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January 17, 2020
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Longtime Bishop Hendricken swim coach Dave Hanson was among the 23 high school coaches from across the country selected as 2019 National Coaches of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association.
The NFHS, which has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982, honors coaches in the top 10 girls sports and top 10 boys sports (by participation numbers), and in two “other” sports – one for boys and one for girls – that are not included in the top 10 listings. The NFHS also recognizes a spirit coach as a separate award category. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award. This year’s awards recognize coaches for the 2018-19 school year.
Recipients of this year’s national awards for boys sports are: Glenn Cecchini, baseball, Lake Charles (Louisiana) Alfred M. Barbe High School; J.R. Holmes, basketball, Bloomington (Indiana) South High School; Karl Koonce, cross country, Pearcy (Arkansas) Lake Hamilton High School; Terry Curtis, football, Mobile (Alabama) UMS-Wright Preparatory School; James Orcutt, golf, North Platte (Nebraska) High School; Terry Michler, soccer, St. Louis (Missouri) Christian Brothers College High School; David Hanson, swimming and diving, Warwick (Rhode Island) Bishop Hendricken Catholic High School; David Fredette, tennis, Armada (Michigan) High School; William “Bill” Thorn, track and field, Fairburn (Georgia) Landmark Christian School; and James Matney, wrestling, Paintsville (Kentucky) Johnson Central High School.
The recipients of the 2019 NFHS national awards for girls sports are: Jack Gayle, swimming and diving, Snellville (Georgia) Brookwood High School; Cherry Roberds, tennis, Miami (Arizona) High School; Desmond Dunham, track and field, St. John’s (District of Columbia) College High School; Valorie McKenzie, volleyball, Scottsdale (Arizona) Horizon High School; Sherri Anthony, basketball, Ponte Vedra (Florida) Nease High School; Dave Van Sickle, cross country, Phoenix (Arizona) Xavier College Preparatory; Dick Bliss, golf, Hopkinton (Massachusetts) High School; Carol Rainson-Rose, lacrosse, Northport (New York) High School; Meredith Messer, soccer, Rockport (Maine) Camden Hills Regional High School; and Deborah Schwartz, softball, Toms River (New Jersey) Donovan Catholic High School.
The recipient of the National Coach of the Year Award for spirit is Stephanie Blackwell of Bixby (Oklahoma) High School. Steven DeAngelis, a cross country skiing coach at Readfield (Maine) Maranacook Community High School, was chosen in the “other” category for boys sports, and Lois Emshoff, a badminton coach at Chandler (Arizona) High School, was chosen in the “other” category for girls sports.
The NFHS has a contact in each state who is responsible for selecting deserving coach award recipients. This person often works with the state coaches’ association in his or her respective state. He or she contacts the potential state award recipients to complete a coach profile form that requests information regarding the coach’s record, membership in and affiliation with coaching and other professional organizations, involvement with other school and community activities and programs, and coaching philosophy. To be approved as an award recipient and considered for sectional and national coach of the year consideration, this profile form must be completed by the coach or designee and then approved by the executive director (or designee) of the state athletic/activities association.
The next award level after state coach of the year is sectional coach of the year. The NFHS is divided into eight geographical sections. They are as follows: Section 1 – Northeast (CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT); Section 2 – Mideast (DE, DC, KY, MD, OH, PA, VA, WV); Section 3 – South (AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN); Section 4 – Central (IL, IN, IA, MI, WI); Section 5 – Midwest (KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD); Section 6 – Southwest (AR, CO, NM, OK, TX); Section 7 – West (AZ, CA, HI, NV, UT); and Section 8 – Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY).
The NFHS Coaches Association has an advisory committee composed of a chair and eight sectional representatives. The sectional committee representatives evaluate the state award recipients from the states in their respective sections and select the best candidates for the sectional award in each sport category. The NFHS Coaches Association Advisory Committee then considers the sectional candidates in each sport, ranks them according to a point system, and determines a national winner for each of the 20 sport categories, the spirit category and two “other” categories.
A total of 857 coaches will be recognized this year with state, sectional and national awards.
This press release was written by Hannah Wishart, Coordinator of Educational Services with the NFHS who works with the NFHS Coaches Association and the NFHS Coach Education Program.
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Ajax and United States defender Sergiño Dest is leaving the Amsterdam club's winter training camp in Qatar amid high tensions in the Mideast, the club announced on Thursday. US soccer defender Dest leaving Ajax training camp in Qatar
Congratulations to Classical’s Robert Palazzo, who has been selected as the 2020 National Track & Field Coach of the Year by the NFHS Coaches Association. See the NFHS release below announcing all of the 2020 selections:
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (January 25, 2021)— Twenty-three high school coaches from across the country have been selected as 2020 National Coaches of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association.
The NFHS, which has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982, honors coaches in the top 10 girls sports and top 10 boys sports (by participation numbers), and in two “other” sports – one for boys and one for girls – that are not included in the top 10 listings. The NFHS also recognizes a spirit coach as a separate award category. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award. This year’s awards recognize coaches for the 2019-20 school year.
Recipients of this year’s national awards for boys sports are: Ron Murphy, baseball, Rio Rancho (New Mexico) High School; Jerry Petitgoue, basketball, Cuba City (Wisconsin) High School; Kevin Ryan, cross country, Bellingham (Washington) Sehome High School; Gerry Pannoni, football, Lorton (Virginia) South County High School; Steve Kanner, golf, Chandler (Arizona) Hamilton High School; David Halligan, soccer, Falmouth (Maine) High School; Douglas Krecklow, swimming and diving, Omaha (Nebraska) Westside High School; Douglas Chapman, tennis, Somerset (Massachusetts) Berkley Regional High School; Robert Palazzo, track and field, Providence (Rhode Island) Classical High School; Douglas Hislop, wrestling, Imbler (Oregon) High School.
The recipients of the 2020 NFHS national awards for girls sports are: Michael Rose, swimming and diving, Brookfield (Wisconsin) East High School; Judith Hehs, tennis, Wixom (Michigan) St. Catherine of Siena Academy; Willie Smith, track and field, Beachwood (Ohio) High School; Kevin Bordewick, volleyball, Topeka (Kansas) Washburn Rural High School; Donna Moir, basketball, Louisville (Kentucky) Sacred Heart Academy; William Clifton, cross country, Middletown (New Jersey) South High School; Carol Fromuth, golf, St. Louis (Missouri) St. Joseph’s Academy; Tim Carey, lacrosse, Fresno (California) Hoover High School; Stephen Estelle, soccer, Huntington (Massachusetts) Gateway Regional High School; Mary Truesdale, softball, Sacramento (California) Sheldon High School.
The recipient of the National Coach of the Year Award for spirit is Anne Ellett of Gresham (Oregon) Centennial High School. Michael Bowler, a lacrosse coach at Rocky Point (New York) High School, was chosen in the “other” category for boys sports, and Mary Beth Bourgoin, a field hockey coach at Winslow (Maine) High School, was chosen in the “other” category for girls sports.
The NFHS has a contact in each state who is responsible for selecting deserving coach award recipients. This person often works with the state coaches’ association in his or her respective state. He or she contacts the potential state award recipients to complete a coach profile form that requests information regarding the coach’s record, membership in and affiliation with coaching and other professional organizations, involvement with other school and community activities and programs, and coaching philosophy. To be approved as an award recipient and considered for sectional and national coach of the year consideration, this profile form must be completed by the coach or designee and then approved by the executive director (or designee) of the state athletic/activities association.
The next award level after state coach of the year is sectional coach of the year. The NFHS is divided into eight geographical sections. They are as follows: Section 1 – Northeast (CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT); Section 2 – Mideast (DE, DC, KY, MD, OH, PA, VA, WV); Section 3 – South (AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN); Section 4 – Central (IL, IN, IA, MI, WI); Section 5 – Midwest (KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD); Section 6 – Southwest (AR, CO, NM, OK, TX); Section 7 – West (AZ, CA, HI, NV, UT); and Section 8 – Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY).
The NFHS Coaches Association has an advisory committee composed of a chair and eight sectional representatives. The sectional committee representatives evaluate the state award recipients from the states in their respective sections and select the best candidates for the sectional award in each sport category. The NFHS Coaches Association Advisory Committee then considers the sectional candidates in each sport, ranks them according to a point system, and determines a national winner for each of the 20 sport categories, the spirit category and two “other” categories.
A total of 707 coaches will be recognized this year with state, sectional and national awards.
Tackling the Law That Forces Rape Survivors to Marry Their Attackers In parts of the Middle East and Africa, courts can let rapists walk free if they marry their victims. Alia Awada of gender-equality campaigners ABAAD wants Lebanon to abolish the law, saying that, far from protecting a survivor’s honor, it treats them like a criminal. WRITTEN BY Alexandra Bradford PUBLISHED ON Feb. 8, 2017 READ TIME Approx. 5 minutes Mideast Lebanon rape law Activists in Beirut protest Article 522, a law that allows a rapist to walk free if he marries his victim. AP/Bilal Hussein IN MARCH 2012, Amina Filali, a 16-year-old Moroccan girl, committed suicide after she was forced to marry her rapist. According to reports, she had been attacked while walking down the street in her hometown of Larache. When her father reported the rape, the prosecutor suggested that Filali and her rapist get married, in accordance with a law that allows an alleged rapist to avoid jail time by marrying his victim. The penal code, known as Article 475, was instituted as a means of protecting a rape victim’s honor, according to women’s right activists. In conservative parts of Morocco, as in many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, if a girl engages in sexual activity outside of marriage – even in cases of rape – she is viewed as having dishonored herself and her family, leading to her being shunned by her community. But, for Filali, instead of being protected, she was bonded to the man who had once brutalized her and ended up beating her. In response, she killed herself by ingesting rat poison. Two years later, following public outcry over Filali’s death, the Moroccan parliament abolished Article 475. When news of Morocco’s decision reached Lebanon, where a similar law exists, activists at the gender-equality nonprofit ABAAD were inspired. They knew they had to take steps to have Article 522 abolished, to stop a case like Filali’s from happening in Lebanon. In November 2016, ABAAD kicked off an aggressive campaign to demand that the country’s parliament abolish the law. There are no reliable statistics on the frequency of courts in Lebanon that order rape victims to marry their rapists, but research by ABAAD showed that 30 percent of people polled said they knew girls who were raped and then forced to marry the men who had attacked them. Women & Girls spoke with Alia Awada, advocacy and campaign manager for ABAAD, about the issue of honor and the campaign to abolish Article 522. Women & Girls: When a girl is raped in Lebanon, how is she forced to marry her rapist? Alia Awada: When an [unmarried] girl is raped and the case is presented in court, the judge will suggest to the girl and her family that she should marry her rapist to protect her honor. All three sides – the judge, the girl’s family and her rapist – must agree to the marriage. There will be pressure put on the girl to marry her rapist because, in Lebanon, if a girl is raped, no one will marry her in the future and everyone will be talking about her honor. She will never have a normal life. Her family will pressure her to marry her rapist because they see this as protection for their honor, too. “The real work is on the ground, it is in changing mentalities. It is loudly saying that rape is a crime.” We say [at ABAAD] that abolishing Article 522 is just the start of our work. The real work is on the ground, it is in changing mentalities. It is loudly saying that rape is a crime. It is about saying that women are the victims of social norms and rape laws in our society. Women & Girls: How do you change the mentality that women are worth more than their virginity? Awada: You can start with raising awareness [by] abolishing 522. You can talk about the consequences of forcing women to get married to their rapist. The starting point is convincing people that rape is a crime, like any other crime. We have to encourage people to believe that there is a clear difference between rape and what we as a society consider a woman’s honor. There is a difference between losing your virginity and being raped. We [at ABAAD] were all wondering how society viewed the victims of Article 522 and the victims of rape. We conducted a poll of 1,000 people from all over Lebanon. We found that only 1 percent of the population polled were fully aware that Article 522 existed. When told about the law, 85 percent of people polled thought that it compromises the dignity of the victim because it increases pressure on the victim to marry her rapist. When we informed people of the law and what it meant, people were really surprised and did not think the law was acceptable. Abolishing Article 522 does matter, but what is most important is being on the ground and working on the mentalities of the communities, teaching families that, if your sister or your daughter gets raped, first, it is not her fault, second, she has the right to refuse to marry her rapist and, third, that rape is a crime and rapists are criminals. Women & Girls: How does society view the rapist? Awada: In the beginning the man would be shamed, but after he gets out of jail, society forgets about what he has done. People view the woman to be at fault; they don’t blame the rapist. This is where feminist and women’s right organizations need to step in for the long haul. We can’t change society based on a one- or two-year campaign. We need to start by saying that women are victims and survivors of rape, and they did not do anything wrong. We need to start a discussion about dishonor and social norms towards women on all levels. In the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] regions, women do not have the luxuries of social rights, economic rights, political rights or the rights to control their bodies – we don’t have these social and legal rights. In Lebanon, we need to talk about society and the views of women’s rights – we are not on track [with women’s rights]. Women & Girls: How does ABAAD plan to get Article 522 abolished? Awada: Seven months ago, we started thinking about pushing in an aggressive and positive way to abolish the law. We knew we had to be strong and we had to be smart, because, if we were able to get the public on our side, then we would have an army of supporters to get this law abolished. We prepared a very strong campaign that exists on two levels. First, we had a public campaign which involved visual and audio materials that were able to touch people’s hearts. We posted a video about Article 522 and we had over 2 million views. We also had a set of activities on a community level. For example, we put together a soccer match that was played by the most popular team in Lebanon in support of abolishing Article 522. Some of the most well-known journalists in Lebanon are women, so we brought them in to cover the match and to explain why the match was in support of abolishing 522. After that, everyone was talking about abolishing 522. What has really made me proud is that we received calls from women’s rights organizations all over the Middle East asking us about our campaign. Tunisia has the same law [Article 277], and they have started to use our campaign material to ask for their law to be abolished as well. This conversation was edited for length and clarity.
Grim view of global future offered in intelligence report (AP) U.S. intelligence officials are painting a dark picture of the world’s future, writing in a report released Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic has deepened economic inequality, strained government resources and fanned nationalist sentiments. Those assessments are included in a Global Trends report by the government’s National Intelligence Council, a document produced every four years. This year’s report is designed to help policymakers and citizens anticipate the economic, environmental, technological and demographic forces likely to shape the world through the next 20 years. The document focuses heavily on the impact of the pandemic, calling it the “most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come.” “COVID-19 has shaken long-held assumptions about resilience and adaptation and created new uncertainties about the economy, governance, geopolitics, and technology,” the report says. The report also warns of eroding trust in government and institutions and of a “trust gap” between the general public and the better informed and educated parts of the population.
Volcano on St. Vincent erupts, spewing column of ash amid evacuations (Washington Post) The 4,049-foot La Soufrière volcano erupted on St. Vincent early Friday, sending a more than two-mile high cloud of ash bellowing above the tropical Caribbean island just hours after surrounding communities were ordered to evacuate. Low visibility caused by volcanic debris was hampering the effort to transport residents to safety, officials said. Satellite images and photos shared on social media images captured a thick column rising from the active volcano that began erupting at 8:41 a.m. Plumes of brown ash and smoke drifted higher as they moved northeast, reaching at least 38,500 feet into the atmosphere, nearing the altitude at which many commercial aircraft fly. No deaths or injuries have yet been reported. On Thursday, authorities announced that La Soufrière was an “imminent” threat to erupt. Residents near La Soufrière began evacuating the island’s “red zone” on Thursday by traveling to nearby islands, boarding cruise ships or moving into emergency shelters on other parts of St. Vincent. About 5,000 to 6,000 people live in the affected areas.
Rioters ignore pleas for calm as violence flares in Belfast (AP) Gangs of youths threw stones and fireworks at police in Belfast who hit back with water cannons as violence flared again on the streets of Northern Ireland. Unrest has erupted over the past week amid tensions over post-Brexit trade rules and worsening relations between the parties in the Protestant-Catholic power-sharing Belfast government. The latest violence Thursday night came despite appeals by U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Irish Premier Micheal Martin and U.S. President Joe Biden for a calming of tensions. Britain’s split from the EU has highlighted the contested status of Northern Ireland, where some people identify as British and want to stay part of the U.K. while others see themselves as Irish and seek unity with the neighboring Republic of Ireland, an EU member.
Britain’s Prince Philip dies, spent seven decades at Queen Elizabeth’s side (Reuters) Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband and a pivotal figure in the British royal family for almost seven decades, has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace said on Friday. The Duke of Edinburgh, as he was officially known, had been by his wife’s side throughout her 69-year reign, the longest in British history. During that time he earned a reputation for a tough, no-nonsense attitude and a propensity for occasional gaffes. A Greek prince, Philip married Elizabeth in 1947. He went on to play a key role in modernising the monarchy in the post-World War Two period, and behind the walls of Buckingham Palace was the one key figure the queen could turn to and trust. Philip spent four weeks in hospital earlier this year for treatment for an infection and to have a heart procedure, but returned to Windsor in early March. He died just two months before he was to celebrate his 100th birthday.
EU-Turkey tensions (Foreign Policy) Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi labeled Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a dictator while discussing the Turkish government’s very public snub of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting in Istanbul earlier this week. In a meeting with European Council President Charles Michel and the Turkish President, von der Leyen was relegated to a sofa along with the Turkish foreign minister while Erdogan and Michel sat together in prepared chairs—a break from previous protocol. “With these, let’s call them what they are—dictators—with whom one nonetheless has to coordinate, one has to be frank when expressing different visions and opinions,” Draghi said. Turkey has pushed back against accusations of a sexist snub, saying that the seating was arranged according to the EU’s demands.
Myanmar junta limits internet, seizes satellite TV dishes (AP) An information blackout under Myanmar’s military junta worsened Thursday as fiber broadband service, the last legal way for ordinary people to access the internet, became intermittently inaccessible on several networks. Authorities in some areas have also started confiscating satellite dishes used to access international news broadcasts. Protests against the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi continued Thursday despite the killing of 11 people by security forces a day earlier.
Kim Jong Un warns North Korea of hardship, referencing deadly 1990s famine (NK News) In a rare admission, Kim Jong-un has used a party speech to warn of upcoming hardships caused by the pandemic, U.S. sanctions and natural disasters. The North Korean leader ominously compared the situation to the historic famine that killed at least 225,000 people in the country in the 1990s.
Loud debates, fun banter: Mideast finds outlet in Clubhouse (AP) They are boisterous, argumentative and at times downright hilarious. Hundreds of thousands of people in the Arab world are turning to Clubhouse, the fast-growing audio chat app, to mock and vent against longtime rulers, debate sensitive issues from abortion to sexual harassment, or argue where to find the best and cheapest shawarma sandwich during an economic crisis. More than 970,000 people from the Middle East have downloaded the new platform since it launched outside the U.S. in January. It has offered space for in-person conversations in an age where direct contact is at the mercy of the pandemic and it’s brought together those at home and the many in exile or abroad. But mostly, it has offered a release for bottled-up frustration in a region where violent conflicts and autocrats have taken hold and where few, if any, avenues for change—or even for speaking out—seem tenable. “It is an open coffeehouse that pierces through what is forbidden by the political regimes in the region,” said Diana Moukalled, a Lebanese journalist who closely follows social platforms. “Clubhouse has made people go back to debating one another.”
Where Boars Hog the Streets (NYT) The wild pigs of Haifa might not fly, but they seem to do almost everything else. The boars snooze in people’s paddling pools. They snuffle across the lawns. They kick residents’ soccer balls and play with their dogs. They saunter down the sidewalks and sleep in the streets. Some eat from the hands of humans, and they all eat from the trash. The wild boars of Haifa, in short, are no longer particularly wild. Once largely confined to the many ravines that slice through this hilly port city on the Mediterranean, the boars have become increasingly carefree in recent years and now regularly venture into built-up areas, undeterred by their human neighbors. “It became like an everyday thing,” said Eugene Notkov, 35, a chef who lets his dog play with the boars that putter around the local parks. “They’re a part of our city,” he added. Bumping into one is “like seeing a squirrel.” For some, the boars are a menace, and the Council is to blame for their continued presence. For others, they are a charming addition to an already unusual place.
A 3,000-Year-Old ‘Lost City’ May Be New Boon for Egypt Tourism (Bloomberg) Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 3,000-year-old “lost city” buried under the sands in Luxor, home to the Nile Valley’s famed Valley of the Kings, the latest pharaonic-era wonder to be unearthed as the country seeks to revive its tourism industry. The city, known as the “The Rise of Aten,” dates to the reign of Amenhotep III which began around 1,390 BC, and was later used by successors including Tutankhamun, according to a statement on Thursday from the Egyptian mission that made the find. “The discovery of this lost city is the second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun,” Betsy Bryan, professor of Egyptian art and archeology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said in the statement. It offers “a rare glimpse into the life of the Ancient Egyptians at the time where the empire was at its wealthiest,” she said.
Seed monopolies (Deutsche Welle) For thousands of years of human agriculture, the intrinsic nature of a seed—the capacity to reproduce itself—prevented it from being easily commodified. Grown and resown by farmers, seeds were freely exchanged and shared. All that changed in the 1990s when laws were introduced to protect new bio-engineered crops. Today, four corporations—Bayer, Corteva, ChemChina and Limagrain—control more than 50% of the world’s seeds. These staggering monopolies dominate the global food supply. “Seeds are ultimately what feed us and the animals we eat,” Jack Kloppenburg, a rural sociologist and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said. “Control over seeds is, in many ways, control over the food supply. The question of who produces new plant varieties is absolutely critical for the future of all of us.”
The Healing Power of Music (NYT) “Focus on the sound of the instrument,” Andrew Rossetti, a licensed music therapist and researcher said as he strummed hypnotic chords on a Spanish-style classical guitar. “Close your eyes. Think of a place where you feel safe and comfortable.” Music therapy was the last thing that Julia Justo, a graphic artist who immigrated to New York from Argentina, expected when she went to Mount Sinai Beth Israel Union Square Clinic for treatment for cancer in 2016. But it quickly calmed her fears about the radiation therapy she needed to go through, which was causing her severe anxiety. “I felt the difference right away, I was much more relaxed,” she said. The healing power of music—lauded by philosophers from Aristotle and Pythagoras to Pete Seeger—is now being validated by medical research. It is used in targeted treatments for asthma, autism, depression and more, including brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and stroke. Live music has made its way into some surprising venues, including oncology waiting rooms to calm patients as they wait for radiation and chemotherapy. It also greets newborns in some neonatal intensive care units and comforts the dying in hospice. While musical therapies are rarely stand-alone treatments, they are increasingly used as adjuncts to other forms of medical treatment. They help people cope with their stress and mobilize their body’s own capacity to heal.
Adventures in a crate (Foreign Policy) A British man is searching for two long lost friends who shipped him across the world in a wooden crate in 1965. Then-19-year-old Brian Robson came to Australia on a work program in 1964 before quickly becoming homesick. Unable to afford a flight home, he and the two friends came up with a scheme to ship Robson to London in a crate. He was packed in with nothing more than with a flashlight, a bottle of water, a small suitcase, a pillow, an empty bottle (“for obvious reasons”) and a hammer to break out. The operation quickly went awry (in more ways that can fit in this summary). Robson endured five days being shuttled from airport to airport, eventually ending up thousands of miles from his destination, in Los Angeles. After security personnel decided he was not a threat, he was then flown home first class, for free, by Pan American Airlines. Robson, who has written a book about his adventure, is now seeking to reconnect with the friends that sent him on his way. He can only recall their first names and their Irish nationality; the rest is lost to time. “I’d love to find them again,” he told CBC radio.
On Saturday, Jill and I depart for our annual holiday trip to Florida (her family winters in the panhandle, and mine has begun the traditional Jewish relocation to Boca Raton). We'll be there for about a week before heading up to Boston for New Year's. * * * Given the ongoing tensions between "Bernie Bros" and racial minorities, this article on the DSA's race problems is wholly unsurprising (I know some East Bay DSA folk, and they -- the organization, not the folks I know -- have a gender problem too). Netanyahu is frantically trying to stop Trump from releasing his Mideast Peace plan (which sounds like it is basically ... the Clinton peace plan), worrying it will make him vulnerable to a right-wing challenge. This is torture for me, because normally a Bibi-Trump fight is a "root for injuries" situation, but here I actually have to be constructive and want whatever makes a just peace agreement most viable (and I honestly don't know if "releasing it now" or "later" is more likely). I had been meaning to link to this outstanding meditation by Erika Dreifus on being a Jewish-American writer in 2018, and just never found the right moment. Well, no moment like the present. This is an okay -- not great, not terrible -- article on how toxic masculinity intersects with Zionism. I think I did a better version, though. Albania expels Iranian diplomat after alleged plot to attack an Israeli soccer match. When I read that the Women's March was consulting with "Jewish groups" on the question of antisemitism, I just assumed it would be JVP-style groups. But I was wrong, and I'll give due credit: the NCJW, Bend the Arc, and JFREJ represent a fair spectrum of progressive Jewish organizations to give perspective on these matters. via The Debate Link http://bit.ly/2CrYhhe
New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%
News top stories daily news hot topics Iranian oil tanker near Saudi Arabia coast hit by missiles, officials say - Fox News
News top stories daily news hot topics
An Iranian oil tanker cruising 60 miles off the soar of Saudi Arabia was rocked by a pair of missiles Friday, temporarily causing an oil leak and more broadly threatening to further arouse fraught regional tensions between the 2 heavyweight Muslim worldwide locations.
Iranian dispute tv reported the explosions damaged two storerooms aboard the oil tanker – which is owned by the National Iranian Oil Firm – and induced an oil leak into the Red Sea shut to the Saudi port metropolis of Jeddah. The leak was later plugged, IRNA reported.
“This most modern incident, if confirmed to be an act of aggression, is highly liable to be half of the broader narrative of deteriorating kinfolk between Saudi and the U.S. and Iran,” in retaining with an review supplied to the Related Press by non-public maritime security agency Dryad Maritime. “It’s most likely that the blueprint, having been bag for the final month, will face one other length of increasing maritime threats, as the Iranian and Saudi geopolitical stand-off continues.”
This characterize released by the official news agency of the Iranian Oil Ministry, SHANA, reveals Iranian oil tanker Sabiti touring by contrivance of the Red Sea Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. Two missiles struck the Iranian tanker Sabiti touring by contrivance of the Red Sea off the soar of Saudi Arabia on Friday, Iranian officers said, the most modern incident in the blueprint amid months of heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S. (SHANA by the usage of AP)
The afflicted vessel, identified by IRNA as the Sibiti, was carrying about 1 million barrels of crude oil when it was struck, an analysis from files agency Refinitiv showed.
The news agency did no longer instruct whom Iranian officers suspect will most likely be accountable for launching the missiles.
International Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi described the incident as an “assault” performed by these committing “unhealthy adventurism.” In a assertion, Mousavi said the Sabiti was struck twice in the span of a half-hour and an investigation was underway.
This characterize released by the official news agency of the Iranian Oil Ministry, SHANA, reveals Iranian oil tanker Sabiti touring by contrivance of the Red Sea Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. Two missiles struck the Iranian tanker Sabiti touring by contrivance of the Red Sea off the soar of Saudi Arabia on Friday, Iranian officers said, the most modern incident in the blueprint amid months of heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S. (SHANA by the usage of AP)
Pictures taken from the ship’s bridge which non-public been released by Iran’s Petroleum Ministry did no longer seem to instruct any hurt to the Sabiti, though the test up on did no longer instruct the ship’s facets. Satellite photos of the gap did no longer instruct any visible smoke.
There has been no be aware from Saudi Arabia about the reported assault. Oil costs jumped by two p.c after the news broke.
In line with the AP, the Sabiti grew to turn out to be on its monitoring devices unhurried Friday morning in the Red Sea. The final time the vessel had grew to turn out to be on its monitoring devices was in August shut to the Iranian port metropolis of Bandar Abbas.
This characterize released by the official news agency of the Iranian Oil Ministry, SHANA, reveals Iranian oil tanker Sabiti touring by contrivance of the Red Sea Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. Two missiles struck the Iranian tanker Sabiti touring by contrivance of the Red Sea off the soar of Saudi Arabia on Friday, Iranian officers said, the most modern incident in the blueprint amid months of heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S. (SHANA by the usage of AP)
Iranian tankers mechanically turn off their trackers due to U.S. sanctions that scheme the sale of Iran’s crude oil.
Lt. Pete Pagano, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Snappy overseeing the Mideast, said authorities there non-public been “responsive to reviews of this incident,” but declined to commentary further.
The reported assault comes after the U.S. has alleged that in past months Iran attacked oil tankers shut to the Strait of Hormuz, on the mouth of the Persian Gulf, one thing denied by Tehran.
Fox News’ Edmund DeMarche and the Related Press contributed to this file.
April 19, 2019
I was brushing my teeth on a recent Saturday morning when Debbie mentioned that the daughter of one of my old friends had flown from her home in the San Francisco area to visit her mother in Savannah, before jetting off to Minneapolis to catch her beloved Spartans in that night’s Final Four basketball game. That afternoon I became aware that in a couple of days a close friend of our sons would be flying from Detroit to Augusta for the Masters golf tournament. Then, later that day, I learned that my nephew from Denver was in Great Britain to see his favorite soccer team, New Castle United, play Crystal Palace at St. James Stadium, north of London.
Millennials. They never cease to amaze me.
The things that many 30-year-olds deem to be important, such as travel, including world travel, is very different from that of my generation and a 180-degree turn from that of their grandparents.
Granted, by the time I was 32 I had made road trips to both coasts and to some big-time sporting events--the Kentucky Derby, the ‘76 Summer Olympics in Montreal and to Indianapolis to see Michigan State defeat Notre Dame in the 1979 NCAA Mideast Regional basketball final. But in only one case did I fly--from Tucson (where I had visited a friend) to Louisville for the derby. Otherwise, I usually traveled with pals in my custom van, a “shagmobile” if ever there was one.
In even greater contrast to the Millennials, my Greatest Generation parents never traveled anywhere outside of Michigan when they were in their 30s. And their parents (my grandparents), who left Poland as teenagers and crossed the ocean for better economic opportunities in America, never ventured out of the ethnic enclave they settled in Detroit. How could they? They never even owned a car.
One often hears that life is generally better (educationally, economically, occupationally) for each generation than for the one that preceded it. That seems to be true of the Millennials I know.
And they seem so different attitudinally.
Just this past weekend, I was one of several members of my extended family to help a Millennial nephew move from one house that he owns to another one he just purchased on the same block, in partnership with another nephew. Both homes (which include adjoining vacant lots) need much renovation work. And the neighborhood in which they’re located, north of Detroit’s burgeoning downtown area, is not the kind in which you or I would likely purchase a home.
But Millennials are bigger risk-takers than their moms and dads were. When I drive around my nephew’s neighborhood, I notice 30-somethings on almost every block cleaning, painting and fixing up homes that are over a century old. And on the very day that I’m writing these words, he will be notifying his boss that he’s leaving the company where he works to launch a small business of his own.
Think about that.
This young man is banking on the appreciation of several pieces of real estate in a neighborhood that has seen better days, with little income assured as he sets out to be his own boss. Now that takes guts. And he’s basically doing it all without help--other than sweat equity--from his Mom or a family inheritance.
Most Millennials these days are forestalling marriage, putting off having babies and delaying ownership of the proverbial home with a white picket fence until after they’ve had certain life experiences such as traveling to an obscure soccer game in Great Britain or contributing to the revitalization of an old city neighborhood.
I used to think my generation “helicoptered” our Millennial children a little too much, that perhaps we overly structured their lives with organized sports, travel teams, band camps, cheerleading camps, advanced placement classes, etc., causing them to feel pressures that I never experienced as a kid.
But I’m starting to think that we “Boomer” parents did all right. Because I like how these Millennials roll. I know probably 30 or 40 of them and they energize me in many ways with their sense of adventure, out-of-box thinking and empathy for “the other.”
Granted, my thirty-something-year-old kids, their cousins and most of those in their circle of friends had the good fortune to be born middle class. Yet they seem to be more accepting of those on lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder than my generation was. And they’re certainly less judgemental when it comes to differences in religious preference, skin color, sexual orientation. etc.
Yes, the Millennials I’m familiar with are generally better educated, earn better incomes and have better jobs at a comparable age than the wide range of Baby Boomer friends I grew up with. I also think that with the varied experiences so many of them bring to the adults’ table, I suspect they may turn out to be even better parents, better business people, better citizens than we were.
At least that is my hope. Our society could sure use some good people waiting in the on-deck circle.
ROME — Expressing increasing alarm about mounting infections, the World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the global coronavirus crisis is now a pandemic.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who heads the U.N. agency, said the WHO is “deeply concerned by the alarming levels of spread and severity” of the outbreak. He also expressed concern about “the alarming levels of inaction.”
“We have, therefore, made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic,” he said at a briefing in Geneva.
“All countries can still change the course of this pandemic. If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response,” Tedros said.
Italy weighed imposing even tighter restrictions on daily life and announced billions in financial relief Wednesday to cushion economic shocks from the coronavirus, its latest efforts to adjust to the fast-evolving health crisis that silenced the usually bustling heart of the Catholic faith, St. Peter’s Square.
In Iran, by far the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, the senior vice president and two other Cabinet ministers were reported to have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Iran reported another jump in deaths, by 62 to 354 — behind only China and Italy.
In Italy, Premier Giuseppe Conte said he would consider requests from Lombardy, Italy’s hardest-hit region, to toughen the already extraordinary anti-virus lockdown that was extended nationwide Tuesday. Lombardy wants to shut down nonessential businesses and reduce public transportation.
These additional measures would be on top of travel and social restrictions that imposed an eerie hush on cities and towns across the country from Tuesday. Police enforced rules that customers stay 1 meter (3 feet) apart and ensured that businesses closed by 6 p.m.
Milan shopkeeper Claudia Sabbatini said she favored stricter measures. Rather than run the risk of customers possibly infecting each other in her children’s clothing store, she decided to close it.
“I cannot have people standing at a distance. Children must try on the clothes. We have to know if they will fit,’’ she said.
Conte said fighting Italy’s more than 10,000 infections — the biggest outbreak outside of China — must not come at the expense of civil liberties. His caution suggested that Italy is unlikely to adopt the draconian quarantine measures that helped China push down new infections from thousands per day to a trickle now and allowed its manufacturers to restart production lines.
China’s new worry is that the coronavirus could re-enter from abroad. Beijing’s city government announced that all overseas visitors will be quarantined for 14 days. Of 24 new cases that China reported Wednesday, five arrived from Italy and one from the United States. China has had over 81,000 virus infections and over 3,000 deaths.
For most, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia. More than 121,000 people have been infected worldwide and over 4,300 have died.
But the vast majority of people recover. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
In the Mideast, the vast majority of the nearly 10,000 cases are in Iran or involve people who traveled there. Iran announced another increase in cases Wednesday to 9,000. Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency said they include Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, who had not been seen in photos of recent top-level meetings. Fars said Iran’s ministers for cultural heritage, handcrafts and tourism, and for industry, mines and business were also infected.
Cases in Qatar jumped from 24 to 262. Kuwait announced a two-week shutdown of the country.
For the global economy, virus repercussions were profound, with increasing concerns of wealth- and job-wrecking recessions. U.S. stocks sank again in early trading Wednesday, wiping out most of a huge rally from a day earlier as Wall Street continues to reel from worries about the coronavirus.
The Wall Street plunge followed a steep decline by markets across Asia, where governments there and elsewhere have announced billions of dollars in stimulus funds, including packages revealed in Japan on Tuesday and Australia on Wednesday.
Italy’s government announced Wednesday it was earmarking 25 billion euros (nearly $28 billion) to boost anti-virus efforts and soften economic blows, including delaying tax and mortgage payments by families and businesses.
Britain’s government announced a 30 billion-pound ($39 billion) economic stimulus package and the Bank of England slashed its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 0.25%.
Normal life was increasingly being upended.
With police barring access to St. Peter’s Square, emptying it of tens of thousands of people who usually come on Wednesdays for the weekly papal address, Pope Francis instead live-streamed prayers from the privacy of his Vatican library.
In France, the government’s weekly Cabinet meeting was moved to a bigger room so President Emmanuel Macron and his ministers could sit at least 1 meter (more than 3 feet) apart.
Athletes who usually thrive on crowds grew increasingly wary of them. Spanish soccer club Getafe said it wouldn’t travel to Italy to play Inter Milan, preferring to forfeit their Europa League match rather than risk infections.
Olympic champion skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she would be limiting contact with fans and fellow competitors, tweeting that “this means no selfies, autographs, hugs, high fives, handshakes or kiss greetings.”
In the U.S., the caseload passed 1,000, and outbreaks on both sides of the country stirred alarm.
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who are vying to take on President Donald Trump in the presidential election, abruptly canceled rallies Tuesday and left open the possibility that future campaign events could be impacted, too. Trump’s campaign insisted it would proceed as normal, although Vice President Mike Pence conceded future rallies would be evaluated “on a day to day basis.”
In Europe, deaths soared among Italy’s aging population. Authorities said Italy has suffered 631 deaths, with an increase of 168 fatalities recorded Tuesday. In Spain, the number of cases surged past the 2,000-mark on Wednesday. Belgium, Bulgaria, Sweden and Albania announced their first virus-related deaths.
“If you want to be blunt, Europe is the new China,” said Robert Redfield, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Also sounding the alarm at a Congressional hearing in Washington was Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“Bottom line, it’s going to get worse,” he said.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that if the virus is not halted by vaccines and cures, up to 70% of the country’s 83 million people could ultimately become infected, citing estimates that epidemiologists have been putting forward for several weeks. Germany has some 1,300 confirmed infection. Merkel’s comments fit a pattern of government officials using sobering warnings to try to get people to protect themselves, most notably by washing their hands and not gathering in large numbers.
from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/news/who-declares-global-coronavirus-crisis-is-now-a-pandemic/
from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2020/03/11/who-declares-global-coronavirus-crisis-is-now-a-pandemic/
