected with the coronavirus. Delta was much less sensitive than Alpha to samples from unvaccinated people in this group, the study found.One dose of vaccine significantly boosted the sensitivity, suggesting that people who have recovered from Covid-19 still need to be vaccinated to fend off some variants.The team also analyzed samples from 59 people after they had received the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.Blood samples from just 10 percent of people immunized with one dose of the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were able to neutralize the Delta and Beta variants in laboratory experiments. But a second dose boosted that number to 95 percent. There was no major difference in the levels of antibodies elicited by the two vaccines.A single dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca was either poorly or not at all efficient against Beta and Delta variants, the researchers concluded. Data from Israel and Britain broadly support this finding, although those studies suggest that one dose of vaccine is still enough to prevent hospitalization or death from the virus.The Delta variant also did not respond to bamlanivimab, the monoclonal antibody made by Eli Lilly, according to the new study. Fortunately, three other monoclonal antibodies tested in the study retained their effectiveness against the variant.In April, citing the rise of variants resistant to bamlanivimab, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked the emergency use authorization for its use as a single treatment in treating Covid-19 patients. | Health |
DealBook|European Drug Makers Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim in Talkshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/16/business/dealbook/sanofi-boehringer-asset-swap.htmlCredit...Robert Pratta/ReutersDec. 15, 2015LONDON The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and the German drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim said on Tuesday that they were in exclusive negotiations on a potential asset swap that would make Sanofi one of the worlds largest manufacturers of nonprescription medicines.Under the terms of the deal, Sanofi would send its animal health business to Boehringer and Sanofi would receive 4.7 billion euros, or about $5.2 billion, in cash and Boehringers consumer health care business, excluding its operations in China.Sanofis animal health business, known as Merial, is valued at about 11.4 billion, including debt, while Boehringers consumer health care business is worth about 6.7 billion.The deal would make Sanofi a top manufacturer of over-the-counter drugs, with annual sales of 5.1 billion and a 4.6 percent market share. Boehringer would become the second-largest animal health company, behind Zoetis, the former animal health business that was spun off from Pfizer, Sanofi and Boehringer said.This transaction would allow Sanofi to become a world leader in the attractive nonprescription medicines market and would bring a complementary portfolio with highly recognized brands, allowing for mid- and long-term value creation, Olivier Brandicourt, the Sanofi chief executive, said in a news release.The deal is subject to regulatory approval. The companies said they hoped to close the transaction in the fourth quarter of next year.Boehringers consumer health care business is expected to post sales of 1.6 billion in 2015, excluding its operations in China, the companies said. Its brands include the laxative Dulcolax, the multivitamin Pharmaton and the cough treatments Bisolvon and Mucosolvan.ImageCredit...Robert Pratta/ReutersThe deal would bolster Sanofis presence in Germany and in Japan and would give Sanofi critical mass in the cough and cold segment, Sanofi said. Sanofis consumer health care business posted sales of 3.3 billion in 2014.Sanofi said it intended to use a portion of the proceeds from the transaction to buy back shares in the company.Merial, the Sanofi animal health business, is expected to post sales of 2.5 billion in 2015. It employs 6,600 people and operates in more than 150 countries.Its three main segments are products for pets, farm animals and veterinary public health. Its best-known brands for pet care include Frontline and Heartgard.The combined Merial-Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health would have annual sales of about 3.8 billion, the companies said.Boehringer Ingelheims strategic priority is to focus on the companys core areas of expertise and businesses with an established global scale, or where a pathway to a global scale can be achieved and prioritized among Boehringer Ingelheims portfolio opportunities, Andreas Barner, the companys chairman, said.Our combined animal health business would be well positioned for growth and emergence as a leader globally, he added.Sanofi was advised by Lazard, while Boehringer was advised by Rothschild and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. | Business |
Yasiel Puig Gets Head Shaved By Kids Fighting Cancer 1/26/2018 Yasiel Puig had 11 of the strongest barbers on the planet give him a brand new look Thursday night ... getting a fresh bald haircut from kids battling cancer!! The Dodgers superstar rolled into Cedars-Sinai hospital in L.A. where he decided to get his head shaved as a show of solidarity with all the tough kids in the hospital going through chemotherapy. The kids loved it -- and so did Puig, who addressed every kid as his "new barber." Puig your friend. See also Yasiel Puig Los Angeles Dodgers TMZ Sports Breaking News Health MLB Baseball | Entertainment |
matterThe Carolina parakeet was beautiful, and doomed. What could have driven it to extinction? Credit...The Picture Art Collection, via AlamyDec. 20, 2019When European settlers arrived in North America, they were stunned to discover a gorgeous parrot.The face of the Carolina parakeet was red; its head was yellow, its wings green. Measuring a foot or more from beak to tail, the parakeets thrived in noisy flocks from the Atlantic Coast to what is now Oklahoma.I have seen branches of trees as completely covered by them as they could possibly be, John James Audubon wrote in 1830. When the parrots landed on a farmers field, they present to the eye the same effect as if a brilliantly coloured carpet had been thrown over them.Within a century, the Carolina parakeet was gone. In 1918, the last captive died in a Cincinnati zoo. After a few possible sightings in the wild, the species was declared extinct.Today, scientists are left with little information about the bird. But now a team of researchers has sequenced the genome of a specimen that died a century ago. The genome offers clues to how the Carolina parakeet became Americas native parrot millions of years ago, and how it disappeared.And the research, published in the journal Current Biology, may help scientists save other birds from its fate.The new study was led by Carles Lalueza-Fox, an evolutionary biologist at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. In 2016, he was invited to examine a specimen preserved in a private collection.The parakeet had been collected by the Catalan naturalist Mari Masferrer i Rierola sometime in the early 1900s. He did not record where he killed it.Researchers had previously harvested bits of DNA from Carolina parakeets, but in recent years Dr. Lalueza-Fox and other experts have developed tools powerful enough to attempt to reconstruct all of the birds DNA its entire genome.The researchers drilled a piece of bone from the specimens leg and discovered billions of genetic fragments.ImageCredit...Michael Doolittle/AlamyThe fact that we have a sample in such good condition is quite surprising, said Pere Gelabert, who worked on the project as a graduate student with Dr. Lalueza-Fox. There are a lot of human samples that are 100 years old that have no DNA.But how to assemble the fragments? The scientists needed to find another genome to serve as a guide. They chose a living relative, the sun parakeet of South America.The sun parakeets DNA is so similar that the scientists were able to use it to organize the genetic fragments of the Carolina parakeet, producing an accurate reconstruction of the entire genome.Josefin Stiller, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen, analyzed the genome to create a family tree for the Carolina parakeet. She and her colleagues determined that the Carolina parakeets lineage split from that of sun parakeets about 3 million years ago.Dr. Stiller believes its no coincidence the Isthmus of Panama emerged around that time. Once North America and South America became connected, many species traveled from one continent to the other.Maybe the Carolina parakeet was one of these exchanges, she said.As the birds moved to temperate forests, they adapted. Dr. Lalueza-Fox found over 500 genetic mutations that likely altered the biology of the species.He was struck by the fact that they liked to eat the spiky seed pods of cocklebur plants. The seeds are loaded with enough toxins to kill a grown man, but Dr. Lalueza-Fox found particular genetic mutations that may have allowed the birds to resist the poison.The Carolina parakeet genome also offered clues to the history of the species. If the bird came from a small, inbred population, it would have ended up with many identical pairs of genes.But the new genome indicates that the population had suffered no major crashes over the past million years. Even in the last few generations before extinction, there was little inbreeding.Whatever killed the Carolina parakeet was something quick that left no mark in the genome, said Dr. Lalueza-Fox.Beth Shapiro, a paleogeneticist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the new study, said this pattern has been observed in two other bird species that have recently gone extinct: the passenger pigeon and the great auk.ImageCredit...Adam Welz/AlamyOnly a catastrophic blow delivered by humans could have wiped out those thriving populations, she said: These data underscore the devastating impact that we can have on other species.But its not clear precisely how we finished off the Carolina parakeet.Kevin Burgio, a research scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y., and his colleagues have been reconstructing the extinction by analyzing hundreds of historical records.The Carolina parakeet may have been divided into two subspecies that had little contact, he has found. One subspecies lived mainly in the Midwest, while the other was in Florida and parts of neighboring Southern states.Both populations were thriving as recently as 1800. But by the end of the 19th century, the bird was in trouble.The Midwestern population crashed first; Dr. Burgio estimated that it became extinct in 1913. The Southern population held on for another three decades, finally disappearing between 1938 and 1944.Did loggers chop down the parakeets forests? Did farmers shoot them all? Dr. Burgio leans toward another explanation: He suspects a disease drove the birds extinct.Carolina parakeets may have been attracted to farms by the cockleburs growing there as weeds. The parakeets came into contact with chickens, he speculated and picked up a poultry disease.Dr. Lalueza-Fox and his colleagues found no signs of bird viruses in the Carolina parakeet they studied. But since its just one specimen, Dr. Burgio argued, scientists cannot rule out a parakeet plague.Recent scientific advances have led some scientists to ponder the possibility of reviving extinct species. The Carolina parakeet is one candidate for de-extinction.Knowing its genome brings that possibility a step closer to reality. Someday it might be possible to engineer cells from sun parakeets, rewriting bits of their DNA to match that of Carolina parakeets.But the necessary gene editing would be an enormous challenge. You have to face a list of 500 changes in protein-coding genes, Dr. Lalueza-Fox said.And before scientists could even attempt it, they would need to know more about how the birds lived and how they became extinct.If it was disease, whos to say that disease is not still there? Dr. Burgio asked. You spend tens of millions of dollars to get a few hundred Carolina parakeets, you let them out, and then they run into a chicken and all die.Thats not really a good use of peoples time and money. | science |
DealBook|GlaxoSmithKline to Buy Raft of H.I.V. Drugs in Developmenthttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/business/dealbook/gsk-bristol-myers-hiv.htmlDec. 18, 2015LONDON GlaxoSmithKline said on Friday that it had agreed to acquire a pipeline of H.I.V. drugs in development from Bristol-Myers Squibb, in two deals that could be worth as much as $1.46 billion.Under the agreement, GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug maker, would pay $317 million for the late-stage H.I.V. drugs that the New York-based Bristol-Myers has been developing, and it would make an additional payment of up to $518 million depending on sales and development milestones.It would also pay $33 million for early-stage H.I.V. treatments being developed by Bristol-Myers, with additional payments of up to $587 million depending on future performance.These acquisitions strengthen our leadership and innovation in H.I.V., one of our core areas of scientific research, David Redfern, the GlaxoSmithKline chief strategy officer, said in a news release.The deals with Bristol-Myers are expected to bolster the drug pipeline of ViiV Healthcare, a specialist H.I.V. company owned by GlaxoSmithKline, the American drug maker Pfizer and Shionogi of Japan. ViiV Healthcare has 12 H.I.V. treatments on the market and posted sales of 1.5 billion pounds, or about $2.2 billion, in 2014.The two separate transactions are subject to regulatory approval and are expected to be completed in the first half of next year. | Business |
TV SportsFeb. 5, 2014NBCs moneyed grip on the Olympics means that it has traveled a technological path that no other network has. It has shown the Games entirely on broadcast television. It has added multiple cable networks. Now, it is live-streaming virtually every event to an ecosystem increasingly populated by tablets and smartphones.With the Winter Games from Sochi, Russia, almost here, it is worth remembering that four years ago NBC streamed only hockey and curling from Vancouver. Now, all 15 sports will be streamed live to those authenticating their cable, satellite and telephone accounts from Vladimir V. Putins subtropical wonderland. NBC believes that its television viewership throughout the day and, in particular, during prime time, will be enhanced by fans who are watching live on their computers or iPads. NBC arrived at this realization two years ago during the Summer Games in London, where all events were streamed live.I think four or five days in, we felt a degree of confidence that we had a formula that was working well, Mark Lazarus, the chairman of the NBC Sports Group, said Wednesday from Sochi.Research from the London Games found that the more devices on which people watched the Olympics, the more they watched television.Someone watching the Olympics only on television breathed in 4 hours 19 minutes of coverage daily, according to the research. Add a personal computer or a laptop, and TV consumption rose to 4:28. With a mobile phone added, TV viewing rose to five hours, and with a tablet tossed in, the average time watching TV shot up to 6:07. Now, of course, tablets and smartphones are far more prevalent, raising the likelihood that viewing on all screens will increase, making NBC executives happier than they were in London.A relatively small number of people is streaming during the day, but they are fans and theyre very enthusiastic, said Alan Wurtzel, NBC Universals president of research and media development. They primed the pump and let people know that something incredible was going on. Simultaneous viewing is a rising tide that benefits all boats.The research also found that 64 percent of live streamers shared the results. All live streams will be replayed later in the day, but well before prime time, and then archived for viewing on demand the next day.The technology of streaming has improved since the London Olympics, as has the ability of devices to show the programming. NBC is relying on those upgrades to increase the multiple-screen viewing and the time spent watching.Were 16 to 18 months further along, Lazarus said. Were hopeful that when people get bothered by streaming problems and well take some of the blame sometimes its the carriers and sometimes its the connection in home. But all in all, the chain is stronger for everybody.Despite the digital revolution, NBC is still focused on its Olympic prime-time show. It is where most of the viewers are. It is where the advertisers pay the most for commercials. It is where what NBC calls the curated version of what happened in daylight in Sochi along with features, studio commentary and commercials will be shown to the evening audience. The opening ceremony Friday will not be streamed live, but will be only on NBC in prime time. This has been sacrosanct territory for NBC. Perhaps even when Olympic sports are streamed through your contact lenses, this exception will remain intact. The rationale is that it is not an event with a final score. It is a national, choreographed pageant that requires narration and geographic context.Sometimes, of course, the opening ceremony defies explanation to audiences of different cultures. And some people believe that they should be able to see it as it unfolds, regardless of any confusion, and they are not wrong. But to NBC, this is pure entertainment, part of an expensive purchase of rights, which it can use to garner high ratings through a delayed showing.Ive seen the show twice in rehearsal, Lazarus said, and Im thoroughly convinced that a raw stream would be very difficult for people to understand the context and historical context that its creator was trying to express.There will be nothing live on television in prime time on NBC. Sochi time is nine hours ahead of Eastern time. But there will be about 246 hours of live television, on all coasts, on NBCSN (which will be flush with live figure skating), on USA and on MSNBC, as well as the 1,000 hours of live streaming on NBCOlympics.com.Jim Bell, the executive producer of NBC Olympics, said last month that it was not a difficult decision to show so much figure skating live.Its one of the crown jewels of the Winter Olympic sports, he said. Its great for NBC, NBCSN, and its weatherproof.The only exception to NBCs vow of all live figure skating will be Thursday night at 8 p.m. Eastern, when NBC will carry taped team figure skating, womens moguls and snowboard slopestyle, as the appetizers to Fridays opening ceremony. | Sports |
fact check of the dayAt a campaign rally in Minnesota on Wednesday, President Trump misstated facts about the cost of illegal immigration, access to experimental medicine and NASAs activities. June 21, 2018what was saidIllegal immigration costs our country hundreds of billions of dollars.the factsThis is disputed. Mr. Trump is most likely referring to an estimate from an anti-immigration group that has been heavily criticized by other researchers for its methodological flaws. The group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, estimated in 2017 that illegal immigration costs the United States $116 billion each year in spending on education, health care and law enforcement. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, found that the $116 billion estimate overcounted welfare benefits that undocumented immigrants receive, and undercounted the taxes that they pay. It said the $116 billion estimate would be more accurately accounted as ranging from $3.3 billion to $15.6 billion if those costs were considered. Additionally, the American Immigration Council studied an earlier but similar estimate by the Federation for American Immigration Reform. It concluded that education and health care account for more than half of the costs, and that the benefits were afforded to many American-citizen children of undocumented immigrants. PolitiFact, the fact-checking service, assessed several other studies. It found that the Federation for American Immigration Reforms estimate is largely based on broad estimates and assumptions while others have been significantly lower or inconclusive. what was saidIf we have drugs that havent been approved yet but are showing tremendous promise, it didnt matter. It didnt matter how sick you were, where you were, you couldnt get it. the facts False. Last month, Mr. Trump oversold the impact of a new law called Right to Try, which allowed patients to seek access to drugs not yet fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration. He has since falsely asserted that patients could not obtain experimental medicine before the law at all. In fact, a program known as compassionate use, or expanded access, has been in place since the 1970s. It allows patients with a serious disease or condition to obtain experimental medicines; the F.D.A. says it authorizes 99 percent of the requests for expanded access that it receives.The new law allows doctors and patients to directly ask drug companies for access rather than go through the government.what was saidWere reopening NASA. We are going to be going to space. the factsThis is misleading. This week, Mr. Trump announced that he is asking the Pentagon to create a sixth branch of the armed forces to protect American interests in space (a space force, as the rally audience in Duluth chanted enthusiastically).But contrary to Mr. Trumps puzzling suggestion, NASA has been operational since its creation in 1958 and is already in space. NASA is currently conducting dozens of missions in space, including exploring Mars, studying Jupiter and reaching the outer edges of the solar system. Three American astronauts are also currently staffing and conducting experiments on the International Space Station. Mr. Trump called the American astronaut Peggy Whitson in April 2017, while she was aboard the International Space Station. Ms. Whitson spent 665 days in space, more than any other American, before she retired this month. other claimsDuring the rally, Mr. Trump also repeated several other claims that The Times has previously debunked. He said that the wall along the Southwest border has been started (it hasnt), boasted about deporting MS-13 members by the thousands (this is not possible), exaggerated the United States trade deficit with Mexico as $100 billion (it is $69 billion), said he has cut more regulations than any other president whether it is four years, eight years or in one case 16 years (this is hyperbolic), falsely claimed that the European countries dont take our cars (they do), and falsely said wages were rising for the first time in 20 years (theyve been rising for several years). | Politics |
TrilobitesGunpowder used in cannons helped change the nature of warfare, but it took a while to get the recipe just right.Credit...Cologny, Fondation Martin BodmerOct. 7, 2021In the early days of the pandemic, Dawn E. Riegner, a chemist at an elite college, found that she had time on her hands because of the empty classrooms. So she filled her downtime with an explosive diversion.Dr. Riegner talked three of her colleagues and her daughter into studying how well different kinds of gunpowder recipes from the Middle Ages performed in firing projectiles out of a replica cannon. Her ambitious plan was relatively easy to carry out because shes a tenured professor of chemistry at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., which gave her access not only to top scholars and laboratories but world-class firing ranges.Its a silver lining of the pandemic, Dr. Riegner, whose usual research centers on better detection of explosives and chemical warfare agents, said in an interview of the gunpowder study. Its been one of the greatest things.During the pandemics first wave, early in 2020, the team of West Pointers carefully observed the rules of social distancing, communicating by phone and video chats. The exception was Dr. Riegner and her daughter, Kathleen, who is a student of chemical engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. As part of a family pod, mother and daughter were able to work side-by-side in a West Point laboratory. The two chemists measured the oomph of nearly two dozen gunpowder recipes used by medieval gunners between 1338 and 1460.On a sunny day in June last year, the team of three chemists and two historians (accompanied by a number of safety officers) suited up in masks, helmets and flak jackets at one of West Points firing ranges.We were ready for war, Dr. Riegner joked. It was great. In testing each of the various formulations, the replica cannon was fired five times. The deafening blasts produced clouds of dense smoke and fire as well as zooming four-inch cannonballs.ImageCredit...Dawn RiegnerThe teams report on their gunpowder analysis and firings appeared recently in Omega, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society.For ages, the main ingredients of gunpowder have consisted of sulfur, carbon and potassium nitrate, commonly known as saltpeter. The sulfur and carbon (typically in the form of charcoal) act as fuels whereas the saltpeter provides a rush of oxygen to ignite the extremely fast chemical reaction known as explosive combustion.The medieval recipes of the teams study featured different ratios of those main ingredients. But they also included a number of unusual additives. For instance, one recipe called for brandy. The team noted that they used Paul Masson, Grande Amber, a contemporary brand. (The paper does not say if the experimenters used the leftovers to toast the cannon firings.)Other ingredients were less potable: camphor and quicklime, varnish and vinegar. The goal was to measure the explosive power of each mix.VideoA demonstration of the cannon, in slow-motion.CreditCredit...Dawn RiegnerImageCredit...Dawn RiegnerImageCredit... Dawn RiegnerThe study could also cast light on history. The authors see the gunpowder analyses as aiding historians in their interpretation of medieval texts and in determining the extent to which master gunners in crafting the recipes did so with deliberate intent.Dr. Riegner credited her colleague, Clifford Rogers, a historian at West Point and a co-author of the study who specializes in medieval arms and warfare, with the idea of using modern chemistry to investigate the detailed characteristics of the old recipes.In an interview, he said cannons or more precisely, bombards, an early cannon that fired stone balls and first appeared in Europe in the early 1300s kept getting safer, bigger, more powerful and far more effective over time. A main question for the investigative team, he said, was to pin down the exact role of the changing gunpowder recipes in cannon improvement.The earliest big guns blew up a lot, Dr. Rogers said. The blasts killed gunners and, in one case, a Scottish king. He pointed to a siege in 1409 of a fortress in Vellexon, France, as an example of the failures. The siege, conducted by Burgundians against a rebel lord during a period of civil war, employed eight bombards to pummel the walls of the castle with large cannonballs and two of the artillery pieces exploded. The siege dragged on without success for months.In its gunpowder analyses, the team found that the amount of heat released during an explosion fell steadily from the 1330s to 1400 suggesting, the report stated, the need for safer recipes that did not put medieval gunners at risk or cause damage to cannons. At the same time, the newest guns got bigger and far more effective.Dr. Rogers called it a turning point in Western history.It mattered hugely because it changed the balance between offense and defense, he said. Castles and fortresses had long been invulnerable. By the 1400s, however, the big guns had improved so dramatically that successful sieges began to shorten in length from years and months to weeks and days.You could no longer hole up in your castle, Dr. Rogers said. If you wanted to defend your country, you needed an army rather than just a fortress. The geopolitical result was vast, he added. It completely changed the nature of warfare.Dr. Riegner, the studys lead chemist, said the five experts were planning new rounds of investigations to better document the subtle effects of the different recipes. But the ebbing of the pandemic and the reopening of schools had created a problem, she added. Team members including herself and her daughter no longer have plenty of time on their hands.Were all interested and excited but now, with the return to the classroom, we have other duties, she said. Maybe in the spring well be able to work it out. | science |
Health|The C.D.C. now says fully vaccinated people should get tested after exposure even if they dont show symptoms.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/health/cdc-covid-testing-vaccine.htmlThe C.D.C. now says fully vaccinated people should get tested after exposure even if they dont show symptoms.Credit...Octavio Jones for The New York TimesPublished July 28, 2021Updated July 30, 2021In addition to revising its mask guidance on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also quietly updated its testing recommendations for people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.The agency now advises that vaccinated people be tested for the virus if they come into contact with someone with Covid-19, even if they have no symptoms. Previously, the health agency had said that fully vaccinated people did not need to be tested after exposure to the virus unless they were experiencing symptoms.Our updated guidance recommends vaccinated people get tested upon exposure regardless of symptoms, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the agencys director, said in an email to The New York Times. Testing is widely available.Fully vaccinated people should wear a mask in public indoor spaces after exposure, the agency said. Three to five days later, they should be tested for the virus.If the results come back negative, they can stop wearing masks indoors. If results are positive, the infected should isolate at home for 10 days.Although people who are fully vaccinated may still get infected with the virus, these breakthrough infections tend to be mild or asymptomatic. The vaccines authorized in the United States provide strong protection against the worst outcomes, including severe disease, hospitalization and death, including from the Delta variant.The new testing recommendation came on the same day that the agency recommended that fully vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors under some circumstances. When levels of community transmission are high, everyone, regardless of vaccination status, should wear masks indoors when they are in public, the agency now says.The agency also recommended that vaccinated people in close contact with unvaccinated people, including children under age 12, consider wearing masks in public indoor spaces whatever the transmission rates in the local community. In a shift, the agency also recommended universal masking in schools.For months, the C.D.C. had resisted recommending masks for vaccinated people, even as the highly contagious Delta variant spread and the World Health Organization recommended continued mask wearing.The change was prompted by new data suggesting that even vaccinated people who are infected by Delta may carry large amounts of the virus and transmit it to others, Dr. Walensky said at a news briefing on Tuesday.Apoorva Mandavilli contributed reporting. | Health |
Credit...Leigh GuldigDec. 12, 2015On May 9, 2012, the executives of Fannie Mae, the beleaguered mortgage finance company, finally went public with good news: After three and a half years as a ward of the state, it was profitable again.Since being bailed out by the government at the height of the financial crisis, Fannie had drawn $116 billion from the Treasury. But it had been clear for months inside the company that things were looking up. In fact, when Susan McFarland, chief financial officer of Fannie, announced the earnings, she said, We expect our financial results for 2012 to be significantly better than 2011.But even as Fannies profit report brought hope to shareholders, it also stirred government officials to action. The day after Fannies announcement, court documents show, a high-level official at the agency that regulates the lender sent an email to a colleague. In it, the official asked for legal advice regarding a proposed change to the repayment terms of the governments bailout of Fannie Mae and its brother mortgage backer, Freddie Mac.Three months later, on a quiet Friday in August, that change came: The Treasury Department would take all of the companies profits for its general-purpose fund, helping to finance government operations and reduce debt. The shift would better protect taxpayers, the government said.The decision to sweep into the Treasury all of the companies profits which by now have far exceeded the amount of the total bailout and dividends owed has attracted legal challenges from institutional investors and speculators in Fannie and Freddie. Originally set up by the federal government to make homeownership feasible in good times and bad, Fannie and Freddie were private companies with an implicit government guarantee.The investors maintain that the governments action was an improper taking of private property. Some legal experts also contend that the action violated state laws. The Obama administration disputes the charges and is fighting them in court.Whatever the legal implications, the August 2012 change in the bailout terms reflected a series of decisions made by the Obama administration that have prevented the mortgage companies from benefiting fully from their recovery.ImageCredit...Drew Angerer for The New York TimesIndeed, from their September 2008 bailout until the present day, these government-sponsored enterprises, or G.S.E.s which guarantee 80 percent of mortgages nationwide have faced demands from their overseers that were far more draconian than anything asked of the big banks also rescued during the financial crisis.These demands have helped open the door to an attempted Wall Street takeover of the companies assets and future profits.Logan Beirne, a fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School and a lecturer there, is among those who are critical of the governments action.The political winds of the moment make it popular to punish these companies and their remaining owners and reap the benefits for the taxpayers, Mr. Beirne said, adding that he did not own a stake in either Fannie or Freddie. But I think it sets a horrible precedent and it violates the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 as well as traditional corporate law practices.Some investors who are now suing the government bought shares in the companies after the government profit-taking led to another collapse in their value. These investors believed the companies would turn around once the mortgage crisis receded and the economy recovered, and also saw an opportunity to challenge the legality of the governments move.Legions of individuals who bought their shares before the crisis no doubt expected to see their investments recover, as holders in Bank of America and Citigroup, two major recipients of taxpayer assistance, have. They have been disappointed.Political PariahsAn unexpected clue to the Obama administrations stance on Fannie and Freddie emerged last year in a trial about another government bailout: that of the American International Group, the insurance giant.Testifying in the case, Timothy F. Geithner, the former Treasury secretary, said that when the government took over Fannie and Freddie, as well as A.I.G., it made clear they would be dismembered, not allowed to live on as independent entities with the scope and reach they had before the crisis.ImageCredit...Shawn Thew/European Pressphoto AgencyThrough a spokesman, Mr. Geithner declined to comment.But dismembering the companies was not what Congress had in mind when it passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act in July 2008, describing how a conservatorship would work.That legislation, which set new capital requirements for Fannie and Freddie and created a new, more powerful regulator to oversee them, was clear about what would happen in a government takeover: If placed temporarily into conservatorship, the companies were to be managed in ways that would safeguard their assets.The law also required that the new regulator the Federal Housing Finance Agency operate independently of any other government entity.Since the earliest days of the Obama administration, however, the Treasury and F.H.F.A. have worked closely together, documents show.A spokesman for the Treasury, Adam Hodge, said the decision to take the companies profits ended a vicious cycle in which the companies paid dividends to the government even if they did not have the money to cover them. The agreement to change the deal was executed by two sophisticated parties, he added.As to the matter of F.H.F.A.s independence from the Treasury, Mr. Hodge said the regulator has repeatedly demonstrated its independent authority; he cited F.H.F.A.s refusal to allow principal reductions in Fannies and Freddies loan modification programs, as well as its recent decision letting the companies increase executive pay.But the governments actions have even hurt its own investment in Fannie and Freddie. Under the terms of the bailout, the Treasury received a large stake in both companies. This stake would rise in value if the companies were allowed to keep their profits and rebuild their capital.Richard X. Bove, a longtime bank analyst at Rafferty Capital Markets, said it was difficult to measure what taxpayers might receive for their stake if the companies were allowed to recapitalize and exit the conservatorship. But the value of the stake could exceed $200 billion, he said.Theyre just giving it away for nothing, Mr. Bove said. I dont get that.Since Fannie and Freddie became profitable, current and former Treasury officials have laid out several reasons they think it would be a big mistake to let the companies rebuild capital.At the Mortgage Bankers Associations annual convention in October, Michael Stegman, former counselor to the secretary for housing finance policy at the Treasury and now senior policy adviser for housing at the White House, said recapitalizing the companies would be turning back the clock to the run-up to the financial crisis, according to a report in HousingWire, a trade publication. He added that investors had bet big that the companies would be allowed to exit conservatorship and they are doing everything they can to make sure those bets pay off.And in a Dec. 4 speech, Antonio Weiss, a counselor to the Treasury secretary, said releasing the companies would be bad for taxpayers and homeowners. We must take on the challenge of much more fundamental reform, and not settle for the misguided call to return to a deeply flawed system, he said.The timing of the 2012 profit sweep announcement was fortunate for the Obama administration: It followed a tumultuous period when government spending had come up against the debt ceiling, threatening to cause a federal default with potentially catastrophic consequences. Since then, the profits from Fannie and Freddie have helped the Treasury Department manage its debt during showdowns with Congress.But beyond noting that absorbing Fannie and Freddies profits protects the taxpayer, the government has said little about how the profit sweep decision came about. Indeed, in the shareholder lawsuits, the Obama administration has made unusual demands for secrecy, keeping a tight lid on documents related to the move.Lawyers for the government in an investor suit brought by Fairholme Funds have sought confidential treatment for tens of thousands of pages of documents, emails and memos relating to the profit shift. They have asserted executive privilege on at least 45 documents related to that decision.(Lawyers for The Times have asked the judge overseeing this case in the Court of Federal Claims in Washington to unseal some of the materials, a request the government has battled. In September, the judge said it was too soon to rule on that request.)The administrations dealings with Fannie and Freddie reflect its stated desire to wind down the companies. And for years after their rescue, the companies were political pariahs because of the size of the taxpayer bailout. Some experts say that phasing out the government-sponsored mortgage lenders could ultimately make the housing finance system safer and sounder.But the administration, by law, cannot put Fannie and Freddie out of business. That job rests with Congress, which would have to revoke the companies charters. In the meantime, the 2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act directs the companies conservator to preserve and conserve their assets and property.Two legislative efforts to eliminate Fannie and Freddie have failed to pass in Congress in recent years. During the same period, the Treasury and F.H.F.A. made a series of decisions that have pushed Fannie and Freddie to draw more money from the governments coffers.The dividend rate the companies were required to pay in the bailout, for example, was 10 percent twice that required of the banks receiving money under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.Another disparity: The Treasury provided monetary incentives to the big banks to help cover their costs of modifying borrowers mortgages, but Fannie and Freddie received no such funds.Fannie and Freddie paid another price after the bailout. They had sued many banks over toxic mortgages that were resold to the mortgage giants during the housing mania, and it looked as if they would receive billions of dollars in recoveries. Instead, the money went to the Treasury: $38.5 billion in 2013 and 2014, according to F.H.F.A. The Surprise SweepImageCredit...Jim Watson/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesThe government also imposed far stricter requirements on Fannie and Freddie in another way. The companies had to set aside money for expected mortgage losses early on in their conservatorship. Although these were only accounting provisions, they forced the companies to draw more funds from the Treasury rescue than they would have otherwise.For one thing, the set-asides far exceeded the actual losses experienced by the companies after the crisis subsided. Even more telling: The provisions for loan losses were significantly higher than those required of the major banks by their auditors.From 2006 through 2011, for example, provisions for losses at Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase were about one to one that is, roughly equivalent to the actual net losses the banks took on home loans from 2007 through 2012.The story for Fannie and Freddie was different. Under the government overseers, the companies provisions for loan losses were 1.65 to one during the same period.Edward J. DeMarco, a former Treasury official, was acting director of F.H.F.A. from September 2009 to January 2014, the period when many of these decisions were made. He declined to comment for this article, citing the litigation. A spokeswoman for the F.H.F.A. declined to comment.In testimony and speeches, Mr. DeMarco has described his agencys work as rebuilding the nations housing finance policy. In a 2014 speech he said, F.H.F.A. has evolved its structure to meet the changing and growing demands to respond to the housing crisis, repair the weaknesses that contributed to the crisis, and prepare the foundation for a new and improved future system.And when Mr. DeMarco in 2013 outlined F.H.F.A.s plans for the companies in conservatorship, he noted that the administration has made clear that their preferred course of action is to wind down the enterprises.But in 2012, when profits began to materialize at Fannie and Freddie, a huge accounting windfall was created at the companies. Those profits created what is known as a deferred tax asset.Recognizing the value of this asset a combined $74 billion became necessary once it was clear that Fannie and Freddie were profitable again.Instead of allowing the companies to keep the assets on their books, helping rebuild their net worth, the government required the companies to pay the $74 billion in cash. Fannie Mae had to borrow to pay for some of that.That $74 billion payment to the Treasury has become a flash point in the shareholder lawsuits. The plaintiffs contend that the government must have known the companies deferred tax assets would be valuable when Fannie and Freddie became profitable again. They wonder if this recognition spurred the August 2012 profit sweep.Government officials have maintained they had no idea the reversal of the tax assets would result in such a bonanza. In a December 2013 declaration, Mario Ugoletti, former special adviser to the director of the F.H.F.A., said that at the time of the profit sweep, the F.H.F.A. and the companies had not yet begun to discuss whether or when the enterprises would be able to recognize any value to their deferred tax assets.Mr. Ugoletti added that the profit sweep was not intended to increase compensation to Treasury.Mr. Ugoletti, who resigned as interim ombudsman at F.H.F.A. this fall, did not respond to a request for comment.But documents cast doubt on Mr. Ugolettis declaration. They also raise questions about the governments contention that Fannie and Freddie were in a death spiral when the Treasury began taking all their profits, an argument the government initially made in answering the legal challenge in Federal Claims Court.Fannie and Freddies operations were monitored closely by their government minders, suggesting the overseers had plenty of warning that the companies were turning the corner in 2012. Moreover, F.H.F.A. officials were well placed to know that accounting rules would require the reversal of the companies deferred tax assets once they became profitable again.According to Mr. DeMarcos calendars, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, he had regular meetings with the chief executives of both Fannie and Freddie. The Treasury also received periodic updates from the companies financial officials.ImageCredit...Illustration by The New York TimesDocuments show that as early as June 2011, more than a year before the profit sweep, the Treasury had been told the companies were improving and that their tax assets could generate significant value.That discussion occurred in a private meeting with a group of restructuring experts, from Blackstone, the financial services giant, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, a New York law firm.According to that presentation, Fannie and Freddie were showing improved financial performance and stabilized loss reserves. It noted that Fannie and Freddie could build up their capital from the reversal of loan loss reserves.Testimony by Ms. McFarland, chief financial officer of Fannie at the time of the profit sweep, appears to conflict with Mr. Ugolettis declaration. In a heavily redacted court document, lawyers for Fairholme noted, In light of Ms. McFarlands testimony, Mr. Ugolettis sworn statement that neither agency envisioned recognition of the deferred tax assets is not credible.The testimony upon which those conclusions were based was blacked out.The court document suggests that Ms. McFarland testified that she told officials at F.H.F.A. about the impact the deferred tax asset would have on the companys net worth. Mr. Ugolettis calendars, also obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show Ms. McFarland meeting with him on July 12, 2012, about a month before the profit sweep was announced.Ms. McFarland did not return several phone calls seeking comment.The August 2012 profit sweep surprised investors, but documents show that it came long after Treasury officials had indicated privately that they wanted to ensure Fannie and Freddie shareholders would receive none of the companies future profits.A December 2010 memo to Mr. Geithner from Jeffrey A. Goldstein, undersecretary for domestic finance, referred to the administrations commitment to ensure existing common equity holders will not have access to any positive earnings from the G.S.E.s in the future.It is impossible to predict how the judges overseeing the shareholder lawsuits against the government will rule on the Fannie and Freddie matters. But some investors are hopeful.Joseph Woody Woodruff is a longtime Fannie Mae shareholder who was elected to the state circuit court in Tennessee last year after practicing law for decades.The federal government entered into a legal arrangement with the G.S.E.s that contained certain undertakings and fiduciary obligations, Mr. Woodruff said, stressing that he was speaking as an investor, not as a judge.Then it unilaterally rewrote the terms of the relationship and began in a very lawless manner sweeping the profits and transferring them to the Treasury, he added. Whats up with that? | Business |
Credit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesJune 15, 2018WASHINGTON President Trump said on Friday that his historic meeting with Kim Jong-un gave credibility to the North Korean leader, whom critics call a brutal dictator. The president also called Mr. Kim the strong head of the communist country, adding: He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.Asked to clarify his comments about people sitting up, Mr. Trump later said he was kidding.The president has heaped praise on Mr. Kim since their summit meeting on Tuesday in Singapore, where the two leaders discussed denuclearizing North Korea.Critics feared the meeting would elevate Mr. Kims status as a credible leader in the world. It ended with neither a firm agreement about how the North plans to eliminate its nuclear weapons program nor a timeline for doing so. The president saw the meeting as a positive development.I went there, I gave him credibility. I think its great to give him credibility, Mr. Trump said in an interview on the White House lawn with Fox and Friends.In a new propaganda film, Pyongyang seized on the meeting to showcase the warm reception that Mr. Kim received in Singapore.The streets were overflowing with people adoring our great leader, who is driving complex international politics with supernormal political acumen, according to the 42-minute documentary, which was released by North Koreas state broadcaster.American lawmakers and nuclear experts have been skeptical about concessions made by Mr. Trump during the meeting. Among them was Mr. Trumps pledge to end annual American joint military exercises with South Korea, an announcement that came as a surprise to the Pentagon and Seoul.For years, North Korea has complained about the military exercises and refused to even consider ridding the country of nuclear weapons unless the hostile policies were removed. In canceling the exercises, critics have said Mr. Trump handed Mr. Kim a victory even before North Korea moved to eliminate its nuclear weapons.In his comments to reporters on Friday, Mr. Trump suggested that canceling the exercises, which he refers to as war games, was a negotiating tactic. He also said: I saved a lot of money. Thats a good thing for us.The United States conducts many exercises, and it is not clear which ones the president has promised to end.In the Fox and Friends interview, Mr. Trump reaffirmed that American sanctions against North Korea would remain until it was clear there are no more nuclear. Yet, just days ago, when he returned to the United States, Mr. Trump declared, There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.Mr. Trump also said on Friday that hosting Mr. Kim at the White House is something that could happen as one result of the summit meeting in Singapore.We have a great chemistry together, he said. Thats a good thing, not a bad thing.Mr. Kim is considered one of the greatest human rights violators in the world. North Korea has jailed citizens for political dissidence and executed at least 340 people since he took over in 2011.Asked on Friday how he could ignore Mr. Kims record, the president said: You know why? Because I dont want to see a nuclear weapon destroy you and your family.I can only speak to the fact that we signed an incredible agreement, Mr. Trump said. Its great. Its going to be great for them, too, because now North Korea can develop, and North Korea can become a great country economically.He added: It can become whatever they want. But there wont be nuclear weapons, and they wont be aimed at you and your family.After the Singapore meeting, Mr. Trump called Mr. Kim, 34, a very talented man and referenced his ability to take over the country at such a young age. And, on Friday, Mr. Trump said he and Mr. Kim got along very well.He is the head of a country, and I mean he is the strong head. Dont let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same, Mr. Trump said.Later, Mr. Trump clarified that he was only kidding, telling a reporter, You dont understand sarcasm. | Politics |
Feb. 2, 2014Credit...Boyoun KimSAN FRANCISCO The next breakthrough smartphone, or maybe the one after that, might not have a traditional battery as its sole source of power. Instead, it could pull energy from the air or power itself through television, cellular or Wi-Fi signals.Engineers at Apple even tried for many years to build a smarter battery by adding solar charging to iPhones and iPods, a former Apple executive said. And they have continued to experiment with solar charging, two people who work at the company said.Batteries, long the poor cousin to computer chips in research-obsessed Silicon Valley, are now the rage.As tech companies push their businesses into making wearable devices like fitness bands, eyeglasses and smart watches, the limitations of battery technology have become the biggest obstacle to sales and greater profits. Consumers are unlikely to embrace a wristwatch computer like the one being worked on by Apple, or Googles smart glasses, if they work only a few hours between charges and must be removed to be plugged in.So the race is on both to find alternatives to the traditional battery and to discover ways to make battery power last longer.Consumers are going to say, Give me a better battery because it doesnt last long enough, said Mujeeb Ijaz, chief technology officer at A123 Systems, a company that makes batteries for electric cars and invests in start-ups that are developing new battery technologies.That need wasnt there five years ago, he continued. Now its a matter of the market and the developers coming together and saying, what is the need and how many R&D dollars do we put in?Although computer chips have doubled in speed every few years, and digital displays have become significantly brighter and sharper, battery technology is largely stuck in the 20th century. Device makers have relied on incremental improvements to battery power, now usually supplied by a decades-old lithium-ion concoction, in combination with more energy-efficient chips and screens.The problem, in part, is that it is hard to ensure the safety of many new power technologies. A faulty battery could potentially turn into a miniature bomb. So the products require exhaustive testing by regulators before hitting store shelves.ImageCredit...Stuart Isett for The New York TimesEven if a new power system is approved, it often requires adoption by reputable brands like Apple, Samsung or Microsoft before everyday consumers start to trust it.Some in Silicon Valley, like Tony Fadell, the former Apple vice president who led iPod and iPhone development, think it is smarter to focus on improving batteries and other components by taking small steps, rather than trying to reinvent the battery itself.Hoping and betting on new battery technology to me is a fools errand, said Mr. Fadell, who is now the chief executive of Nest, which makes household technology and was bought by Google last month. Dont wait for the battery technology to get there, because its incredibly slow to move.Mr. Fadell, who is often referred to as one of the fathers of the iPod for his work on the first version of Apples venerable music player, said Apple tried for many years to build a smarter battery by adding solar charging to iPhones and iPods. But the method never proved practical, he said, because mobile devices often stay inside pockets when people are outdoors, and indoor artificial light generates only a tiny amount of energy.These days, Apples latest products, including its newest MacBook Airs, iPads and iPhones, rely more on energy-efficient processors and software algorithms to save power than on the battery itself. A spokeswoman for Apple declined to comment on future products and technologies. But there are clues that the company is looking into ways to improve battery technology.Over the past few years, Apple has hired engineers with expertise in power technology and battery design from companies like Tesla, Toyota and A123 Systems. Last year, Apple acquired Passif Semiconductor, a start-up that developed low-energy communication chips.For its wristwatch, Apple has been testing a method to charge the battery wirelessly with magnetic induction, according to a person briefed on the product. A similar technology is already used in some Nokia smartphones when a phone is placed on a charging plate, an electrical current creates a magnetic field, which creates voltage that powers the phone.Apple has also experimented with new power-charging methods for a potential smartwatch, people close to the efforts said, though such experiments are years from becoming a reality. The watch is expected to have a curved glass screen, and one idea is to add a solar-charging layer to that screen, which would give power to the device in daylight, they said.In the fall, Apple posted a job listing seeking engineers who specialize in solar energy.Another experiment at Apple has involved charging the battery through movement, a method that is already used in many modern watches. A persons arm swinging could operate a tiny charging station that generates and pushes power to the device while walking, according to a patent filed by Apple in 2009.In July, Apple was awarded a patent for a flexible battery that could fit in a wristwatch or tablet. Although the battery would be traditional, it would have a thin and curved form that could easily couple with a flexible solar panel layer.ImageCredit...Eduardo Munoz/ReutersGoogle also has been looking at new battery technologies, trying to figure out ways to extend the life of smartphones. People do not want to have to go run and find a charger at 3 p.m. every day, said Mark Randall, senior vice president for supply chain and operations at Motorola, which Google announced last week it would sell to Lenovo.Samsung, too, has been designing new types of batteries with wearable computers in mind. The company has introduced compact curved batteries that can be installed inside wristbands. And last year, it introduced Dream Battery, which uses solid electrolytes, instead of the liquid or polymer used by lithium-ion batteries, to eliminate the risk of explosions and other safety problems for flexible electronics.Universities and start-ups are also making their own efforts some just as ambitious as Apples and, perhaps, a little pie in the sky. Nonetheless, they are attracting attention and venture capital.For example, prominent investors like the Founders Fund; Yahoos chief executive, Marissa Mayer; and the Andreessen Horowitz firm are backing uBeam, a start-up in Mountain View, Calif., that is trying to develop a system in which devices pull energy from the air. The technology involves piezoelectricity a form of charge that is created in vibrations of certain crystals and ceramics.Battery technology advancements are lagging far behind advancements in mobile tech, while power consumption rate is increasing as consumers demand more from their devices, said Meredith Perry, founder of uBeam.When wireless power is everywhere, battery life and charging rates will no longer be critical factors in mobile devices as our devices will always be charging, Ms. Perry said.Yi Cui, a Stanford professor who founded the start-up Amprius, is developing a way to replace the carbon anodes in lithium ion batteries with silicon. Silicon, he said, has 10 times the storage capacity of carbon, but it expands and breaks. So Mr. Cui and his team coated the silicon with polymer, a soft and stretchy substance similar to the material used in contact lenses, that spontaneously heals tiny cracks during battery operation.Researchers at the University of Washington have also been working on a method for wireless devices to communicate without using any battery power. The technique involves harvesting energy from TV, cellular and Wi-Fi signals that are already in the air, said Shyamnath Gollakota, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering who is working on the project.The idea is basically you have signals around you, Mr. Gollakota said. So why do you have to generate new signals to communicate?In a commercial smartphone, a battery would still be necessary for powering the screen and other functions, but the signal-harvesting method would allow phone calls or text messages to be placed without using any power, he said.At Google, building a better battery is so important that the quest goes all the way to the top. During an earnings call last year, Larry Page, Googles chief executive, said battery life on mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones, was prime for reinvention. Theres real potential to invent new and better experiences, he said. | Tech |
TrilobitesOpabinia, which swam the seas of Earths Cambrian era some 500 million years ago, was not just a one hit wonder.Credit...Franz AnthonyFeb. 8, 2022Of all the strange creatures unearthed from the Burgess Shale a cache of remarkable Cambrian fossils deposited in the Canadian Rockies none has been quite as transfixing as Opabinia. And for good reason with five compound eyes and a trunk-like nozzle that ended in a claw, Opabinia seems otherworldly, like something imagined in a science fiction novel, rather than a swimmer in Earths oceans some 500 millions years ago.In Wonderful Life, his best-selling opus on the Burgess Shale, the evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould labeled Opabinia as a weird wonder, and said it belonged among the pantheon of evolutionary icons like Archaeopteryx, Tyrannosaurus rex and archaic human ancestors.However, Opabinia has remained shrouded in evolutionary mystery because of a frustrating lack of fossils. The bulk of Opabinia specimens were collected more than a century ago and the creature has never been found outside of the Burgess Shale.Which was why Stephen Pates, a paleontologist, was so perplexed when he stumbled upon an odd fossil stored at the Natural History Museum at Kansas University in 2017. At the time, Dr. Pates was a graduate student studying the diversity of radiodonts, Cambrian predators that sported grasping, claw-like appendages. But the ghostly orange imprint before him lacked the trademark appendages.When I first looked at it, I wasnt sure what it was, but I wasnt sold that it was a radiodont, said Dr. Pates, who is currently a researcher at the University of Cambridge.ImageCredit...Stephen PatesThe fossil had been unearthed in western Utah, and it had zigzagging body flaps and a tail brimming with enough spikes to make a Stegosaurus jealous. The traits were reminiscent of Opabinia, but the creatures poorly preserved head was little more than a crimson smear, obscuring the proboscis and generous allotment of eyes.To determine the identity of the Cambrian creature, Dr. Pates teamed up with several researchers at Harvard University, where he was a postdoctoral researcher, to run the fossil through a variety of phylogenetic tests. They compared 125 of the fossils traits with more than 50 groups of modern and extinct arthropods and built detailed evolutionary trees.According to Joanna Wolfe, a research associate at Harvard and co-author of the new research, the evolutionary trees allowed the team to rule out radiodonts and conclude that the new fossil was likely closely related to Opabinia, the Burgess Shales lonely wonder.In a paper published Wednesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the team described the fossil as only the second opabiniid ever discovered. They named the new species Utaurora comosa, after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, who turned her lover into a cicada one of the innumerable arthropods that came after Utaurora.While the animal still looks more alien than arthropod, the researchers believe that Utaurora represents an important predecessor to the evolution of insects and crustaceans. Opabiniids were the first groups to possess backward-facing mouths and their furrowed flaps appear to have been a precursor to segmentation, both common characteristics of modern arthropods, according to Dr. Pates.However, it wouldnt resemble any arthropod living today. As it undulated through an ancient sea with its flaps and spiky tail fan, Utaurora likely wielded its proboscis to shovel food into its mouth. Opabinia looked similar, although there were key differences between the two species. The younger Utaurora sported more spikes on its tail and, at just over 1 inch long, its body was half the size of Opabinias.The researchers believe the new discovery puts Opabinia in context, illustrating that one of the planets strangest creatures was not just a one hit wonder. They were part of the bigger picture of what was going on and not just this weird curiosity, Dr. Pates said.While Opabinia is no longer unique, the minuscule sea creature is no less captivating to Dr. Wolfe, who grew up reading Wonderful Life, and credits Goulds enthralling description of Opabinia as a catalyst for her paleontological career.I guess its not actually such a weird wonder now, but I dont think that makes it less of a wonder, she says. Its just not so weird. | science |
French Montana Becomes Global Citizen Ambassador For Work in Uganda 1/27/2018 JANUARY 2018 TMZ.com French Montana can now add Global Citizen Ambassador to his already stacked resume for his incredible efforts in Uganda. The "Unforgettable" rapper received the honor at a ceremony in NYC Friday night. French filmed the music video for his 2017 hit with Swae Lee in Uganda where he witnessed the country's healthcare hardships first hand. French donated $100k to help build a hospital that provided appropriate resources to women who are pregnant. His donation led to a chain reaction of others ... The Weeknd, Diddy and Diddy's Ciroc venture all matched his $100k and Global Citizen estimates some 260,000 people will benefit from the money raised. Way to go, French! | Entertainment |
Hundreds of satellites and spacecraft are keeping an eye on Russias nuclear forces from above. So far, they havent seen much to worry about.Credit...Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA, via ShutterstockApril 5, 2022In late February, when President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia declared that his countrys nuclear arms were entering special combat readiness, Americas surveillance gear went on high alert. Hundreds of imaging satellites, as well as other private and federal spacecraft, began looking for signs of heightened activity among Russias bombers, missiles, submarines and storage bunkers, which hold thousands of nuclear warheads.The orbital fleet has yet to spot anything worthy of concern, image analysts said. Echoing the private assessments, U.S. and NATO officials have reported no signs that Russia is preparing for nuclear war. We havent seen anything thats made us adjust our posture, our nuclear posture, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to President Biden, told reporters on March 23.But Americas atomic watchdogs have reason to continue looking, experts said. Moscow has long practiced using relatively small nuclear blasts to offset battlefield losses. And some military experts are concerned over what Mr. Putin might do, after setbacks in Ukraine, to restore his reputation for edgy ruthlessness.If Russia were preparing for atomic war, it would normally disperse its bombers to reduce their vulnerability to enemy attack, said Hans M. Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, a private research organization in Washington. But right now, he said, none of thats evident.Since 1962, when one of Americas first spy satellites failed to spot a shipment of missiles and 158 nuclear warheads that Moscow had sent to Cuba, Americas surveillance powers in orbit have soared. Today, hundreds of public and private imaging satellites continually scan the planet to assess crops, map cities, manage forests and, increasingly, unveil the secretive doings of nuclear states.Russias arsenal exceeds all other nations nuclear stockpiles in size, creating a challenge for analysts to thoroughly assess its state of play. Private American firms such as Maxar, Capella Space and Planet Labs have provided analysts with hundreds of close-up images of Russias atomic forces. Planet Labs alone has a constellation of more than 200 imaging satellites and has made a specialty of zeroing in on military sites.The private fleet tracked Russias nuclear forces long before the war, revealing maintenance work as well as routine drills and exercises. That kind of baseline understanding helps analysts ferret out true war preparations, experts said. You track this stuff and begin to get a sense of what normal looks like, said Mark M. Lowenthal, a former C.I.A. assistant director for analysis. If you see a deviation, you have to ask if somethings up.A false alarm rang shortly after Mr. Putins declaration. A Twitter account, The Lookout, posted that a satellite had spotted two Russian nuclear submarines leaving a northwestern port. The Express, a London tabloid, warned in a headline of strategic readiness. The news flash got little attention because seasoned experts realized the sub departure was a planned exercise.Still, Jeffrey Lewis and Michael Duitsman, satellite image specialists at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif., have continued to monitor Russias fleet of submarines because their movements can provide reliable indications of higher states of nuclear war readiness.Normally, roughly half of Russias submarines equipped with long-range missiles go out to sea on scheduled patrols while the others remain at their piers for rest, repairs and maintenance. Analysts see empty piers as a warning sign.To assess the current situation, Dr. Lewis zoomed in on a large submarine base known as Gadzhiyevo in Russias Arctic north. Images of it on Google Earth show a dozen massive piers jutting out from rocky fjords.The Middlebury team examined a close-up image, taken by Planet on March 7, that showed four of Russias submarines alongside two of Gadzhiyevos piers. Mr. Duitsman said a separate image of the entire base revealed that all its active submarines were in port suggesting they were not preparing for nuclear attack. During a higher state of readiness, he said, I would expect several submarines to be out at sea.ImageCredit...Middlebury Institute of International Studies at MontereyThe team also studied images of a military base in the Siberian wilds where mobile launchers move long-range missiles on backcountry roads as a defensive tactic. Mr. Duitsman said the images taken March 30 by one of Capellas radar satellites, which can see through clouds as well as nighttime darkness showed no signs of unusual activity.Finally, near the banks of the southern Volga River, the Middlebury team looked at Saratov-63, a nuclear arms storage site for long-range missiles as well as Russias air force. A bomber base is nearby. The images, taken by Planet on March 6, revealed a snowy landscape and, Mr. Duitsman said, no evidence of a heightened alert status.ImageCredit...Middlebury Institute of International Studies at MontereyImageCredit...Middlebury Institute of International Studies at MontereyA senior American military officer in 1998 toured an underground bunker at Saratov-63 and reported that it held not only extremely powerful nuclear arms but also lesser ones, sometimes known as tactical weapons. The small arms are seen as playing lead roles in Russian nuclear strikes because their power can be fractions of the destructive force of the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima, Japan, blurring the line between conventional and nuclear arms and making them seem more usable.Analysts and nuclear experts say the accumulating evidence suggests that Mr. Putins declaration of combat readiness was not an order to prepare weapons but rather a signal that a war message might be coming soon.Pavel Podvig, a longtime arms researcher from Russia, said the alert most likely primed the Russian military for the possibility of a nuclear order. Nikolai Sokov, a former Soviet diplomat who negotiated arms-control treaties, agreed. Its a signal to the command-and-control chain, he said. It simply means, Come to attention. An order may be coming.But Dr. Lewis of the Middlebury Institute said that Mr. Putins order also appeared to have sent more military personnel into central posts that relay orders and messages among dispersed forces. Thats why we didnt see anything, he said. It was increasing the number of humans in the bunkers. The practice, he added, is a standard part of how Russia raises its levels of nuclear readiness: It takes more people to carry out war preparations than to maintain the sites in a standby mode.Dr. Lowenthal, the former C.I.A. assistant director and now a senior lecturer at Johns Hopkins, said he found the personnel aspect of Moscows escalatory process the most troubling.We can develop a good baseline on whats normal and routine in the movement of Russian nuclear arms, he said. Its the internal stuff thats always worrisome. Imaging satellites, after all, cannot see what people are doing inside buildings and bunkers.He said the main uncertainty was the level of automaticity in Russias escalatory war alerts a topic addressed in The Dead Hand, a Pulitzer Prize-winning 2009 book that described a semiautomatic system meant to operate on its own in the event that Russias leaders had been killed. In that case, Russias nuclear authority would devolve to a few low-ranking officers in a concrete bunker. Its unclear if Moscow today relies on something similar.Youre never quite sure how Russia goes about authorizing the use of nuclear arms, Dr. Lowenthal said. Thats the kind of thing that makes you nervous. | science |
Sports BriefingFeb. 17, 2014Linebacker Terrell Suggs signed a four-year extension with the Ravens on Monday that saves them salary-cap room and puts him in a position to finish his career in Baltimore. Suggs, 31, had a six-year deal that would have expired after the 2014 season. Now he is signed through 2018. Ravens running back Ray Rice was arrested in an Atlantic City casino early Saturday after an argument with his fiance turned physical. The police said Rice, 27, and Janay Palmer were arrested on simple assault charges. The University of Connecticut said that the running backs coach Ernest Jones, who told The Hartford Courant last month that he and others would make sure UConns players understood that Jesus Christ should be in the center of our huddle, had resigned. | Sports |
The guidance acknowledges that many students have suffered from months of virtual learning.Credit...Juli Leonard/The News & Observer, via Associated PressPublished July 9, 2021Updated July 28, 2021The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged schools on Friday to fully reopen in the fall, even if they cannot take all of the steps the agency recommends to curb the spread of the coronavirus a major turn in a public health crisis in which childhood education has long been a political flash point.The agency also said school districts should use local health data to guide decisions about when to tighten or relax prevention measures like masking and physical distancing. With the highly contagious Delta variant spreading and children under 12 still ineligible for vaccination, it recommended that unvaccinated students and staff members keep wearing masks.The guidance is a departure from the C.D.C.s past recommendations for schools. It is also a blunt acknowledgment that many students have suffered during long months of virtual learning and that a uniform approach is not useful when virus caseloads and vaccination rates vary so greatly from place to place. Some experts criticized the agencys decision to leave so much up to local officials, however, and said more specific guidelines would have been more helpful.School closures have been extremely divisive since the outset of the pandemic, and advising districts has been a fraught exercise for the C.D.C. Virtual learning has been burdensome not only for students but also for their parents, many of whom had to stay home to provide child care, and reopening schools is an important step on the economys path to recovery.This a big moment, said Dr. Richard E. Besser, a former acting director of the C.D.C. Its also a recognition that there are real costs to keeping children at home, to keeping them out of school, that school is so important in terms of childrens socialization and development and it provides other supports as well.Virtually all of the nations major school districts plan to return to regular in-person instruction in the fall, and some are still trying to persuade hesitant parents to send their children back. Others are not giving parents a choice; New York City will not offer a remote learning option in the fall.Not everyone seemed inclined to follow the new advice. In California, for example, state officials announced Friday that they would continue requiring masks for everyone in school settings regardless.The C.D.C. was prompted by the national vaccination campaign, which has vastly changed the complexion of the pandemic in the United States. Erin K. Sauber-Schatz, a captain in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who helped lead the C.D.C. task force that wrote the guidelines, said agency officials really want to get kids back in the classroom and believed the time was right to tailor prevention strategies to communities.This guidance has been written to be really flexible, she said.One major shift is in the recommendation for physical distancing. The agency continues to advise that students be spaced at least three feet apart, but with a new caveat: If maintaining such spacing would prevent schools from bringing all students back, they could rely on a combination of other strategies like indoor masking, testing and enhanced ventilation.In another shift, the C.D.C. made clear that masks could be optional for vaccinated people, in line with its recommendations for the general public.Still, the agency said that schools may opt to require universal masking if local cases were rising, for example, or if a school could not determine how many of its students and staff members were vaccinated. And it urged schools to be supportive of people who are fully vaccinated, but choose to continue to wear a mask. In general, students and staff members did not need to be masked when outdoors, the agency said.The C.D.C. also strongly urged schools to promote vaccination, which the guidance called one of the most critical strategies to help schools safely resume full operations. Studies suggest that vaccines remain effective against the Delta variant.The countrys two major teachers unions, which have close relationships with the Biden administration, praised the guidance. Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, whose members in some cases fought the reopening of schools this past school year, said the recommendations are grounded in both science and common sense.Still, both school and public health officials predicted challenges ahead.Ms. Weingarten said the mask guidance posed a particular test, since classes with students 12 and older would most likely include a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated students. Many officials in areas with low vaccination rates have already said they will not require masks in schools and at least eight states have already banned such requirements.Some parents who have advocated school reopening greeted the new guidelines with relief. Meredith Dodson, whose son is entering kindergarten this fall in San Francisco, organized a group of parents who spent the last school year fighting for the city to open its schools. The city finally allowed elementary school students to return in mid-April, but most middle and high school students were not able to do so at all.This is a huge step in the right direction, Ms. Dodson said.Many schools have already largely or entirely returned to in-person learning. By mid-spring, the vast majority of districts had allowed at least younger students to return to classrooms, although many, especially on the West Coast, only allowed them to attend part-time. Many families especially Asian American, Black and Hispanic families chose to keep their children learning remotely.In addition to masking and social distancing, schools are advised to consider regular screening testing, improving ventilation, promoting hand washing, and contact tracing combined with isolation or quarantine.Jennifer B. Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, said that while leaving decisions on school safety protocols to local officials might sound good in theory, it could prove paralyzing by putting prevention strategies up for negotiation and debate.I really hoped they could issue very clear guidelines specifying what level of distance is required, she said, and not sort of like a meditative journey on the relative benefits of distance.Other experts, including some who have been highly critical of the C.D.C., praised the new guidelines.For the first time, I really think they hit it on the nose, said Dr. Benjamin P. Linas, an infectious disease specialist at Boston University. I think its science-based and right on the mark.Dr. Linas said that he anticipated pushback to the recommendation that unvaccinated children wear masks, but that it still made sense.I dont want to send my 11-year-old to school without a mask yet, because Delta is out there, he said, referring to the highly transmissible variant that now causes the majority of cases in the United States. And even if shes not going to get severe Covid from Delta, Im not ready to take that risk.ImageCredit...Seth Wenig/Associated PressThere are also questions about what role the more contagious Delta variant may play as children and teachers return to the classroom this fall. Captain Sauber-Schatz said the prevention strategies that had worked for Covid-19 all along also worked for the Delta variant, so for now the C.D.C. was keeping a close eye on it.The new guidelines still rely on quarantine as a prevention strategy for unvaccinated students when they are exposed to the virus, which Emily Oster, an economist at Brown University who has pushed to keep schools open, criticized as a significant hindrance for students and parents.Its really disruptive, Dr. Oster said.Physical separation has been contentious, and the new guidance may not resolve the debate. While the C.D.C. recommends that students be permitted to sit just three feet apart, it continues to call for teachers and other staff members to remain at least six feet from students regardless of their vaccination status and if they are unvaccinated, six feet from one another.Some experts, including Ms. Freeman and Dr. Besser, found that aspect confusing. Captain Sauber-Schatz said those recommendations were rooted in studies looking specifically at physical distancing among students.For the studies that have been done looking at the difference between three feet and six feet, those were all between students in the classroom, not between teachers and students, she said. We have the science and the evidence to make that recommendation, that three feet is permissible between students in the classroom. We dont have that level of evidence for the staff. | Health |
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/business/international/japan-economy-grows-avoiding-a-recession.htmlCredit...Yoshikazu Tsuno/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesDec. 7, 2015TOKYO Japans latest recession turns out not to have been a recession at all.The government said on Tuesday that the economy grew at a relatively robust pace last quarter, reversing a more pessimistic estimate it published three weeks ago.Output in Japan, Asias second-largest economy, expanded at an annualized rate of 1 percent in the three months through September, according to the revised assessment by the Cabinet Office. The office had originally said the economy contracted by 0.8 percent.The latest report, which reflected more buoyant data on business investment and a rosier view of consumer spending, painted a broadly positive picture of the economys recent performance. Estimates for previous quarters were also lifted, showing stronger gains and less severe reversals.The report could relieve the pressure on Japans central bank to do more to support growth. Some economists had been predicting that the bank would soon be forced to expand a stimulus program under which it injects trillions of yen into the economy by buying up government bonds.The strategy is meant to lower borrowing costs and encourage consumers and businesses to spend, but the apparent recession, and an accompanying decline in consumer prices, had raised questions about its effectiveness.The report also could cheer Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who gained office three years ago on a pledge to ramp up growth. So far his Abenomics program, in which the central banks stimulus efforts have played a crucial role, has lifted the stock market and helped multinational companies by lowering the yens exchange rate. But it has been less successful in passing the gains on to average workers.Sharp revisions to Japanese gross domestic product numbers are not unusual, though the change announced on Tuesday was larger than some in the past. The governments first estimates are announced before data on certain kinds of economic activity are fully available notably changes in corporate investment and inventories.In an economy where trend growth is only slightly above zero, like Japans, revisions can more easily make the difference between an increase in output and a decline.The latest numbers will be subject to further review in the future, though revisions tend to grow smaller as time passes.The Japanese stock market opened higher after the report was announced, but quickly gave up those gains, possibly reflecting lower expectations for fresh central bank stimulus. In late morning trading, the Nikkei 225 average was down roughly 0.2 percent.In the biggest change from the initial estimate last month, businesses appeared more confident in their production plans. According to the revised gross domestic product data, spending on new factories and equipment by businesses rose at an annualized rate of 0.6 percent last quarter, compared with an initial estimate of a 1.3 percent decline.Household spending increased 0.5 percent, slightly more than the first estimate of 0.4 percent, and businesses reduced their inventories less aggressively than initially believed.Through the first three quarters of the year, the economy grew at an average rate of about 1.6 percent, according to the latest data roughly twice its typical pace of growth over the past two decades. The performance was volatile, however: Output contracted 0.5 percent in the second quarter after surging 4.4 percent in the first. | Business |
Finland 3, Russia 1Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesFeb. 19, 2014SOCHI, Russia President Vladimir V. Putin and any other Russian who was asked made it plain that the Sochi Games success hinged on the Russian mens hockey team. Sure, Russia has a formidable delegation, winning medals in many events, from biathlon to bobsled. But it was the hockey team, representing the national sport, that would offer the world the most meaningful symbol of the countrys might. We all, and I personally, wish you all luck, Mr. Putin was quoted as saying in a visit to the Canadian Olympic teams headquarters last week. Of course, maybe not at all of the hockey matches.No one will ever know for sure the pressure the team faced in its role as Russias great hope, only the humiliating ending it encountered.Finland defeated Russia, 3-1, on Wednesday in front of a homeland audience that had all but demanded that its mens hockey team deliver Russias first Olympic gold medal in its national sport since 1992, when it competed along with other former Soviet republics as the Unified Team. The Russians won three of their five games but were eliminated before the medal round had even begun. For them, the Sochi Games might as well be over. If we had just won the gold medal in hockey, we could have forgotten about all the other medals everything else, said Salavat Fokin, 21, a law student from Moscow working as a volunteer at the Games.ImageCredit...Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesNo matter that Russia is near the top of the medal standings, with 22, or that its figure skaters are still in pursuit of medals. For an outsize portion of the host countrys populace, the only things left at the Sochi Games are blame and anguish.I have lost any desire to stay here any longer, said Dmitry Pechenik, 18, an Olympic volunteer from Moscow. There is no sense to stay. As for me, the Olympic flame can be put down as well.A team of immense talent was wobbly when it arrived on the sports biggest international stage, then quickly fell flat on its face. Russia, once the hockey wonderland, has only a silver and a bronze since the National Hockey League started sending players to the Olympics in 1998.The disappointment reverberated in the upper ranks of the Russian government. Mr. Putin, who attended Russias games over the weekend a loss to the United States on Saturday and a victory over Slovakia on Sunday did not immediately issue any reaction. Aleksei K. Pushkov, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Russian Parliament, voiced disappointment but not shock. We have a number of good players, Mr. Pushkov said. But we dont have a team. The Soviet Union won the Olympic gold in seven of nine appearances between 1956, when it made its ice hockey debut, and 1988, before the country broke up in 1991.The teams coach, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, bore the brunt of the harsh reaction after the game Wednesday, when he was challenged by the Russian news media.In the news conference featuring both head coaches, the first eight questions were directed at Mr. Bilyaletdinov, 58, a soft-spoken man whose voice rose above a murmur only once, when a reporter said in Russian: Can you address the overall result of the Russian team in the Olympics? It is a catastrophe.Mr. Bilyaletdinov blanched. Lets not play word games, he said. I said it was unsuccessful. We can call it whatever.Russia was holding its collective breath with this team and was prepared to keep holding it through the gold medal game on Sunday, the grand finale before the closing ceremony. The joy that Canada experienced four years ago triumph for its hockey team as a prelude to the farewell ceremony in Vancouver seemed attainable, if not assured. Instead, the players will scatter as if seized by an ill wind, returning to North America or their Russian league teams while the Games draw to their anticlimactic close for the host country.It is hard to say something now its just emptiness, said Sergei Bobrovsky, a goaltender who replaced the starter, Semyon Varlamov, in the second period after Finland took a 3-1 lead.The Russians were like a mosaic in which all the beautiful individual pieces, when put together, clash instead of connect. The roster featured 16 players from the N.H.L., and 9 from the Kontinental Hockey League, a league based in Russia.In the spotlights glare, the Russians came unglued. They whiffed on shots. They made the extra pass when they should have shot and shot when they should have made the extra pass. Alex Ovechkin, who leads the N.H.L. in goals this season, with 40, scored early in the first period of Russias first game, then did not score again.One did not have to be wearing Russian red to feel their stress. The Finnish forward Teemu Selanne, who scored the go-ahead goal in the first period and collected the first assist on the insurance goal in the second, said: In a way, I feel sorry for Ovi and the rest of his teammates. They had a big dream to win the gold medal in their home tournament.Where does the Russian team, and its millions of loyal followers, go from here? After a long preamble, the first Russian-speaking reporter in the news conference got to the point.Are you staying? he asked Mr. Bilyaletdinov, who did not blink.Well, I want to stay, he said, but that is probably a question to be answered by someone else.As Mr. Bilyaletdinov saw it, his fate had already been decided by one influential group. In a Russian-speaking scrum after the orderly news conference, a reporter again brought up the subject of Mr. Bilyaletdinovs future and noted that Vyacheslav Bykov, the Russian national team coach in 2010, was eaten alive after the Russians quarterfinal loss to Canada, and subsequent exit, at the Vancouver Games.Well, eat me now, Mr. Bilyaletdinov told reporters. Youll eat me, and Ill be gone. | Sports |
Politics|Senate Rejects White House Plan to Cancel Unused Fundinghttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/senate-white-house-unused-funding.htmlCredit...Erin Schaff for The New York TimesJune 20, 2018WASHINGTON The Senate rejected on Wednesday a White House plan to rescind nearly $15 billion in unspent funding that had been approved in past years. Two Republican senators joined Democrats to defeat what had been a largely symbolic effort.The package of cuts, which President Trump had promoted as historic, amounted to a gesture of fiscal responsibility after the passage in March of a $1.3 trillion spending bill that agitated conservatives.Yet the plan to rescind unused funds would have had limited practical effect, as much of the funding was not expected to be spent anyway. The Congressional Budget Office said the bill would have reduced actual spending by only $1.1 billion over the next decade. By contrast, the deficit for just the current fiscal year is projected to near $800 billion.A procedural vote on the bill failed in the Senate, with 48 senators in favor and 50 opposed. The two Republicans voting no were Richard M. Burr of North Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine. The House had narrowly approved the measure, known as a rescissions package, this month.ImageCredit...Alex Wong/Getty ImagesMick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, lamented the bills rejection.It is disappointing that the Senate chose to reject this common-sense plan, he said in a statement, and the American people should be asking their representatives in Washington one simple question: If they cannot pass good-government legislation to recapture unnecessary funds, how can we ever expect them to address Washingtons staggering debt and deficit problem?Mr. Burr objected to a $16 million cut to conservation funds, according to an aide. Ms. Collins expressed opposition on institutional grounds. I dont like tipping the power of the purse to the executive branch, she said.Democrats were united against the bill, which would have rescinded $7 billion in funds for the Childrens Health Insurance Program, though the budget office said actual spending on the program would not have been affected.As he criticized the bill, Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, offered a reminder of the deficit-widening tax overhaul that Republicans passed last year and that the White House has celebrated.Mr. Leahy urged his colleagues to vote no.Congress decides spending priorities, he said, not the president. | Politics |
DealBook|Ex-Morgan Stanley Adviser Receives Probation for Data Thefthttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/business/dealbook/ex-morgan-stanley-adviser-receives-probation-for-data-theft.htmlDec. 22, 2015A former Morgan Stanley financial adviser who downloaded information on thousands of the firms clients to a personal computer, some of it ending up for sale online, was given three years of probation by a federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday.Galen Marsh, who was fired after some of the downloaded information was found posted on the Internet late last year, had faced a maximum of five years in prison. He pleaded guilty in September to one count of unauthorized access to a computer and was ordered to pay Morgan Stanley restitution of $600,000 and forfeit the computer equipment he used.Judge Kevin T. Duffy of Federal District Court in Manhattan announced the sentence on Tuesday to a relieved Mr. Marsh.We are ecstatic by the judges sentence, said Robert C. Gottlieb, his defense lawyer. We are grateful that Judge Duffy felt that leniency was warranted in this case.Mr. Marsh and his lawyer have contended that he did not intend to sell the information, share it or post it online. One theory was that foreign hackers got into his home computer and took the information.A spokesman for Morgan Stanley had no comment on Tuesday.Prosecutors said Mr. Marsh used the banks computers from June 2011 to December 2014 to gain access to confidential information about certain clients in 6,000 unauthorized searches. He obtained names, addresses, telephone numbers, account numbers and investment information on approximately 730,000 client accounts. He uploaded information to his personal computer at home in Hoboken, N.J.This year, Morgan Stanley said he took data on roughly 10 percent of the firms 3.5 million wealth management customers.Mr. Marsh was talking about job opportunities with two other financial institutions from late 2013 to the end of last year. He retrieved the client information to use it for his personal advantage, prosecutors said in September. | Business |
Health|Millions in U.S. aid benefited richer hospitals, a new study shows.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/health/federal-aid-hospitals-provider-relief-fund.htmlMillions in U.S. aid benefited richer hospitals, a new study shows.Credit...William DeShazer for The New York TimesOct. 22, 2021A new analysis underscores concerns about how federal aid was allocated to health care institutions under the Provider Relief Fund, a $175-billion program that has drawn sharp criticism for giving so much money to the wealthiest U.S. hospitals.The study, published Friday in JAMA Health Forum, shows that more money flowed to hospitals that were in a strong financial position before the pandemic than went to hospitals with weaker balance sheets and smaller endowments.Small rural hospitals, called critical access hospitals, received lower levels of funding, according to the study, by researchers at the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit group. Those rural facilities often operate under extremely tight budget constraints, and some have closed or been acquired over the course of the pandemic.More aid also flowed to those hospitals caring for the greatest number of Covid patients, many of which were large academic medical centers and big hospitals.There were large differences in how much each hospital got in funding, Christopher M. Whaley, one of the studys authors, said in an interview.The analysis of 952 hospitals found that 24 percent received less than $5 million, while 8 percent got more than $50 million. Overall, the small rural hospitals received 40 percent less funding than their larger and more prosperous counterparts.The researchers did not take into account $24 billion that was specifically targeted to rural and safety-net hospitals in underserved areas, which may have helped these organizations.Congress authorized the aid to cushion losses sustained by hospitals during the pandemic, as patients stayed away and facilities could not perform lucrative surgeries and procedures.But some of the hospitals that received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds went on buying sprees during the Covid crisis, gobbling up weaker hospitals and physician groups. A few large chains, including HCA Healthcare and the Mayo Clinic, chose to return at least some of the money.The havoc caused by the Delta variant has further strained many hospitals, overwhelming intensive care units and forcing some to renew delays in elective treatments.A September report commissioned by the American Hospital Association predicted a third of will have operating losses in 2021. Hospitals say they are treating sicker patients, many of whom delayed care earlier in the pandemic, and are paying more for staff, supplies and drugs.Dr. Whaley said the larger flow of money to hospitals in strong financial shape calls into question the purpose of having these financial resources, noting some institutions have massive endowments and sizable assets. In contrast, rural hospitals receiving the least aid were already under financial strain when the pandemic hit.Policymakers should continue to ensure that these types of hospitals are sufficiently funded, potentially with additional rounds of funding, the researchers wrote. | Health |
Colin Kaepernick Teams w/ Usher to Finish $1 Mil Pledge 1/31/2018 Colin Kaepernick just wrote his LAST check as part of his "$1 Million Pledge" campaign -- and teamed up with Usher to end it with a bang. Remember, Kaep first started the program back in 2016 ... vowing to donate $1 MIL of his own money to more than 40 charitable causes -- including Communities United for Police Reform and The Black Youth Project. Over the past 2 weeks, Colin enlisted some HUGE stars to match his final 10 donations -- including Steph Curry, Snoop Dogg, Serena Williams, Chris Brown, T.I. and Meek Mill (from prison). For his final $10k pledge, Colin and Usher chose H.O.M.E. -- an org. helping single mothers facing economic hardship. "This was an opportunity to do something major and you did it," Usher told Kaep in a thank-you vid. "This is a result of us helping each other. We all become stronger." The former 49ers QB also issued a statement on social media, saying -- "Thank you to everyone who has supported me, matched me and my pledge and most importantly the people." "I know that we still have a lot of work to do, however, by getting everyone involved, I truly believe that we can all achieve and move mountains towards our goals for social justice." | Entertainment |
Health|F.D.A. Proposes a Limit on Arsenic in Rice Cereal for Babieshttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/health/fda-proposes-a-limit-on-arsenic-in-rice-cereal-for-babies.htmlCredit...Danny Johnston/Associated PressApril 1, 2016The Food and Drug Administration proposed on Friday a limit for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal, saying that this common starter food is a leading source of exposure to the toxin. Infants are particularly vulnerable to arsenic in rice because, relative to body weight, they eat about three times more rice than adults.A growing body of research suggests that arsenic exposure is related not only to diminished intellectual function early in life, but also to adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as stillbirth.The suggested limit is 100 parts per billion. Data are still emerging on whether this level is sufficient, but its certainly a step in the right direction, said Margaret R. Karagas, chairwoman of the epidemiology department at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. In its risk assessment, the agency tested 76 rice cereals for infants and found that about half had more inorganic arsenic than the proposed limit.One in two packages not meeting the limit is not a great success rate, said Keeve Nachman, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who studies arsenic in food. Still, Dr. Nachman said, having a line in the sand where there wasnt one before at least gives companies something to work with.Manufacturers should aim to get rice for infant cereal from a supply that has low levels of inorganic arsenic, F.D.A. officials said.The F.D.A. urged parents to vary the kinds of iron-fortified cereal they feed their babies by using those made of oat, barley and multigrain. Rice does not need to be a babys first source of cereal, officials said, and it should not be the only one. The agency stopped short of advising parents to avoid infant rice cereal altogether. But officials did suggest that pregnant women vary the grains they consume.As rice plants grow, the grain tends to absorb more arsenic than other crops. Limits on arsenic in infant rice cereal are needed in part because the amounts in products can vary so much, Dr. Karagas said. A consumer cant be responsible for knowing what to eat and what not to eat, she said.The agency is accepting comments on this proposed limit and the risk assessment for 90 days. Manufacturers may choose to carry out the recommendations before the limit becomes final.Gerber, which makes most of the infant rice cereal sold nationwide, announced on Friday that its products already meet the F.D.A.s proposed standard.Susan Mayne, the director of the F.D.A.s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said the agency would continue to monitor the food supply and take action as necessary.If product does come in thats higher than this draft action level, the F.D.A. could certainly consider taking enforcement action on a case-by-case basis, Dr. Mayne said. | Health |
The nominee, Lloyd J. Austin III, a retired four-star Army general, must obtain a congressional exemption from a law that bars recent active-duty officers from serving in the top Pentagon job.Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York TimesJan. 10, 2021WASHINGTON President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is facing an arduous struggle to get his choice for secretary of defense in place by Inauguration Day, a senior national security position that all but one president in modern history has secured by Day 1.The potential delay stems from the need of the nominee, Lloyd J. Austin III, a retired four-star Army general, to obtain a congressional exemption from a law that bars recently retired active-duty officers from serving in the top Pentagon job.While only the Senate votes to confirm the secretary, House approval of General Austins waiver is also required. The House Armed Services Committee will not be holding a hearing on the matter until the day after Mr. Biden is sworn in.Starting an administration without a secretary of defense in place is undesirable for any president, but it would be particularly fraught at a time of extraordinary turmoil in the world, and in the nations capital. The issue is further complicated because Mr. Biden and his aides have repeatedly complained that Trump administration officials have obstructed the transition process at the Defense Department.It is very clear that we are in unprecedented times with internal threats and the real possibility of additional chaos, and this gives openings to adversaries externally, said Arnold L. Punaro, a retired two-star Marine general and former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee. If there was ever a time when you want a presidents confirmed secretary of defense in place as the only other civilian in the chain of command and fully in charge of the military active duty, guard and reserve its now.It is not clear what measures the Biden team is planning to take as an interim step to manage the Pentagon should the confirmation process drag past Inauguration Day.The Senate could quickly confirm Kathleen Hicks, the nominee for deputy defense secretary, who could serve as acting secretary until General Austins nomination was resolved. Or Mr. Biden could ask the current deputy secretary, David L. Norquist, or the Army secretary Ryan D. McCarthy, to stay on for that same period. President Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper in November and replaced him with a team of loyalists.Members of the transition team say they are focused on pushing their nominee through in a timely manner.President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn-in on Jan. 20 and the American people rightfully expect the Senate to confirm his crisis-tested, qualified, history-making cabinet nominees as quickly as possible, said Ned Price, a spokesman for the transition. General Austin has been furiously making the rounds among House and Senate lawmakers in recent weeks to line up votes.At the same time, the Biden team was slow to get the generals financial disclosure forms to Capitol Hill for vetting, doing so only on Friday. Such delays caused the confirmations of many early Trump administration officials to linger.Many lawmakers from both parties have balked at having another former general leading the Pentagon in a nation that has a long tradition of civilian control of the military, one that has been severely tested under the Trump presidency.While Congress approved a similar measure four years ago for Mr. Trumps first defense secretary, Jim Mattis, a retired four-star Marine officer, many are loath to do it again.Civilian control of a nonpolitical military is a foundational principle, written into our Constitution, and absolutely essential to our democracy, announced Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, who announced on Friday that he would vote against a waiver. If a waiver for the rule that protects this principle is approved twice in four years, in both Republican and Democratic administrations, it starts to become a norm, not an exception.Several civil rights groups as well as many members of the Congressional Black Caucus have argued that even those members of Congress who declined to give Mr. Mattis the nod should not block what would be the first Black defense secretary in the nations history, and move swiftly to approve his waiver.As the first Black secretary of defense, General Austin, who has broken barriers throughout his career, would lead the most diverse military in our nations history, Representative Anthony G. Brown, Democrat of Maryland and the vice chairman of the House committee, said in an email.Our country faces immense national security challenges, he added. From a shocking assault on the Capitol and our democracy, an unprecedented cyberattack on government institutions and rising global threats, President-elect Biden will need a national security team in place ready to tackle these threats and renew American leadership. Secretary-designate Lloyd Austin will be instrumental to that effort. The House and Senate should move forward as quickly as possible to vet and debate a waiver for General Austin.The Senate has agreed to hold a hearing for the waiver this week and a confirmation hearing on Jan. 19, which would allow General Austin a path to be confirmed the next day if the House changes its plans. Unlike Mr. Mattis, who declined to attend a House hearing on his waiver, General Austin said he was committed to showing up.Every president since Eisenhower had his defense secretary confirmed within 24 hours of when he was inaugurated (most the same day) except for the first President George Bush, whose nominee, John G. Tower, was rejected; Dick Cheney was swiftly confirmed and installed a week later. (President Barack Obamas first defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, was held over from the George W. Bush administration.)On Saturday, a bevy of top former national security officials from both parties released an open letter urging the Senate to quickly confirm Mr. Bidens entire national security team, warning of the need to have a fast transition of executive power after a week of chaos in the nations capital.Historically, it has always been the case that there has been a bipartisan recognition that having a national security team in place is fundamental for every president, said Max Stier, the chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service. Threats can materialize and you need to make sure that the baton handoff is clean.In terms of a waiver, they can and really should be doing that as fast as possible, he added. The Biden team has not gotten all the information they need to understand the state of play there.Eric Schmitt contributed reporting. | Politics |
matterA series of animal experiments may point the way to an effective human vaccine, scientists said.Credit...Tony Luong for The New York TimesPublished May 20, 2020Updated May 25, 2020A prototype vaccine has protected monkeys from the coronavirus, researchers reported on Wednesday, a finding that offers new hope for effective human vaccines.Scientists are already testing coronavirus vaccines in people, but the initial trials are designed to determine safety, not how well a vaccine works. The research published Wednesday offers insight into what a vaccine must do to be effective and how to measure that.To me, this is convincing that a vaccine is possible, said Dr. Nelson Michael, the director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.Scientists are engaged in a worldwide scramble to create a vaccine against the new coronavirus. Over a hundred research projects have been launched; early safety trials in humans have been started or completed in nine of them.Next to come are larger trials to determine whether these candidate vaccines are not just safe, but effective. But those results wont arrive for months.In the meantime, Dr. Dan Barouch, a virologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and his colleagues have started a series of experiments on monkeys to get a broader look at how coronaviruses affect monkeys and whether vaccines might fight the pathogens. Their report was published in Science.Dr. Barouch is working in a partnership with Johnson & Johnson, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine that uses a specially modified virus, called Ad26, that he developed. The new research in monkeys lays the scientific foundations for those efforts, Dr. Barouch said. In March, the federal government awarded $450 million to Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of Johnson & Johnson, to develop a coronavirus vaccine.The scientists started by studying whether the monkeys become immune to the virus after getting sick. The team infected nine unvaccinated rhesus macaques with the new coronavirus.The monkeys developed symptoms that resembled a moderate case of Covid-19, including inflammation in their lungs that led to pneumonia. The monkeys recovered after a few days, and Dr. Barouch and his colleagues found that the animals had begun making antibodies to the coronavirus.Some of them turned out to be so-called neutralizing antibodies, meaning that they stopped the virus from entering cells and reproducing.Thirty-five days after inoculating the monkeys, the researchers carried out a re-challenge, spraying a second dose of the coronavirus into the noses of the animals.The monkeys produced a surge of protective neutralizing antibodies. The coronavirus briefly managed to establish a small infection in the monkeys noses but was soon wiped out.ImageCredit...Tony Luong for The New York TimesThese results dont necessarily mean that humans also develop strong immunity to the coronavirus. Still, Dr. Barouch and others found the research encouraging.If we did the re-challenge study and it didnt work, the implication would be that the entire vaccine effort would fail, he said. That would have been really, really bad news for seven billion people.In a separate experiment, Dr. Barouch and his colleagues tested prototype vaccines on rhesus macaques. Each monkey received pieces of DNA, which their cells turned into viral proteins designed to train the immune system to recognize the virus.Both macaques and humans make neutralizing antibodies against coronaviruses that target one part in particular: a protein that covers the viruss surface, called the spike protein.Most coronavirus vaccines are intended to coax the immune system to make antibodies that latch onto the spike protein and destroy the virus. Dr. Barouch and his colleagues tried out six variations.The researchers gave each vaccine to four or five monkeys. They let the monkeys develop an immune response for three weeks, and then sprayed viruses in their noses.Some of the vaccines provided only partial protection. The virus wasnt entirely eliminated from the animals lungs or noses, although levels were lower than in unvaccinated monkeys.But other vaccines worked better. The one that worked best trained the immune system to recognize and attack the entire spike protein of the coronavirus. In eight monkeys, the researchers couldnt detect the virus at all.I think that overall this will be seen as very good news for the vaccine effort, said Dr. Barouch. This increases our optimism that a vaccine for Covid-19 will be possible.Florian Krammer, a virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York who was not involved in the study, said that the levels of antibodies seen in the monkeys were promising.This is something that would protect you from disease, he said. Its not perfect, but you certainly see protection.Two vaccine teams one at the University of Oxford and one at the China-based company Sinovac have tested vaccines on rhesus macaques. This month they reported that their vaccines also offered the animals protection.The new study provides a deeper look at how vaccines protect monkeys, and perhaps one day humans.Along with neutralizing antibodies, the immune system has a huge arsenal of weapons it can deploy against pathogens. Some immune cells can recognize infected cells and destroy them, for example.Dr. Barouch and his colleagues found a strong connection between neutralizing antibodies and how well a vaccine worked: The vaccines that gave monkeys stronger protection produced more neutralizing antibodies.Pamela Bjorkman, a structural biologist at Caltech who was not involved in the study, said that this correlation gave her more confidence in Dr. Barouchs findings. I think thats really reassuring, she said.Dr. Michael said that link could help scientists running safety trials in humans. They may be able to get some early clues about whether the vaccines are effective.When a new vaccine goes into testing, the first round of trials are designed to see if its safe. Only then do researchers move forward with bigger trials to determine if the vaccine actually protects against a disease.Vaccine designers often try different doses in a safety trial, looking for the lowest dose that provides the greatest protection. Dr. Barouchs study suggests that measuring neutralizing antibodies can give an indication if a dose will be potent enough to give protection.Malcolm Martin, a virologist at the National Institutes of Health who was not involved in the study, cautioned that monkeys are different from humans in important ways.The unvaccinated monkeys in this study didnt develop any of the severe symptoms that some people get following a coronavirus infection. It looks like they got a cold, Dr. Martin said.Lisa Tostanoski, a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Barouch and co-author of the new study, noted that the study only offers a glimpse at how the vaccine works three weeks after injection.Its possible that the vaccines may defend the monkeys for many years to come, she noted or the protection may fade much sooner.How long immunity to the coronavirus lasts may determine whether people will need just one shot of a vaccine or more. People may need boosters from time to time to rev up their defenses again and keep the pandemic at bay.Every three years is thinkable, Dr. Krammer said. That doesnt mean a vaccine doesnt work. | Health |
DealBook|Valeants Latest Fix Underscores Its Challengeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/business/dealbook/valeants-latest-fix-underscores-its-challenges.htmlBreakingviewsDec. 28, 2015Credit...Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesValeant Pharmaceuticals latest fix reinforces its challenges.The drug company has appointed three executives to take the reins while its chief executive, J. Michael Pearson, is on medical leave, and three board members to oversee and guide them. The double triumvirate shows how reliant on one man Valeant has become.Mr. Pearson, who has been hospitalized with a serious case of pneumonia, is the architect of the companys serial acquisitions strategy. This business model and Mr. Pearsons leadership have come under intense scrutiny. Critics have attacked the companys accounting, its stifling $30 billion debt load and its price increases on acquired drugs. As a result, Valeants market capitalization has plummeted by 60 percent since August. This loss of faith by investors has forced the company to switch to integrating businesses, instead of buying new ones, and paying off debt.The companys prompt action in addressing Mr. Pearsons illness by disclosing and appointing interim leadership is commendable. And theres a good chance Mr. Pearson could be back shortly. But the structure is convoluted.The general counsel, Robert Chai-Onn; the chairman; Ari Kellen; and the chief financial officer, Robert Rosiello, will share management responsibilities in a newly created office of the chief executive. The board has also created a committee to oversee and support the office of the C.E.O. This, too, comprises three members: Robert Ingram, the lead independent director; Mason Morfit, president of the big stakeholder ValueAct Capital; and Howard Schiller, the former chief financial officer.The company says this reflects Valeants nontraditional organizational philosophy. It relies on what it says is a deep bench of qualified executives working in areas of expertise rather than a traditional hierarchy with roles such as a chief operating officer. Mr. Chai-Onn has been at Valeant for a decade; Mr. Rosiello advised the company for eight years before joining the firm as finance boss. Moreover, the additional board oversight could augur better corporate governance if it leads to the companys eventual separation of the roles of chairman and chief executive.Investors are more worried that this structure reflects the fact Mr. Pearson cant be replaced easily, and increases the risk of executive and board infighting. These fears sent the stock down 10 percent Monday morning. More turmoil is the last thing Valeant needs. | Business |
People with different types of disabilities tested their skills and technologies on a zero-gravity research flight with the goal of proving that they can safely go to space.Credit...Al Powers/AstroAccess/Zero G CorporationPublished Oct. 22, 2021Updated Nov. 8, 2021Eric Ingram typically moves through the world on his wheelchair. The 31-year-old chief executive of SCOUT Inc., a smart satellite components company, was born with Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome, a rare condition that affects his joints and blocked him from his dream of becoming an astronaut. He applied and was rejected, twice.But onboard a special airplane flight this week, he spun effortlessly through the air, touching nothing. Moving around, he found, was easier in the simulated zero-gravity environment where he needed so few tools to help.While simulating lunar gravity on the flight which is about one-sixth of Earths he discovered something even more surprising: for the first time in his life, he could stand up.It was legitimately weird, he said. Just the act of standing was probably almost as alien to me as floating in zero gravity.He was one of 12 disabled passengers who swam through the air aboard a parabolic flight in Southern California last Sunday in an experiment testing how people with disabilities fare in a zero-gravity environment. Parabolic flights, which fly within Earths atmosphere in alternating upward and downward arcs, allow passengers to experience zero gravity for repeated short bursts, and are a regular part of training for astronauts.The flight was organized by AstroAccess, a nonprofit initiative that aims to make spaceflight accessible to to all. Although about 600 people have been to space since the beginning of human spaceflight in the 1960s, NASA and other space agencies have long restricted the job of astronaut to a minuscule slice of humanity. The American agency initially only selected white, physically fit men to be astronauts and even when the agency broadened its criteria, it still only chose people that met certain physical requirements.ImageCredit...Al Powers/AstroAccess/Zero G CorporationThis blocked the path to space for many with disabilities, overlooking arguments that disabled people could make excellent astronauts in some cases.But the rise of private spaceflight, funded by billionaires with the support of government space agencies, is creating the possibility of allowing a much wider and more diverse pool of people to make trips to the edge of space and beyond. And those with disabilities are aiming to be included.The participants in Sundays AstroAccess flight argue that accessibility issues must be considered now at the advent of private space travel rather than later, because retrofitting equipment to be accessible would take more time and money.The Federal Aviation Administration is prohibited from creating safety regulations for private spaceflights until October 2023. Initiatives like AstroAccess are aiming to guide the way that government agencies think about accessibility on spaceflights.Its crucial that were able to get out ahead of that regulatory process and prevent misinformation or lack of information or lack of data from making bad regulation that would prevent someone with disability flying on one of these trips, Mr. Ingram said.The group also hopes that making everything accessible from the get-go could lead to new space innovations that are helpful for everyone, regardless of disability.ImageCredit...Al Powers/AstroAccess/Zero G CorporationFor example, Sawyer Rosenstein, another AstroAccess passenger, is quick to point out how the lightweight metal alloys used in his wheelchair are a byproduct of NASA innovations. Mr. Rosenstein, 27, has been paralyzed from the waist down since an injury in middle school.Barred from space itself, Mr. Rosenstein became a journalist who often reports on space, including for a podcast, Talking Space.During Sundays flight, Mr. Rosenstein wore a specially modified flight suit with a strap he could grab to bend his knees and maneuver his legs.I was in control of myself and my whole body, Mr. Rosenstein said. Its almost indescribable to have that freedom after having it taken away for so long.He also found he was more flexible in zero gravity, where he could finally test his full range of motion. And the chronic pain he usually experiences throughout his body disappeared during the flight, he said. Like Mr. Ingram, he also could stand up on his own. They both suggested that their experiences signal that zero gravity or reduced gravity could have potential therapeutic applications.With just a few modifications for each type of disability, Ann Kapusta, AstroAccesss mission and communications director, said the dozen participants in the flight had a roughly 90 percent success rate getting back to their seats after 15 tests 12 in zero gravity, two that mimicked lunar gravity and one that mimicked Martian gravity.AstroAccess conducted these tests each lasting 20 to 30 seconds to ensure that people with disabilities can go on a suborbital flight, like the one Jeff Bezos took in July, and safely get into their seats in the limited time before re-entry. This is typical training for suborbital flights, but not for orbital flights, which dont have the same time crunch before re-entry.ImageCredit...Spacex, via ReutersThe relative ease of the flight surprised some on the team, including Tim Bailey, the executive director of Yuris Night, a nonprofit organization focused on space education that sponsors AstroAccess. At first, he said he was concerned that people with disabilities were more fragile and would require extra medical precautions.My biggest takeaway from this is my initial reaction of, Oh my goodness, this is going to be hard, was wrong, he said. They didnt need a lot of extra stuff.But moving around the plane was not without some challenges, said Centra Mazyck, 45, who was injured and became partially paralyzed while serving as a member of the U.S. Armys 82nd Airborne Division.Its very hard because its like youre floating, youre light as a feather, she said. You dont know your strengths or your weaknesses.Sundays parabolic flight was reminiscent of one in 2007 with Stephen Hawking, the physicist, who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S. But unlike Dr. Hawkings flight, this one was geared toward researching the ability of disabled people to function independently in space and developing tools they could use to do so.In addition to modified spacesuits for mobility impaired passengers, researchers tested special lighting systems for deaf passengers and Braille and navigational devices for blind passengers.To navigate the plane as a blind person, Mona Minkara, 33, tested an ultrasonic device and a haptic, or vibrating, device, both of which signaled her as she approached the planes walls and other objects. But the most helpful device, she said, was the simplest: an extendable cane.What was surprising to me is at some points, I knew exactly where I was and how I was facing, she said.Dr. Minkara, a bioengineer at Northeastern University in Boston, pointed out that making spacecraft navigable for blind people would also help keep other astronauts safe if the lights go out during a spacecraft emergency.ImageCredit...Al Powers/AstroAccess/Zero G CorporationSome on Sundays flight once dreamed of becoming professional astronauts, and hope this research could open the door for other disabled people to get the job.The European Space Agency announced this year that it is accepting astronaut applications from those with leg amputations or who are especially short, and hopes to expand to include more types of disabilities in the future. Courtney Beasley, a spokeswoman for NASA, said the American agency is not currently considering changing its selection criteria.Some private space companies rules are more forgiving than those of government agencies. Although SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment, Hayley Arceneaux became the first person with a prosthetic to travel to orbit in September during the Inspiration4 flight aboard the companys Crew Dragon capsule.Axiom Space, which is booking flights on SpaceXs vehicle to the International Space Station, and Virgin Galactic, which flies a suborbital space plane, do not have a list of disqualifying conditions for astronauts, and say they consider accommodations on a case-by-case basis.Dr. Tarah Castleberry, the chief medical officer of Virgin Galactic, said the company will conduct medical screenings for each astronaut to ensure safety and is currently considering flying people who have prosthetics, hearing impairments, paralysis and other medical conditions and physical disabilities.ImageCredit...Al Powers/AstroAccess/Zero G CorporationBlue Origin, the company owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, said in a statement that passengers must meet its own list of functional requirements that may exclude blind, deaf or mobility-impaired individuals from flying.Apurva Varia, 48, is deaf and one of the people who would continue to be excluded by such rules.Space organizations told us that we cant go to space, but why? Show me proof, he said.In ninth grade, Mr. Varia recalls watching a space shuttle launch on TV. The channel didnt have closed captions, so Mr. Varia didnt understand what the shuttle was, or why people were sitting inside wearing orange suits. When the countdown hit zero, he said he was amazed to see it blast into the sky and disappear.Soon afterward, Mr. Varia wrote a letter to NASA asking if he could apply to be an astronaut. He got a reply saying that NASA couldnt accept deaf astronauts at the time.Mr. Varia went on to earn advanced engineering degrees and has worked for NASA for two decades to direct space missions and help design propulsion systems for satellites.On Sundays flight, he got a little closer to his dream. He found himself bumping into the walls and ceilings as he tried to sign in American Sign Language and attempted drinking a big, floating bubble of water, which splashed on his face.It was an out-of-this-world experience, he said. I hope to go to space someday. | science |
Knicks 117, Nuggets 90Credit...Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesFeb. 7, 2014Late in the first quarter, Coach Mike Woodson left his seat on the bench and stood with his arms folded as he surveyed a familiar scene: missed box-outs, errant passes, poor defensive rotations. What made the situation unusual was that Woodson seemed to delight in the mistakes, largely because the Denver Nuggets were making most of them.With the Knicks lurching toward the All-Star break, they finally unearthed some fluid play in a 117-90 victory Friday night at Madison Square Garden. The win ended a three-game losing streak and provided Woodson with a reprieve for a few hours, at least from questions about his future.Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points to lead the Knicks (20-30), who shot 56.5 percent from the field and outrebounded the Nuggets by 43-34. Amare Stoudemire finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds, and Jeremy Tyler added 12 points and 11 rebounds.We took a stand, J. R. Smith said. The communication level was extremely high.The Nuggets (24-24), on the other hand, looked as if they were wading through a vat of mud. They committed 24 turnovers and shot just 42.1 percent.I was surprised that we slowed them down as much as we did, Anthony said.It took the Knicks 50 games to crack the 20-win mark, but they somehow remain a viable contender for a playoff spot. This has less to do with them, of course, than with the failings of the Eastern Conference. Many teams besides the Knicks have been dreadful. The quest at this point is to see who can be less so.Consistency has been a major problem for the Knicks. Woodson has referred to the roller coaster, which looked like this ahead of Fridays game: win five, lose five, win four, lose three. As a result, Woodson recently downgraded the teams most pressing goal to merely making the playoffs. Once upon a time, he had hoped to win the Atlantic Division. Thats somewhat slipping away from us right now, he said before Fridays game.Amid all the struggles, Woodson has seldom lost his composure in public. He came close after Wednesdays loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, when he berated one of the referees as they left the court together. Then, in a radio appearance Thursday, Woodson assessed the season as kind of a disaster from a coaching standpoint, citing his inability to get his players to perform at a high level.We have to help him, too, Anthony said. At the end of the day, he is the coach. We have to go out there and execute that. Sometimes our inconsistency comes from us not playing hard and not doing the little things to win.Woodsons lengthy preamble to Fridays game included his usual appearance with the news media, and while he seldom looks comfortable in this sort of setting planted on a dais, under the lights, a table providing his only protection from the notebook-toting masses his most recent sessions have moved into a redundant theater of the absurd.On Friday, the question-and-answer period lasted 6 minutes 48 seconds, which was more than enough time for Woodson to address the teams playoff prospects (We still got to push), his job status (Thats not my call) and his general fitness for the position. At least Woodson was familiar with the questions. He began fielding similar ones in December.Im still the head coach of the Knicks, and I proudly say that, Woodson said as he gently tapped at the table. And I still have a job to do. Do I think Im the guy for the job? Absolutely, I do. Thats not going to ever change, as long as Im the head coach of the Knicks.Those interested in parsing his words were probably intrigued by his repeated use of the word still, which implied an understanding that nothing lasts forever. He could be gone tomorrow, or next week, or several seasons from now a fate to be determined by the Knicks owner, James L. Dolan, who observed Fridays game from his seat along the baseline.Dolan was treated to another strong effort by Anthony, who made four of his first five shots. (Anthony played down a report of a recent meeting with Dolan, describing it as an informal chat. I had tea, Anthony said.)Tyler came off the bench to spark the Knicks in the second quarter, racing to the rim for an open-court dunk. Raymond Felton and Anthony later drained consecutive 3-pointers as the Knicks scored the final 9 points of the half for a 50-44 lead. Woodson credited an energetic practice on Thursday.We went after it, Anthony said. We got some things out of that practice.The Knicks continued to build on their advantage in the third quarter, with Anthony at the center of it all. He buried a midrange jumper, connected on one of his four 3-pointers and later worked his way past a series of defenders for a 3-point play and an 83-66 cushion.Anthony started the fourth quarter on the bench and remained there. Like Woodson, he could enjoy the view. | Sports |
Credit...Josh Haner/The New York TimesFeb. 20, 2014SOCHI, Russia Gracie Gold, an 18-year-old American who placed fourth in womens figure skating Thursday, said she knew the competition would be fierce. Based on international rankings, she was not necessarily a medal favorite going in. But with the surprising tumbles of Yulia Lipnitskaya of Russia and Mao Asada of Japan in the short program, Gold had to feel as if she could make the podium.I felt like I had a shot at a medal, said Gold, who was fourth going into Thursdays free skate. But being points behind the women, and knowing that they skated really well, I sort of let go of those expectations of getting a medal and I just skated for myself and I just skated the best program that I could.Adelina Sotnikova of Russia delivered a sophisticated performance to win the gold medal.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesSlide 1 of 15 Adelina Sotnikova of Russia delivered a sophisticated performance to win the gold medal.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesI pretty much knew that I was going to come in fourth, but then I said, Im fourth at the Olympic Games. What are you talking about? Why is that disappointing?Gold, the reigning American champion, who skated to Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky for her long program Thursday, was the top American in the event. One of her teammates, Ashley Wagner, placed seventh, and another, Polina Edmunds, was ninth.Gold has battled confidence issues, but her investment in improving her on-ice psyche paid off this week.Some American fourth-place Olympic finishers in figure skating have used the position as a launch pad. Evan Lysacek placed fourth at the 2006 Turin Games before seizing the gold medal in Vancouver in 2010. Sasha Cohen finished fourth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games before winning a silver medal in 2006.There are tons of great names who have gotten fourth at their first Olympics, Gold said. And they just kept with it for the next quad.She added, Im among good company.Gold was already off the ice and calmly answering questions in a Team USA track jacket as Kim Yu-na of South Korea, favored to win the gold, finished her free skate. Gold was not interested in watching Kim or any of her other competition. Im kind of enjoying my experience, she said.When Kims score was announced and it was clear Kim would have to settle for silver, Russias surprise Olympic champion, Adelina Sotnikova, bolted down the corridor, yelps of joy in Russian echoing around the walls as she darted toward her coaches in tears.Gold, with a stoic smile, calmly walked back to the athletes area, not a hair out of place in her blond bun. She exchanged hugs and looked relieved that the anxiety of an Olympic debut was behind her.She said she planned to vie for a spot on the American team for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.The next quad should be really interesting, Gold said. And really fun. | Sports |
on techThe congressional antitrust hearing showed that concerns about the tech stars arent going away.Credit...Ari MelencianoJuly 30, 2020This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it weekdays.Wednesdays five-plus-hour congressional probing of the bosses of Americas tech giants did not reveal a singular gotcha moment or smoking gun email. Weve heard many of these examples of Big Tech abuse before.But the power of this hearing and others like it was the cumulative repetition of tales of abusive behavior, and evidence of the harm this has had on peoples lives. The spectacle also showed that the impact of congressional investigations is the digging that happens when the C-SPAN cameras are turned off.Worries about Americas tech stars have swirled for years. Its clear now that this isnt going away. In world capitals, courtrooms and among the public, we are wrestling with what it means for tech giants to have enormous influence on our lives, elections, economy and minds.And while what happens to the future of Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook is anyones guess, it was clear from Wednesdays hearing that Congress was pointing the way for other branches of government to pick up the digging from here. We saw on Wednesday old emails and texts from Mark Zuckerberg, worried about Facebook losing ground to Instagram and suggesting that buying competing apps is an effective way to take out the competition. The big deal here: Trying to reduce competition by purchasing a rival is a violation of antitrust law. (Zuckerberg said that Instagrams success wasnt assured when Facebook bought it.)Representatives said that their interviews with former Amazon employees backed up news reports that the company used private data from its merchants to make its own version of their products. The subcommittee discussed their conversations with companies that claimed Google funneled web searches to services it owned rather than to rivals like Yelp. Through company documents and questioning, members of Congress picked apart Apples stance that it treats all app developers the same. My colleague Kevin Roose wrote that the tech bosses seemed to be taken off guard by the rigor and depth of the questions they faced. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are also investigating whether these companies abuse their power, and I bet they watched closely. The U.S. governments antitrust case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago was built, in part, on the emails of Bill Gates and other Microsoft executives discussing how they planned to kill upstart competitors.Heres one more sign that the backlash against Big Tech has only just begun: The shouty tech critics in Congress and the tech bosses all seemed to agree that these four companies have a meaningful impact on many peoples lives. The tech bosses focused on the good that comes from their companies size, reach and influence. A New York bakery finds customers by buying advertisements on Google. Merchants can thrive by selling their products or apps on Amazon or Apple.The representatives pointed out examples of the dark side of Big Techs size, reach and influence. In the pin drop moment of the hearing, a House member played an audio recording of a book seller saying her family was struggling because of a change Amazon apparently made that dried up her sales there.The subcommittee chairman said these tech powers can pick the winners and the losers. That might be stretching it. But both sides demonstrated that these four companies have a profound say in who wins or loses.Lawmakers of all political stripes seemed uncomfortable with the knowledge that four companies have this much influence. Beyond the legal antitrust questions at issue, its this feeling of discomfort that makes it hard to imagine that nothing will change for these tech superpowers.Another theme: anti-conservative biasWednesdays hearing was really two hearings. The Democrats mostly asked the four tech chief executives about ways their companies wielded their power and influence. Republican members largely asked about persistent concerns that Google and Facebook in particular censor right-leaning viewpoints or treat conservative figures unfairly.Some Republican politicians complaints about political bias arent backed by credible evidence. Regardless, suspicion of bias is a thorny problem for these companies.In a 2018 Pew Research survey, Americans who described themselves as Republicans or Republican-leaning overwhelmingly said that they believed that tech companies censor online information for partisan reasons. (A smaller, but still majority, share of Democrats said that they believed this, too.) Since then, polling has shown a growing mistrust of tech companies, particularly among conservatives.This doesnt seem to have hurt the tech companies businesses. In fact, some Republican members on Wednesday argued that even though people dont trust Big Tech, they have no choice but to continue using these services because these companies have so much influence. It was an effective way to connect bias concerns to investigations into tech company market power. (Yes, I said earlier this week not to pay attention to bias claims. But maybe pay attention a little?) Even if allegations of bias dont cause the companies to lose customers, the loss of faith among a large share of Americans should worry them. Its also a problem if the tech companies overcorrect. Facebook employees and critics have said fears of being accused of bias have made the company reluctant to crack down on people, including President Trump, who spread dangerous or inflammatory messages online. Its a fine line to walk. Before we go The really important stuff from the Big Tech hearing: House plants and bookshelves. My colleague Mike Isaac rated the tech bosses choices of backgrounds for their webcast testimony. Mike gave Amazons Jeff Bezos, who sat in front of wooden shelves with a sprinkling of books and tchotchkes, a score of 8 out of 10 for his cool Pacific Northwest dad office vibes.Example infinity of technology as a flawed virus surveillance: A Wall Street Journal technology columnist reviewed smart watches, internet-connected thermometers and other gizmos that say our heart rate readings or other bodily data can provide early warnings of coronavirus infections. Spoiler alert: Some of this stuff holds promise but needs further research, and we still need more laboratory virus testing.If you feel like screaming when you watch TV: Rolling Stone has a hilarious and smart rage fest on why the video streaming services can be so infuriating to use.Hugs to thisBest wishes forever to this tiny rabbit peeking out of a canvas bag.We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else youd like us to explore. You can reach us at [email protected]. If you dont already get this newsletter in your inbox, please sign up here. | Tech |
Credit...Nick Cote for The New York TimesMarch 7, 2016Marty and Matt Reiswig, two brothers in Denver, knew that Alzheimers disease ran in their family, but neither of them understood why. Then a cousin, Gary Reiswig, whom they barely knew, wrote a book about their family, The Thousand Mile Stare.When the brothers read it, they realized what they were facing.In the extended Reiswig family, Alzheimers disease is not just a random occurrence. It results from a mutated gene that is passed down from parent to child.If you inherit the mutated gene, Alzheimers will emerge at around age 50 with absolute certainty. Your child has a 50-50 chance of suffering the same fate.The revelation came as a shock. And so did the next one: The brothers learned that there is a blood test that can reveal whether one carries the mutated gene. They could decide to know if they had it. Or not.Its a dilemma more people are facing as scientists discover more genetic mutations linked to diseases. Often the newly discovered gene increases risk, but does not guarantee it.Sometimes knowing can be useful: If you have a gene mutation that makes colon cancer much more likely , for example, then frequent colonoscopies may help doctors stave off trouble.But then there are genes that make a dreaded disease a certainty: There is no way to prevent it, and no way to treat it.Marty Reiswig, 37, saw his father, now in the final stages of Alzheimers, slowly lose his ability to think, to remember, to care for himself, or even to recognize his wife and sons.Mr. Reiswig knows that if he has the gene, he has perhaps a bit more than a decade before the first symptoms appear. If he has it, his two young children may have it, too.He wavers about getting tested.Sometimes I think, This is a terrible storm on the horizon that could absolutely devastate us, and I want to know if it is real or not. Other times I say, Gosh, if I do find out that it is real and I know I will die that way and I know probably the age I will die that is an almost unbearable amount of information about my future.People say you could go sky diving or ride a bull. But you can only do things like that as long as time and income provide. You still have to get up in the morning and go to work and pay your bills.He joined a study at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in which researchers are following members of families with the genes for early-onset Alzheimers disease. At a recent meeting, he recalled, he found himself in a room full of people like himself: All had a parent with an Alzheimers gene.All were at risk of having the mutated gene themselves.Mr. Reiswig asked the group, How many have been tested?Half raised their hands.Of those of you who have been tested, how many regret it?He was met with ominous silence.Then a man spoke up. He said he had been tested and learned he has the gene.As for regrets, it depends on the day, the man said. I have battled weight issues and the suicide issue, and I have had problems with my marriage ever since I found out. Some days I really regret it. It is a huge burden. Other days I am glad I know.Mr. Reiswig has been thinking it over. He has decided not to be tested.For me, the return is not worth the investment, he said.His 41-year-old brother Matt, who lives nearby with his wife and five children, was plagued by the fear that he had the mutated gene. Every time he lost his keys or forgot a name, he thought: Alzheimers.I was already living every single day, every single moment assuming I had it, he said. I did not want to find out I have it. I wanted to find out I dont have it.He decided to have the test.To me, it is just so obvious, he said. Worrying about what the truth is is far more damaging, and it doesnt change the conclusions.Knowing the truth, he added, frees you from making the wrong assumptions.Matt Reiswig got lucky. He does not have the gene. He wept when he got the news, thinking of all the time and energy he had spent thinking he had it. All the emotional heartache.His cousin Brian Whitney, 43, was not as fortunate.His father has the gene and has Alzheimers. When he was 40, Mr. Whitney, who lives in Manson, Wash., decided to have the test, telling himself that he had to know for the sake of his family, and especially his 2-year-old daughter.Would she have to watch him start to lose his memory when she was just 10? Would she have to see him die? Might he have passed the gene on to her?If he had the gene, he told himself, he would volunteer for research studies; he would do anything he could to help scientists understand the disease and treat it, if not for his sake then for his daughters.Mr. Whitneys test came back positive. He has the gene. He thought he was prepared, but nothing really prepares a person to hear such news.On good days, he almost manages to forget about what is coming; on bad days, it is all he thinks about. Hes entered a clinical trial: A nurse comes to his house each month to inject him with an experimental drug. It has become a monthly reminder of the future.Friends have said to him that they cannot understand why he put himself through the torture of knowing, not to mention getting a drug that might make matters worse, for all anyone knows.I shake my head and say: You have no idea what you are talking about. My only control is being involved in research. Live my life and have my family history before you judge me. | Health |
Credit...Ko Sasaki for The New York TimesMarch 17, 2017TOKYO The Japanese government and the electric utility that operated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were negligent in not preventing the meltdowns in 2011 that forced thousands of people to flee the area, a district court in eastern Japan ruled on Friday.It was the first time that a court determined that both the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, and the government bore responsibility for the nuclear disaster that followed a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The decision could influence dozens of similar lawsuits filed by close to 12,000 evacuated residents now living across the country.According to Japanese news reports of the ruling by the Maebashi District Court in Gunma Prefecture, the court said that the disaster, considered the worst nuclear calamity since Chernobyl in 1986, was predictable and that it was possible to prevent the accident.The court ordered the government and Tepco to pay damages totaling 38 million yen, or about $335,000, to 62 residents who were evacuated from the towns around the Fukushima plant and who relocated to Gunma. Each was awarded a different amount, but the total worked out to an average of $5,400 a person.In their lawsuit, 137 former residents had sued for damages of 11 million, about $97,000, per person, and the court awarded damages to half the plaintiffs. About half of them had left on government evacuation orders while the other half had decided to leave on their own. Each case was evaluated individually.The court weighed whether Tepco and the government had paid adequate damages to the nearly 160,000 people who evacuated from the towns around Fukushima. About 90,000 people have returned or settled in other places, and Tepco has already paid about 7 trillion in compensation.In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs said that the central government and Tepco should have foreseen the possibility of a tsunami of the magnitude that hit the plant and that they should have done more to protect the plant.The March 11, 2011, meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi, which is on the eastern coast of Japan, occurred when 32-foot waves breached the power stations protective sea walls, flooding buildings and destroying diesel-powered electricity generators that were designed to keep critical systems functioning in a blackout.Tepco did not deny responsibility in a statement on Friday.We again apologize from the bottom of our hearts for giving great troubles and concerns to the residents of Fukushima and other people in society by causing the accident of the nuclear power station of our company, Isao Ito, a spokesman, said. Regarding todays judgment given at the Maebashi local court today, we would like to consider how to respond to this after examining the content of the judgment.Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet minister to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told reporters that the government had yet to see the details of the ruling.The concerned ministries and agencies are going to thoroughly examine the content of the judgment and discuss how we will respond to it, Mr. Suga said.Analysts said the case appeared to set an important precedent.Tepcos argument all along has basically been that everything it did before the accident had been approved by the government, while the government has claimed that Tepco failed to follow guidance, said Azby Brown, director of the Future Design Institute at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology and a volunteer researcher with Safecast, an independent radiation-monitoring group.This suit seems to have concluded that the evidence shows they share culpability, he said. I expect the government and Tepco to appeal, and for this to drag on for years.Izutaro Managi, a lawyer representing another class-action lawsuit against the government and Tepco, said that the government had failed in its oversight responsibilities. He said the damages were not big enough.Representatives of groups that have sued the government and Tepco for negligence said they were more interested in the principle of the case than the amount of compensation awarded.The money is not a problem, said Koichi Muramatsu, 66, a former resident of Soma City in Fukushima and the secretary of a victims group representing 4,200 plaintiffs in the suit being handled by Mr. Managi. Even if its 1,000 or 2,000, its fine. We just want the government to admit their responsibility. Our ultimate goal is to make the government admit their responsibility and remind them not to repeat the same accident.In a statement, Katsumasa Suzuki, the chief lawyer for the plaintiffs, called the ruling significant because it legally reconfirmed that government regulation was inappropriate.But he said he was disappointed by the low total of the damages.It is largely questionable whether the mental distress the plaintiffs faced was adequately evaluated, he said. | World |
Credit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesFeb. 21, 2014KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia Mikaela Shiffrin, the 18-year-old wunderkind of ski racing, is a product of a countercultural movement in American youth sports, an initiative of parents who encourage their children to focus on the process of athletic achievement instead of the results. In theory, both the journey and the destination are enhanced.Shiffrin, the most precocious ski racer the United States has produced, believed and preached the doctrine, even as she became the youngest slalom world champion a year ago.Then, on Friday night, Shiffrin skied to a commanding lead at the halfway point of the womens Olympic slalom competition. The gold medal was hers to lose. Riding the chairlift for the second run, which would complete her coronation as ski racings newest queen, Shiffrin started to cry.I might actually be an Olympic champion, she gasped.Minutes later, roaring down the racecourse, she could not get the gold medal out of her mind. Shiffrin was on the verge of crashing, one ski airborne, her arms flailing.Her coach was sure the race was lost. Her mother wondered if she would have a heart attack. The racer relied on the process.Ive made that recovery in practice a hundred times, if not more, Shiffrin said later. So I said, You know what to do charge back into the course.About 25 rapid and nearly flawless turns later, Shiffrin sped past the finish line to become the youngest Olympic slalom champion. She is the first American to win the event in 42 years.You can create your own miracle, Shiffrin said when the gold medal was on a sash draped around her neck. But you do it by never looking past all the little steps along the way.Shiffrin, with a winning time of 1 minute 44.54 seconds, was 0.53 of a second better than her childhood idol, Marlies Schild of Austria, who won the silver medal. Schilds teammate Kathrin Zettel won the bronze.In skiing circles, Shiffrin has been considered a prodigy and called the Mozart of ski racing since she was 12. Lately, she has been called the next Lindsey Vonn, a reference to the American Olympic champion of four years ago, who is sitting out the Sochi Games with a knee injury. If Fridays outcome was a passing of the torch, it will be no surprise to most of the worldwide ski community.Mikaela is going to win many, many races; Im sure this is only the beginning, said Maria Hfl-Riesch, the defending Olympic slalom champion, who finished a whopping 1.19 seconds behind Shiffrin. She is a tremendous skier for someone so very young and very mentally tough.Shiffrin is from a ski racing family that twice moved back and forth from Colorado to New England to help foster the ambitions of Mikaela and her older brother, Taylor. Fridays performance was a validation of a distinctive homegrown approach.Her parents were her first coaches and remained involved in her tutoring on snow until she was 11. They then sought a guru at a ski academy who was in accord with their developmental theories. When Shiffrin went on the World Cup tour at age 15, her mother, Eileen, went with her against the wishes of the countrys top ski authorities. Mother and daughter continue to travel together.Along the way, Shiffrin has racked up victories and become almost as famous for her ability to win with a demeanor and poise uncommon for a teenager.It was all on display again on her sports biggest stage in the mountains north of Sochi. Even in the usually antsy hours before her race, Shiffrin was at ease.She may have been waiting all her young life for Fridays race, but her day began typically. She ate breakfast with her parents and briefly wandered the United States ski teams hotel, where there are common areas for the athletes to gather and connect.Shiffrin came across members of the Nordic combined team, who stenciled a red, white and blue USA in temporary paint on her neck. She had lunch in a noisy cafeteria with glass walls that overlooked the snowy slopes, and then, with fans around the world agog in anticipation of the showcase event for the sports newest star, Shiffrin took a nap.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesShiffrin is renowned for being able to snooze at midday anywhere. At her first major junior championship, she had to be awakened minutes before what became a record-setting run.On Friday it was the Winter Olympics. Shiffrin slept.Perhaps that is why she looked so at peace several hours later as she pushed out of the gate for the first run, which she dominated, taking nearly a half-second lead in an event often decided by hundredths of a second.Shiffrin led the field at every timed interval down the racecourse, which drops about 600 feet top to bottom.In the second run, many of the top medal contenders faltered. Shiffrin did, too, but survived her misstep to attack the course anew.Even with a major mistake, Shiffrin, the worlds best slalom skier since she was a high school junior, outclassed the competition.Eileen Shiffrin said of her daughter: She is a gifted slalom skier. If you watch, it is really pretty skiing.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesMikaela Shiffrins success comes from neither extraordinary strength nor speed, although she works out for several hours daily. She is admired for the purity and simplicity of her form as she descends a mountain. And she knows ski racing tactics.When Shiffrin saw that the slalom gates were set up to be roughly 9 to 10 meters apart instead of the usual World Cup distance of 10 to 11 meters, she had a plan.It just means you have to move your feet quicker, she said. And that makes you faster.In the end, racing down the icy pitch here under floodlights and before a grandstand of 18,000, Shiffrin still had time to look back on the whole process of her ski racing career.You think of so many things that led to this moment, she said. I think thats why I started to cry on the chairlift.But Shiffrin stayed true to her roots.It is still about the process of a ski race, she said late Friday, standing near the slalom finish. No matter what else was happening, I kept thinking that I had to keep my skis moving down the hill. Keep going, dont quit, dont stop.Shiffrin smiled.As if she were the living proof of a theory, she added, Then see what happens. | Sports |
Credit...James Hill for The New York TimesFeb. 10, 2014SOCHI, Russia Old Men Winter will descend on the Sochi Games this week, leaving the mens ice hockey tournament with a dusting of gray. The 12-team competition features five players in their 40s, including Petr Nedved of the Czech Republic and Sandis Ozolinsh of Latvia, who bumped into each other in the athletes village the other day at that soda fountain of youth, McDonalds.So much for getting more mileage out of ones athletic career through clean fuels. But then, the presence at these Olympics of Ozolinsh, 41; Nedved, 42; his teammate Jaromir Jagr, 41; the Swede Daniel Alfredsson, 41; and the Finn Teemu Selanne, 43, owes little to virtuous planning.Selanne and Alfredsson considered retirement last summer, and when Selanne squinted at the horizon, Raimo Helminens Olympic record of six hockey appearances did not appear within his grasp. Absolutely not, Selanne said, laughing. I was thinking Vancouver in 2010 has to be my last.Nedved, seven years removed from the N.H.L. and playing for a club team in the Czech Extraliga, harbored no expectations of becoming the first hockey player with a 20-year gap between Olympics. It didnt even cross my mind that this could happen, he said.Ozolinsh, happily retired from the N.H.L. and Latvias national team, never dreamed he would be his countrys flag-bearer in the opening ceremony. There were no future plans to participate in the Olympics, he said.ImageCredit...Roman Vondrous/CTK via AP ImagesNor did Jagr expect to land here as the Devils leader in goals and points. For all five, the 2014 Olympics happened while they were busy making other plans.Playing on this level after 40, I guess were lucky or good, but were here, Nedved said.On Sunday afternoon, Nedved was eagerly awaiting the arrival the next day of Jagr, a good friend with whom he played in Pittsburgh for two years in the 1990s, and his 16 other teammates who are also in the league.A few minutes before the eight Czechs not in the N.H.L. took the ice for an hourlong practice, the Bolshoi Ice Dome was alive with the sounds of I Love It, a hit by the Swedish duo Icona Pop. The song contains this line, sanitized so it is Olympic family-friendly: Youre from the 70s but Im a 90s chick.For Nedved, the reminders of his age are everywhere. One of his Olympic team members, the Tampa Bay Lightning rookie forward Ondrej Palat, was born in March 1991, nine months after Nedved was drafted second over all by the Vancouver Canucks. On the team back home, we have a kid thats 16, Nedved said. That could have been my own.And it must be said, his stiffness every morning cannot be blamed on the villages twin beds. I have to get up a little earlier to get loose, Nedved said, adding, I get up the same way as my dog.ImageCredit...Jim Mcisaac/Getty ImagesIn 1994, Nedved was 22, the same age as Palat now, when he represented Canada at the Lillehammer Games. He had defected five years earlier from what was then Czechoslovakia while playing in a small tournament in Calgary, Alberta.The Canadians advanced to the gold medal game, where they lost to Sweden in a shootout. Nedved, a 6-foot-3 center, collected five goals and six points in eight games, and then got on with his N.H.L. career, which lasted 15 seasons and included two stints with the Rangers. In 2007, Nedved retired from the N.H.L. and returned home to play in the Czech Extraliga.For the last four, five years, I was thinking one season at a time, Nedved said. I found the drive and the passion for the game, so I just kept going.Nedveds plans are to bow out at the end of this season. If this is indeed his curtain call, he is luxuriating in the house lights. He has collected 44 points in 44 games for the Liberec White Tigers, prompting Jagr to recently suggest, He might be the best player on our team.Nedved marched in the opening ceremony, an experience he missed in 1994. It was unbelievable, he said.ImageCredit...Jae C. Hong/Associated PressTell Ozolinsh about it. After missing the opening ceremony in 2002 and 2006 because of his N.H.L. commitments, Ozolinsh, a 6-3 defenseman, led his country into Fisht Olympic Stadium carrying Latvias flag. It was like being crowned homecoming king at your first high school dance.Ozolinsh, a seven-time All-Star and a Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche, left the N.H.L. in 2008. His marriage was crumbling, and he was trying to keep his vow of sobriety after a stint in the leagues substance abuse program, following a drunken-driving arrest in 2006. I was not psychologically, mentally, ready to be on the ice and play and enjoy it, said Ozolinsh, who stuffed his equipment in a bag and stashed it away for a year.He skied and worked on his golf game. (He is the owner of his countrys first 18-hole course, in his hometown, Riga.) Ozolinsh also began work toward an undergraduate degree in business through an online program offered by the University of Phoenix. He chose that route, he said, because he considered himself too old to be sharing a classroom with teenagers.In the summer of 2009, Ozolinsh returned to hockey. He signed a contract to play in the Kontinental Hockey League with his hometown team, and he found himself sharing the ice with teenagers, some of whom were not much older than the elder of his two sons, who is 19.ImageCredit...Chris O'Meara/Associated PressIt took a lot longer to get back into playing shape than I actually thought it would, Ozolinsh said.He was coaxed back to the national team last year to help his country qualify for these Games. I did it because I thought I can be of use in the qualifying tournament, Ozolinsh said. Three games, and that was it. I did not think of the future, how its going to be, how its going to work out, whether Im going to the Olympics or not.He said he did not make himself available, if needed, for these Games until November. Im at the age where Im not really sure how Im going to play, Ozolinsh explained. Am I going to be able to physically keep up or how its going to work out. Im in the best shape that I can be at my age. Thats all.Asked if he was looking forward to seeing players whose paths he crossed in the N.H.L., Ozolinsh laughed. I dont know the players anymore, he said. I know more in management. Its odd, honestly.Although he could not have plotted the path that brought him here, he is happy to have taken it. I love the game, Ozolinsh said. I enjoy every minute, even the bad days. He laughed.Its not just being on the ice for the game, he added. Its being off the ice, in the locker room, in practice. Im really enjoying the whole process.The one thing Old Men Winter share, besides a 1970s birth date, is a passion for the game.In 2002, Selanne was playing in his third Olympics and his countryman Helminen, then 37, in his sixth. I remember saying, I cant believe theres a grandpa playing in this tournament, Selanne said.Fourteen years later, his teammates are saying the same thing about Selanne, a 6-foot right wing.Very thankful Ive been able to play so many years and especially enjoy it, said Selanne, who was named Finlands captain Monday. Thats the only reason Im still around. | Sports |
Space & Cosmos|How much does a ticket to space on New Shepard cost? Blue Origin isnt saying.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/13/science/space/blue-origin-ticket-cost.htmlHow much does a ticket to space on New Shepard cost? Blue Origin isnt saying.Oct. 13, 2021, 11:12 a.m. ETOct. 13, 2021, 11:12 a.m. ETCredit...Blue OriginBlue Origin has declined to publicly state a price for a ticket to fly on New Shepard. The company is nearing $100 million in sales so far, Mr. Bezos has said. But its unclear how many ticket holders that includes.We dont know quite yet when Blue Origin will publicly announce a price, Mr. Bezos told reporters in July after his flight to space. Right now were doing really well with private sales.Oliver Daemen, the Dutch teenager aboard Blue Origins first crewed flight in July, was occupying a seat that the company auctioned off for $28 million, a steep number that even shocked some company executives. Of that total, $19 million was donated equally to 19 space organizations.Mr. Daemen, 18, wasnt the winning bidder. His father, a private equity executive, was the runner-up in the auction and was next in line after the actual winner. That individual, who has not been named, plunked down $28 million before postponing their trip over a scheduling conflict, Blue Origin said at the time.Tickets to the edge of space on Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo were hiked to $450,000 in August, from $250,000, when the company reopened ticket sales after a yearslong hiatus.Flights to orbit a much higher altitude than Blue Origin or Virgin Galactics trips go are far more expensive. Three passengers to the International Space Station next year are paying $55 million each for their seats on a SpaceX rocket, bought through the company Axiom Space.Many wealthy customers and space company executives see the steep ticket prices as early investments into the nascent space tourism industry, hoping the money they put down can help lower the cost of launching rockets. | science |
SAG Awards 2018 Ladies Ditch the Black Outfits ... Still Boast 'Time's Up' 1/21/2018 Early arrivals for the 24th annual SAG Awards were quite telling ... 'cause a lot of the women appear to have abandoned the blackout for "Time's Up." It was obvious Sunday as celebs made their way to the Shrine Auditorium that many of the ladies decided against wearing black in support of the movement -- unlike the Golden Globes a few weeks ago, when the blackout was practically unanimous. Some of the stars who avoided black wardrobe so far include Alison Brie, Erin Lim, Renee Bargh, Giuliana Rancic, Lilliana Vazquez, and Keltie Knight. What's interesting ... a lot of red carpet personalities are talking "Time's Up" and speculating it'll be a major conversation piece throughout the night. No major speeches on the subject just yet ... but it's probably only a matter of time. | Entertainment |
DealBook|In New Tack in Gun Debate, a Call to Investigate Smith & Wessons Disclosureshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/business/dealbook/in-new-tack-in-gun-debate-a-call-to-investigate-smith-wessons-disclosures.htmlCredit...Luke Sharrett for The New York TimesDec. 14, 2015The New York City public advocate on Monday asked federal regulators to investigate whether the gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson had made adequate disclosures in its financial statements.In an eight-page letter, the public advocate, Letitia James, said the Securities and Exchange Commission should examine whether Smith & Wesson misrepresented or omitted information about how often its products are involved in crimes and what it has done to keep its guns out of the hands of criminals.Shareholders would want to know whether Smith & Wesson faced heightened regulatory scrutiny or significant litigation risk, Ms. James said in the letter.Nearly two weeks ago, a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., left 14 people dead and provoked a fresh outcry about gun violence in America. It also is the third anniversary of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults.With the increase in mass shootings, public concern about the proliferation of firearms has animated a national dialogue about gun control measures, interstate gun trafficking, and whether gun manufacturers should take additional steps to ensure that their products do not end up in the hands of criminals, the letter says. Smith & Wesson knows that it is at risk of grave reputational harm.Ms. James is opening a new avenue in her fight against gun sellers and makers. Earlier this month, she called on TD Bank, a big lender, to stop financing Smith & Wesson. This summer, she convinced the New York City Employee Retirement System, the citys largest pension fund, to explore divesting itself of its holdings of gun retailers like Walmart and Dicks Sporting Goods.Smith & Wesson, based in Springfield, Mass., is one of the countrys largest gun makers, and in a securities filing says it makes 50 percent of all the revolvers owned in the United States. The company did not respond to a request for comment.Large United States pension funds have used similar tactics to push big energy companies to disclose more about their climate change-related risks, including spending on Arctic drilling and Canadian oil sands projects. Exxon Mobil is facing new legal challenges by those who argue it should have acted earlier to address the risks of climate change.Guns could be the next focus of such shareholder efforts, though there were no new gun-related proposals submitted for the 2015 annual shareholder proxies last spring, nor any yet for 2016, according to Institutional Shareholder Services.A 2014 proposal for the Walmart annual proxy submitted by Trinity Church of New York focused on the retailers sale of semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. The S.E.C. allowed Walmart to keep it off its proxy that year. The church sued to keep it in, but lost on appeal and recently withdrew a request to the United States Supreme Court to hear the matter. | Business |
Global ManagerDec. 6, 2015 Tjin Lee is co-founder and managing director of Mercury Marketing & Communications, an events and public relations company in Singapore. Q. What prompted you to go out on your own when you set up your company in 2000? A. Id worked in public relations and advertising for Club21, a luxury [fashion] retailer, and when I started, it all sounded very glamorous, lots of parties to help organize, but after six years it felt all a bit too cyclical: spring, summer, autumn, winter. I really wanted to do more than fashion, and I thought I would also have more freedom being my own boss. So I decided to join forces with two of my former colleagues who had already left the firm. We each put down $10,000. Q. How difficult were those early years? A. Knowing what I know now, I really dont know what we were thinking about. We were three creatives with no angel money and no business plan. None of us really knew how to pitch a client. I think we were drawn by the allure of flexible hours, having your own time, being your own boss, and we really didnt know what we were getting ourselves in. It was not as mainstream then as entrepreneurship is now. Social and digital media have really opened that up, with people sharing freely and more openly their experiences, not just their success but also the blood and sweat.In our case, the first couple of years were very slow and my two partners decided to leave. That was actually a gut-wrenching experience because they left right after we had landed the contract for the Singapore Fashion Festival. It was a 16-day event with 18 shows, an exhibition from London with Zandra Rhodes, a talk with Christopher Bailey. I was one person with a receptionist and an intern, and I just had to soldier on. Those first few years were very difficult. I was bringing in nice revenues, but profits were very slim. In retrospect, I realize I didnt have the necessary skills to make it work. When I see those inspiration quotes like All you need is passion and hard work, I think, What a lot of rubbish. If you think thats all youre going to need, youre very nave. Ive set up nine businesses now, and its never just about that. Q. So what does it take? A. Not everybody is born equipped with every skill. I think every new business needs their ABC: an Angel, a Business Manager and a Creative. Cash flow is a big issue when youre a young business, and many people underestimate how much theyre going to need. They think putting $50,000 is enough three months operating costs and by then I should get revenues but collection might be late and you might not get the necessary cash flow to pay your bills. Q. In 2010 you took on a new business partner to help you, giving up 50 percent of your business. Was it a difficult decision to make? A. I was generating $10 million in revenues a year, but profit was a pittance. So I thought, I can keep all this for myself and make very little, or I can bring in a partner. He promised me he would more than double my profit in a year. Q. In writing? A. No, but I trusted him and I havent regretted that decision. For me its better to be a smaller part in something bigger than a big part in something very small. I think a lot of small businesses die because they dont know how to bring in the right partner or they dont know how to let go. Q. Now you lead a team of about 60 people. What makes a good leader? A. A good leader is a good listener. For me, its not about walking in front of people and they follow behind you, but its having people walking alongside you. I like a very flat hierarchy. I dont have a glass office I like to sit in the bull pit and hear everything around me. I want people to be open with their feedback. I have convictions, but I also listen if someone has a better idea. You engage people, and you need to trust them and empower them. Q. Have you had business failures? A. There have been many low points. I guess its a question of how you define failure. If I think about it, I dont think of them as failures, but as lessons. Ive had one business that didnt work out, a kids photography studio. I was working with a great creative photographer and I was the angel, but we had no one to run the business. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldnt have let her run the business alone. She could set up a website, but she couldnt handle the customer queries. When I watched it fail, I couldnt understand: It had investment, great talent, it should have worked. By the time I finally hired a B (business manager), the C (creative) was too far gone, she was too disillusioned and she didnt want to do it anymore and gave up. She was the heart of the business, so it failed. Q. What skills came in handy when you started your business? A. I wouldnt call it a skill, but I was very resilient. Im very optimistic, a bit like Joy in the film Inside Out: Look at this, look at that, its going to be great. I think when the team needs a motivator, thats me. Im always the person seeing the glass half full. | Business |
1 In the rails section, Kotsenburg performs a hand drag maneuver called the layback slide, which mimics a surfers hand going in the water. Composite image by The New York Times 2 Kotsenburg begins the sequence with a short half-cab leap, then goes into the layback slide. He finishes by continuing to spin for another 180 degrees. Composite image by The New York Times 3 In his first jump, a cab double 1260, he incorporates a hold called the Holy Crail, grabbing the board first with his trailing arm, and then with his other arm at the top of the board. Javier Soriano/Agence France-Presse Getty Images 4 People do the Holy Crail grab for fun on a straight air in the park because its creative, its different, its unique," said Mike Jankowski, head U.S. Olympic snowboard coach. "But to be able to do itwith a full cab 1260 in an Olympic run is somethingthat only Sage can do. Composite image by The New York Times 5 For his final jump, Kotsenburg performed a backside 1620 Japan, a rare move that he said he decided to try about three minutes before his run. Composite image by The New York Times 6 The Canadian Mark McMorris, a favorite to win, came in third. In his first run, he fell on the landing of his second jump. Dylan Martinez/Reuters, Javier Soriano/Agence France-Presse Getty Images 7 In his second run, McMorris executed two triple corks, moves that were expected to be key to winning the gold medal. By Nancy Donaldson, Tom Giratikanon, Mika Grndahl, Jon Huang, Alicia Parlapiano, Sergio Peanha, Bedel Saget, Archie Tse and Joe Ward | Sports |
Credit...Max Ortiz/The Detroit News, via Associated PressNov. 5, 2018WASHINGTON A top official of the American Cancer Society has resigned in part because of concern over some of the organizations fund-raising partnerships.The official, Dr. Otis W. Brawley, an executive vice president and chief medical officer, resigned his post late last week after 11 years at the society. His departure was largely attributed to his dismay over some commercial partnerships, including with Herbalife International, the controversial supplements company, people close to him said.While he would not comment publicly, others said that he had become uncomfortable with the societys growing reliance on donations from businesses with questionable health credentials that he and others suspect are seeking to burnish their images.Dr. J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer at the society, said Dr. Brawleys resignation had hit his colleagues hard.Its personally difficult and certainly for many in the organization its difficult as well, Dr. Lichtenfeld said.Such donations and fund-raising partnerships have become more important in recent years as the organizations fund-raising has declined. Fund-raising income has gone down every year since its peak of just over $1 billion in 2007. In 2017, donations reached only $736 million, although the society made up for some of the loss by selling properties.Critics in and outside the 105-year-old organization have also protested its recent partnerships with Long John Silvers, a seafood chain best known for its batter-fried fish; and Tilted Kilt, a sports pub showcasing Kilt Girls in skimpy red plaid.And Herbalife International has had a troubled history. The company donated $250,000 directly to the cancer society, and in October, started selling pink water bottles, that are co-branded with both the American Cancer Society and the Herbalife logo. Proceeds from the sales all go to the cancer society.These water bottles are really a good way for people to show their support, said Sharon Byers, the societys chief marketing officer. Our intent with all of our partnerships is to generate as much revenue as we can to achieve our mission.In 2014, the Food and Drug Administration told Herbalife to take down a YouTube video that featured a former F.D.A. official implying that the agency approved weight loss shakes and other supplements.And in a 2016 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Herbalife agreed to pay $200 million and was forced to restructure the business to settle charges that it deceived customers into thinking they could make substantial money selling the product.Herbalife did not respond to numerous requests for comment.The company is too controversial historically, said Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics at the New York University School of Medicine. It has a very non-illustrious history with regulatory bodies, association with a product of controversial and most likely dubious merit, and is not where the cancer society wants or ought to be.The Herbalife Facebook page shows both the cancer society and the companys logo, with the phrase, Working Together to Make the World Healthier and Happier and Free from Breast Cancer. It does carry a disclaimer noting the cancer society does not endorse Herbalife products.Dr. Caplan said the disclaimer isnt enough. Some people are going to think that theres an implicit endorsement, he said, either because they dont look at the website or they just see the bottle and presume a partnership.Historically, the cancer societys revenue was heavily reliant on walks, including Relay for Life and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, said Michael Reich, a spokesman for the organization. But during the past decade, he said, donations patterns have changed and walks, in particular, have become less popular.Because A.C.S.s walks generated so much revenue and were such a large part of our portfolio, our declines were much more pronounced than some other organizations, Mr. Reich said. We have been re-engineering and diversifying our revenue portfolio, and partnerships are playing a key role. This takes time to build, but we are making tremendous progress.Ms. Byers, the cancer societys chief marketing officer, said the organization does not form alliances with tobacco companies, but other than that, assesses each company individually.Mr. Reich also defended the arrangement with the Tilted Kilt.I can tell you that A.C.S. is proud of the partnership with Tilted Kilt, too, Mr. Reich said. We do not yet have a plan for 2019, but we would certainly work with them again.Responding to internal criticism about the Tilted Kilt, Mr. Reich said, We know were taking some risks. Not every partnership or initiative is for everyone.Janet Wilt, marketing director for the restaurant chain, said she was proud the company was a donor.Cancer is a disease that has touched all of our lives and it does not discriminate based on who you are or where you work, she said in an email. Frankly, we are disappointed people are offended by any organization supporting efforts toward finding a cure.The cancer society is not the only patient advocacy group struggling to expand its donor base without becoming tainted by associations with other groups.A Boston University study two years ago identified scores of patient advocacy groups and other health organizations, including the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, that accepted research funding from soda companies.One of the cancer societys new donors, Long John Silvers, was the subject of criticism for its use of trans fats, which it has since dropped. James P. OReilly, the companys chief executive, notes that the restaurant now offers healthier choices, among them baked shrimp and cod and grilled salmon, and is expanding its grilled selections on the menu.Long John Silvers and its franchisees are proud to stand with the many millions of American families who battle cancer every day, Mr. OReilly said in an email.Jonathan H. Marks, associate professor of bioethics, humanities and law at Pennsylvania State University, pointed to the partnerships conflicting messages.The partnership with Long John Silvers undermines the integrity of the American Cancer Society, Dr. Marks said. The American Cancer Societys website encourages readers to prepare fish and poultry by baking, broiling or poaching rather than by frying or charbroiling. But the society is partnering with a fast food company whose leading menu items are fried. Integrity requires consistency.Dr. Brawley, 59, said he was not able to discuss the terms of his departure. Members of the society said he also had concerns about the administration of its landmark program to make cancer drugs available at lower cost in Africa. | Health |
Health|Nearly Half of Teens Have Had Sex by Age 19, Survey Findshttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/health/united-states-teenagers-sexual-activity.htmlTake a NumberCredit...Noah Berger for The New York TimesJune 26, 2017More than 42 percent of never-married adolescents ages 15 to 19 say they have had sex at least once.Researchers from the National Center for Health Statistics report that from 2011 to 2015, 42.4 percent of never-married girls (four million) and 44.2 percent of never-married boys (4.4 million) had had sexual intercourse.Among the majority who had not had sex, the reasons varied. More than 35 percent of girls and almost 28 percent of boys said that it was against their religion or moral code.A fifth of both boys and girls cited fear of pregnancy as the reason for abstaining. Almost 23 percent said they had not yet found the right person.Researchers gathered the data from September 2011 to September 2015 in interviews with 20,621 men and women, including 4,134 teenagers. The sample is nationally representative.According to the lead author, Joyce C. Abma, a demographer with the agency, sexual activity among teenagers declined sharply in the 1990s, leveling off in 2002.Teenage pregnancy rates have also been declining, but the birthrate from 2011 to 2015 34 per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 is much higher than the rate in, for example, Canada (13 per 1,000), France (seven) or Germany (five).There were considerable variations by race and ethnicity among boys. From 2011 to 2015, 42.8 percent of white boys, 45.7 percent of Hispanics and 58.6 percent of African-Americans had had sex at least once. The differences among girls by race and ethnicity were insignificant.Sexual experience varied with living conditions. A significantly lower percentage of boys and girls who lived with both parents when they were 14 had had sex. Boys, but not girls, were more likely to be sexually active if their mothers had not graduated from high school.Most teenagers had their first sexual experience with someone with whom they were going steady, but 13 percent of girls and 27.3 percent of boys first slept with someone with whom they were just friends.Condoms were by far the most common form of birth control 97 percent of teenagers reported using them. The second choice was withdrawal or the pill, with a little more than half reporting they used those methods.About 17 percent used Depo-Provera, the injectable contraceptive, and much smaller percentages used a patch, an intrauterine device or an implant.The increase in contraceptive use has continued, Dr. Abma said. This is at least partly due to the wider variety of methods available. But given the large percent that still use methods such as the condom and withdrawal, which have higher failure rates, theres lot of improvement left to go. | Health |
Credit...USA HockeyFeb. 8, 2014SOCHI, Russia At 7 a.m. Saturday, five hours before the United States opened the Olympic womens hockey tournament with a 3-1 victory over Finland, the Americans ate a breakfast of scrambled eggs, chopped baked potatoes, oatmeal, cereal, strawberries and blueberries. Two hours later, a pregame snack included bananas and more oatmeal fortified with peanut butter and almond butter.Afterward, fresh fruit was available in the locker room, along with liquid yogurt, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and shakes made of whey protein, pineapple, bananas and orange juice.For the first time, the American women have a sports dietitian assigned to the team full-time. After finishing second or third to archrival Canada at the last three Winter Games, the United States has taken a more sophisticated approach to strength and conditioning, sports psychology and nutrition in an effort to retake the gold medal won in 1998 at the inaugural Olympic womens hockey competition.You want to have a lot of gas in the tank so you can show how good you are, said Katey Stone, the American coach. Its just one more piece of the puzzle so that you have an advantage, a little edge.The Americans are in the vanguard of an increasingly refined effort in elite sport to use food and supplements, and the timing of meals, to enhance performance and recovery from strenuous effort.If an athletes hungry, I dont sleep, said Alicia Kendig, 31, the teams sports dietitian, who goes by the nickname Nutricia.Kendig was hired in 2011 by the United States Olympic Committee to upgrade the hockey teams approach to nutrition in a field in which, experts said, it is not yet common at the professional level for sports dietitians to be hired full-time and travel with teams.In the field of sports nutrition, we say were 10 years behind strength and conditioning, Kendig said.When forward Hilary Knight joined the national team in 2006, her diet consisted primarily of peanut butter on white bread, Big Macs and chocolate shakes, she said, all this garbage, if you want to call it that.This is different, said Knight, who scored Saturdays first goal 53 seconds into the match. Alicia has transformed this team.One of Kendigs first priorities was to measure hydration levels, said the forward Julie Chu, who is playing in her fourth Olympics. It was surprising how many players were moderately or severely dehydrated, Chu said.We can do all the training in the world, Chu said, but if we dont fuel our bodies right, that trainings not going to mean anything.Along with monitoring iron levels, Kendig uses blood tests several times a year to measure the players levels of vitamin D. It is a steroid hormone synthesized through diet and exposure to sunlight. But hockey is played indoors. About half of the women on the team showed suppressed levels during testing last June and were placed on vitamin D3 supplements, Kendig said.In the 1930s, researchers in Germany and the Soviet Union linked regimens of exposure to ultraviolet rays by sunlamps to enhanced athletic performance. Current research has been mixed with regard to performance benefits, but the Chicago Blackhawks of the N.H.L. have credited vitamin D supplements with helping them win the 2010 Stanley Cup, according to the Vitamin D Council, a California-based nonprofit organization. Sufficient levels of vitamin D have been associated with healthy bone density, a bolstered immune system, lower exercise-related inflammation and quicker recovery time from exercise.For athletes who are training really hard every day, thats an issue, Kendig said.The hockey team also uses supplements of beta alanine, an amino acid. It metabolizes and delays the onset of fatigue, allowing athletes to perform high-intensity exercises lasting about 60 seconds perfect for a hockey shift, said Liz Applegate, the director of sports nutrition for athletes at the University of California, Davis.This is what is required at the Olympic level and in professional sports, Applegate said in a telephone interview. You have to gain your seconds in running or have just that edge on the ice. It isnt just about getting a good nights sleep and eating fruits and vegetables and whole grains.An hour or two before training, some players have experimented with drinking a half liter of beetroot juice, which is believed to dilate blood vessels and enhance blood and oxygen flow to the muscles. Smoothies made with kale are rich in nutrients and antioxidants. Knight relies on tart cherry juice to help with muscle recovery and believes that it provides more restful sleep.Every other day, Kendig shops at a grocery store here for five or so gallons of milk and yogurt for American Olympians in various sports. After recent terror bombings in Volgograd, Russia, security officials decided to prohibit the importing of food and beverages to the Olympic Village and arenas, but it relented when countries complained, Kendig said.Sometimes they look at us a little funny, but I say I do nutrition and they say, Whatever, said Kendig, who transports the groceries in a roller bag. A lot of times, my suitcase is milk, yogurt, peanut butter. They kind of laugh, but they let me have it.One popular recovery drink is in short supply, though.Russia doesnt do chocolate milk, Kendig said.Another item is being held up in an apparent trade dispute between the United States and Russia Chobani yogurt, a favorite of Knights. She considered bringing some in her suitcase but decided against it.I figured if one popped in my luggage, Knight said, Id be more disappointed with my clothing than my selection of yogurt. | Sports |
April 2, 2016MOSCOW Heavy fighting broke out Saturday in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian separatist enclave in Azerbaijan and a longtime ethnic tinderbox in the South Caucasus region.As the fighting escalated through the day it was unclear whether the use of tanks, artillery and aircraft was merely a flare-up in a long conflict or the start of a new phase.Artillery barrages began early Saturday, threatening a breakdown of a fragile 1994 truce agreement. Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet republics, blamed each other for the violence. By evening, both sides spoke of dozens of dead, and Azerbaijan claimed that its military had advanced to capture territory, a move that seemed to bode ill for a quick resolution. The ethnic war that began in the late Soviet period between Armenians and Azerbaijanis claimed more than 20,000 lives and ended in a cease-fire but no final settlement. The region became one of the so-called frozen conflict zones in the vast area of the former Soviet Union, with sporadic episodes of violence since the 1994 truce.In response to the fighting, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called for an immediate cease-fire on Saturday and urged both sides to show restraint. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, through the so-called Minsk Group led by France, Russia and the United States, condemned the violence.The separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh, whose principal backers are Armenia and Armenian diaspora groups in Southern California and elsewhere, characterized the fighting as the first time since 1994 that all types of heavy weaponry were being used along the front line.Armenias Defense Ministry said Azerbaijan launched a surprise attack using tanks and aircraft around 2 a.m. after firing artillery barrages. Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense, in turn, blamed the Armenian military for the fighting. It said that its soldiers and some residential areas near the front were struck by intensive fire early Saturday, and that its forces had taken urgent measures to respond.Later Saturday, the ministry issued a statement saying it had recaptured strategic heights and a village to prevent attacks from those locations on its territory. It implied that Azerbaijans forces were moving beyond defensive positions and into Nagorno-Karabakh, a potentially destabilizing development in the volatile South Caucasus. Theres real doubt whether Putin will let that stand, Cliff Kupchan, chairman of the Eurasia Group, a geopolitical risk analysis company, said in a telephone interview. If we see this last a few days, then we have a new Nagorno-Karabakh war.The Azerbaijani statement said that more than 100 Armenian soldiers had been killed Saturday and that six tanks and 15 artillery pieces had been destroyed. It said 12 Azerbaijanis had become shahids, meaning they died the death of Muslim martyrs.The Nagorno-Karabakh military said it had shot down one of Azerbaijans helicopters, a claim Azerbaijan first denied and then confirmed. An official in Nagorno-Karabakh told Russian news media that 40 to 50 Azerbaijani soldiers had been killed in the fighting.Adding to the dangers of the venomous, local ethnic hatreds between Christian Armenians and Muslim Azerbaijanis, the eerily beautiful mountain highland location of the Nagorno-Karabakh region places it on a crossroads where it is buffeted by the combustible politics of the Middle East and the former Soviet republics.Russia and Turkey, the most important rival powers in the South Caucasus, had in recent years tentatively cooperated in tamping down tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, but they are now at odds over Syrias civil war. Russia has backed Armenia, while Turkey has backed Azerbaijan.Armenia has joined a Russian-backed economic bloc, while Azerbaijan has aligned with Western governments and oil industry interests, keeping its distance from Moscow.The global oil market, as is so often the case, serves as another backdrop to the bloodshed. After a long oil boom, the drop in global prices for oil, the main source of revenue for Azerbaijan, has weakened its military, a possible factor in the outbreak of violence. | World |
Europe|Brussels Airports Reopening Delayed by Security Disputehttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/world/europe/brussels-airports-reopening-delayed-by-security-dispute.htmlCredit...Benoit Doppagne/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesApril 1, 2016PARIS Concerns over security at Brussels Airport have delayed its reopening, the airport operator said on Friday, more than a week after two suicide bombers heavily damaged the departure terminal.Florence Muls, a spokeswoman for the airport, said that it was unclear whether it would be able to open on Saturday morning.We are still waiting for a green light from the federal police, Ms. Muls said, adding that airport security was not directly managed by the airport authorities. She said the reopening would depend on the outcome of labor negotiations between unions representing police officers at the airport and the Interior Ministry.The unions have been discussing their security concerns with senior management in the Belgian federal police before and after the terrorist attack on March 22, in which two suicide bombers detonated explosives in the departure hall just before 8 a.m. The unions have threatened not to go back to work if their requests for additional safety measures are not addressed.The Belgian government met on Friday to discuss the reopening of the airport, which is several miles northeast of Brussels, in Zaventem. But officials said afterward that they would wait for the negotiations between unions and police officials to succeed before setting a date for the reopening.For us, security is paramount, but we have to find solutions at the negotiating table with police unions, the deputy prime minister, Kris Peeters, said after the meeting. I hope that we are going to find solutions as quickly as possible.In a statement on Thursday, the airport authority said that the airport was technically ready to resume commercial flights, using a temporary setup for passenger check-ins. Ms. Muls said that the airport would be able to process 800 departing passengers an hour, about 20 percent of its normal capacity.The airport has been closed since the attacks that killed 32 people and injured hundreds.A third suicide bomber attacked the Maelbeek subway station in Brussels, near the European Union headquarters, more than an hour after the airport bombings. Subway service in the Belgian capital is still disrupted.On Wednesday, a group of police officers working at the airport wrote an open letter expressing deep concern about the absence of security checks for nontravelers entering the airport and about the number of baggage handlers and other staff members suspected of having criminal records or of being sympathetic to the Islamic State.Vincent Gilles, the head of Belgiums largest police union, said on Thursday that repeated requests for increased security at the airport before the attacks went unheeded and that a request made in December to install a security check outside the entrance to the airport terminal had been rebuffed.Arnaud Feist, the chief executive of Brussels Airport, told the Belgian broadcasting company RTBF on Friday that setting up checks at entrances would only move the threat outside the building.A fairly compact grouping of people standing in line might be more problematic than people who are spread out in the airport, he said.He also said he was not aware of any airport workers with criminal records or who were sympathetic to the Islamic State.Separately, news agencies reported on Friday that an Italian court had approved the extradition to Belgium of an Algerian man who was arrested last week in Salerno and accused of forging documents used by people involved in the March 22 attacks in Brussels and the Paris attacks in November. | World |
Sports Briefing | College BasketballFeb. 4, 2014Trevor Cooney scored 33 points, matching a team record with nine 3-pointers, and top-ranked Syracuse (22-0, 9-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat visiting Notre Dame, 61-55. Notre Dame (12-11, 3-7) has lost seven of nine. James Bell scored 27 points to lead No. 6 Villanova (20-2, 8-1 Big East) to an 81-58 win over visiting Xavier. Semaj Christon led Xavier (15-7, 5-4) with 17 points. | Sports |
Middle East|American Military Apologizes for Booklet With Racially Offensive Languagehttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/world/middleeast/american-military-racist-language.htmlCredit...Sarah Silbiger/The New York TimesNov. 1, 2018WASHINGTON The United States Central Command apologized on Thursday for posting racially offensive language in an online welcome booklet for troops deploying to Saudi Arabia, and said it would review other documents posted on its website to ensure that the term Negro was deleted.A section of the booklet, titled People and Population, described the Saudi population as mainly composed of descendants of indigenous tribes that have inhabited the peninsula since prehistoric times with some later mixture of Negro blood from slaves imported from Africa.The 69-page booklet has since been taken off the internet. It was published in June for the United States Military Training Mission to Saudi Arabia, a small force of roughly 140 military advisers and conduits for American arms sales to Riyadh.In a statement, Capt. Bill Urban, the spokesman for Central Command, said that military officials were conducting an internal review of our posting processes, and are conducting a survey of previously posted material to ensure there is no further instances of inappropriate material on our website.We regret that inappropriate material was posted to our website without a more fulsome review and apologize to anyone who took offense, Captain Urban said.Another military official said that the language had probably been copied from years-old versions of the booklet and not caught when it was pasted into the updated document on the commands website.The American militarys apology came after Hasan Minhaj, a comedian, pointed out the offensive language on his Netflix show. It was reported earlier on Thursday by the newspaper Stars and Stripes.Other parts of the booklet included language that was updated from previous versions, including information about Wi-Fi and data streaming speeds. Other parts of the book talk about Saudi Arabias climate and economy, as well as customs and courtesies.On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called for a cease-fire in neighboring Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels since 2015, leaving millions displaced and tens of thousands of people killed. | World |
An Interstellar Comet This Saturday, Dec. 28, a comet from beyond our solar system will make its closest approach to Earth. Comet Borisov on Dec. 9 NASA, ESA, D. Jewitt (UCLA) The comets icy core is only a mile or so wide, but its surrounding cloud of gas and dust is many times larger than our planet. Pieter van Dokkum, Cheng-Han Hsieh, Shany Danieli, Gregory Laughlin (Yale) Just Passing Through The comet, known as 2I/Borisov, is moving about 20 miles a second, fast enough to slip through the solar system and escape back into interstellar space. Comet Borisov in October NASA, ESA, J. DePasquale (STScI) Discovery The comet was first spotted on Aug. 30 by Gennady Borisov, a comet hunter in Crimea who has discovered nine comets since 2013. The comet moving across background stars Gennady Borisov Comet 2I/Borisov is the second interstellar object ever observed inside our solar system, earning it the prefix 2I. The alien comet resembles other comets in our solar system, but likely formed around another star before being kicked out into interstellar space. Comet Borisov in front of a distant spiral galaxy on Nov. 16 NASA, ESA, D. Jewitt (UCLA) The suns gravity will bend the comets path, but not capture it. The comet made its closest approach to the sun on Dec. 8. Comet Borisov on Nov. 12 National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/Gemini Observatory/N.S.F./AURA Oumuamua The first interstellar object found passing through our solar system was 1I/Oumuamua, which was spotted in 2017 already moving away from the sun. Oumuamua is circled in blue ESO/K. Meech et al. Oumuamua was thought to be a reddish, cigar-shaped asteroid because it lacked a halo and reflected light in different ways as it turned. A glimpse of Oumuamua Gemini Observatory/AURA/National Science Foundation But recent observations suggest Oumuamua might actually be a comet with no tail, accelerating away from the sun with the slight kick of escaping gas. Astronomers should have many future chances to observe alien comets. Dozens of interstellar objects are thought to pass through the solar system every year, unseen until now. Subscribe to the Science Times newsletter and sync your calendar with the solar system. Sources: NASA, Gennady Borisov and the Jet Propulsion Laboratorys Small-Body Database Browser | science |
Credit...Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated PressDec. 1, 2015WASHINGTON Puerto Rico avoided its first major default by making payments of $354 million on its debt on Tuesday, but the islands governor said that he had already taken steps to halt certain payments on other debt coming due on Jan. 1.This is a distress call, from a ship of 3.5 million people that is adrift at sea, said Gov. Alejandro Garca Padilla, referring to the population of the island.He said the island had, in effect, been able to meet Tuesdays deadline as a result of a trade-off. It made this months payments on a class of bonds that have constitutional guarantees by using money that otherwise would have been earmarked for next months payments on a lower tier of bonds. It is a move that will probably set off lawsuits from creditors if Puerto Rico makes good on the threat.The announcement of the repayment, by the islands Government Development Bank, came as Governor Garca Padilla and other officials were testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is considering whether Congress should give the island the right to seek relief in bankruptcy court. Current law specifically excludes Puerto Rico, because of its legal status as a United States territory. The governor reiterated during the hearing that Puerto Rico had run completely out of cash. He said that as of Tuesday, he had ordered the island to claw back some of the revenue dedicated to paying some of its lower-ranked debts.The governor did not specify which lower-ranking debts would go unpaid. But other experts at the hearing said the vulnerable bonds included Puerto Ricos highway bonds; bonds sold for general infrastructure, which are backed by a rum tax; and bonds that financed a convention center. It was unclear on Tuesday which entities or individuals had purchased those bonds.The bonds subject to the clawback have payments due to investors every six months, with the next payment due on Jan. 1. By putting the clawback mechanism into effect on Tuesday, the governor halted a process in which the islands monthly prepayments are placed in a sort of lockbox to ensure that the next round of payments is made. That move could give bondholders the grounds to sue immediately, even though they would not see a loss on their investment until Jan. 1.The payments that were made on Tuesdayinvolve a class of debt that wasissued by the islands Government Development Bank, but sold to investors with an extra layer of protection a guarantee from the islands government, based on its full faith and credit pledge. While it is certainly still possible to default on these bonds, doing so outside of a bankruptcy proceeding would most likely lead to a court ruling that the move was unconstitutional. Some people who oppose giving Puerto Rico bankruptcy protection have argued that the island might use it to impair even its general obligation bonds, as Detroit did during its financial crisis. General obligation bonds have for more than 100 years been marketed as a state or municipalitys best credit, safe enough for widows and orphans.But Governor Garca Padillas move seems to signal that Puerto Rico remains willing, at least for now, to keep its general obligation bonds high on their pedestal, above other types of debt. (During the current emergency, the governor has the final say on which bonds will be paid.)In simple terms, we have begun to default on our debt in an effort to attempt to repay bonds issued with the full faith and credit of the commonwealth, he said in written testimony, and to secure sufficient resources to protect the life, health, safety and welfare of the people of Puerto Rico.As Puerto Ricos troubles have worsened, fears have mounted that default will give rise to a cascade of creditor lawsuits, with investors jockeying to get to the top of the repayment hierarchy. Puerto Ricos debt has an extraordinarily complex structure, with nearly 20 separate governmental bond issuers, guarantees between varying branches of government and unresolved questions about priorities.In bankruptcy, lawsuits filed by creditors are generally held in abeyance while the restructuring process unfolds. Bankruptcy also has legal tools for forcing holdout creditors to accept repayments that are lower than the bond sale initially promised, and even lower than the holders expect at the start of the proceedings.In his spoken remarks to the committee, Governor Garca Padilla made clear that he did not relish invoking the clawback, and hoped that the senators would finally see it as proof that Puerto Rico was deserving of help from Congress.We have taken this difficult step in the trust that Congress will act soon, he said, speaking slowly and clearly so his meaning would not be misunderstood. But do not be misled. We have no resources left. Puerto Rico cannot keep this up longer.The top-ranking Democrat at the hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, said that Puerto Ricos move was an extraordinary financial gymnastic. But Republicans, the biggest opponents of bankruptcy for the island, were less appreciative.Even before the hearing, the committees Republican chairman, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, had expressed skepticism about bankruptcy for Puerto Rico. On Tuesday, he opened the hearing saying he had read in The New York Times on Monday that some of the governors advisers had been urging him to default, because only a catastrophe would move Congress especially Republicans to help.I hope the governor will tell us whether this is accurate, Senator Grassley said. It would trouble me greatly if true. But the governor stayed with his prepared remarks and did not reveal any tactical recommendations from his advisers.The other Puerto Rican official who testified, the islands nonvoting member of Congress, Pedro Pierluisi, said that it had already explained its predicament to five different committees and was entitled to a response.Neither the governor nor Mr. Pierluisi took questions from the committee, which turned directly to a second panel of witnesses who discussed various aspects of bankruptcy for Puerto Rico.Other Republicans on the relevant committees have said they want to help Puerto Rico but can do nothing until it provides audited financial statements and reveals how much the assistance will cost. Besides extending bankruptcy to Puerto Rico, ideas in play include putting it under a federal control board, helping residents by letting them apply for a tax break under the earned-income tax credit, and changing the Medicare rules so that Puerto Rican doctors and hospitals are paid on a par with their counterparts on the mainland.One witness, Carlos Coln de Armas, a finance professor at the University of Puerto Rico, said he believed bankruptcy could hurt Puerto Rico over the long run, because the island needed fresh capital, and bankruptcy would scare off potential financiers.The public debt of Puerto Rico can be paid, he said, adding that he questioned whether the numbers Puerto Rico had provided to illustrate its debt burden had been calculated correctly.Another witness, Stephen Spencer of Houlihan Lokey, said that Detroit still needed support from the State of Michigan to borrow at affordable rates. He pointed to a consensual restructuring deal he had been working on with Puerto Ricos electric power authority, and said it showed that lenders would reward borrowers who stayed at the table. Although the deal is not yet finished, he said it would eventually give the electric authority both debt relief and fresh capital.The agreement happened precisely because Puerto Rico did not have access to Chapter 9, he said.But another witness, Richard Carrion, the chief executive of Puerto Ricos Banco Popular, said he had slowly reached the conclusion that bankruptcy was the islands only hope.Mr. Senator, this is truly painful, he said in response to a question from Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. Im a banker. I like people to pay their debts. But let us bear in mind, the money will run out. I am all for trying to do voluntary restructurings, but there just is not enough time. | Business |
Credit...Minh Uong/The New York TimesJune 29, 2018SAN FRANCISCO Computer scientists at Stanford University and Google have created technology that can track time down to 100 billionths of a second. It could be just what Wall Street is looking for.System engineers at Nasdaq, the New York-based stock exchange, recently began testing an algorithm and software that they hope can synchronize a giant network of computers with that nanosecond precision. They say they have built a prototype, and are in the process of deploying a bigger version.For an exchange like Nasdaq, such refinement is essential to accurately order the millions of stock trades that are placed on their computer systems every second.Ultimately, this is about money. With stock trading now dominated by computers that make buying and selling decisions and execute them with blazing speed, keeping that order also means protecting profits. So-called high frequency trading firms place trades in a fraction of a second, sometimes in a bet that they can move faster than bigger competitors.The pressure to manage these high-speed trades grows when the stock market becomes more volatile, as it has been in recent months, in part to prevent the fastest traders from taking unfair advantage of slower firms. High frequency traders typically account for more than half of daily stock trading volume in the United States, according to data from the Tabb Group.The financial industry has easily become the most obsessed with time, said Balaji Prabhakar, a Stanford University electrical engineer who is one of the designers of the new synchronization system.Because the orders are placed from locations around the world, they frequently arrive at the exchanges computers out of sequence. The new system allows each computer to time stamp an order when it takes place.As a result, the trades can be sorted and executed in correct sequence. In a networked marketplace, this precision is necessary not only to prevent illicit trading on advance information known as front-running, but also to ensure the fair placement of orders.The importance of technical advances in measuring time was underscored by European regulations that went into effect in January and that require financial institutions to synchronize time-stamped trades with microsecond accuracy.Being able to trade at the nanosecond level is vital to Nasdaq. Two years ago, it debuted the Nasdaq Financial Framework, a software system that it has envisioned eventually trading everything from stocks and bonds to fish and car-sharing rides.The new synchronization system will make it possible for Nasdaq to offer pop-up electronic markets on short notice anywhere in the world, Mr. Prabhakar said. He cited the World Cup as a hypothetical example of a short-term electronic marketplace.There are tickets needed, housing, people will need transportation, he said. Think of an electronic market almost like a massive flea market hosted by Nasdaq software.To go from trading equities to managing all sorts of financial transactions will require more than an order of magnitude speedup in the companys networks of computers. It will be possible only if all of the exchanges computers agree on time with nanosecond accuracy.A generation ago, computing usually took place in a single mainframe or personal computer. Now it is routinely spread across thousands of independent processors in machines that can be separated by a few feet or entire continents.Chip designers have long struggled to maintain the precise timing needed to order mathematical operations inside individual computing chips. And synchronizing these vast ensembles of them has become the limiting factor in the speed and processing power of what Google describes as planetary-scale computers.Its kind of mind-boggling, said Peter Hochschild, a Google software engineer who specializes in the challenges associated with spreading software and data across networked computers. Inside a processor, an enormous amount of stuff happens in a billionth of a second.A billionth of a second is roughly the time it takes light to travel one foot. It has long been viewed as a crucial measure in computing. In the 1960s, the computing pioneer Grace Murray Hopper would hand out 11.8-inch lengths of wire to illustrate how designing smaller electronic parts would create faster computers.Distance has become even more significant as software has begun to escape the boundaries of individual computers and make its way into the cloud the web of giant computer data centers that have come to blanket the planet.They are near dams to take advantage of cheap hydroelectric power and in cold climates to save on cooling costs. Microsoft has even begun submerging them in the ocean to take advantage of power generated by tidal surges.Because software and data are no longer in the same place, correctly calculating the order of the events that may be separated by feet or miles has become the dominant factor in the speed with which data can be processed.So much of our expectation about computing being correct depends essentially on knowing this order, said Krishna Palem, a theoretical computer scientist at Rice University.In the world of cloud computing, entire databases are scattered among different computers and data centers.That has created tremendous challenges for the designers of electronic commerce systems. The new software synchronization standard under which Nasdaqs system would work, known as Huygens, is intended to replace a 33-year-old Network Time Protocol, or N.T.P., as well as more expensive approaches that have relied on atomic clocks and global positioning satellites.Huygens, named for the Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens, who invented the pendulum clock in 1656, uses so-called machine-learning techniques to synchronize a network of computers to within 100 billionths of a second. In contrast, the N.T.P. standard can synchronize computers no more accurately than a millisecond, or one thousandth of a second.To ensure that buyers and sellers are treated fairly, Nasdaq has for decades looked for ways to ensure that trades are processed in the order they are placed.While building a network for Nasdaq in the 1990s, Brian Reid, a computer scientist at Digital Equipment Corporation, experimented by coiling large rolls of cables of different lengths in a Massachusetts warehouse in order to insert tiny delays in the time it took data to travel in a network to make sure that messages were delivered fairly. He then employed timing information from satellites to synchronize clocks at different locations.Google would later use this method to synchronize computers based on GPS data and atomic clocks to make sure that their database system could correctly order transactions. But since the system requires super-accurate clocks and satellite receivers, it is more costly than the software-based Huygens approach.Mr. Reid built his original system in an era when the Securities and Exchange Commission required that all stock sales be entered by humans.Five millisecond accuracy in clock synchronization pleased everyone, he said. It took much longer than five milliseconds to press the Enter key on the big green terminals that people used. | Tech |
Credit...Walt Disney Studios Motion PicturesDec. 27, 2015LOS ANGELES Star Wars: The Force Awakens took in about $153.5 million in North America over the weekend, for an estimated $545 million total since opening in mid-December, putting Hollywood in position to set a full-year domestic box-office record. But reaching that summit was not easy: The Star Wars phenomenon notwithstanding, the film industry in many ways limped to the top. For the first time in at least 35 years, for instance, the once-impregnable Warner Bros. landed not one movie in the Top 15. When the final returns are in, domestic ticket sales currently at $10.89 billion, up 7.1 percent from the count at this time last year are expected to exceed $11 billion, according to Rentrak, which compiles box-office data. The previous record was $10.9 billion in 2013.Until the years average admission price is finally settled, strict adjustment for ticket price inflation is impossible. Theatrical attendance this year appears to have roughly matched the 1.34 billion tickets sold in 2013, and handily outstrips the one billion level of the late 1980s; but it remains behind a recent peak year, 2002, which had 1.57 billion admissions. That would translate into roughly $13 billion in sales at current ticket prices, although in reality todays higher prices would probably have discouraged some consumers and trimmed admissions.ImageCredit...Universal Pictures/Amblin Entert, via Universal Pictures, via Associated PressTwo hand-me-down film properties drove this years results: The best-selling releases of the year are likely to be the seventh chapter in a Star Wars franchise that began 38 years ago, and the fourth entry in the 22-year-old Jurassic Park series.Behind those nostalgia-driven megahits, however, dozens of high-profile films struggled, especially when they tried to take the moviegoing masses somewhere entirely new.The Big Short, centered on the housing collapse of the late 2000s, with $10.5 million in weekend box-office sales and $16 million to date, and Concussion, a hard look at the National Football League and brain injury, with $11 million in sales since opening on Friday, were fighting for attention. Both placed well behind Daddys Home, a comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell that had $38.8 million in sales. But they beat Point Break, a critically derided 3-D action remake that became Warners latest collapse, with just $10.2 million in first weekend sales from about 2,900 theaters.The years overriding lesson: Bold strokes, for the most part, dont pay.I hope I have the nerve to do it again, Thomas E. Rothman, Sonys movie chairman, said of the drubbing he took on Robert Zemeckiss The Walk, a daring 3-D spectacle that reconstructed a tightrope stunt between the World Trade Center towers in 1974.That film took in a total of $10.1 million after its release in September. Speaking at the Paley Center for Media in New York last month, Mr. Rothman noted that original movie fare was being routinely ignored by viewers, who similarly turned away from Everest, a 3-D thriller from Universal Pictures. Other expensive original movies (though sometimes based on books or other source material) that went belly up included In the Heart of the Sea (Warner Bros.), the retro-themed Tomorrowland (Walt Disney Studios) and the space adventure Jupiter Ascending (Warner).ImageCredit...Courtesy Columbia Pictures/Columbia Pictures, via Associated PressOne original-minded film that bucked the trend was The Martian, starring Matt Damon as a kind of Robinson Crusoe on Mars. The film dominated the fall, taking in $225 million for Fox and setting up a possible Oscar run for its director, Ridley Scott.The audience for the most part preferred to curl up in its comfort zone, turning out for new iterations of old screen stories, including Creed, in which Sylvester Stallone again played Rocky Balboa; the fifth Mission: Impossible movie, in which Tom Cruise was still Ethan Hunt; and Spectre, the 24th film in the 53-year-old James Bond series.But even the old stuff didnt always work. Arnold Schwarzenegger sagged in Terminator Genisys, from Paramount, and nostalgia couldnt make hits of Warners The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Vacation.In his talk at the Paley Center, Mr. Rothman said studios are now firmly committed to finding their future in the past something that will become fully apparent in 2017 when the next iterations of Spider-Man, Wolverine and Star Wars are scheduled to hit screens.Every weekend of that summer now has a giant sequel on it, Mr. Rothman said.While banking on nostalgia and growing international markets to make up for flat home-entertainment sales, studios and their indie competitors will find much to contemplate in the behavior this year of a domestic audience whose likes and dislikes were often startlingly pronounced.ImageCredit...Universal PicturesThe ceiling has risen, and the floor has dropped, said Howard Cohen, a co-president of the indie distributor Roadside Attractions. That company did particularly well with two small prize contenders, Love & Mercy (released in partnership with Lionsgate) and Mr. Holmes (with Miramax). Mr. Cohen said the films succeeded in part because they opened for a long run in the summer months, rather than waiting for the fall awards season.We saw a lot of lemmings jumping over the cliff into the fall, he said of the box-office carnage in September and October, when Spotlight and Brooklyn were among the few survivors.Viewers clearly were not interested in stories about hard-edged climbers, creative powers notwithstanding. Steve Jobs, with Michael Fassbender as the sometimes noxious Apple executive, bombed; Burnt, with Bradley Cooper as a manic celebrity chef, also found few takers.As of Sunday, prospects looked better for a similar story of female ambition. Joy, in which Jennifer Lawrence plays the tough Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano, took in a fairly strong $17.5 million for Fox, though its ultimate commercial prospects were yet to be decided over the long holiday.While some ensembles faltered Warners Magic Mike XXL took in only a little more than half the box office of its 2012 predecessor audiences for the most part responded to films with large casts. (The more Twitter followers, the merrier.) The car-racing ensemble movie Furious 7, with $353 million in domestic ticket sales, helped power Universal to No. 1 in studio market share after years of being an also-ran.ImageCredit...Franois Duhamel/Universal StudiosUniversals Straight Outta Compton, about the rap group N.W.A., took in $161.2 million, setting sales records for a musical biopic. And Disney struck pay dirt with The Avengers: Age of Ultron, which grouped together Marvel superheroes and delivered $459 million in domestic sales.The breakouts were often driven by female leads.Cinderella was a major hit for Disney, which also got a boost from Pixars Inside Out, featuring the voice of Amy Poehler. (On the downside, Pixars unblemished track record ended with The Good Dinosaur, which was a box-office dud.)Amy Schumer, the devotedly inappropriate comedian, became a movie star with Trainwreck. Pitch Perfect 2, centered on a group of misfit a cappella singers, nearly tripled the performance of its 2012 predecessor, with $184.3 million in sales.The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (Lionsgate) kept Ms. Lawrence on top, no matter how her Miracle Mop movie fares. Mockingjay Part 2 has so far collected $264.6 million.Even the success of The Avengers could be traced to women, with Elizabeth Olsen stealing scenes as the Scarlet Witch, and Scarlett Johanssons Black Widow in a much more prominent role.Ms. Johanssons next film is more of a question mark, however. She will appear as a bawdy water ballet star in Hail, Caesar! a dangerously original Hollywood spoof that will buck the trend of sequels with its release on Feb. 5. | Business |
Sept. 30, 2011The N.B.A. did not cancel the season on Friday, but it inched ever closer to deleting games from the calendar after another day passed without a labor deal.Ten owners and more than 20 players including the superstars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony met for nearly five hours at a Midtown Manhattan hotel as the parties began a last-minute push to broker a deal before endangering regular-season games.The tone in the room was alternately heated and cooperative, and the meeting ended without any progress on the two most critical issues: division of revenue and the structure of the salary cap. The parties will resume discussions on Saturday morning.We discussed a little bit of everything, said Derek Fisher, the president of the players union, with 14 players behind him. We did not come out of here with a deal today.In keeping with their month-long agreement, officials on both sides declined to offer details on the substance of their discussion, and they avoided making any predictions about whether a deal was possible this weekend.Time is growing short. The league needs three to four weeks to draft a deal, sign free agents, hold training camps and play one or two preseason games before starting the season. Opening night is scheduled for Nov. 1.If the parties do not have the framework of an agreement in the coming week, cancellations will be practically unavoidable. N.B.A. officials will not make that concession just yet, however. Commissioner David Stern also denied, in the strongest terms, that he had any intention of canceling the entire season if no deal was made this weekend.ESPN.com, citing anonymous sources, reported on Wednesday night that Stern intended to make that threat at Fridays meeting.Whatever the eventuality is, the idea that we would at an early stage cancel the season is as ludicrous today as it was when it was reported, Stern said. Its just not in the cards. The only thing that we said is that its hard, in terms of negotiations, if you start to lose regular-season games, because both parties positions harden.Fisher and Billy Hunter, the unions executive director, also denied that any threat had been made, or even implied. Hunter called the report way off base.Fridays meeting was the most heavily attended since the lockout began on July 1, and the first since then to involve so many elite players. Those present included Bostons Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant, Clevelands Baron Davis and Philadelphias Andre Iguodala, in addition to James and Wade of the Miami Heat and the Knicks Anthony. They joined the unions nine-man executive board, which includes the New Orleans star Chris Paul.The owners had 9 of 11 members of their labor committee present, plus the Miami Heat owner Mickey Arison.While the labor agreement remains out of reach, one critical piece of the N.B.A.s new economy a broader revenue-sharing plan is nearly in place. Stern said the league would triple its revenue-sharing pool next season and quadruple it by the third year of a new labor deal. The league has presented the outline to the union, which had been demanding more information about the revenue-sharing plan as part of the negotiations.The league is still seeking major economic concessions from the players, however, to address a reported $300 million in annual losses. As weve said before, revenue sharing doesnt change the aggregate economics, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. The union understands that as well.The union has offered to reduce the players share of revenue from the current 57 percent to as low as 52-53 percent, with every point worth about $40 million. Owners want to start a new deal at closer to 50-50, with the players share declining in subsequent years, according to people monitoring the talks.The owners have dropped their demand for a hard salary cap, but they are seeking a multitude of new restrictions on the soft-cap system that the players oppose. In their most recent proposal, the luxury-tax threshold would decrease and come with much stiffer penalties, ranging from a dollar-for-dollar tax at the low end to a four-for-one tax at the high end.Fisher said such a system still, in just about every sense, would be a hard cap for our teams. He added, It doesnt mean that the negotiation is over. But its definitely not anywhere close to where wed be able to agree to it. | Sports |
Economy|Borrowing Rises for Auto and Student Loans as Overall Growth Slowshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/business/economy/borrowing-rises-for-auto-and-student-loans-as-overall-growth-slows.htmlDec. 7, 2015American consumers borrowed more heavily for auto and student loans in October, taking out debt that helps them find jobs and commute to work.The Federal Reserve said on Monday that consumer borrowing rose $16 billion in October to $3.5 trillion. But the pace of borrowing decelerated sharply from the $28.5 billion increase in September.Nearly all of the October gain came from the category that covers auto and student loans, while credit card borrowing edged up a mere $200 million. The increase suggests that more Americans are borrowing to improve their educational skills and upgrade their cars and trucks, instead of relying on debt to fund their daily shopping and emergency expenses.Many economists expect that consumer spending will be relatively healthy in the coming months because of strong job gains that have bolstered auto and home sales for much of 2015. Yet a struggling global economy has tempered United States growth as the year draws to an end.The Labor Department reported last week that employers added 211,000 jobs in November and 298,000 in October. The unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent last month. The report showed evidence that workers who were pushed to the sidelines during the recession and sluggish six-year recovery were filtering back into the job market.The overall economy has advanced despite a waning global economy. A stronger dollar, slowing growth in China, a recession in Japan and a struggling Europe have been a drag on United States manufacturing, hurting overall growth. United States gross domestic product aided by consumer spending advanced at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the July-September quarter, down from a 3.9 percent rate in the prior quarter.The deceleration is expected to continue.The Atlanta Fed forecasts that growth will slip in the final three months of 2015 to an annual rate of 1.5 percent. The private forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers estimates that the rate will be 1.7 percent. | Business |
Chicago West Twitter Handle's Taken ... But Owner Would Hand it Over 1/20/2018 Kim Kardashian and Kanye West might have another baby gift coming their way soon ... all they have to do is ask. Jon Wyatt -- a grain trader and farmer who owns the Twitter handle @Chicagowest -- tells TMZ ... he's willing to hand it over to Kim and Kanye for their new baby girl if they want it, because selling it "just kind of seems wrong." We're told so far, the couple hasn't reached out to Jon about his Twitter account ... nor has anyone else. As for why Wyatt has the @Chicagowest handle ... he says his name was taken when he signed up for Twitter, and he'd just decided to leave Chicago and move out west to the mountains. Makes sense. Kim and Kanye revealed their baby's name is Chicago -- Kanye's hometown -- on Friday, but she's already going by the nickname Chi (Shy). Jon tweeted out his congrats. Congratulations to Kanye and @KimKardashian! Beautiful name. @Chicagowest | Entertainment |
April 3, 2016BRITO, Nicaragua A Spanish explorer conducted the first survey to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans here in the 16th century. Napoleon III of France dreamed about it. The railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt briefly had rights to do it. Nicaraguas history is littered with dozens of failed canal schemes.But when a Chinese billionaire, Wang Jing, officially broke ground in a field outside this sleepy Pacific Coast village about a year ago, many Nicaraguans believed that this time, finally, they would get their canal.And not a small one, either. Three times as long and twice as deep as the Panama Canal, it would slice 170 miles across the southern part of the country bulldozing through fragile ecosystems, virgin forests and scenes of incredible beauty. It would allow for the passage of the worlds largest ships, vessels the length of skyscrapers that are too big for the Panama Canal.Yet 16 months later, Mr. Wangs project it would be the largest movement of earth in the planets history is shrouded in mystery and producing angry protests here. President Daniel Ortega has not talked about the canal in public for months. And there are no visible signs of progress. Cows graze in the field where Mr. Wang officially began the project.Experts say they are baffled by Mr. Wangs canal. It may be backed by the Chinese government, part of its growing interest in Latin America, or may simply be a private investment cast adrift by the convulsions of Chinas stock markets and its slowing economy.At the time of the groundbreaking in December 2014, the Chinese government said it was not involved with the project. This and Mr. Wangs recent setbacks he has reportedly lost about 80 percent of his $10 billion fortune make some experts say the deal is probably dead.Others, however, say Chinese business practices are so opaque that it is hard to tell. Facilitating the movement of goods from the Pacific to the Atlantic aligns with Chinese interests, and the cost of the project is hardly an obstacle if the Chinese government wants to go forward if it is involved.ImageCredit...Meridith Kohut for The New York TimesOfficials of Mr. Wangs company say they are simply taking more time to do preconstruction studies.Its a project that has been notoriously nontransparent, said Margaret Myers, the director of the China and Latin America program at Inter-American Dialogue, a policy institute in Washington. She says she believes the project is probably dead for lack of funds, but like most experts is not sure.What does seem clear is that the projects critics environmentalists, human rights advocates and economists have grown more outspoken and organized. In this part of the country, many homeowners have stenciled Go Away Chinese on the sides of their houses, and virtually all the re-election posters for Mr. Ortega have been hit with black paint balls.When he announced the deal in 2013, Mr. Ortega, a left-wing guerrilla turned pro-business politician, promised that the canal would transform Nicaragua and create hundreds of thousands of jobs, eventually doubling the countrys gross domestic product. Many Nicaraguans, eager for a better future, embraced the idea, and many still do.But a growing number say the benefits of the deal are not so clear.Some question whether the canal would even be commercially viable. Few supertankers and massive container ships now afloat will not be able to pass through the expanded Panama Canal set to open soon. And few ports are big enough to welcome those megaships. In the short term, some experts say, the combination of the Panama and Nicaragua canals would lead to overcapacity and price wars.There are also concerns about the seismic activity in the area, or the many volcanos. Some analysts point to Chinas poor record on environmental matters and Mr. Wangs inexperience in building anything, let alone a $50 billion (some say $80 billion) canal carving through miles of protected areas that are home to many endangered species, including the jaguar, and legally recognized indigenous lands. The little-known Mr. Wang made his fortune in telecommunications, not in construction.And then there is the 50-mile trench to be dug on the floor of Lake Nicaragua, the largest body of fresh water in Central America which many fear could end up contaminating, even killing, the lake.Economists and human rights activists also object to the powers Mr. Wang has to expropriate land at far less than market rates, saying the terms of Mr. Wangs concession could discourage anyone else from investing in Nicaragua.That aspect has prompted protests from farmers, some of which have turned violent. Experts say Mr. Wang will have to pay only the assessed value, or about 5 percent of the market value, for any lands he takes. But many farmers would not be entitled to even that. In a country that is short of adequate roads and government offices, many do not have formal title to the fields they have cultivated for generations.Juan Sebastin Chamorro, the general director of the Funides research institute, who has come out against the canal, said the agreement with Mr. Wang, rushed through Parliament and enshrined in the Constitution, effectively made no landowner safe anywhere in the country.In theory, if Mr. Wang wanted to take this building we are sitting in right now for his project, he could, Mr. Chamorro said, his hand sweeping across his office in downtown Managua, the capital. Who would want to buy or build here with that possibility hanging over their heads?Mr. Chamorro said that the majority of the construction jobs would not go to Nicaraguans and that Panama did not become prosperous until it won control of its canal. That is unlikely to happen here for 100 years, according to the agreement with Mr. Wang, which he can sell to a third party.Under the current plan, the canal would begin along a stretch of pristine beach in Brito, then cut through Lake Nicaragua, which, with two volcanoes rising out of it, is one of the countrys major tourist destinations. It would reach the Caribbean coast by cutting through the land of the Rama and Kriol people, in areas that are not accessible by road right now.But the plan is much broader than just a canal. Mr. Wangs vision includes new airports, new ports on both ends of the canal, new lakes in the mountains to make sure the canal has enough water, and new islands in Lake Nicaragua to dispose of excavated sediment and rock.A 1,100-page study of the project, conducted by the British consulting firm ERM and issued five months ago, reinforced the notion of how much is at stake. It recommended further studies in many areas before going forward and noted that a wide range of mitigation efforts would be needed, like reforestation and job training.ImageCredit...Meridith Kohut for The New York TimesSome see hope in those efforts. Jeffrey McCrary, an American fish biologist who lives in Nicaragua and worked on the study, supports the project, saying Mr. Wangs company will have to provide money to clean up environmental damage already caused by deforestation, poor land management, crop fumigation and general dumping into Lake Nicaragua.Ive seen that lake, and it is in miserable shape, he said. Are we going to kill a lot of fish to build the canal? Yeah, we are. But without the canal, I think we are doomed.Kamilo Lara, a member of the Nicaragua Canal Commission, a group appointed by the government to oversee the project, said many critics of the project were political opportunists. Mr. Lara said the canal plan had been adjusted to deal with problem issues, like potential earthquakes, tsunamis and environmental concerns. And people who might be displaced by it, he said, could be moved to small cities with new schools and services they never had before.I have been to China, he said. I saw the incredible capital they have to invest.In answers to written questions, Pang Kwok Wai, the executive vice president of Mr. Wangs company, the Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Company, said Mr. Wang was in talks with potential investors and would announce progress in due form. He said Mr. Wang had already invested about $500 million of his own money.Mr. Pang also said the company, though not obligated to do so, would pay market rates for the land it wanted. We are in Nicaragua to bring progress and play a fair game, he said.In the meantime, speculating about the canal has become a national pastime, though polls show that Nicaraguans grow less inclined to believe that it will be built.We used to talk about it every day, said Carlos Fernando Chamorro, the editor of Confidencial, an investigative magazine. Now we only talk about it every two days.Some still hope it will lift this country out of poverty.But in Brito and the nearby city of Rivas, those who expect to be displaced are angry. Teresa de Jesus Henriquez Delgado, 31, is one of the residents who used a stencil to paint Go Away Chinese! on the outside of her house.I will resist with all of my strength when the bulldozers come to tear down my house, she said. I will fight until I die. I have to for my children. They cant take this land from my family. | World |
on techMaybe all Google needed to keep from acting like a monopoly was more effective government oversight.VideoCreditCredit...By Ruro KuoOct. 20, 2020This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it weekdays.The U.S. government sued Google on Tuesday claiming that the company is an illegal monopoly. My colleagues called it the governments most significant legal challenge to a tech companys market power in a generation.This legal case is going to be loud, confusing and will most likely drag on for years. More confusing lawsuits against Google from U.S. states are probably coming, too. What will be most important to remember are the big questions at the heart of this: Does Google break the rules to stay on top? And if so, does that hurt all of us?So, yes, this is about politics and legal minutiae, but ultimately this case boils down to whether the technology that we use could be better, and whether the American economy could be more fair.And through all this drama, I have a lingering question: Is the government suing Google because the government itself wasnt doing its job?All of the activity that the Justice Department now says is evidence of Google maintaining an illegal monopoly over search and search advertising has been known for years and could possibly have led to a crackdown by agencies like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department. Those agencies are responsible for keeping watch on companies for signs of potentially abusive behavior.And yet, under both Democratic and Republican presidents in recent years, Google faced few substantive government enforcement actions for anything it did that made the company stronger and harder to unseat. If you let your kid act up again and again without consequences, should you be surprised that it keeps happening?In Tuesdays lawsuit, the Justice Department accused Google of shutting out rivals through tactics like paying phone companies and others to ensure that Googles web search engine has a prominent position on Android smartphones and on iPhones. This behavior, the government lawsuit said, holds back competition that could make better products for all of us.But this activity hasnt been a hush-hush conspiracy cooked up in underground bunkers at Google headquarters.Weve known for years that Google pays Apple billions of dollars each year to make sure its search engine is the one that people encounter on their iPhones and in the Safari web browser. Its not a secret that Google had contracts with phone companies that required them to include Google apps on smartphones and make its search engine practically inescapable.The European Unions antitrust regulators fined Google over similar tactics in 2018. The E.U. required changes to Googles behavior, although some competitors have said they are ineffective.Reading the U.S. governments lawsuit, I was mostly left wondering why its happening now. Almost all the substantive allegations about Google abusing its power could have been made and were years ago. The E.U. case, which started in 2015, dredged up very similar facts.Novelty is not required to prove that Google is an illegal monopoly, of course. But still, if the lawsuit is treading on familiar ground, why did it take so long?And again, could the F.T.C. or the Justice Department have stepped in to ask hard questions about this behavior before now? Would that have slowed Google and prevented the need for a Big Bang and risky lawsuit to try to change what the company does? (Google said on Tuesday that the governments lawsuit is deeply flawed, and that people use its online services because they choose to.)There are, to be sure, complex legal questions involved here. The government cant just declare that Google stop doing stuff like this just because it makes the company stronger. But I do wonder if more effective oversight by every corner of the government in the last decade would have done with less fuss what this antitrust lawsuit is trying to do kept Google from tilting the game to its advantage.In recent conclusions of a congressional investigation into the power of big technology companies, lawmakers who normally disagree about everything did agree on one thing: Americas antitrust watchdogs have fallen down on the job. (To be fair, Congress should shoulder part of the burden here. It writes the laws that dictate what the F.T.C. and Department of Justice do, and it sets their budgets.)House members said that the F.T.C. and others too often left unchallenged Big Techs pattern of getting more powerful by acquiring competitors, and that the agencies did not crack down when these companies broke the law and their word. I couldnt agree more.For one small example, look at what happened in 2013. The F.T.C. said that it was getting harder for people to tell the difference between regular web search results and paid web links on Googles search engine. This risked hurting both those trying to use the site, and companies that had no choice but to spend more money with Google to get noticed.The F.T.C. urged Google and others to make it more clear when people were seeing web search results rather than paid links.What happened since that warning in 2013? Not very much. If anything, its gotten even more difficult to tell Googles ads from everything else.Thats one small example, and that activity wasnt highlighted in the Justice Department lawsuit against Google. But it shows that big companies if their behavior is unchecked will continue to test the limits of their power.For more from my colleagues: Steve Lohr explains what you need to know about the lawsuit against Google. And Brian X. Chen writes about how Googles changes over the years have kept us in the companys infinite loop.Before we go If youre getting a new iPhone, do not buy it because of 5G: Brian X. Chen, the New York Times consumer technology columnist, said the new iPhone 12 is a solid upgrade from past Apple models. But the phones are pricey, and people should not buy one expecting to be wowed by 5G, the latest wireless internet technology that is a big marketing pitch for the new iPhones.5G, simply, is a mess, Brian wrote. At this point, it should not be the primary reason to splurge on an expensive handset in a pandemic-induced recession.The job of election officials now includes fighting internet garbage: Colorado election officials are fighting back against false information about voting in unusual ways, my colleagues Nick Corasaniti and Davey Alba reported. They have said they would buy internet ads to pop up if people search Google about bogus rumors, and the state set up a disinformation fighting team led by a former U.S. counterterrorism official.Maybe dont take the advice of MeRich4259: Fake reviews on Amazon have been a problem for a while, but Bloomberg News reported that about 42 percent of 720 million Amazon product reviews in a recent analysis were suspicious and the share has increased as people have shopped online more in the pandemic.Hugs to thisNo big deal. Just a tiny, adorable owl dressed as a witch for Halloween in this TikTok video.We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else youd like us to explore. You can reach us at [email protected]. If you dont already get this newsletter in your inbox, please sign up here. | Tech |
Nov. 21, 2018LONDON A court in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday sentenced a British academic to life in prison on spying charges, prompting a pledge from Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain that the issue would be raised at the highest level with the Emirati authorities.The severity of the verdict stunned British officials, who had been reluctant to discuss the case in public in the hope that the Emirati authorities would settle the matter quietly after a high-level intervention by the British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt. British officials had also said that it was not their practice to comment on matters related to espionage.The academic, Matthew Hedges, a 31-year-old postgraduate student at Durham University in northeastern England, was arrested in Dubai on May 5 as he was planning to fly out. Colleagues said he had been pursuing research for a doctorate on the effects of the so-called Arab Spring of 2011 on Emirati diplomacy.But the response suggested that the Emirati authorities wanted to show other researchers that some lines of inquiry, which have not been publicly defined, were considered off limits. The Emirates largely sidestepped the pro-democracy protests that seized other Arab countries from North Africa to the Middle East in 2011.Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston who is familiar with Mr. Hedges work, said in a telephone interview that the British scholar had been working on the relationships among the Emirates seven members after the Arab Spring.The events of that year, Mr. Coates Ulrichsen said, had left the Emirati authorities extremely concerned about potential threats, and they have tried to really close down independent spaces. Mr. Hedges work could, therefore, have been construed as crossing a red line, he said.Members of Mr. Hedges family said that his sentencing hearing had lasted about five minutes, with his lawyer absent.It was not clear whether the case was linked to the Emirates role as a leading ally of Saudi Arabia in the war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Hamad al-Shamsi, the Emirates attorney general, has said that Mr. Hedges was accused of spying for a foreign country, jeopardizing the military, political and economic security of the state.Mr. Hunt, the British foreign secretary, traveled to Dubai recently for discussions about the case with senior officials including the crown prince, Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who is considered the de facto ruler of the Emirates.ImageCredit...EPA, via ShutterstockTodays verdict is not what we expect from a friend and trusted partner of the United Kingdom and runs contrary to earlier assurances, Mr. Hunt said, adding that the sentencing would have unspecified repercussions for the relationship between Britain and the Emirates, which has to be built on trust.Mr. Hunt also flew to Tehran this week to ask the Iranian authorities to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has British and Iranian nationality and who has been held on espionage charges since 2016.The detentions on either side of the Persian Gulf seemed to illustrate the high tension between regional powers backing rival combatants in wars in Yemen and Syria.Speaking in the British Parliament, Mrs. May said: We are deeply disappointed and concerned at todays verdict. We are raising it with the Emirati authorities at the highest level.Britain has a long history of close political, commercial and security ties with the United Arab Emirates, dating to the 19th century, when the seven sheikhdoms that now make up the United Arab Emirates were known as the Trucial States and became a British protectorate. The Emirates, which have been an independent state since 1971, remain a draw for British tourists and business interests.Crispin Blunt, a lawmaker from Mrs. Mays Conservative party and a former head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, called the sentencing of Mr. Hedges wholly inconsistent with the behavior of a nation with whom we have a mutual defense accord.In the past, there have been regular reports of Britons running afoul of judicial authorities in the conservative Emirates, usually over issues relating to personal morality and the consumption of alcohol.Daniela Tejada, Mr. Hedges wife, was in court when the sentence was passed. She said the British authorities had made it clear to the Emirates leaders that her husband had not been engaged in espionage.She said the British authorities had handled the case appallingly from the very beginning.The British government must take a stand now for Matthew, one of their citizens, she said, according to news reports from Dubai.After the sentencing, she said: I dont know where they are taking him or what will happen now. Our nightmare has gotten even worse. | World |
Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesFeb. 5, 2014SOCHI, Russia A figure skating judge ordered a quick bowl of soup for lunch at the Cup of Nice international competition in France. She did not finish the meal that October day in 2012, putting her spoon down and walking away in shock and anger.Another judge, Natalia Kruglova of Ukraine, had approached at the rink cafe and asked illicitly that the pairs team from Ukraine be propped up with high scores.You know, they need every mark they can get, Kruglova told the other, unidentified judge, according to a disciplinary report issued by the International Skating Union, the sports world governing body.Kruglova denied trying to manipulate the results, but in May 2013, she was barred from the sport for two years.After a vote-trading scandal by judges discredited the pairs and ice-dancing competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, skating officials overhauled the scoring and judging systems, trying to make the sport more objective and less susceptible to corruption. But people in the competitive skating world and independent experts still question the sports credibility.The major problems are that judges continue to lack independence; nationalistic impulses still often prevail; apparent conflicts of interest abound; and the anonymity of the judges scoring has undermined efforts to increase accountability and transparency, according to interviews over several months with more than 70 judges, referees, athletes, coaches, officials and other experts.But those who support the system say it ensures that performance more easily triumphs over reputation. The International Skating Union said that under the current system, judges follow the same detailed criteria, no longer have to compare one skaters performance to anothers, give more consistent scores and feel less pressure from outsiders. Bloc voting is now almost impossible, the governing body said, and subjectivity has been substantially decreased.The current scoring system, which scrapped the familiar 6.0 method in favor of a code of cumulative points, has left skating incomprehensible for many casual fans. Where 6.0 was once a universally understood measure of perfection, a number like 212 means little to many people. But it is not without virtue: Unlike the 6.0 system, which provided only one overall mark without explanation for technical merit, todays system assigns a numerical value to every jump and spin and gives all skaters a precise accounting of their strengths and weaknesses.As usual, figure skating will command marquee attention over the next 18 days at the Winter Olympics. Yet the sport has lost much of its popularity, especially in the United States, two decades after the knee-whacking of Nancy Kerrigan by associates of Tonya Harding brought unprecedented attention and television ratings.Now every judge knows how to work the system, said Patrick Ibens, a retired judge from Belgium who officiated at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. In reality, everything is still the same.Under the current system, now a decade old, nationalist partiality may have actually increased, according to Eric Zitzewitz, an economist at Dartmouth who has analyzed seven years of judging data. Under the cover of anonymity, judges still give higher marks to skaters from their own country than do other judges, Zitzewitz found. Judging bias under the current system is about 20 percent greater than in the 6.0 system, which publicly connected each score to the judge who gave it, Zitzewitz said.A less optimistic view of the International Skating Union, he said, was that its goal was to reduce the perception of corruption rather than actual corruption.Objective to a PointAlmost every sport involves judging. In some aspects, figure skating is no less objective than say, baseball, where every unhit pitch is judged, not strictly according to the rule book, but in relation to each umpires personal strike zone. Skating also makes greater use of instant replay than baseball.Subjectivity, or more precisely, artistry, is what attracts many to skating in the first place. Cultural preferences that differ from Asia to Europe to North America must be accounted for. Complete objectivity is neither attainable nor desired.There has to be room for everyones style, because we dont want it to look like cookie cutters, said Tom Zakrajsek, a prominent American coach.Still, for many, skatings judging system remains troubling despite attempts at reform. In baseball, for instance, each team does not get to choose the umpires. In Olympic skating, judges are chosen by their respective national skating federations. Inherently, judges feel pressure to support the skaters from their own countries, Ibens, the retired Belgian judge said, adding, Nobody is honest.Charlie Cyr, an American who judged at the Vancouver Olympics, disagreed, saying the current system throws the emphasis off the officials, and the onus of being the winner goes onto the skater, where it should be.Safeguards against bias are in place, Cyr said, such as throwing out the high and low scores for each skater and establishing a mathematical corridor in which judges marks are expected to fall. Yet, Cyr said: There is still that personal part. These are skaters from your country, so whether you do it intentionally or whether you do it subconsciously, I think if it comes to a point where its a very tight fit, its human nature. Youre going to pick the preferable skater.ImageCredit...Darron Cummings/Associated PressUnder the 6.0 system, fans and reporters could more easily scrutinize the scoring for potential favoritism. Each judges vote was made public by name and country. Now, only a composite score for each skater is flashed on the scoreboard.Fans must go online to see the individual scores, but they are given anonymously. An exception is the United States, which attaches the names of judges to the scores at its national championships. For international competitions, the votes by each particular judge are kept in a safe at the I.S.U. headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, according to Sonia Bianchetti of Italy, who has judged at seven Olympics.Anonymity was granted to the judges in an effort to lessen pressure from their respective national skating federations. But this makes it extremely difficult to detect collusion and nationalistic bias, Bianchetti said.Nothing has changed, and in my opinion, its worse, she said. She added that secret judging is just to help the I.S.U. avoid having another public scandal.The anonymous judging has also robbed skating of drama and theatrical villainy that once made it so engaging, especially during the Cold War, skaters and officials said. Depending on ones allegiance, it was delicious fun to accuse the American or Soviet or East German judge of partiality before the fall of the Berlin Wall.Skating fans yearn for a simpler time, said Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic champion, when they only had to know one number, 6.0, and how close did it come to that and show a close-up of the guy who gave 5.7 and we can hate him.Top skating officials from the United States said they would try to persuade international officials to eliminate blind judging after the Sochi Games to restore interest in the sport.It should be open, said Tamara Moskvina of Russia, who has coached pairs skaters to four Olympic gold medals. We dont need to hide the opinion of the judges.Qualifications VaryThe qualifications of the judges vary from country to country. The United States, for instance, requires that its judges officiate a world championship before they become eligible to officiate at the Olympics, Cyr said.ImageCredit...Vincent Laforet/The New York TimesNot every country has such stringent requirements. At the 2006 Turin Olympics, Ukraine sent an ice dancing judge, Anastassia Makarova, who had never officiated at the world championships or the Olympics. Her mother, Ludmila Mikhailovskaya, was a member of the ice dancing technical committee of the I.S.U.At those Olympics, Ukraine won its first-ever medal in the event, a bronze. Mikhailovskaya told The Globe and Mail of Toronto at the time that she did not see a conflict of interest with her daughter as a judge.She judges; I am on the dance technical committee, Mikhailovskaya told the newspaper. That is completely different.Potential conflicts of interest also surfaced in ice dancing at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Jodi Abbott of Canada was chosen to judge those Games while she was the vice president of the board of directors of the Canadian figure skating association. Another dance judge, Alla Shekhovtsova of Russia, is the wife of Valentin Piseev, who was then the president of the Russian figure skating association and is now its general director.In the close-knit world of skating, fraternization among judges and athletes also occurs at a level that might not be acceptable in other sports. While there is supposed to be complete separation at an event like the Olympics, judges and skaters often travel together and eat together on the international Grand Prix circuit.Sometimes, judges also attend practices to assess skaters performances and communicate with athletes by email. Cyr said he considered himself friends with skaters whom he has judged for years, like Patrick Chan of Canada, the reigning three-time world champion, and Carolina Kostner of Italy, the 2012 womens world champion. It was important, Cyr said, for skaters to become comfortable with judges, while adding that judges must maintain their integrity.If I treat one athlete one way, you better be able to treat everybody the same way, he said.Disconcerting to many is that disgraced officials can regain power in the sport, most conspicuously Didier Gailhaguet of France, who was at the center of the vote-trading scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake Games.Suspended from the sport for three years, Gailhaguet is again the president of the French figure skating association. He is considered by some a serious candidate to succeed Ottavio Cinquanta of Italy as the next president of the I.S.U. in 2016.If Gailhaguet becomes the head of the world governing body, it would be a travesty, said Sally-Anne Stapleford of Britain, who was a whistle-blower during the 2002 scandal, adding, It doesnt get worse than cheating at the Olympics.ImageCredit...Goh Chai Hin/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesAthletes, coaches and officials who have long dealt with politics and learned to accept the sports realities seem to carry a resigned acceptance.If you choose the wife when shes young, you should keep her your whole life, said Alexei Mishin of Russia, who coached Evgeni Plushenko to Olympic gold in 2006 and silver in 2010. Its not possible to be divorced from the new system. Maybe somebody likes to be divorced, but its against human being rules.Artistry vs. SportSkatings eternal tension between artistry and sport was in sharp relief at the 2013 world championships, held last March in London, Ontario. Depending on ones view, the mens competition confirmed everything that is right or wrong with todays judging system.Denis Ten of Kazakhstan finished second to Chan. It was for many a stunning result. Until that point, Ten was known more for potential than success at the senior level, having finished no higher than fifth on the Grand Prix circuit, 11th at the Olympics and seventh at worlds.That Ten, then 19, could essentially come from nowhere to win a silver medal confirmed to some that the current system was superior to the 6.0 system, which often left skaters waiting their turns behind those with more established rsums.I think most young people want to know that on any given day, they can win if theyre good enough, said Zakrajsek, the American coach.For those unhappy with the results, this was exactly the problem.Some believed that Ten deserved to finish first, not second, after Chan fell twice in the long program, stepped awkwardly out of another landing and reduced the number of planned rotations on a combination jump. For Tens supporters and some in the news media, this was perceived as another case of Chans receiving overly generous scores, known by his critics as Chanflation.Chan and his supporters made a counter argument: He had set a world record in winning the short program, giving him a nearly 7-point cushion, enough to finish first over all, even after Ten received a higher score in the long program.Chan prevailed by a narrow combined score of 267.78 to 266.48. Also, Chans supporters noted, he is a far more complete skater in terms of his edge work, speed, transitions between maneuvers and musicality, all factors that figure in the scoring along with jumps.ImageCredit...Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesThe new system is a lot better, even though it may be harder to grasp for fans, Chan said in an interview at Skate Canada in October in St. John, New Brunswick. It rewards fairly every little bit of effort you put into the program.In the 6.0 system, one tiny mistake could keep a skater off the medal podium, Chan said, and the judging seemed based more on failure than success. In the current system, to encourage risk taking, skaters are still rewarded at least 70 percent of the value of a jump on which they under-rotate.Frank Carroll, who coaches Ten in Southern California, said his skater could not have been happier in finishing second. Tens success had seemed improbable for a young man who learned to skate on outdoor rinks in Kazakhstan a former Soviet republic that had won a medal at the world championships bundled in so many layers of clothing that he said he looked like a cabbage.But Carroll took issue with what many see as a vulnerability in the judging system the program component score, or P.C.S., a rough equivalent of the artistic score given in the 6.0 system. In the previous system, a skater received one score for artistry or presentation. Under the current system, the component score is actually five scores given for skating skills, linking footwork and movement, performance, choreography and musical interpretation.The subjectivity of the component score, skating officials concede, still allows judges to manipulate their marks, taking a skaters reputation into account when he or she has a subpar day. This is sometimes known as awarding hero points.I think Patrick is fabulous, but when you fall a couple of times or make three or four mistakes, why are you the best in choreography, the best in artistry, the best in skating skills? Carroll said. Thats the problem with the new scoring system.After Chan narrowly defeated Ten, Todd Eldredge, the 1996 world champion from the United States, said on Twitter, No disrespect to Patrick but a skater shouldnt be able to fall twice & get such high PCS.In a broader sense, the 2013 world championships also validated for Carroll and some other experts that skating had become what he called a form of bean counting.By this, he meant that skaters spend so much time trying to accumulate points that a sameness develops in the routines and artistry suffers. Some skaters and coaches have also expressed concerns about the increased potential for injury as more difficult tricks are performed.A spin is a rotation in a beautiful position, said Carroll, who coached Evan Lysacek of the United States to a gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics. Its not turning yourself inside out, wrapping your free leg around your neck and spitting out nickels. | Sports |
Credit...Tony Luong for The New York TimesThe company, founded by scientists at M.I.T., has been testing an extremely powerful magnet necessary to generate immense heat.Bob Mumgaard, a plasma physicist, is chief executive of Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Cambridge, Mass.Credit...Tony Luong for The New York TimesPublished Aug. 10, 2021Updated Feb. 7, 2022A start-up founded by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says it is nearing a technological milestone that could take the world a step closer to fusion energy, which has eluded scientists for decades.Researchers at M.I.T.s Plasma Science and Fusion Center and engineers at the company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, have begun testing an extremely powerful magnet that is needed to generate immense heat that can then be converted to electricity. It would open the gates toward what they believe could eventually be a fusion reactor.Fusion energy has long been held out as one of the most significant technologies needed to combat the effects of climate change because it could generate an abundance of inexpensive clean energy.But there have been no commercial payoffs for fusion research, despite decades of investment and often overly aggressive promises. While there is a long history of international experimentation, scientists have not yet created fusion systems that generate more power than they consume.Like traditional nuclear fission power, which splits atoms, fusion energy would not consume fossil fuel and would not produce greenhouse gases. It would be more desirable than nuclear fission because its fuel, usually hydrogen isotopes, is more plentiful than the uranium used by current nuclear plants, and because fusion plants would generate less-dangerous and fewer radioactive wastes.Though a fusion energy breakthrough remains elusive, it is still held out as one of the possible high-technology paths to ending reliance on fossil fuels. And some researchers believe that fusion research could finally take a leap forward this decade.More than two dozen private ventures in the United States, Europe, China and Australia and government-funded consortia are now investing heavily in efforts to build commercial fusion reactors. Total investment by people such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos is edging toward $2 billion.ImageCredit...Tony Luong for The New York TimesThe federal government is also spending about $600 million each year on fusion research, and there is a proposed amendment to add $1 billion to the Biden administrations infrastructure bill, said Andrew Holland, chief executive of the Fusion Industry Association.Some of the start-ups and consortia are building powerful lasers to generate fusion reactions, and others are exploring new kinds of fuels. Most of them are professing a similar vision that they will be able to prove that their technology can produce competitively priced electricity this decade and build commercial plants to feed electricity into power grids soon after 2030.Commonwealths new magnet, which will be one of the worlds most powerful, will be a crucial component in a compact nuclear fusion reactor known as a Tokamak, a design that uses magnetic forces to compress plasma until it is hotter than the sun. The reactor looks like a doughnut-shaped jar surrounded by magnets. Soviet physicists originally envisioned it in the 1950s.Commonwealth Fusion executives claim that the magnet is a significant technology breakthrough that will make Tokamak designs commercially viable for the first time. They say they are not yet ready to test their reactor prototype, but the researchers are finishing the magnet and hope it will be workable by 2025.The scientists in Massachusetts hope that this month they will demonstrate a magnetic field that is almost twice the strength of the magnets planned for use by a global consortium of the European Union and six other countries that is assembling a reactor in Cadarache, France. The consortium hopes to begin generating electricity at the site in 2035.If you go to a much higher magnetic field, you can go to a much smaller size, said Bob Mumgaard, a plasma physicist who is chief executive of Commonwealth. He said that if it was possible to build a device just one-fiftieth the size of the planned reactor in France which will be roughly as big as a soccer field it would be able to generate almost as much power.ImageCredit...Tony Luong for The New York TimesImageCredit...Tony Luong for The New York TimesCommonwealths magnet will be one of 20 used to create a doughnut-shaped vessel in a space roughly the size of a tennis court. This year, Commonwealth established a 47-acre site in Devens, Mass., where it will build both its prototype reactor and a factory for the magnets. The magnets are made by depositing a thin film of exotic materials on a videotape-like backing that is then wound around a bottle that is used to contain the fusion reaction.Commonwealth, which has raised more than $250 million so far and employs 150 people, received a significant boost last year when physicists at M.I.T.s Plasma Science and Fusion Center and the company published seven peer-reviewed papers in the Journal of Plasma Physics explaining that the reactor will work as planned.What remains to be proved is that the Commonwealth prototype reactor can produce more energy than it consumes, an ability that physicists define as Q greater than 1. The company is hoping that its prototype, when complete, will produce 10 times the energy it consumes.So far, the best effort to reach positive energy output from a fusion reactor was achieved by the Joint European Torus, or JET, project, a Tokamak that began operation in 1983 in Oxfordshire, England. The device was able to produce 16 megawatts of fusion power while consuming 24 megawatts.Commonwealth must also convince skeptics that fusion reactors can produce electricity competitively. The falling costs of other types of alternative energy and the significant costs of building full-scale fusion reactors are potential obstacles.Daniel Jassby, a retired plasma physicist at Princeton University, has written critical essays about the commercial potential of fusion power in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and in Physics & Society. He described some of the start-up companies as being engaged in voodoo fusion energy. A number of the companies have not yet demonstrated that their technologies will create fusion reactions.He separates Commonwealth from this category because Tokamak designs have generated fusion power. But he argues that new fusion technologies will be unlikely to produce cheap electric power.Their claims are unjustified, Mr. Jassby said in an interview. They might be able to make something like that work eventually, but not on the time scale theyre talking about.In response, Mr. Mumgaard said Mr. Jassby was not considering the power of the new technical advances that his Commonwealth and the M.I.T. researchers will soon achieve.He said that unlike other energy sources, fusion would create energy largely without a resource. You add up all the costs, the cost of normal stuff like concrete and steel, and it will make as much power as a gas plant, but without having to pay for the gas, Mr. Mumgaard said. | Tech |
Trevor Hoffman Curt Schilling Should Be in H.O.F. 1/28/2018 TMZSports.com Trevor Hoffman says it's about damn time Curt Schilling joins him in the Hall of Fame, telling TMZ Sports voters should focus on his baseball skills ... and not his mouth. We spoke with the 2018 inductee (congrats, btw) about Schilling missing the cut for the 6th year in a row ... and Hoffy says Curt's more than deserving of baseball's highest honor. Curt's got 4 more attempts to get voted into the Hall ... and Hoffman sends his fellow pitcher an encouraging message. "I hope you get in, Curt!" | Entertainment |
VideotranscripttranscriptJair Bolsonaros Been Called a Misogynist and Fascist. Heres Why Women Still Back Him.Jair Bolsonaro, Brazils newly elected president, is known for his offensive remarks about women, but his hard-line agenda on crime has spurred many to vote for him. We heard from women on both sides.Copacabana. This world-class beach is now party central for Brazils far right. Weekly rallies here celebrate the movements rising star and and now future president, Jair Bolsonaro. If you know anything about Bolsonaro, you likely know that hes made some pretty outrageous remarks, such as calling a fellow lawmaker too ugly to rape and supporting torture. You may also know that women have come out en masse to oppose Bolsonaro, taking to the streets across Brazil under the banner of Ele No, or Not Him. But what may be surprising is that almost as many women support Bolsonaro. Hes polarized the entire country, but women seem especially divided about him. His signature gun gesture here hints at a key reason why. In 1964, women marched against communist reforms, setting the stage for a military coup. Twenty-one years of dictatorship followed. Hundreds of dissidents were killed, and thousands were tortured. Jair Bolsonaro, a former Army captain, is an open admirer of the dictatorship. His only criticism: They didnt kill enough people. At Bolsonaro rallies, people reminisce about the role women played in calling for the coup. Crime and especially violent crime is a huge problem in Brazil. Last year, nearly 64,000 people were murdered. Bolsonaro himself was stabbed in the stomach while campaigning. His popularity surged afterward. To understand how fear of crime is driving Bolsonaros popularity, we went to meet Sara Winter. She used to be a pro-choice activist. Now shes pro-life, and describes herself as a cured feminist. Shes been mobilizing her Facebook followers to show their support for Bolsonaro. Walking the streets of Rio, we hear similar views. Sofia Caputo voted for the left in the last four elections and now supports Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro has seized on peoples fears to justify iron-fisted policing tactics. His pitch isnt exactly new. The military already polices Rios poorest neighborhoods. We embed with Lt. Commander Enrique Amaral as he prepares to lead soldiers through the Babilonia favela. His battalion is part of a federal intervention started earlier this year to crack down on crime. Soldiers are looking for guns and gang members. But really anyone can be a suspect. Its like stop and frisk with M-16s. They see a young man who turns away. The young man stops. Hes standing right outside his house. His name is Renan, and his mother is fuming. Renan was let go. But his mother has reason to be scared. Security forces have killed over 1,000 people in Rio since the federal takeover began. Thats a 42% increase from last year. And those killed are mostly young men. Its why many women here many mothers fear Bolsonaro. He wants to ramp up the militarys role, give police and soldiers more power with less accountability. Her son was 14 years old. He was shot on his way to school. Whats at stake in this election for you? But outside the war zone in the favelas, theres less concern about the cost of fighting violence with more violence. Bolsonaro also wants to make it easier to buy guns, and that resonates with a lot of middle and upper class people worried about a spike in robberies. One woman, Katia Sastre, became a poster child for self-defense. In March, Sastre was with her daughter at a school Mothers Day event standing outside when a young man walked up and tried to rob them at gunpoint. Sastre, off duty at the time, was recorded on CCTV shooting the gunman three times point blank. He died. The video went viral, and she became an overnight sensation. Soon after, Sastre ran for Congress and won by a landslide. The gunmans family is now suing Sastre for replaying the moment of their sons death in her campaign. His name was Elivelton Neves, I believe. He was 21. His family has responded. Do you regret using that video at all? Fear, crime and security. Like Donald Trump in the U.S., Bolsonaro has campaigned on these issues. Bolsonaro wants people to believe that his militaristic some say fascist agenda can solve all of Brazils problems. Bolsonaros supporters want change. They want a new approach. But at what cost for Brazls democracy? Enough women, and men, appear willing to find out.Jair Bolsonaro, Brazils newly elected president, is known for his offensive remarks about women, but his hard-line agenda on crime has spurred many to vote for him. We heard from women on both sides.CreditCredit...Ricardo Moraes/ReutersNov. 1, 2018RIO DE JANEIRO Jair Bolsonaro, Brazils next president, won over millions of voters by vowing to make it easier for the police to kill criminals and crush the nations violent gangs, often flashing a gun sign with his hands.A good criminal is a dead criminal, Mr. Bolsonaro said on the campaign trail.The type of draconian approach Mr. Bolsonaro promised has already been employed for months in Rio de Janeiro, his home state, where the military has overseen security operations since February. It has led to a surge in killings by the authorities and a debate over whether the tactic is working.Between March and September, the police and the army killed at least 922 people in the state of Rio de Janeiro, a 45 percent increase from the same period last year. Nearly one in every four people killed here since March have died at the hands of the state.Opinion polls suggest a broad majority of people in Rio de Janeiro support the military intervention. But while reports of crimes like robberies and cargo theft have declined in the first seven months of the military takeover, the total number of violent deaths in the state has increased.The reduction of violence is strategic to Brazil, said Samira Bueno, the executive director of the Brazilian Forum for Public Security, which studies violence trends. But so far, she added, it has been discussed through myths and formulations that arent fact or evidence based.Brazilians broadly agree that drastic measures need to be taken to curb the extraordinary wave of violent crime in the country, which led to the deaths of a record 63,880 people last year.ImageCredit...Dado Galdieri for The New York TimesIn Rio de Janeiro state alone, more than 5,197 people have been killed this year far more than the 3,438 civilians killed in conflict last year in Afghanistan, according to United Nations figures.The staggering level of violence weighed heavily on voters over the weekend. Along with Mr. Bolsonaro, other politicians who had vowed to hunt down suspected criminals were rewarded at polls, setting the stage for a period of intensified bloodletting.Mr. Bolsonaro, who won by a decisive margin, said in August that police officers who gun down armed criminals with 10 or 30 shots need to be decorated, not prosecuted.Wilson Witzel, a former federal judge who was elected governor of Rio de Janeiro in an upset victory clinched by running as a Bolsonaro ally, put organized crime groups on warning during a speech days before the vote.There will be no shortage of places to send criminals, he said. Well dig graves, and as to prisons, if necessary well put them on ships.This week, he said he favors extending the military intervention, which is set to end in January, for an additional 10 months. And he proposed using snipers, some aboard helicopters, to gun down anyone spotted carrying a weapon in low-income urban communities known as favelas.ImageCredit...Dado Galdieri for The New York TimesJoo Doria, a former mayor who was elected governor of So Paulo on Sunday in a tight race, vowed to raise money so that the best lawyers could defend police officers sued for killing suspected criminals.Drug gangs have controlled scores of neighborhoods in several large cities in Brazil for decades, becoming the de facto authority in areas the police seldom go into. Confrontations for territorial control between rival gangs, and clashes with the security forces, greatly contributed to the record bloodshed last year.Gustavo Bebianno, a prominent member of the Bolsonaro campaign who has expressed interest in serving as his justice minister, said that Brazils growing violence problem will become irreversible unless decisive action is taken soon.If a lowlife is on the street carrying a weapon ostentatiously, he should be a target, Mr. Bebianno said. You dont talk. You talk after shooting. Why would a decent person be carrying a weapon of war ostentatiously on a public street?Gen. Walter Souza Braga Netto, the Army commander who was appointed to lead the military intervention in Rio de Janeiro, said the vast majority of people killed by the police are irrational thugs.Asked to explain the surge in police killings since the intervention began, General Braga Netto explained that his men had trained the police in marksmanship and helped them procure and maintain equipment, leading to better accuracy.ImageCredit...Dado Galdieri for The New York TimesThere was a lot of shooting, and basically no one hit anyone, he said, referring to police operations before the intervention began. We trained the police and they learned how to hit the target.Experts warn that encouraging the police to become even more lethal is unlikely to address the root causes of violence, and may well exacerbate them.Youre implementing the death penalty in the polices day-to-day activities, said Ms. Bueno. In addition to being illegal, contrary to the constitution and immoral, it will make police officers more vulnerable.Much of the violence in Rio de Janeiro is driven by criminal organizations known as militias, made up of active-duty and retired police officers and military personnel acting on their own. They have become increasingly powerful in communities neglected by the state by extorting protection money from residents, operating unlicensed public transportation businesses and muscling into the drug trade.Militias are suspected of some of the worst crimes committed in the city in recent months, including the drive-by shooting of Marielle Franco, a leftist city council member killed in March, and the killing of a judge in 2012.Many residents in areas that have become increasingly lethal battlegrounds dread the prospect of more violence in the months ahead and question whether the military intervention will produce a lasting drop in crime.ImageCredit...Antonio Lacerda/EPA, via ShutterstockIt puts everyone at risk, said Sueli Oliveira, 73, who lives in the Santa Marta favela in Rio de Janeiro. She noted that some of the soldiers who have been deployed to restless favelas in recent months hail from those communities. Theyre pitting the poor against the poor, she said.Senior military leaders also appear far from enthusiastic about the increasing militarization of policing.The armed forces cant keep the public security of states under its guardianship indefinitely, Gen. Braga Netto said. We come, give support, teach them how to manage it, and then we leave.Retired Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, whom Mr. Bolsonaro intends to name as defense minister, said that the new president hasnt signaled whether he wants to continue to rely heavily on the military to address urban violence.Its not the mission of our dreams in the armed forces, but if it is necessary, it will continue, Mr. Heleno said.Adriana Beltrn, a security expert at the Washington Office on Latin America, said Latin American leaders are increasingly finding it tempting to rely on the armed forces in areas where the police are outgunned and the criminal justice system is dysfunctional. But Brazilian leaders should take note of what has happened in Mexico and Honduras, she said.ImageCredit...Pilar Olivares/ReutersThe use of the military has not resulted in the disruption of criminal activity or dismantling of criminal networks, Ms. Beltran said. In many cases, gangs and criminal groups have increased their level of organization and sophistication. The cases of Mexico and Honduras demonstrate how the reliance on the military for policing can increase human rights abuses, including torture, disappearances and extrajudicial killings.Beyond proposing to ease the rules of engagement for the police, Mr. Bolsonaro has said that some teenagers should be prosecuted as adults for violent crimes, and he has promised to make it easier for civilians to lawfully carry weapons for self-defense.The rise of tough-on-crime politicians effectively marks the end of the policing strategies that helped drive down violence here in Rio when they were set in motion a decade ago.In 2008, the government established a network of so-called Pacification Police Units in favelas across the city in an effort to wrest territorial control from criminal groups. The government managed to reestablish control of dozens of formerly lawless areas, often without firing a shot, paving the way for promised investments in education, health and sanitation systems.Those investments, however, never fully materialized. And the approach was abandoned amid a budget shortfall in the state, which was exacerbated by a sweeping corruption scandal.Eliana Sousa, who heads Redes da Mar, a community organization in the Mar favela, one of the largest in Rio de Janeiro, said she fears that empowering the police to use greater violence will make matters worse.This shooting-down policy already exists, she said. What is the result? Rising violence.Joelma Viana, a 39-year-old single mother who lives in Chatuba da Penha, a favela in northern Rio de Janeiro, said her life was turned upside down in August during a two-day operation in her neighborhood.Ms. Viana, a restaurant cook, said the police ransacked her home, destroyed a television set and stole a jewelry box, a watch she had bought her son for his birthday and her favorite pair of hoop earrings.The modest amount I have been able to save has been a product of a lot of sacrifice, so in that moment, I felt demolished, said Ms. Viana, who filed a police report on the theft and destruction of her property. After living here for 38 years, I have never faced something like this. I feel humiliated. I want justice. | World |
Compared to white or Hispanic patients, black patients seeking care have more advanced cases of Covid-19, researchers reported.Credit...Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesMay 23, 2020As the coronavirus spread across the United States, sweeping through low-income, densely populated communities, black and Hispanic patients have been dying at higher rates than white patients.Crowded living conditions, poorer overall health and limited access to care have been blamed, among other factors. But a new study suggests that the disparity is particularly acute for black patients.Among those seeking medical care for Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, black patients were hospitalized at nearly three times the rate of white and Hispanic patients, according to an analysis of patient records from a large health care system in Northern California.The disparity remained even after researchers took into account differences in age, sex, income and the prevalence of chronic health problems that exacerbate Covid-19, like hypertension and Type 2 diabetes.The finding suggests that black patients may have had limited access to medical care or that they postponed seeking help until later in the course of their illness, when the disease was more advanced.Black patients were also far less likely than white, Hispanic or Asian patients to have been tested for the virus before going to the emergency room for care.Black patients are coming to us later and sicker, and theyre accessing our care through the emergency department and acute care environment, said Dr. Stephen H. Lockhart, the chief medical officer at Sutter Health in Sacramento and one of the authors of the new study.The study, which was peer reviewed, was published in Health Affairs.Delayed care may give the virus more time to spread through households and neighborhoods, Dr. Lockhart and his colleagues concluded. The delays also suggest that minority patients continue to face barriers despite Californias broad expansion of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.How soon you access care, even supportive care, affects how you experience illness and how much pain and suffering you have, said Kristen M.J. Azar, a research scientist at Sutter Health who was the studys lead author.She added, While we dont necessarily have treatments at this point, there are therapies being developed, and identifying people early on as these treatments become available will be important in order to prevent poor outcomes, like death and being put on ventilators.Dr. Clyde W. Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine, said the granular study of patient records bolstered cruder public health reports of higher Covid-19 death rates among black Americans.The data confirm that socioeconomic factors play an outsize role in influencing health status and vulnerability to infection, he added.Where and how we live contributes greatly to our health, said Dr. Yancy, who has written about health disparities and the pandemic.[Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.]The new study analyzed the electronic health records of 1,052 confirmed Covid-19 patients who sought care between Jan. 1 and April 8 at Sutter Health, a health system serving 3.5 million patients in Northern California.More than half of the 61 black patients who tested positive for the coronavirus were admitted to hospitals, compared with about one-quarter or fewer of the Hispanic, white and Asian patients who tested positive.Black patients were also more likely than the others to be so sick that they required treatment in an intensive care unit.Even after the investigators factored out a number of differences between patient groups, black patients were still 2.7 times more likely than others to require hospitalization when they sought care.The important thing we found in this study is that even when we were accounting for all those things, race mattered, Dr. Lockhart said. Thats a message thats incredibly important as we think about going forward.The study was too small to detect differences in death rates among the patient groups, the authors said. In California as a whole, however, black residents are bearing a disproportionate burden of Covid-19 deaths.Black residents make up 6 percent of the states population and roughly the same percentage of the states Covid-19 cases. But black patients represented 10.3 percent of Covid-19-related deaths as of May 13, according to the California Department of Public Health.One limitation of the study was that researchers did not make adjustments for obesity. Rates of obesity are somewhat higher among black people, and obesity has emerged as a risk factor in patients with more severe complications from Covid-19. | Health |
The proposed rule could make it easier for Americans with mild to moderate hearing impairments to get the devices.Credit...iStock/Getty Images PlusOct. 19, 2021The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday outlined a plan to make hearing aids available without a medical exam, prescription or fitting. The proposed rule, which would create a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids, could help improve access to and reduce the cost of the devices for millions of Americans with mild to moderate hearing impairments.The rule, which has not yet been finalized, is the culmination of a yearslong push to make the medical devices available to more Americans. This is going to be, I think, really transformative for a lot of people who are struggling to communicate but may not have the means or the ability to buy a prescription hearing aid or work with an audiologist, said Dr. Vinay Rathi, an otolaryngologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear.More than 37 million American adults have a hearing impairment, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The majority do not use hearing aids. Some people with hearing impairments do not want to use the devices, but others are stymied by numerous barriers to access.We know that when people find out they have a hearing loss they take five to seven years before they do something about it, said Barbara Kelley, the executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America. And theres a lot of reasons for that: One is cost, one is stigma, one is access to care.Under current regulations, which are more than 40 years old, only providers licensed by the states can prescribe and sell the devices, which can often cost roughly $5,000 a pair, and require visiting an audiologist or technician for testing, fitting and potential adjustments. (Health insurance typically does not cover the cost of hearing aids.)Theres a lot of friction, said Dr. Frank Lin, an otolaryngologist and director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.When Martin Bledsoe, a retiree in South Carolina, began to lose his hearing several years ago, he visited an audiologist but ultimately decided that his hearing loss was mild enough that he did not want to pay thousands of dollars for a prescription hearing aid.It was probably $3,000 to $10,000, he said. And the problem I have with mild hearing loss is just not worth that amount of money to me.In 2015, a scientific advisory committee to President Barack Obama issued a report recommending that the F.D.A. create a new category of basic, over-the-counter hearing aids to help encourage innovation and drive down costs.Two years later, Congress passed the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act. Under the legislation, the F.D.A. was supposed to issue draft regulations for nonprescription hearing aids by August 2020, but the agency missed the deadline.The pandemic may have set the agency back, Dr. Lin said, but developing the rule was also a challenging task. Its a tall order for the F.D.A. to completely develop a completely new regulatory class that no other country in the world is doing, he said.In July, President Biden issued an executive order requiring that the draft rule be issued by early November.The proposed rule would allow adults who have mild to moderate hearing impairments to purchase certain kinds of hearing aids in stores or online without a prescription. Children and people with severe or profound hearing loss would still be required to visit an audiologist or licensed provider.The rule also establishes performance, design and safety standards, and outlines labeling requirements for the devices.Its not just that the F.D.A. is opening up the floodgates, Dr. Rathi said. Theyre actually doing it in what I think is a very well-reasoned way.The rule is likely to encourage more companies to enter the hearing aid market, which could encourage competition, allow manufacturing at scale and ultimately drive prices down, Dr. Lin said.Although it is hard to predict how the market will develop, Dr. Lin said that over-the-counter hearing aids might eventually be available for a few hundred dollars. (Although that is substantially lower than the current average, that price may still be out of reach for many Americans.)Mr. Bledsoe said that he would absolutely be interested in a hearing aid in that price range and that he suspected he was not alone in that. Theres a lot of boomers out there like me about to have this problem, he said. So its surely a market worth somebody going after.Members of the public can comment on the new rule for 90 days. The agency will issue its final rule soon after that.The Hearing Loss Association of America will review the rule carefully, Ms. Kelley said, to ensure that it contains appropriate consumer safeguards. Educating the public about any new, over-the-counter devices and ensuring that people know when they should seek professional medical care will also be critical, she added.But the group was excited about the possibilities, she said: It opens up a whole new avenue of access to care. | Health |
A group of 77 Nobel laureates wants the U.S. government to review a grant cancellation for research in China directly related to preventing pandemics.Credit...EcoHealth AllianceMay 21, 2020A group of 77 Nobel laureates has asked for an investigation into the cancellation of a federal grant to EcoHealth Alliance, a group that researches bat coronaviruses in China.The pre-eminent scientists characterized the explanation for the decision by the National Institutes of Health as preposterous. The agency said the investigation into the sources of pandemics did not fit with program goals and agency priorities.The Nobel laureates letter followed by a day a letter of protest from the American Society forBiochemistry and Molecular Biology to the National Institutes on behalf of 31 scientific societies. The societies include tens of thousands of members, the letter stated. It said the grant cancelation politicized science and concluded, The action taken by the NIH must be immediately reconsidered.The Nobel recipients said the grant was canceled just a few days after President Trump responded to a question from a reporter who erroneously claimed that the grant awarded millions of dollars to investigators in Wuhan. President Trump said the grant would be ended immediately.The grant had been given to EcoHealth Alliance, an organization with headquarters in New York that studies the potential for spillover of animal viruses to humans around the globe. The group collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been at the center of conspiracy theories about how the novel coronavirus originated. Virologists and intelligence agencies agree that the virus evolved in nature and spread from animals to humans.Days after the news conference in April, the National Institutes of Health emailed Peter Daszak, the head of EcoHealth Alliance. They questioned his work with the Wuhan Institute, and after an exchange of emails, he was informed that the renewal of his grant for more than $3 million was canceled. 3 pages, 0.04 MB Harold E. Varmus, a former director of the N.I.H., said that the government always sets broad priorities for research that some scientists may disagree with, including restrictions on use of embryonic stem cells, but that this research was squarely in line with federal priorities. He called the cancellation an outrageous abuse of political power to control the way science works.Dr. Daszak said that the grant-making agencies score applications for grants. His application for renewal went through the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. We were in the top three percent of grants submitted. Ive never got a score that good. It clearly was a central, high-impact priority for N.I.H. to fund. And that was 10 months before, before it was terminated.Richard J. Roberts, of New England Biolabs, who organized the letter from the laureates, said that when he emailed other Nobel recipients, the response was overwhelmingly positive and everybody replied very quickly.He pointed out the importance of researching the presence of coronaviruses in bats at a time when the world is suffering a pandemic from a coronavirus that overwhelming evidence suggests originated in bats: If were going to cut off funds to someone who is so important in our fight against the coronavirus, wheres it going to stop?The laureates sent their letter to Alex M. Azar II, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. They asked the director and secretary to conduct a thorough review of the actions that led to the decision to terminate the grant, and that, following this review, you take appropriate steps to rectify the injustices that may have been committed in revoking it.The letter from the group of scientific societies said, the decision sets a dangerous precedent because it offered no justifiable rationale for revoking a grant that was awarded based upon scientific merit.At the moment, EcoHealth Alliance is still working in other parts of the world, but it has no ongoing research in China.Neither the N.I.H. nor the Health and Human Services Department responded to requests for comment in time for publication. | Health |
Credit...Mark Makela for The New York TimesApril 3, 2016It is a drug that reduces levels of LDL cholesterol, the dangerous kind, as much as statins do. And it more than doubles levels of HDL cholesterol, the good kind, which is linked to protection from heart disease. As a result, heart experts had high hopes for it as an alternative for the many patients who cannot or will not take statins.But these specialists were stunned by the results of a study of 12,000 patients, announced on Sunday at the American College of Cardiologys annual meeting: There was no benefit from taking the drug, evacetrapib. The drugs maker, Eli Lilly, stopped the study in October, citing futility, but it was not until Sundays meeting that cardiologists first saw the data behind that decision.Participants taking the drug saw their LDL levels fall to an average of 55 milligrams per deciliter from 84. Their HDL levels rose to an average of 104 milligram per deciliter from 46. Yet 256 participants had heart attacks, compared with 255 patients in the group who were taking a placebo. Ninety-two patients taking the drug had a stroke, compared with 95 in the placebo group. And 434 people taking the drug died from cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or a stroke, compared with 444 participants who were taking a placebo.We had an agent that seemed to do all the right things, said Dr. Stephen J. Nicholls, the studys principal investigator and the deputy director of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute in Adelaide. Its the most mind-boggling question. How can a drug that lowers something that is associated with benefit not show any benefit? he said, referring to the 37 percent drop in LDL levels with the drug.Two other drugs in the same class as evacetrapib, known as CETP inhibitors, have also failed: One, which lowered LDL levels by only 20 percent, had toxic side effects. The other raised HDL levels but did not lower LDL levels at all. Cardiologists thought evacetrapib, a safe and potent drug, would be different.All of us would have put money on it, said Dr. Peter Libby, a Harvard cardiologist. The drug, he said, was the great hope.Evacetrapib acts by siphoning cholesterol out of HDL, a cholesterol-carrying scavenger protein, so the cholesterol can be discarded in bile. Statins, in contrast, pull cholesterol from the other major cholesterol-carrying protein, LDL, into the liver, after which it can be discarded. It seemed logical that evacetrapib, by ridding the body of cholesterol in HDL and lowering the amount of LDL proteins, would work to protect against heart disease.Researchers have hypotheses, but no one is certain what went wrong. It may be that the LDL level is less important than how it gets changed, said Dr. Paul Thompson, a cardiologist at Hartford Hospital. But we dont know that.Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic added, These kinds of studies are wake-up calls.Cardiologists still have high hopes for a new class of cholesterol drugs, known as PCSK-9 inhibitors, that cause LDL to plummet to levels never seen in drug treatments. One reason for their optimism is that these drugs have the same end effect as statins: They cause liver cells to draw out cholesterol.These drugs are being tested in large clinical trials to see if their effects on LDL levels translate into reduced incidences of heart attacks, strokes and death. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the drugs based on their LDL-lowering effects for a number of patient groups, including those at high risk for heart disease who report painful muscle aches or weakness when they take statins.The PCSK-9 inhibitors can cost more than $14,000 a year, while statins can cost just pennies a day, so determining what portion of patients are truly statin intolerant has become an important question.A second study presented at the cardiology meeting on Sunday and published online in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed just how vexing the issue is.The study, directed by Dr. Nissen and paid for by Amgen, a pharmaceutical company, included more than 500 people with extremely high levels of LDL cholesterol who had tried two or more statins and had reported aching or weak muscles so severe that they said they absolutely could not continue taking the drugs.The participants were randomly assigned to take either a statin, atorvastatin or a placebo for 10 weeks. Then those taking a statin were switched to a placebo for 10 additional weeks, and those taking a placebo were switched to a statin. The result: Less than half of the patients seemed to be truly unable to tolerate statins, and complained of muscle pain only when they were taking the drug. A quarter of the patients reported muscle problems with a placebo. And nearly one in 10 had muscle issues with both the statin and the placebo.That indicated that 57 percent of patients actually could tolerate statins. Researchers then randomly assigned the remaining 43 percent to take either Amgens PCSK-9 inhibitor, evolocumab, or another cholesterol-lowering drug, ezetimibe, which is often taken by statin intolerant patients but has never been shown to reduce heart disease risk when taken without an accompanying statin. The patients tolerated both drugs.The statin tolerance results were not a total surprise. Smaller studies had indicated that most patients who said statins caused muscle aches actually could tolerate the drugs. But this was the largest such study and raised a real question about how to treat patients who are at high risk of heart disease and say they cannot or will not take a statin because of intolerable side effects.We dont know how to assess these patients, said Dr. Robert Eckel of the University of Colorado. No lab test can pick out the truly statin intolerant from those who feel muscle pain that may be caused by something else.That is a major, major problem, said Dr. Thompson, the cardiologist at Harford Hospital, who led a smaller study that came to a similar conclusion about statin intolerance.Dr. Daniel Rader, a cardiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, would like to give patients who say they cannot tolerate statins a clinical trial in which the patient is the only participant. He would give the patient either a placebo or a statin for a few weeks and then switch the pills. That way the doctor and the patient could get an idea of whether the patients muscle pain was really caused by statins.Wendy Todd, a patient of Dr. Daniel Soffer, also of the University of Pennsylvania, was surprised after she entered a statin intolerance study. She had already tried at least three statins, including atorvastatin, the one being tested, but always developed flulike symptoms and cramps in her legs so painful she could barely walk.But she had no such effects when she took atorvastatin during the study, without knowing if it was the drug or the placebo. She was astonished, but accepted that she was not actually intolerant to the drug. She began taking it when the study ended. It does not bother her now.Ms. Todd said she liked Dr. Raders idea about an individualized trial for patients like her.I would opt for that, she said. | Health |
Politics|Derrick Evans, a West Virginia legislator who stormed the Capitol, has resigned.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/us/politics/derrick-evans-resigns-capitol-riot.htmlCredit...Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislature, via Associated PressJan. 9, 2021Derrick Evans, a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, resigned on Saturday after participating in the storming of the United States Capitol.The past few days have certainly been a difficult time for my family, colleagues and myself, so I feel its best at this point to resign my seat in the House and focus on my personal situation and those I love, Mr. Evans said in a statement. I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret any hurt, pain or embarrassment I may have caused my family, friends, constituents and fellow West Virginians.His resignation, which he submitted to Gov. Jim Justice in a one-sentence letter, is effective immediately. He also faces two federal charges: one for knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and one for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.Mr. Evans, a Republican who was just elected to the West Virginia House in November, filmed himself entering the Capitol on Wednesday as part of a pro-Trump mob incited by President Trump himself intent on stopping Congress from formalizing President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.s victory.Like many other members of the mob, he made no effort to conceal his involvement. Were in! he said in his video. Were in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!The speaker of the West Virginia House, Roger Hanshaw, quickly condemned Mr. Evanss actions, saying on Wednesday that Mr. Evans would need to answer to his constituents and colleagues regarding his involvement in what has occurred today.On Saturday, Mr. Hanshaw, who is also a Republican, said in a statement that he hoped the House could move forward with its session without any further distraction.In announcing his resignation, Delegate Evans said he accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to those hes hurt, he said. In this time of overheated, hyperbolic political rage, I think thats a good first step for us all to take right now. | Politics |
Olympics|The Dutch Speedskaters Are Thrilled, the Americans Baffledhttps://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/sports/olympics/the-dutch-speedskaters-are-thrilled-the-americans-baffled.htmlCredit...Hannibal Hanschke/European Pressphoto AgencyFeb. 16, 2014SOCHI, Russia It was another tale of two speedskating teams here on Sunday night, with the Dutch team sweeping the podium yet again in the womens 1,500 meters and the United States coming up empty-handed.Jorien ter Mors of the Netherlands won the gold medal and set an Olympic record with a time of 1:53.51. Her appearance in the event was historic in itself, as she became the first woman to compete in both short- and long-track speedskating events at an Olympics. (Haralds Silovs of Latvia competed in both mens events at the 2010 Vancouver Games.)Behind her were her Dutch teammates Ireen Wust, who won the silver medal and finished in 1:54.09, and Lotte van Beek, who took bronze with a time of 1:54.54. Wust won a gold medal in the 3,000 meters last Sunday and a silver medal in the 1,000 meters on Thursday.Im not used to these kind of situations, Mors said. In short track you immediately know if you have won. Now I had to wait and it was very nerve-racking. I never expected to win gold here, but I had a very good race.No team been so dominant in the sport since East Germany in the 1980s.By contrast, the American team at this Olympics has been reeling from a series of baffling underperformances here and is without a medal in eight events. On Friday, officials with U.S. Speedskating said that they would drop the new high-tech suits they broke out for the Olympics and revert to those they wore in World Cup competition earlier in the season. The hope was to change the teams momentum, but in Saturdays mens 1,500 race, no American made the podium.After that, American officials, athletes and coaches began to examine other factors, like training regimes, altitude training and mental preparation as causes for the underperformance.The three American women competing in the 1,500 on Sunday Heather Richardson, Brittany Bowe and Jilleanne Rookard , changed their speedsuits as well. Richardson was the top American, finishing seventh.After the competition, the women said that they, too, were still trying to piece together why they could not replicate their success on the international circuit in Sochi and what precisely was making the Dutch competitors so successful.Thats the question of the year, Rookard said. Their trials are just outrageous. We were looking at their times for the trials and we were just like, Man, do they have the fans on or what the heck is going on? Richardson said: Its really surprising since weve all been on the podium this season. Its a little disappointing, but we went out there and gave it the best that we could, and thats all we can do. | Sports |
March 17, 2017Each week, Canada Today mixes the Timess recent Canada-related coverage with back stories and analysis from our reporters along with opinions from our readers.ImageCredit...Aaron Vincent Elkaim for The New York TimesLike many reporters, I sometimes need to find people whose personal stories can illustrate larger issues. But on some of those stories, finding even a handful of such people and then getting them to agree to interviews can be challenging.That was the case when I looked at one aspect of Torontos runaway house prices. When I spoke to Murtaza Haider, a professor at Ryerson University, he raised an interesting point that seemed to have been overlooked. While demand is obviously high for houses in the Toronto area, the rate at which people sell houses has remained stagnant for years and even declined at times.Basic economics, however, suggest that high prices cause people to cash out and inject more houses for sale into the market. Professor Haider offered one explanation for the Toronto paradox: the unusually high percentage of 20-somethings in the region who still live with their parents. With their nests still full, the parents arent thinking about selling.But how to find such families? There are no organizations for parents with adult children in their homes. Nor have they formed any distinct online groups as far as I could tell. So I began foraging for such families.Nancy Worth, a geographer at the University of Waterloo who studies the adults who are back home with their parents in the Toronto area, circulated a request on my behalf to people she had interviewed. That prompted Nadia Nassar to get in touch. Nadia linked me to a friend, Victoria Sherman, who also provided useful thoughts about returning home.But I found the Barber family, which became the focus of the story, through a much less conventional path. While heading down to Oakville, Ontario, to meet Ms. Nassar and her parents, I remembered a connection in town. Last September, I spoke on a Times Voyage from Quebec to New York. The only Canadian in the group was Carol Fahey, a loyal Times reader, who just happened to be from Oakville.Ms. Fahey swiftly introduced me to Janet Barber. And late the next afternoon, Janet and her daughters, Jennifer and Sarah, met with me, showing great generosity with their time. Jennifer Barber, who no longer lives at home, even drove in from downtown Toronto for the interview and photographs.All four of the young women shattered the myth that adult children who live at home are listless parasites. They were dynamic, hard working and active contributors to family life.Ms. Fahey, by the way, recently did what economists expect. With her children long gone, she sold her large house in Oakville, bought a relatively large condo in town and still banked a real estate windfall. Read: Torontos Housing Boom Refills Empty Nests, Driving Prices Even HigherIce Cave When Craig Smith was living in Shanghai, someone gave his son a copy of Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews, a storyteller and author from Lanark, Ontario. It tells the story of the mussel harvest by Inuit in Arctic Quebec, which happens under the ice after the tide goes out. Ms. Andrews never went under the ice herself. But Mr. Smith did.Before long, the sound of ticks and pops signaled the returning tide as it lifted the ice on the bay, he wrote, firing up all my claustrophobic nightmares. Soon, the water would fill the caverns. Read: Burrowing Under Luminous Ice to Retrieve MusselsAnd dont miss this wonderful 360 video about the mussel collecting mission.Shared Waters Catherine McKenna, Canadas environment and climate change minister, was in Washington this week. Part of her mission was to press Congress to reject a budget item from the Trump administration that would end funding for a program that addresses major environmental and health threats in the Great Lakes. Canada is going to have to lead by example and show the U.S. this isnt the right direction, Mark Mattsen, the president of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, an environmental group, told Dan Levin. The presidents budget proposals are not a done deal like the budget that Bill Morneau, Canadas finance minister, will unveil on Wednesday. Coral Davenport, our colleague who covers environmental issues from Washington, told me that any such cut would face strong resistance in Congress. Read: Canadians Fear Trumps Budget Will Devastate Great LakesImageCredit...Ian Willms for The New York TimesSlam Dunk Quiz Time: What is the most successful mens college basketball team of this century? Answer: The Carleton University Ravens, whose campus is not far from my home in Ottawa. They hope to capture their 13th national championship in 15 years in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday. David Waldstein went there, in part, to contrast Canadas Final 8 with the NCAA basketball tournament, a three-week televised extravaganza in the United States known as March Madness. Read: In Canadas National Basketball Championship, the Madness Is MutedLooking Back In the Book Review, Margaret Atwood discussed her dystopian novel The Handmaids Tale, examining, among other things, how it fits within the current American political climate. Read: Margaret Atwood on What The Handmaids Tale Means in the Age of TrumpBay Days When Richard A. Baker, scion of a New York real estate family, took over the venerable Hudsons Bay Company, it was assumed that he was mainly interested in its property. Instead, Mr. Baker invested heavily in its stores, and he is widely credited with turning around the retailers fortunes although he has also wrung money out of its real estate. But Rachel Abrams and I found that not everyone is keen about talks that may result in The Bay acquiring Neiman Marcus, the struggling high-end retailer, which counts the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board among its owners. Read: Hudsons Bay and Neiman Marcus Are Said to Be in Merger Talks Showtime Come From Away has come to Broadway and become an NYT Critics Pick. Reviewer Ben Brantley wrote that the play, about Gander, Newfoundland, welcoming stranded American travelers after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, pushes so many emotional buttons that you wind up feeling like an accordion. That does not mean that youll leave thinking you have been played.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the Broadway production this week and was joined by Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Trump. It was apparently part of Mr. Trudeaus charm offensive against the Trump administration. But as a play about welcoming outsiders, Come From Away also highlighted the different approaches to immigration and refugees being taken by the two countries governments. Now the show has turned unexpectedly into a form of Canadian soft power: an expression of Canadian ideals, seemingly at odds with those of the new American administration, on stage nightly in the heart of New York City, wrote Michael Paulson in his report on the prime ministers visit.Read: Review: Come From Away, a Canadian Embrace on a Grim DayRead: Justin Trudeau Brings Ivanka Trump to Broadway Show on Welcoming OutsidersRead: A Broadway Musical Brings Out Canadian Soft PowerHere are some other articles from The Times over the last week, not necessarily related to Canada and perhaps overlooked, that I found interesting: Ed Whitlock of Milton, Ontario, who became the oldest marathon runner to break four hours, died at age 86. Jer Longman also profiled Mr. Whitlock and his age-defying athletic success last December. A decade ago, the absence of a comma led to a judgment against Rogers Communications with a 1 million Canadian dollar value. Now the Oxford comma, or its absence, has come up in a court case that could cost a company in Maine $10 million. Scientists have figured out when bison began their invasion of North America. | World |
Credit...Sam Hodgson for The New York TimesJune 11, 2017The ads have been popping up on billboards, buses and subways and in glossy magazines, with portraits of attractive men and women and a simple question in bold letters: What is Vivitrol?Five years ago, Vivitrol was a treatment for opioid addiction that was struggling to find a market. Now, its sales and profile are rising fast, thanks to its manufacturers shrewd use of political connections, and despite scant science to prove the drugs efficacy.Last month, the health and human services secretary, Tom Price, praised it as the future of opioid addiction treatment after visiting the companys plant in Ohio. He set off a furor among substance abuse specialists by criticizing its less expensive and more widely used and rigorously studied competitors, buprenorphine and methadone, as medications that simply substitute for illicit drugs.It was the kind of plug that Vivitrols maker, Alkermes, has spent years coaxing, with a deft lobbying strategy that has targeted lawmakers and law enforcement officials. The company has spent millions of dollars on contributions to officials struggling to stem the epidemic of opioid abuse. It has also provided thousands of free doses to encourage the use of Vivitrol in jails and prisons, which have by default become major detox centers.With the Trump administration sending $1 billion in new addiction prevention and treatment funds to states over the next two years through the 21st Century Cures Act, Alkermess marketing has shifted into even higher gear.The companys strategy highlights the profit opportunities that drug companies and investors see in an opioid epidemic that killed 91 Americans every day in 2015 and is growing worse. But some of its marketing tactics, and Mr. Prices comments, ignore widely accepted science, as nearly 700 experts in the field wrote the health secretary in a letter.Not a single study has been completed comparing Vivitrol with its less expensive competitors. Some studies have shown high dropout rates, or found that many participants returned to opioid use while taking Vivitrol or after going off it. In one study that the company used to secure the Food and Drug Administrations approval of Vivitrol for opioid addiction treatment, conducted with 250 patients in Russia, nearly half of those who got Vivitrol failed to stay abstinent over a six-month period, although they stayed abstinent and in treatment longer than those who got a placebo.Alkermes executives say they welcome any addiction treatment. But in pitches to investors, doctors, law enforcement officials and legislators, they have presented Vivitrol as something of a miracle drug, a cleaner alternative to Suboxone, the most common formulation of buprenorphine. They described Suboxone as an addictive black market or street drug, emphasizing that it is smuggled into prisons.That view has resonated with drug court judges and sheriffs. But some addiction and public health specialists complain that the company unfairly denigrates its competition, without any data to suggest Vivitrol has better outcomes.If you care about actually solving the problem, you cannot stigmatize the most effective treatments, said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a former Maryland health secretary who is now an associate dean at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. This is a company that has put its own perverted idea of market success ahead of actually solving the problem.As health secretary, he said, he had to call a meeting to tell Alkermes to back off talking down methadone and buprenorphine to legislators as the company aggressively lobbied to get Maryland to use Vivitrol.Theyre exploiting a stigma that exists out of a very narrow view of their own economic self-interest, he said. And the result is going to be more people dying if they cannot get access to effective treatment.In an interview, the chief executive of Alkermes, Richard Pops, noted a dearth of data on the long-term success of any medication for opioid addiction. In this entire field, theres just not a lot of research thats been done looking at long-term outcomes, Mr. Pops said.But he argued that the rush of states adopting Vivitrol programs indicates that those on the front lines of the opioid epidemic believe that the drug works. The outcomes data that local ecosystems trust the most is their own, he said.A Pitch to LawmakersVivitrol, taken as a monthly shot, is an opioid antagonist, which means it blocks the brains opioid receptors so users cannot feel any high from heroin, pain pills or the synthetic fentanyl that has caused sharp increases in overdose deaths in some states.Buprenorphine and methadone, on the other hand, are classified as opioid agonists. They bind to the brains opioid receptors just enough, with proper dosing, so that people taking them do not feel cravings or symptoms of withdrawal. There is a substantial body of research on both buprenorphine, a semisynthetic opioid, and methadone, a synthetic opioid, with studies generally finding that they reduce the risk of relapse and fatal overdose, especially when combined with counseling.ImageCredit...Andrew Spear for The New York TimesThe Food and Drug Administration approved Vivitrol in 2006 for alcoholism and expanded its approved use to opioid addiction treatment in 2010, based on the Russian study.Sales of the drug initially were so tepid that market analysts urged the company to drop it. Instead, Alkermes adopted what Mr. Pops described to potential investors last fall as a new commercial model for pharma.Rather than appeal to doctors offices or medical associations, the company has primarily pitched Vivitrol to law enforcement officials and lawmakers, who have relied heavily on government grants and the Affordable Care Acts expansion of Medicaid to pay for the drug. Medicaid pays about $500 per shot, while private insurers pay $1,000, according to Alkermes. Suboxone, produced by Indivior, tends to cost a third to half as much, and methadone much less.Alkermes assigns sales representatives to judges who oversee drug courts, where addicts arrested on minor drug charges go through supervised treatment programs. It also provides free shots to inmates preparing to leave jails and prisons, where Medicaid usually does not pay for medical care. Once the inmates are released, Medicaid often picks up the cost for them to continue shots of Vivitrol in re-entry or treatment programs.Alkermes also relies on a speakers bureau of doctors who are paid to promote Vivitrol to other doctors and nurses across the country, and sends outreach kits with information about the drug to leaders of local grass-roots organizations.The company and its political action committee have spent heavily to get its product before policy makers: $19 million in federal lobbying since the drug was approved in 2010, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It made $222,521 in political contributions to Congress last year and has purchased high-level sponsorships of associations of drug court professionals and addiction treatment professionals, as well as organizations researching addiction treatment.Suboxone still has a far bigger share of the market, despite its critics in the criminal justice system. It has come under more scrutiny lately, from 42 state attorneys general who have sued its maker on charges that it blocked generic alternatives.And Alkermess strategy of appealing to law enforcement has paid off: Sales of Vivitrol reached $58.5 million in the first quarter of 2017, up 33 percent from the same period last year, with about half of that from Medicaid. In 2012, there were 15 programs using Vivitrol in nine states. By this April, there were 450 programs in 39 states.In Massachusetts, where Vivitrol first took off, the company hired a lobbying firm led by Thomas P. ONeill III, a former lieutenant governor. Company executives began attending fund-raisers and making contributions to lawmakers and political committees of both parties.In 2012, one Republican, State Representative Randy Hunt, suggested a pilot program to the sheriff at the Barnstable County jail on Cape Cod, which has since become a showcase for Vivitrol. Other county jails then began offering the drug to inmates, and sheriffs from across the state have spoken on its behalf, including at a White House forum last year.The drug courts often place offenders in treatment facilities or sober housing that allow only Vivitrol. Thats where were handcuffed to Vivitrol, said Judge David Matia, who leads the drug court in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.Dr. Joshua Lee, the lead author of a 2016 study of Vivitrol, said he questioned whether the drug had given criminal justice authorities too easy of an out not to make buprenorphine or methadone more widely available in their settings.Short on EvidenceThe company lobbied hard to get more federal funding for Vivitrol through the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which was passed last year. It directs states to prioritize medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction.Another federal law, known as the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, also passed last year, is what Alkermes describes as a game changer, because it requires treatment providers to offer or provide referrals for all F.D.A.-approved medications. The laws co-sponsors, Senators Rob Portman of Ohio, a Republican, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, a Democrat, were the companys top two recipients of campaign contributions in the 2016 election cycle; Mr. Portman received $29,200.We hope to create a gentle federal breeze to kind of sweep behind us behind our sales really, and help ignite what is going on individually, the companys chief commercial officer, Mark Stejbach, said at an investor presentation in September.Mr. Price walked back his comments after they came under fire. In response to queries from news organizations, his spokeswoman, Alleigh Marr, said in a statement that he believed that we should be open and supportive to the broadest range of options, including all three medications. But the view he expressed is not uncommon.Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, who was the surgeon general until President Trump forced him out last month, said he had been disturbed, while traveling the country to discuss the opioid epidemic, to learn how many people had profound misconceptions about treatment, particularly about methadone and Suboxone.ImageCredit...Andrew Spear for The New York TimesIm talking about doctors, nurses, policy makers, lawyers and judges, he said. People would sometimes express the belief that buprenorphine and methadone are not good treatments because they are agonist medicines. But the people who voiced those views were often unaware of the depth of science we have behind these drugs.Alkermes, though, argues that opioid treatment has been biased in favor of Suboxone. It has unabashedly promoted the view Mr. Price did, that other treatments are just replacing one addiction for another. Mr. Pops, the chief executive, said in the interview that people who choose methadone or Suboxone over Vivitrol arent strident about wanting to be drug-free.People who want to be drug-free, those are the ones who should go on Vivitrol, he said.In then investor presentation in September, Sheriff Peter Koutoujian of Middlesex County in Massachusetts, who received $4,600 from Alkermes in an unsuccessful campaign for Congress, described the problems with Suboxone, which comes in thin strips that dissolve on the tongue.This is a smuggled drug, a smuggled piece of contraband that has a black market value inside and uses for which it is not intended, Sheriff Koutoujian said.But for all the companys assertions that Vivitrol is superior to Suboxone or methadone, it offers no data. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said she and other experts were eagerly awaiting results from the first study comparing outcomes of treatment with Vivitrol and Suboxone, expected this fall.The clinical trial on Vivitrol that was conducted in Russia found that 36 percent of those who got the medication stayed off opioids for the full six months, compared with 23 percent of those who got a placebo. Those on Vivitrol also reported fewer cravings.But a group of experts responding to the Russia study said it did not adequately assess the risk of overdosing after going off Vivitrol, given that earlier studies in Australia had found overdose risk to be particularly high in people going off the pill form of the medication. The experts also questioned why Alkermes had chosen to conduct the study in Russia, where regulations on clinical trials are looser, and why it had compared Vivitrol with a placebo instead of with buprenorphine or methadone.Due to their established efficacy, methadone and buprenorphine are on the World Health Organizations list of essential medications, said Dr. David Fiellin, an addiction specialist at Yale. Naltrexone and Vivitrol are not.He added that he wanted more information about what happened to addicts after they stopped taking Vivitrol. Dr. Mark Publicker, a longtime addiction specialist in Portland, Me., echoed that concern, questioning how many people are staying on Vivitrol for more than a few months.People advocating for it on a public policy level are essentially denying the chronic nature of this disease, he said. Theyre operating under the premise that you can give this medicine for a few months, and that will be adequate to cure this disease. Thats untrue.Factoring In WithdrawalA complicating factor with Vivitrol is that addicts have to go through a complete detoxification before getting their first shot; if opioids are not cleared from their body, they will experience a harsh and potentially dangerous withdrawal. This is why addicts doing time in jail or prison, who have no choice but to go through withdrawal once they are behind bars, are good candidates.Raymond Tamasi, the president and founder of Gosnold on Cape Cod, a treatment center, said that most of the centers clients with opioid addiction now took Vivitrol instead of Suboxone and that it worked particularly well for those with less advanced addiction. Some have spent time at the Barnstable County jail, which gives a Vivitrol shot to addicted inmates just before releasing them.But despite having a place to go for injections and counseling, most of Gosnolds Vivitrol patients drop out after three or four months, Mr. Tamasi said.Dr. Volkow said that she was very concerned about Suboxones being used illicitly, but that she thought most people who did so were trying to avoid going through withdrawal. She added that the high it could provide was far from ideal for addicts used to heroin or oxycodone.Too often, no medication works for long, especially if the person taking it is not getting behavioral therapy and other help. Patti Phelps, a retired bank administrator in Cincinnati, lost her son Andrew to a heroin overdose two years ago after neither Suboxone nor Vivitrol helped him overcome the urge to get high.Nothing helped him with the cravings, Ms. Phelps said, adding that Mr. Phelps, who died at 20, had stuck with Suboxone for three months and Vivitrol for only one, during which he injected heroin despite the medications blocking effect.The Vivitrol people buy billboards here in Cincinnati, selling it, This is going to solve all your problems, she said. And maybe it does for some. But it didnt for him. | Health |
Politics|President-elect Biden calls on Trump to demand an end to this siege.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/biden-trump-capitol.htmlJan. 6, 2021, 4:22 p.m. ETJan. 6, 2021, 4:22 p.m. ETVideotranscripttranscriptOur Democracy Is Under Unprecedented Assault, Biden SaysPresident-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. called on President Trump to go on television and respond to Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol this afternoon, disrupting the certification of the Electoral College vote.Our democracy is under unprecedented assault unlike anything weve seen in modern times. An assault on the citadel of liberty, the Capitol itself. I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward. Youve heard me say it before in a different context, the words of a president matter, no matter how good or bad that president is. I call on President Trump to go on national television, now, to fulfill his oath, and defend the Constitution. And demand an end to this siege. Its not a protest, its insurrection. The world is watching. Like so many other Americans, I am genuinely shocked and saddened that our nation, so long the beacon of light and hope for democracy, has come to such a dark moment. Notwithstanding what I saw today, what were seeing today, I remain optimistic about the incredible opportunities. Theres never been anything we cant do when we do it together. So President Trump, step up.President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. called on President Trump to go on television and respond to Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol this afternoon, disrupting the certification of the Electoral College vote.CreditCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesPresident-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Trump supporters breach of the Capitol building was an assault on the rule of law like few times weve ever seen it and called on President Trump to immediately denounce the mob that had overrun the building, vandalized offices and forced lawmakers to evacuate.At this hour, our democracys under an unprecedented assault, unlike anything weve seen in modern times, Mr. Biden said at a news conference in Delaware. An assault on the citadel of liberty, the Capitol itself.Mr. Biden expressly demanded that Mr. Trump, who in recent days had encouraged his supporters to rally in Washington, to go on television and publicly demand an end to this siegeAs Mr. Biden spoke, the National Guard was being deployed to the city as thousands of Mr. Trumps supporters continued to swarm the Capitol. Mr. Biden said the chaotic scenes do not represent who we are, calling the people who had wreaked havoc on the Capitol a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness.It borders on sedition. And it must end, now, he said.Not long after Mr. Bidens remarks, Jon Ossoff was declared the winner in his Senate race against Senator David Perdue in Georgia, giving Democrats control of the Senate. | Politics |
Sports of The TimesCredit...Associated PressFeb. 13, 2014KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia The X Games generation is sometimes referred to as a new breed of Winter Olympian, daredevils unafraid even excited to push the limit of gravity in sports that inherently push the limit of safety. And the Winter Olympics new slopestyle events are their test track.Barreling over a series of rails and tall ramps, competitors hurl themselves several stories into the air as if it were just another day at the office, and not the life-threatening proposition that it is. They fly through the sky, and flip and twist as the wind flaps against their baggy clothes. Some take on the ramps while skiing backward. They make it look so easy. But, of course, its not. Last week, a top snowboarder dropped out of the Olympics with a broken collarbone. Another cracked her helmet in a fall. In the womens slopestyle skiing this week, a competitor broke her jaw.So why do they all look as if they are having so much fun? Every single competitor at Thursdays slopestyle skiing final had a smile on his face within seconds of finishing. Even the Australian who crashed on his final jump, landing on his head and planting his face into the snow, was beaming. This sports pretty gnarly, said that Australian, Russ Henshaw, who was not injured in his fall. I had two broken ankles last year and a broken shin, and oh, I hurt my knee, but thats all.The same laid-back attitude was shared by the three Americans who swept the medals. Joss Christensen, who won the gold, said he had never had so much fun. Gus Kenworthy, who won silver, talked not about his death-defying tricks but about his efforts to adopt four puppies and their mother from Sochi. And Nick Goepper, the bronze medalist, said he had at least two more Olympics in him. Why stop when youre having such a good time? he said. They did not seem like X Games risk-takers. But thats who they are, and they have the scars to prove it. Christensen has broken several fingers and both wrists, and once broke both ankles in a single landing. Goepper broke several bones in his left hand when he punched the snow after missing a landing. Three pins and screws, he said as he pointed to a thick, angry mark on the top of his hand. Then he grinned.The International Olympic Committee added events like this, and brought in competitors like this, to spice up the Winter Games program and attract younger viewers. But is the daredevil attitude they bring, I wondered, really all that new? I got the answer when I called Billy Kidd. He was one of the first Americans to win an Alpine skiing medal at the Olympics. Fifty years ago last week, he won a silver and his teammate Jimmie Heuga won the bronze in the mens slalom event at the 1964 Innsbruck Games. Kidd, 70, said competitors in the newer events like slopestyle, halfpipe, ski cross and aerials might have changed the look of the Olympics, but they have not made them any edgier. The speeds that athletes go in most, if not all, winter sports may be faster, but those sports have long been risky. The possibility of serious injury even death has always lurked around the next turn.In Kidds day, safety measures barely existed. Skiers, for example, did not have the quick-release bindings that automatically pop boots out of the skis during a crash.The release factor was when the screws would come out of the wooden ski, Kidd said. Ouch, that hurts just to think about it. When metal skis replaced the wooden ones, the screws didnt come out at all, which is how Kidd once broke his leg in a fall.Downhill skiing also did not have fences along its courses in Kidds days as a racer, as it does today. At the 1964 Olympics, the course was lined with trees, and only a small section had sandbags affixed to their trunks. If there was not enough snow, the edge of the course was bare ground. When the Australian skier Ross Milne was training on the course several days before those Games, he veered to miss some competitors, skied off the course, crashed into a tree and died. He was 19.The safety of the course was called into question, just as it was here this week when some skiers complained. But then, as now, the race went on. When I stepped into that starting gate, I tried to put it out of my mind that someone had died on the course four days before, Kidd said. In order to win, you have to be able to push yourself past those fears and push yourself to the absolute limit. But we downhill racers love the adrenaline of going on the edge of control, on a sheet of solid ice. Thats just part of our mentality. Its almost like we live for that risk.Kidd said any downhill course can kill you if you are not focused enough. He said he had heard athletes in Sochi complaining about the courses for the downhill, the slopestyle and the halfpipe, and just shook his head.If you want everything to be the same, and if you dont like variables, then you should go inside, maybe to ice skating, or be a swimmer or a bowler, he said. On Thursday, there were no complaints at the slopestyle finals. The sun was out. Some competitors competed in short sleeves. Bob Marley music blasted from the speakers in the stands, and fans were singing and dancing along.During their final runs, all three Americans tried their toughest tricks, carefully calculating risk and reward and then putting the former out of their minds.You know what can happen, Christensen said. But thinking about that bad stuff is no fun, so why do it? You let yourself do that and youre done. | Sports |
Credit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesIn a once unimagined accomplishment, electrodes implanted in the mans brain transmit signals to a computer that displays his words.Dr. Eddie Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School helped Pancho, a man paralyzed since age 20, speak through an implant in his brain that connects to a computer program.Credit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesJuly 14, 2021He has not been able to speak since 2003, when he was paralyzed at age 20 by a severe stroke after a terrible car crash.Now, in a scientific milestone, researchers have tapped into the speech areas of his brain allowing him to produce comprehensible words and sentences simply by trying to say them. When the man, known by his nickname, Pancho, tries to speak, electrodes implanted in his brain transmit signals to a computer that displays his intended words on the screen.His first recognizable sentence, researchers said, was, My family is outside.The achievement, published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, could eventually help many patients with conditions that steal their ability to talk.This is farther than weve ever imagined we could go, said Melanie Fried-Oken, a professor of neurology and pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University, who was not involved in the project.Three years ago, when Pancho, now 38, agreed to work with neuroscience researchers, they were unsure if his brain had even retained the mechanisms for speech.That part of his brain might have been dormant, and we just didnt know if it would ever really wake up in order for him to speak again, said Dr. Edward Chang, chairman of neurological surgery at University of California, San Francisco, who led the research.The team implanted a rectangular sheet of 128 electrodes, designed to detect signals from speech-related sensory and motor processes linked to the mouth, lips, jaw, tongue and larynx. In 50 sessions over 81 weeks, they connected the implant to a computer by a cable attached to a port in Panchos head, and asked him to try to say words from a list of 50 common ones he helped suggest, including hungry, music and computer.As he did, electrodes transmitted signals through a form of artificial intelligence that tried to recognize the intended words. Our system translates the brain activity that would have normally controlled his vocal tract directly into words and sentences, said David Moses, a postdoctoral engineer who developed the system with Sean Metzger and Jessie R. Liu, graduate students. The three are lead authors of the study.ImageCredit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesImageCredit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesPancho (who asked to be identified only by his nickname to protect his privacy) also tried to say the 50 words in 50 distinct sentences like My nurse is right outside and Bring my glasses, please and in response to questions like How are you today?His answer, displayed onscreen: I am very good.In nearly half of the 9,000 times Pancho tried to say single words, the algorithm got it right. When he tried saying sentences written on the screen, it did even better.By funneling algorithm results through a kind of autocorrect language-prediction system, the computer correctly recognized individual words in the sentences nearly three-quarters of the time and perfectly decoded entire sentences more than half the time.To prove that you can decipher speech from the electrical signals in the speech motor area of your brain is groundbreaking, said Dr. Fried-Oken, whose own research involves trying to detect signals using electrodes in a cap placed on the head, not implanted.After a recent session, observed by The New York Times, Pancho, wearing a black fedora over a white knit hat to cover the port, smiled and tilted his head slightly with the limited movement he has. In bursts of gravelly sound, he demonstrated a sentence composed of words in the study: No, I am not thirsty.VideoPancho demonstrating the speech program developed by the University of California, San Francisco researchers.CreditCredit...David A. Moses, Sean L. Metzger, Jessie R. Liu et al., UCSFIn interviews over several weeks for this article, he communicated through email exchanges using a head-controlled mouse to painstakingly type key-by-key, the method he usually relies on.The brain implants recognition of his spoken words is a life-changing experience, he said.I just want to, I dont know, get something good, because I always was told by doctors that I had 0 chance to get better, Pancho typed during a video chat from the Northern California nursing home where he lives.Later, he emailed: Not to be able to communicate with anyone, to have a normal conversation and express yourself in any way, its devastating, very hard to live with.During research sessions with the electrodes, he wrote, Its very much like getting a second chance to talk again.Pancho was a healthy field worker in Californias vineyards until a car crash after a soccer game one summer Sunday, he said. After surgery for serious damage to his stomach, he was discharged from the hospital, walking, talking and thinking he was on the road to recovery.But the next morning, he was throwing up and unable to hold myself up, he wrote. Doctors said he experienced a brainstem stroke, apparently caused by a post-surgery blood clot.A week later, he woke up from a coma in a small, dark room. I tried to move, but I couldnt lift a finger, and I tried to talk, but I couldnt spit out a word, he wrote. So, I started to cry, but as I couldnt make any sound, all I made were some ugly gestures.It was terrifying. I wished I didnt ever come back from the coma I was in, he wrote.The new approach, called a speech neuroprosthesis, is part of a surge of innovation aimed at helping tens of thousands of people who lack the ability to talk, but whose brains contain neural pathways for speech, said Dr. Leigh Hochberg, a neurologist with Massachusetts General Hospital, Brown University and the Department of Veterans Affairs, who was not involved in the study but co-wrote an editorial about it.That could include people with brain injuries or conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (A.L.S.) or cerebral palsy, in which patients have insufficient muscle control to speak.ImageCredit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesImageCredit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesThe urgency cant be overstated, said Dr. Hochberg, who directs a project called BrainGate that implants tinier electrodes to read signals from individual neurons; it recently decoded a paralyzed patients attempted handwriting motions.Its now only a matter of years, he said, before there will be a clinically useful system that will allow for the restoration of communication.For years, Pancho communicated by spelling out words on a computer using a pointer attached to a baseball cap, an arduous method that allowed him to type about five correct words per minute.I had to bend/lean my head forward, down, and poke a key letter one-by-one to write, he emailed.Last year, the researchers gave him another device involving a head-controlled mouse, but it is still not nearly as fast as the brain electrodes in the research sessions.Through the electrodes, Pancho communicated 15 to 18 words per minute. That was the maximum rate the study allowed because the computer waited between prompts. Dr. Chang says faster decoding is possible, although its unclear if it will approach the pace of typical conversational speech: about 150 words per minute. Speed is a key reason the project focuses on speaking, tapping directly into the brains word production system rather than hand movements involved in typing or writing.Its the most natural way for people to communicate, he said.Panchos buoyant personality has helped the researchers navigate challenges, but also occasionally makes speech recognition uneven.I sometimes cant control my emotions and laugh a lot and dont do too good with the experiment, he emailed.Dr. Chang recalled times when, after the algorithm successfully identified a sentence, you could see him visibly shaking and it looked like he was kind of giggling. When that happened or when, during the repetitive tasks, hed yawn or get distracted, it didnt work very well because he wasnt really focused on getting those words. So, weve got some things to work on because we obviously want it to work all the time.The algorithm sometimes confused words with similar phonetic sounds, identifying going as bring, do as you, and words beginning with F faith, family, feel as a V-word, very.Longer sentences needed more help from the language-prediction system. Without it, How do you like my music? was decoded as How do you like bad bring? and Hello how are you? became Hungry how am you?ImageCredit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesImageCredit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesBut in sessions that the pandemic interrupted for months, accuracy improved, Dr. Chang said, both because the algorithm learned from Panchos efforts and because theres definitely things that are changing in his brain, helping it light up and show us the signals that we needed to get these words out.Before his stroke, Pancho had attended school only up to sixth grade in his native Mexico. With remarkable determination, he has since earned a high school diploma, taken college classes, received a web developer certificate and begun studying French.I think the car wreck got me to be a better person, and smarter too, he emailed.With his restricted wrist movement, Pancho can maneuver an electric wheelchair, pressing the joystick with a stuffed sock tied around his hand with rubber bands. At stores, hell hover near something until cashiers decipher what he wants, like a cup of coffee. They place it in my wheelchair, and I bring it back to my home so I can get help drinking it, he said. The people here at the facility find themselves surprised, they always asked me, HOW DID YOU BUY THAT, AND HOW DID YOU TELL THEM WHAT YOU WANTED!?He also works with other researchers using the electrodes to help him manipulate a robotic arm.His twice-weekly speech sessions can be difficult and exhausting, but he is always looking forward to wake up and get out of bed every day, and wait for my U.C.S.F. people to arrive.ImageCredit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesImageCredit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York TimesThe speech study is the culmination of over a decade of research, in which Dr. Changs team mapped brain activity for all vowel and consonant sounds and tapped into the brains of healthy people to produce computerized speech.Researchers emphasize that the electrodes are not reading Panchos mind, but detecting brain signals corresponding to each word he tries to say.He is thinking the word, Dr. Fried-Oken said. Its not random thoughts that the computer is picking up.Dr. Chang said in the future, we might be able to do what people are thinking, which raises some really important questions about the ethics of this kind of technology. But this, he said, is really just about restoring the individuals voice.In newer tasks, Pancho mimes words silently and spells out less common words using the military alphabet: delta for d, foxtrot for f.He is truly a pioneer, Dr. Moses said.The team also wants to engineer implants with more sensitivity and make it wireless for complete implantation to avoid infection, said Dr. Chang.As more patients participate, scientists might find individual brain variations, Dr. Fried-Oken said, adding that if patients are tired or ill, the intensity or timing of their brain signals might change.I just wanted to somehow be able to do something for myself, even a tiny bit, Pancho said, but now I know, Im not doing it just for myself. | Health |
on techIn East Africa, too much Facebook has been awful. So has too little Facebook.VideoCreditCredit...By Timo LenzenJan. 21, 2021This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it weekdays.Weve seen the internet magnify the best and the worst of ourselves. Abdi Latif Dahir, who writes about East Africa for The New York Times, has covered the most extreme examples of both.Governments in the region regularly shut down internet access or manipulate online conversations to control dissent Uganda did both ahead of last weeks presidential vote. But citizens also use social media to expose election manipulation and spread feminist movements.Our conversation highlighted an essential question: Can we have the wonderful aspects of connecting the world online without all of the downsides?Shira: Why did Uganda cut off internet access?Abdi: The government capitalized on Facebook and Twitter taking down phony accounts that promoted the government of President Yoweri Museveni. It was an excuse for an internet blackout that many people expected.Are all of these harms offset by the good generated from people assembling online?You cant ignore the bleak picture, but we also shouldnt underestimate how powerful these technologies are.In Tanzania, people used Twitter to collect evidence of vote tampering. Kenyas Supreme Court in 2017 ordered a new presidential election, and some credit goes to people who documented online the manipulation of election results. The Kenyan writer Nanjala Nyabola wrote a book about Kenyans exercising power in new ways online, including feminists flourishing on Twitter.And I check Kenyan Twitter first thing each morning. Its full of funny memes and lively conversations.Should Facebook and Twitter do anything differently to limit the harm?The Uganda election was one of the few times if not the only time that Ive seen Facebook hold an African government accountable for manipulating online conversations. Mostly, as in many countries, East African activists have said that Facebook and Twitter arent devoting enough attention to online incitements.Groups in Ethiopia asked Facebook to take action last year against posts that inflamed ethnic violence after the killing of a popular singer and activist, Hachalu Hundessa. Facebook had put in place plans to screen posts in African languages including Oromo, but I dont think enough is being done to mitigate the harm.(Facebook described here its response in Ethiopia.)Youre describing damage from too much restraint of the internet in some cases, and too little restraint in others.I know. When I talked to friends about the Ethiopian internet shutdown during the Tigray war, many of them were supportive of it given all of the horrible things that happened after Hundessa was killed. Its all complicated.Amazon offers vaccine help. Good. I think?Two conflicting ideas constantly rattle around in my brain about mammoth technology companies. Im worried about how much power they have. I also want them to use that power to save us.Amazon on Inauguration Day offered to help with President Bidens plan to inject 100 million doses of the vaccine against Covid-19 during his first 100 days in office. Amazon said it could lend its operations, information technology and communications capabilities and expertise, without being more specific.Vaccinating hundreds of millions of Americans is partly a logistics challenge. Amazon is really good at logistics. So lets hope that Amazon and other companies can help. But lets also remember that technology and big business need an effective government and vice versa to solve complex challenges like this.Look, the cynical part of me immediately thought that Amazon was just trying to make nice with the Biden administration. My colleagues at the DealBook newsletter also noted that Amazon and other companies offering to help state or federal governments with vaccinations may be angling to get their employees moved up the priority list.But cynical or not, Im back to where I often am: half hoping and half fearing that a technology giant can intervene in a complicated problem.I felt that way when Googles sister company looked as if it might swoop in to coordinate coronavirus testing. (Nothing much came of that.) We saw how Facebooks actions or inaction influenced ethnic violence in Ethiopia and affected what Americans believe about our election.Like it or not, what technology companies do has a huge influence on our lives. If theyre going to have such power, they should be responsible for using that influence in helpful ways. (Assuming we can agree on what is helpful.)Before we go They didnt believe a Biden administration would happen: As President Biden took office, some QAnon believers tried to rework their theories to accommodate a transfer of power, my colleague Kevin Roose wrote. Sheera Frenkel and Alan Feuer also wrote about the far-right Trump supporters who felt let down by him.Snapshots of school in a pandemic: My colleagues wrote a great series of articles examining how different public schools and their students are managing. A heartbreaking line from a teacher in Tracey Tullys profile of a New Jersey district: There are days and today was one of them when I ask: What am I doing here?Bernie Sanders looked cold and grumpy. People made it internet art: I love all of the memes from that one photo of the senator on Inauguration Day. This is the best one. Or this? Maybe this?Hugs to thisA newborn lamb bonds with his mom after 36 hours of labor.We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else youd like us to explore. You can reach us at [email protected] you dont already get this newsletter in your inbox, please sign up here. | Tech |
The Childlike Empress in 'The NeverEnding Story' 'Memba Her?! 1/23/2018 Tami Stronach is best known for playing the sick Fantasia ruler, The Childlike Empress -- opposite Barret Oliver as the Falkor-riding Bastian -- in the 1984 sci-fi film 'The NeverEnding Story.' Guess what she looks like now! Share on Facebook TWEET This See also Memba Them Photo Galleries | Entertainment |
Rangers 4, Islanders 1Credit...Frank Franklin Ii/Associated PressJan. 31, 2014After the exhilaration of two victories at Yankee Stadium, it was back to reality, and a foreboding one at that, for Rangers fans on Friday. As they sat in Madison Square Garden and watched the Rangers beat the Islanders, 4-1, the fans knew they might be watching Ryan Callahans last game with the team.All day and into the evening, Rangers fans on social media expressed their anxiety as rumors mounted that Callahan, the team captain and one of their favorite players, might be traded for salary reasons. General Manager Glen Sather gave multiple teams permission to talk with Callahans agent, Steve Bartlett, after months of negotiations failed to produce a new contract. At this point I can only say that we certainly have not closed the door to ongoing discussions with the Rangers, Bartlett said in an email on Friday. I also understand and expect that the team would naturally explore other options between now and the trade deadline in the event we are unable to reach an agreement.After the game, as reporters surrounded his dressing-room stall, Callahan said, I havent heard the rumors tonight. He said reports that teams had been given permission to speak to his agent were news to me. Asked if he had stepped on the ice thinking this might be his last game as a Ranger, Callahan said: My hearts here. I want to be here. Thats all I think about on the ice. All right, guys? Callahan, 28, drafted by the Rangers in 2004 and the captain since September 2011, is a decent scorer and a fixture on the second line. But for seven and a half seasons he has been an inspirational on-ice presence, sacrificing his body as one of the N.H.L.s premier shot-blocking and body-checking forwards, and the personification of the Rangers hard-working, scrappy approach. His play earned him a trip to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics with the United States team, and he is set to be in the Americans lineup again at Sochi. But Callahans contract with the Rangers expires at the end of the season. Bartlett is believed to be asking for a seven-year deal for $42 million perhaps too much for the Rangers under the salary cap.Sather would want to get something in return for Callahan rather than see him walk away as a free agent in July. That is why Callahan might be moved by the March 5 trade deadline, or perhaps by the N.H.L.s pre-Olympic roster freeze on Feb. 7. One frequently reported rumor had Callahan being sent to St. Louis in exchange for Chris Stewart, another right wing, who scores at a similar pace but does not have the same reputation for checking prowess or leadership. Another had Callahan going to the Columbus Blue Jackets. That was buttressed by the presence of John Davidson, the Blue Jackets president, who was at the game to help the Rangers salute Sam Rosen for his 30 years as the teams television play-by-play man. Davidson was Rosens partner in the booth for 20 of those years, but his current job fueled trade talk.Other teams had a presence Friday. Scouts from Detroit, Tampa Bay, Montreal and San Jose were on the press-row seating chart. Two Rangers scouts were at the Boston-Montreal game Thursday night.The Rangers were the designated visitors for their two outdoor games in the Bronx to preserve the Madison Square Garden Companys tax exemption, which stipulates that the Garden must be their only home rink. Unlike the Yankee Stadium ice, which was choppy for the Rangers 7-3 win over the Devils on Sunday afternoon and their 2-1 victory over the Islanders on Wednesday night, the Garden ice was smooth. Marc Staal, who had two assists, summed up the difference between the Garden on Friday and the Stadium on Wednesday. It felt like a sauna in the first period, he said.Derick Brassard broke a 1-1 tie at 12 minutes 14 seconds in the third. Brad Richards helped assure the victory with a goal at 14:59, after being put in the clear by a pass from Callahan. Ryan McDonagh added an empty-netter with a second left. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist finished with 38 saves.It was the Rangers second straight victory over the Islanders, and it gave them the season series, 3-2. They are 9-3 in their last 12 games and are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, 4 points ahead of Carolina. The Rangers are hot and improving as the season nears its home stretch. Yet they may trade their captain.Im a big fan of Ryan Callahan, Coach Alain Vigneault said after the game. I know he wants to be here. Contracts have nothing to do with me. Im hoping that both parties can come to agreement. | Sports |
TrilobitesCockroach Reproduction Has Taken a Strange TurnIn response to pesticides, many cockroach females have lost their taste for sweet stuff, which changes how they make the next generation of insects.VideoThere are the birds and the bees, and then there are the cockroaches. Video by Wada-Katsumata et al.May 27, 2022When a male cockroach wants to mate with a female cockroach very much, he will scoot his butt toward her, open his wings and offer her a homemade meal sugars and fats squished out of his tergal gland. As the lovely lady nibbles, the male locks onto her with one penis while another penis delivers a sperm package.If everything goes smoothly, a roachs romp can last around 90 minutes. But increasingly, cockroach coitus is going really, weirdly wrong, and is contributing to roach populations in some places that are more difficult to vanquish with conventional pesticides.Back in 1993, scientists working at North Carolina State University discovered a trait in the German cockroach, a species that inhabits every continent except Antarctica. Specifically, these new cockroaches seemed to have no affection for a form of sugar called glucose, which was strange because as anyone who has ever battled against a cockroach infestation knows cockroaches normally cannot get enough of the sweet stuff.So, where did these new, health-conscious cockroaches come from?It seems we created them by accident, after decades of trying to kill their ancestors with sweet powders and liquids laced with poison. The cockroaches that craved sweets ate the poison and died, while cockroaches less keen on glucose avoided the death traps and survived long enough to breed, thus passing that trait down to the next cockroach generation.When we think of evolution, we usually imagine wild animals, but actually, its also happening with small animals living in our kitchens, said Ayako Wada-Katsumata, an entomologist at North Carolina State University.Dr. Wada-Katsumata and her colleagues have just introduced yet another wrinkle to the cockroachs story: According to a study published this month in the journal Communications Biology, the same trait that might help a female cockroach avoid sweet-tasting poison baits also makes her less likely to stick around and mate with normal cockroach males.ImageCredit...Ayako Wada-KatsumadaThis is because cockroach saliva is capable of rapidly breaking down complex sugars, like those found in the males courtship offering, and turning them into simple sugars, such as glucose. So when one of these glucose-averse females takes a bite of the males nuptial gift, it literally turns bitter in her mouth, and she bolts before he can complete the double barrel lock-and-pop maneuver.Great! you may be thinking. The fewer cockroach hookups, the fewer infestations well have. Not so fast, said the researchers.As to how this will affect the population, its really complicated, said Dr. Wada-Katsumata.Thats because, despite the hang-ups, glucose-averse cockroaches still find ways to do the deed.In lab experiments, Dr. Wada-Katsumata and her colleagues showed that glucose-averse females are more skittish of males than wild-type cockroaches, which is what the researchers call the roaches without glucose aversion. However, they also found that glucose-averse males seem to compensate for this by more rapidly transitioning into sex after offering his gift.The glucose-averse females might spend, say, three seconds feeding on the males secretion, said Coby Schal, distinguished professor of entomology at North Carolina State and an author of the study. The wild-type male does not respond in three seconds. The glucose-averse male does.The researchers even have evidence that suggests that all of these new pressures are causing changes in the chemistry of the glucose-averse males nuptial gift potentially so he can continue attracting females.From a scientific perspective, the German cockroachs sugar saga shows how humans can drive both natural selection the cockroaches that survive our poison traps as well as sexual selection the glucose-averse cockroaches who no longer want to mate with cockroaches that still offer sweet snacks.I think thats what makes this so compelling, Dr. Schal said. The idea that humans impose very strong selection on animals around us, especially inside our home, and that the animals respond not only with physiological changes, but also with behavioral changes.The good news for consumers is that pesticide manufacturers share Dr. Wada-Katsumata and Dr. Schals enthusiasm for understanding cockroach evolution, and they are actively changing their cockroach-killing formulations to move away from glucose. But given how new this research is, it will take some time for those changes to make their way to the products on our shelves.The worst thing that you can have as a product is a bait that is not eaten by cockroaches, said Dr. Schal. | science |
Credit...Tom Brenner/The New York TimesJune 11, 2018WASHINGTON Education Secretary Betsy DeVos disregarded a scathing review by her own staff this spring when she reinstated the watchdog body that had accredited two scandal-scarred for-profit universities whose bankruptcies left tens of thousands of students with worthless degrees and mountains of debt, a new report has revealed.A 244-page internal document, written by career staff and delivered to the secretary in early March but made public late Friday, found that the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, or Acics, had failed to meet 57 of 93 federal quality and management compliance standards as it vied to continue operating as a gatekeeper for billions in federal financial aid dollars. The findings were released late last week after the department was sued by the National Student Legal Defense Network and the Century Foundation.Education Department officials said that despite the March report, Ms. DeVos was obligated to reinstate Acics as an accrediting body for colleges and universities because of a federal court order that had faulted the process the Obama-era department had used to terminate its recognition. A federal judge sent the decision back to Ms. DeVos for reconsideration.The secretary did not make the determination to reinstate Acics, Liz Hill, a department spokeswoman, said in a statement. This department cant operate on or enforce a decision that was found invalid by the court.But higher-education groups said that Ms. DeVos went above and beyond the courts order in restoring the organizations status while she considered the new information.Its no wonder that Acics and Secretary DeVos didnt want this report to come out, said Alex Elson, a senior counsel at the National Student Legal Defense Network. Clearly, she was well aware that Acics was getting worse, not better, and has been working to help them anyway.Acics was stripped of its powers in December 2016 amid the collapse of two for-profit university chains, Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech, where students were encouraged to take on debt based on false promises, including jobs after graduation. The accrediting body was held responsible for allowing the schools to employ predatory recruitment practices.The scandal rocked the for-profit college industry, which became a target of the Obama administration. And taxpayers are still covering the fallout as the DeVos Education Department manages more than 100,000 applications for debt relief totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. On Monday, a judge in San Francisco was set to hear arguments that the department should grant full loan relief to Corinthian students. On Wednesday, an Indianapolis court is set to approve a $1.5 billion settlement for aggrieved ITT students.Acics applied in September to be recognized as a new agency, seeking a new start under DeVoss leadership and saying that it had demonstrated improvements in its management.When the Obama administration revoked Acicss accrediting powers, the Education Department found that it had racked up nearly two dozen violations. Far from improving, the March report said that the number of violations had nearly tripled.In April, Ms. DeVos temporarily restored recognition of Acics anyway, after a judge found the Obama administration had violated procedural rules by failing to consider more than 30,000 pages of information submitted by the council before the department revoked its recognition as an accrediting body.That temporary restoration expires July 30, but Ms. Hill said Ms. DeVos would not consider the draft report as she deliberates Acicss fate because the report was rendered moot by the courts order.Advocates say that Ms. DeVos is using the court order as a convenient excuse.They note that the judge did not vacate the 2016 decision, and that Ms. DeVos was not compelled to reinstate Acics. The report provides the most up-to-date evaluation of the organization, which still oversees dozens of colleges. In March, Acics was accused by the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, of accrediting visa mills, used by foreign students to come to the United States with minimal scrutiny.This report makes clear that Acics is a wholly unfit and unreliable evaluator of higher-education institutions, said Robert Shireman, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and a former Obama Education Department official. Betsy DeVos may be content with ignoring the overwhelming outside consensus on Acicss performance, but she cannot deny the expert opinions of her own staff.Among the reports findings was that the accrediting body had failed to provide information showing that it had resolved conflicts of interest and had failed to demonstrate that it had processes in place for evaluating its institutions compliance with federal financial aid laws. Additionally, Education Department staff wrote that Acics did not provide documentation showing that it had ensured that measurements of student achievement rates were rigorous, or that it had a consistent standard for determining when to alert the Education Department to fraud and abuse.In releasing the report, department officials wrote that the analysis was an incomplete, predecisional document, and that it is typical for a draft staff analysis to include findings or deficiencies that are easily resolved by the agency.Michelle Edwards, the president of Acics, said in a statement that the agency fought the release of the report because it would represent a dangerous aberration from historical practice one that jeopardizes the frank and constructive exchange of information between the department and all accreditors.But she said the organization has had the opportunity to respond to numerous inaccuracies and to provide more information to the department documenting its compliance.We stand by the information we have presented to the department, and we look forward to completing the review process in an efficient and constructive manner, Ms. Edwards said. | Politics |
Politics|Business leaders condemned the violence on Capitol Hill: This is sedition.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/politics/business-leaders-condemned-the-violence-on-capitol-hill-this-is-sedition.htmlCredit...Jeenah Moon/ReutersJan. 7, 2021Business groups and leaders of large corporations condemned the violence on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that disrupted efforts to certify the election of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr..Hours after supporters of President Trump forced lawmakers from the floors of the Senate and House of Representatives, the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives from some of the nations largest companies, called on the president and other officials to put an end to the chaos and facilitate the peaceful transition of power.The chaos unfolding in the nations capital is the result of unlawful efforts to overturn the legitimate results of a democratic election, the organization posted on Twitter.The National Association of Manufacturers, one of the countrys largest lobbying groups, suggested that Vice President Mike Pence should consider invoking a provision of the 25th Amendment that allows members of the presidents cabinet to temporarily remove him from power.Anyone indulging conspiracy theories to raise campaign dollars is complicit, the association said. Vice President Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.This is sedition, the group said of the actions of the mob, and said Mr. Trump had incited the violence.The chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Thomas J. Donohue, called the events an attack on democracy, and Matthew Shay, the president and chief executive of the National Retail Federation, said, Todays riots are repugnant and fly in the face of the most basic tenets of our Constitution.The research group High Frequency Economics suspended regular publication of its research notes for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.Many business leaders spoke out individually, though many avoided calling out the president and other politicians by name. I strongly condemn the violence in our nations capital, Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. | Politics |
Archaeologists exploring Tenea, which is thought to have been founded by the Trojans, have discovered tombs, coins and urns, among other items, in and around the site.Credit...Greek Culture MinistryNov. 18, 2018LONDON First, the archaeologist and her team uncovered a sarcophagus from a village in southern Greece in 1984.Thirty-four years later, an ancient road in the same village led to a Roman mausoleum. Then, in October, a lost city called Tenea was found. After I uncovered the sarcophagus, I knew I had to go back for more, the archaeologist, Elena Korka, said in a telephone interview on Friday. Dr. Korka, the director of the Office for Supervision of Antiquaries and Private Archaeological Collections in Greeces Ministry of Culture, started the current project in 2013. But excavations in Chiliomodi, the small village where her team found the sarcophagus in the Peloponnese Peninsula south of Athens, did not begin until early September this year. Before the discovery, no evidence of the ancient city of Tenea existed; it was found only in historical texts and myths. ImageCredit...Tenea ProjectTenea was built by the Trojans after the end of the Trojan War, according to the myth, Dr. Korka said.Across an area stretching more than 670 meters, or 733 yards, the team uncovered a dense, organized residential space consisting of marble, stone and clay floors in good condition.Inside, it found architraves, or beams; little columns; a storage space with amphoras (tall jugs); and the tombs of two babies. According to Dr. Korka, the discovery was an indication that this was indeed, a city, as babies were only buried in the residential area and not in graveyards outside the city.The variety of the findings which included part of a clay pipeline indicated that the city had been populated for centuries, possibly from late Mycenaean times, and by wealthy residents. ImageCredit...Tenea ProjectAmong the other items found was a collection of more than 200 coins that dated from the early Hellenistic years, a historical period that started after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C., and to the Roman Empire. During the Roman years, Tenea cut coins, Dr. Korka said, adding, This shows full independence.The tombs showed that the areas population had been a wealthy one. Dr. Korkas team found a Roman mausoleum outside the city, as well as seven Roman and Hellenistic tombs, all of which had been adorned with ancient urns and gold and silver coins, among other things.The discoveries in the large graveyard and in the residential area are rare, according to Dr. Korka, and indicate that the city had relations with the East and the West.ImageCredit...Tenea ProjectWe found urns that we havent seen before, she said. They were in touch with the West because of Syracuse, she noted, referring to an ancient city in Sicily, which the citizens of Tenea had colonized along with the citizens of Corinth, one of the most affluent cities of the Peloponnese.But the tombs in Tenea were even more affluent than the ones in Corinth, Dr. Korka said. She and her team found the graveyard after uncovering an ancient road. They had a vague idea of where to look because of past investigations, local information, and field and drone research, she said. Every excavation is important, as it brings something new to light, she said, adding that the team hoped that examining the findings would give them a complete idea of the city and its history. Who knows what else they might discover. You know, Dr. Korka said, there are rumors that even Oedipus was raised there.Follow Iliana Magra on Twitter: @magraki. | World |
Credit...Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesJune 21, 2018WASHINGTON President Trump appeared to take his battle with the news media to a new level on Thursday, apparently using the first ladys much-covered visit with detained immigrant children in a Texas border town as an opportunity to spell out his grievances with the press.As the temperature climbed to 80 degrees on Thursday at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, Melania Trump boarded her plane wearing an olive green coat that read, in white capital letters, I really dont care. Do U?Mrs. Trump did not wear it while visiting with the children, but she did wear it upon her return to the capital, in full view of the news photographers who had gathered to capture her arrival. As the images were beamed around the world, the message was also in full view of her husband, a vociferous viewer of cable news.I REALLY DONT CARE, DO U? written on the back of Melanias jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares! he wrote on Twitter.The first ladys office did not back up the presidents explanation. Mrs. Trumps spokeswoman said it was just a jacket nothing to see here.[Read our fashion critics reaction to Melania Trumps coat.]For the second time since her husband took office and the second time on a trip to Texas Mrs. Trump had made an unusual choice. It was a move reminiscent of her decision last year to wear stilettos to a hurricane relief zone, which was also the subject of much deliberation about her fashion decisions.One common reaction to the jacket was bafflement: What was she thinking? No, really, what was she thinking? Mrs. Trump is a former model with a keen understanding of her own image. She rarely makes an accidental fashion choice.Fashion is not by accident with this woman, Bob Phibbs, the chief executive of the Retail Doctor, a consultancy in New York, said in an interview. Shes a former model. Every piece of clothing has statement and purpose. Shes all about image, and so is Trump. She knows the power.VideotranscripttranscriptMelania Trump Visits Facility Housing Children Near BorderThe first lady traveled to McAllen, Tex., as her husbands administration scrambled to execute his latest executive order aimed at ending the separation of families at the border.Let me begin to recognize each of you. And thanking you for all what you do. For your heroic work that you do every day and what you do for those children. We all know theyre having theyre here without their families. And I want to thank you for your hard work, your compassion, and your kindness youre giving them in these difficult times. Im here to learn about your facility, and which I know you house children on a long-term basis. And Id also like to ask you how I can help to these children to reunite with their families as quickly as possible. So thank you again for all what you do. And thank you as well. Thank you all for what you do thank you very much. And those children, how many times they speak with their relatives or families per week for example? Well, the children are allowed to communicate with their family twice a week. How long is the time, the max time, that somebody spends here that they are not reunited with their family? Right now, we are averaging currently 42 to 45 days.The first lady traveled to McAllen, Tex., as her husbands administration scrambled to execute his latest executive order aimed at ending the separation of families at the border.CreditCredit...Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesWhen asked about the garment a $39 jacket from the fast-fashion brand Zaras 2016 collection Mrs. Trumps office quickly responded.Its a jacket, the first ladys communications director, Stephanie Grisham, said Thursday in a statement to reporters. There was no hidden message. After todays important visit to Texas, I hope this isnt what the media is going to choose to focus on.(Its never just a jacket, Mr. Phibbs said.)Ms. Grisham followed up her statement with a tweet that reinforced what the East Wing said was an nonissue: #ItsJustAJacket. Asked whether her own explanation or the presidents was the truth, Ms. Grisham did not immediately respond.The first ladys appearance, which was kept secret until she touched down in Texas, came as the Trump administration, facing questions over the well-being and whereabouts of thousands of children, sought to put a more humane lens on its policies.What it ultimately got was a distraction from them: On Thursday, the Pentagon was assessing how and where to house as many as 20,000 immigrants on American military bases.During Mrs. Trumps 75-minute visit to the Upbring New Hope Childrens Shelter in McAllen, Tex., she met with dozens of children as well as the people who are educating them and supervising their care. She asked officials questions about childrens well-being. She told the children to value friendship over all else.Good luck, the first lady told them. The children applauded her as she left.It was a striking re-emergence for Mrs. Trump, who underwent a procedure in May to treat a benign kidney condition and spent several weeks out of the public eye. Her trip on Thursday was a headfirst dive into the roiling debate over the Trump administrations hard-line approach to immigration hours after her husband declared well send them the hell back at a campaign rally.She is the first member of the Trump family to visit the border with Mexico since a national debate broke out over the administrations separation policy. The outcry led the president to reverse course under political pressure and sign an executive order on Wednesday to end the policy. More than 2,300 children have been separated from their parents so far, and thousands of families are likely to remain fractured.Im here to learn about your facility, Mrs. Trump told a group of officials at the center. She added that she wanted to offer help to these children to reunite with their families as quickly as possible.The first lady interacted with dozens of the centers 55 children, visiting three classrooms, according to a small group of reporters who accompanied her on the trip.Mrs. Trump, who recently started Be Best, a platform centered around the betterment of childrens lives, asked her aides to organize the trip after seeing photographs and video of separated families, and hearing audio of children crying in the centers, Ms. Grisham said.Shes seen the images, Ms. Grisham told reporters. Shes heard the recordings. She was on top of the situation before any of that came out. She was concerned about it.Mrs. Trump, who traveled to Texas with Alex Azar, the health and human services secretary, was also scheduled to visit the Ursula Border Patrol Processing Center, which had became a particular subject of scrutiny this week after a government video emerged showing families sitting in cages clutching mylar blankets. But her visit had to be cut short because of bad weather.A senior administration official, who insisted on anonymity, told reporters on the first ladys plane that only six of the New Hope facilitys 55 children had been separated from their parents, and the rest arrived as unaccompanied minors. At the facility, officials told the first lady that the separated children could speak to their parents twice a week.Mrs. Trump also asked about the condition of the children when they arrived: So when the children come here, what kind of stage, you know, physical and the mental stage are they in when they come here?She was told by an official that children often arrive distraught, but soon settle in.Its a process, yes, Mrs. Trump replied. But Ive heard theyre very happy. They love to study. They love to go school.In recent days, according to her office, Mrs. Trump was upset by news reports about families being separated at the border and helped persuade President Trump to take action to stop it. Amid the din of voices who tried to persuade him to change his mind including members of Congress and his oldest daughter the first ladys concern seemed to stand out.My wife feels very strongly about it, Mr. Trump said as he signed an executive order on Wednesday to stop the separations. But Mr. Trump, who faced a growing outcry from the public and from Republicans and Democrats in Congress, did not say whether her urging had swayed his decision.In any case, Mrs. Trump had planned the trip before the president signed the order: I dont know what she knew about the timing, Ms. Grisham said. She knew what she wanted to do, and she told us.Ms. Grisham also emphasized that the first lady had her own opinions and would share them with the world and with her husband when warranted. | Politics |
Business BriefingDec. 11, 2015Volkswagen said Friday that its global sales were 2.2 percent lower in November than a year earlier, with increases in Western European and Chinese deliveries helping to cushion the impact of steep drops in the United States and elsewhere. The German automaker, whose brands include Audi, Porsche and Seat as well as the core Volkswagen marque, has been hit by fallout from the diesel emissions-cheating scandal that erupted in mid-September in the United States, then spread worldwide. The company said it delivered 833,700 vehicles worldwide last month, down from 852,900 in November 2014. While sales in the United States were off 15.3 percent at 45,300 units, and declines were steeper in Brazil and Russia over unrelated economic troubles, deliveries in Western Europe were up 2.6 percent at 270,400 and sales in China rose 5.5 percent to 329,000. | Business |
Canada|Trump Win Probably Didnt Cause Canadian Immigration Websites Crashhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/world/canada/canada-immigration-website-crash.htmlCredit...Aaron Vincent Elkaim for The New York TimesMarch 2, 2017OTTAWA Many people thought it was no coincidence in November when the website of Canadas immigration department crashed just as the election returns in the United States were beginning to show that Donald J. Trump was winning the presidency.Government officials said the problem was because of a flood of requests to the site, and news organizations around the world swiftly reported social media speculation that the crush of traffic had come from unhappy Americans who would rather emigrate than live under a Trump administration.But it turns out that the computer crash may really have been just a coincidence after all.According to internal government documents obtained by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, widespread problems with government computer systems generally and an impending deadline for non-American visitors were probably to blame for the websites crash.Indeed, the problems that eventually crippled the digital public face of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada began to cause temporary crashes around 2 p.m. Eastern time hours before the polls would begin to close in the United States.The department had been bracing for a surge in web traffic on that day, but not because of the American election. There were only two days to go before a program took effect requiring foreign travelers to Canada, other than Americans, to go online and buy an electronic travel authorization ahead of their visit.When the slowdowns and crashes started on Nov. 8, one public servant, whose name has been removed from the documents, wrote in an email that it looks like the eTA is starting to experience significant volumes a few days earlier than planned. The abbreviation refers to the electronic travel authorization program.That afternoon, as matters grew worse on the website, the department contacted Shared Services Canada, the governments centralized computer services agency, but apparently got little satisfaction.S.S.C. has indicated that ticket is pending and theres nothing that can be done, an immigration official wrote in the afternoon; that officials name also was removed.By 11 p.m., the website had buckled under the mounting problems.Shared Services Canada has been plagued with problems since it was set up by the previous Conservative government to take over computer operations that had been run separately by each government department.A new payroll system it established has left thousands of public servants overpaid, underpaid or not paid at all. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have also complained about a sharp increase in serious computer problems, including shutdowns of a national criminal database used by all police forces in Canada.Its one size fits all I.T. shared-services model has negatively impacted police operations, public and officer safety and the integrity of the criminal justice system, Commissioner Bob Paulson, the head of the police agency, wrote in a memo obtained earlier this week by the C.B.C. | World |
Tech FixRequiring that app makers list the data they collect reveals a lot about what some apps do with our information (ahem, WhatsApp) but creates confusion about others.Credit...Glenn HarveyPublished Jan. 27, 2021Updated Aug. 18, 2021We all know that apps collect our data. Yet one of the few ways to find out what an app does with our information involves reading a privacy policy.Lets be real: Nobody does that.So late last year, Apple introduced a new requirement for all software developers that publish apps through its App Store. Apps must now include so-called privacy labels, which list the types of data being collected in an easily scannable format. The labels resemble a nutrition marker on food packaging.These labels, which began appearing in the App Store in December, are the latest attempt by tech designers to make data security and digital privacy, which are linked, easier for all of us to understand. You might be familiar with earlier iterations, like the padlock symbol in a web browser. A locked padlock tells us that a website is more secure, while an unlocked one suggests that a website can be more susceptible to attack.The question is whether Apples new labels will influence the choices people make. After they read it or look at it, does it change how they use the app or stop them from downloading the app? asked Stephanie Nguyen, a research scientist who has studied user experience design and data privacy.To put the labels to the test, I pored over dozens of apps. Then I focused on the privacy labels for the messaging apps WhatsApp and Signal, the streaming music apps Spotify and Apple Music and, for fun, MyQ, the app I use to open my garage door remotely.I learned plenty. The privacy labels showed that apps that appear identical in function can vastly differ in how they handle our information. I also found that lots of data gathering is happening when you least expect it, including inside products you pay for.But while the labels were often illuminating, they sometimes created more confusion.How to Read Apples Privacy LabelsTo find the new labels, iPhone and iPad users with the latest operating system (iOS and iPadOS 14.3) can open the App Store and search for an app. Inside the apps description, look for App Privacy. Thats where a box appears with the label.Apple has divided the privacy label into three categories so we can get a full picture of the kinds of information that an app collects. They are:Data used to track you. This information is used to follow your activities across apps and websites. For example, your email address can help identify that you were also the person using another app where you entered the same email address.Data linked to you: This information is tied to your identity, such as your purchase history or contact information. Using this data, a music app can see that your account bought a certain song.Data not linked to you: This information is not directly tied to you or your account. A mapping app might collect data from motion sensors to provide turn-by-turn directions for everyone, for instance. It doesnt save that information in your account.Now lets see what these labels revealed about specific apps.WhatsApp vs. SignalOn the surface, WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, appears to be nearly identical to Signal. Both offer encrypted messaging, which scramble your messages so only the recipient can decipher them. Both also rely on your phone number to create an account and receive messages.But their privacy labels immediately reveal how different they are under the hood. The first one below is for WhatsApp. The next one is the one for Signal:The labels immediately made it clear that WhatsApp taps far more of our data than Signal does. When I asked the companies about this, Signal said it made an effort to take less information.For group chats, the WhatsApp privacy label showed that the app has access to user content, which includes group chat names and group profile photos. Signal, which does not do this, said it had designed a complex group chat system that encrypts the contents of a conversation, including the people participating in the chat and their avatars.For peoples contacts, the WhatsApp privacy label showed that the app can get access to our contacts list; Signal does not. With WhatsApp, you have the option to upload your address book to the companys servers so it can help you find your friends and family who are also using the app. But on Signal, the contacts list is stored on your phone, and the company cannot tap it.In some instances its more difficult to not collect data, Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of Signal, said. We have gone to greater lengths to design and build technology that doesnt have access.A WhatsApp spokeswoman referred to the companys website explaining its privacy label. The website said WhatsApp could gain access to user content to prevent abuse and to bar people who might have violated laws.When You Least Expect ItI then took a close look at the privacy label for a seemingly innocuous app: MyQ from Chamberlain, a company that sells garage door openers. The MyQ app works with a $40 hub that connects with a Wi-Fi router so you can open and close your garage door remotely.Heres what the label says about the data the app collected. Warning: Its long.Why would a product I paid for to open my garage door track my name, email address, device identifier and usage data?The answer: for advertising.Elizabeth Lindemulder, who oversees connected devices for the Chamberlain Group, said the company collected data to target people with ads across the web. Chamberlain also has partnerships with other companies, such as Amazon, and data is shared with partners when people opt to use their services.In this case, the label successfully caused me to stop and think: Yuck. Maybe Ill switch back to my old garage remote, which has no internet connection.Spotify vs. Apple MusicFinally, I compared the privacy labels for two streaming music apps: Spotify and Apple Music. This experiment unfortunately took me down a rabbit hole of confusion.Just look at the labels. First is the one for Spotify. Next is the one for Apple Music.These look different from the other labels featured in this article because they are just previews Spotifys label was so long that we could not display the entirety of it. And when I dug into the labels, both contained such confusing or misleading terminology that I could not immediately connect the dots on what our data was used for.One piece of jargon in Spotifys label was that it collected peoples coarse location for advertising. What does that mean?Spotify said this applied to people with free accounts who received ads. The app pulls device information to get approximate locations so it can play ads relevant to where those users are. But most people are unlikely to comprehend this from reading the label.Apple Musics privacy label suggested that it linked data to you for advertising purposes even though the app doesnt show or play ads. Only on Apples website did I find out that Apple Music looks at what you listen to so it can provide information about upcoming releases and new artists who are relevant to your interests.The privacy labels are especially confusing when it comes to Apples own apps. Thats because while some Apple apps appeared in the App Store with privacy labels, others did not.Apple said only some of its apps like FaceTime, Mail and Apple Maps could be deleted and downloaded again in the App Store, so those can be found there with privacy labels. But its Phone and Messages apps cannot be deleted from devices and so do not have privacy labels in the App Store. Instead, the privacy labels for those apps are in hard-to-find support documents.The result is that the data practices of Apples apps are less upfront. If Apple wants to lead the privacy conversation, it can set a better example by making language clearer and its labeling program less self-serving. When I asked why all apps shouldnt be held to the same standards, Apple did not address the issue further.Ms. Nguyen, the researcher, said a lot had to happen for the privacy labels to succeed. Other than behavioral change, she said, companies have to be honest about describing their data collection. Most important, people have to be able to understand the information.I cant imagine my mother would ever stop to look at a label and say, Let me look at the data linked to me and the data not linked to me, she said. What does that even mean? | Tech |
Corner OfficeDec. 30, 2015Credit...Earl Wilson/The New York TimesThis interview with Ann Cairns, president of international markets at MasterCard, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.Q. What were some early influences for you?A. I grew up in the northeast of England, in a small mining village near Newcastle. My dad was a shoemaker who originally made shoes for miners. I grew up in a period when Margaret Thatcher was closing down mines across Britain, so there was very high unemployment in my town.That had quite a big influence on people living in the area because, as kids at school, you would be thinking, What can I do to make the best of life? You realize that educations important and that you need to spread your wings. So that was a big influence.I won a scholarship at the age of 11 to go to a British grammar school. The headmistress, a nun, had a chemistry degree from Oxford. She was very pro girls doing science. It was an all-girls school, and there were a lot of scientists in the school. It seemed pretty natural to me to go to university to do math.Tell me about your mother.Shes still alive. Shes 85, and shes a very confident woman. She worked as a pharmacists assistant. She was quite scientific. And shes also a very good singer, a soprano. My dad was a club comedian, too, so they were both performers. They would often do cabaret in the area at night.When you went to university, did you have an idea of what you wanted to do?None whatsoever. It was a time when, if you were well educated, you were in a position to get a good job, because only about 10 percent of the population went to university back then. I didnt study math from a vocational point of view. I studied it because I loved the subject. I majored in pure math, actually, and then went on to do a masters degree in statistics.While I was doing my masters, British Gas rang up the university and asked if anybody was doing statistics who could come into the research area and design experiments for physicists, chemists and engineers. The university sent me along for the job interview, and I got the job.I became much more interested in the engineering side and offshore exploration. But first I had to pass a weeklong offshore survival course. The guy running it was an ex-Royal Marine. I was the only woman in the course, and he kept making me do everything first.After about the third day, I went up to him and said, You know, Im really fed up with this. Whats this all about? I told him it felt like discrimination. He said, No. Youre such a little girl that if you jump off the platform, all those 47 guys behind you who are terrified are going to say to themselves, Look, shes just done it. And were you O.K. with that?I was, because I understood there was a reason he was doing it, and it was a positive one, not a negative one. He was not trying to show me up. He was trying to help make other people more confident about it. So that was O.K.You started early in management roles.I was managing about 50 engineers in my late 20s. It was comfortable for me, though. The thing about engineers is that they are people who are very expert at what they do, so you dont have to know everything that they know. You just have to be somebody who can help build a team and put things together. And I was always pretty interested in understanding everybodys specialization and how it all worked.You then shifted into banking and moved up the ranks quickly. What are some leadership lessons you learned along the way?In my mid-30s, they started doing 360-degree reviews, and I was getting pretty good reviews from my boss, and I was getting great reviews from my people, but I wasnt getting such good marks from my peer group.Its easy to be competitive with your peer group as youre climbing up the ladder. But over time you realize that in order to make your group effective, you have to think in terms of being one team, and how can you make those relationships the best they can ever be. Youre not trying to compete now. Youre trying to really make this work.You see companies where people at that level are competing against each other, and then you see other companies where theyre not, and it makes quite a difference. Any more thoughts on building a team?You think about what each person will bring to the team, but you also have to think about them as individuals, and where theyre going from and to, because theyve all got their own paths and things they want to achieve.Ive had people work for me who are very creative or can be very disruptive, and sometimes theyre the same person. Ive seen other people take them off teams because its just too hard to manage people in that situation. But my view is that if you can get the best out of people, then its worthwhile putting them on a team and making sure that everyone else on the team actually knows this persons characteristics.And then you constantly reinforce what the good is, and you build mutual respect so that you dont create a team of mediocre people who are all happy with each other and dont challenge each other. You want people who can challenge each other without creating this peer problem of, I dont like you because you said such-and-such in the last meeting. If youre the boss of the team, you can stop that from happening without stopping the conversation flow.The other thing thats really important about building a team is that your team has got to respect you and theyve got to feel safe. So you create that safe environment, and theyve got to feel that youre always acting in their interests. | Business |