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victortalkingmachine · 1 year

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I am asking about the guy who stole the mona lisa !!

ok ^_^ hopefully everything is in order? i skipped around a bit bc i forgot some parts and had to go look them up later, so things were done kind of haphazardly... and jsyk i left a little bit of detail out bc i got tired of writing after a while lol...

vincenzo peruggia was born on october 8, 1881 in dumenza, italy. there, vincenzo learned decorative painting, and at 12 years old, he went to milan and worked as a housepainter.

at the age of 18 he went off to france, which was a popular place for young italians from vincenzo's region to move to, due to the region's poverty. he continued to work as a housepainter there.

also, this will be important later: his father was in debt and vincenzo wanted to help his family (consisting of his father, mother, younger sister, and three younger brothers) financially in any way that he could.

then when he was 20, he moved to paris.

in june 1908, he was drunk and waiting for a train to paris when he saw some children rolling terracotta pipes down the street. he yelled at the children, they ran away, and vincenzo picked up the pipes and dropped one. some people passing by thought he was stealing them bc he's italian and these french people are xenophobic. he was arrested for attempted theft.

around 12am on january 24, 1909, vincenzo exited a bar in the place de la republique. he was approached by a sex worker named abeille kauffman. he allegedly tried to attack her. he was arrested for carrying a weapon and not having his immigration papers, and he was in prison for eight days.

because of these two incidents, he hates the french.

anyway, in paris he continued to work as a housepainter until he fell ill from lead poisoning, which was a very common illness for painters to have. he had to stay at the lariboisière hospital for 15 days. the lead poisoning probably caused some brain damage.

after quitting his dangerous painting job, he worked for a glazing (as in doing stuff with glass) company called gobier.

(also, while working for gobier, his coworkers called him "dirty macaroni" and now he hates the french more.)

two paintings in the louvre were slashed within two months of each other. security at the louvre was considered comically bad. journalists stole art to show just how bad it was. to upgrade security, the louvre got a team of dogs and nightguards and decided to put 1600 of the paintings under glass cases. gobier was the louvre’s official glazier, usually repairing windows and skylights, so they were now the company responsible for this. vincenzo was one of five workers who cut and cleaned the glass for the cases. the work took place november 1909–january 1910 and november 1910–january 1911. while working there, he became familiar with the layout of the museum.

also while working there, vincenzo wondered why all this italian art was in a french museum. so he asked the louvre’s picture framer, pavard, why it was there, but pavard was just smugly like “haha how do you not know??” and wouldn’t tell him. one day, vincenzo found the answer: napoleon had stolen a bunch of italian art and sent it to paris. vincenzo was disgusted, and decided that he wanted to return at least one painting to italy...

once the glass casing job was finished, he left gobier and returned to housepainting.

then, on monday, august 21, 1911, vincenzo decided that today was the day to steal that painting. he woke up at 6am, got dressed in his white louvre worker’s uniform, and left his room in the tenth arrondissement (which had a large italian population btw), which was about two miles from the louvre. at around 7:05am, he arrived at the louvre, which was closed for its weekly cleaning. he entered through the jean goujin entrance and went through the first floor room, up the grand staircase, went left through a hallway, and turned left into the salon carré.

vincenzo had not previously decided to take the mona lisa, but chose it in the moment because it was the smallest painting there. this kind of ruined the whole “returning stolen paintings to italy” thing, because it had been bought by king francis i of france from leonardo da vinci while he was at his court. in france. it had moved around a bit since then, but has been kept in the louvre since 1797.

(the mona lisa was hung between the paintings "mystic marriage of saint catherine" by antonio da correggio and "the allegory of alfonso d'avalos" by titan. not important but just an extra detail...)

something to note: usually, the louvre had 166 guards; on mondays, it only had 12. the salon carré had no guards.

so, vincenzo took the painting off its four metal hooks, quietly walked out of the room and went into a service staircase. he hid the mona lisa behind some copies that had been made of various paintings (students frequently came in to copy paintings) and went to see if the door at the bottom—which would help him make a quick exit of the museum—was unlocked. it was not. he took out a screwdriver and removed the doorknob, but he still couldn’t open the door. he heard someone coming and sat down and tried to look inconspicuous. the person coming down the stairs was a plumber named jules sauvé. jules went to unlock the door, noticed the doorknob was missing, asked vincenzo what that was about, and vincenzo said he didn’t know anything about it. jules went through the door and locked it behind him.

accepting that he couldn’t leave through that door, vincenzo removed the mona lisa’s frame, which probably only took around a minute, and hid the frame behind those painting copies. he wrapped the painting in his smock (part of the uniform), placed it under his arm, and went back the way he entered the museum.

he left the louvre around 7:30am. a shop clerk on his way to work named andre bouquet was across the street and saw him carrying what he thought was a package and also saw him throw something into a ditch—the doorknob.

vincenzo got on a bus and immediately got off, realizing it wouldn’t take him back to his boarding house. instead, he got in a cab and went home.

some guards noticed the painting was missing, but just thought that it had been taken away to be photographed (paintings were often taken to be photographed on mondays. the photographs were to go on postcards and magazines), and didn't pay it much mind.

the next day, the louvre reopened, the mona lisa still wasn't there. around 11am, a guard found the painting's empty frame. the museum was searched, they thought it had to be around there somewhere, that maybe it had been hidden as a joke. but, to be careful, georges aaron bénédite, a curator substituting as the museum director (the actual museum director, théophile homolle, was away on vacation), contacted the prefect of police, louis lépine, who sent a bunch of detectives to go find it. they, of course, couldn't find it.

the theft was immediately international news. the mona lisa had been considered a masterpiece among french art fans since the 1860s, but now it had achieved proper fame, and literally everyone knew about the mona lisa. but the fame wasn't instantaneous—6500 flyers with pictures of the mona lisa were distrubuted so people would know it if they saw it and american newspapers misspelled the name and published photographs of the wrong painting.

a week after the theft, the louvre reopened, and people flooded in to see the empty spot on the wall (franz kafka was one of the people who went there to see it btw).

some famous suspects for the theft included: pablo picasso, bc he was an artist and (unknowingly) had stolen statues from the louvre in his possession; guillaume apollinaire, for similar reasons to picasso; jp morgan, bc he liked art and there was concern in france that american millionaires were buying all the good french paintings; kaiser wilhelm ii, bc france and germany had some pre-ww1 tensions going.

then some fingerprints were discovered on the glass by alphonse bertillon. 257 louvre workers had their fingerprints taken. then the gobier workers who had helped with the glass cases had their fingerprints taken, except for vincenzo, who didn’t show up.

meanwhile, vincenzo is still in paris at his little 9×16 room at 5 rue de l'hôpital st. louis. he first kept the painting on a table in his room covered by a piece of linen, then just had it sitting in his 6×6 closet. while it was just sitting there in the closet, inspector brunet of the sûreté came to interrogate him and quickly determined that he had nothing to do with it.

vincenzo’s life was normal, he just kept painting houses. he didn’t want to go to italy yet—he wanted to let everyone forget about the theft before he returned it so he wouldn’t get arrested.

btw, the whole time he had been in france, vincenzo had sent letters to his parents back in dumenza. after stealing the mona lisa, all his letters mentioned a “fortune” that he would soon have, and that he would share with his family. here we see vincenzo’s actual primary motive: getting money for himself and his family.

anyway. he showed the mona lisa to his best friend vincenzo lancellotti, who was also a housepainter and from the same region of italy. they played music together and ate together and dated women together <- examples of their best friendship activities. in winter of 1911, peruggia let lancellotti hold on to the mona lisa for six weeks while he built a crate with a false bottom to keep the painting in.

peruggia’s (i’m going to return to calling him vincenzo after this) girlfriend, mathilde, saw the crate. she told vincenzo that once they were married, she would get rid of it. but they were never married bc mathilde broke up with him after she found letters from other women in his room, and eventually she left paris permanently.

allegedly, in the summer of 1913, vincenzo went on a trip to london. while there, he went to see the art dealer henry j. duveen and tried to sell the mona lisa. we’ll get back to this later.

btw, people were beginning to think that the mona lisa had been destroyed, it had been years and no one could find it.

then, 28 months after the theft, in late 1913, vincenzo contacted an antiques dealer named alfredo geri, who he had heard about in an italian-language newspaper called the corriere della sera, about selling the painting. he signed his letter to him "leonardo v."

on december 7, 1913, peruggia had a meal at his favorite cafe and gave the waitress a tip of five francs. he announced that he was to be leaving for italy the next day. he told his assembled family and friends that he would be receiving “fortune, glory, and honors.” back in his room, he filled the top part of his mona lisa crate with clothing, tools, and his mandolin, and on december 8, set off on a train to florence. at the border, the crate was checked and the painting wasn’t found.

so alfredo and vincenzo meet. vincenzo offered to sell the mona lisa for 500,000 lire ($2,970,000 today). vincenzo said the painting was back in his room at the hotel he was staying at, the albergo tripoli-italian hotel (since renamed the hotel la gioconda). alfredo persuaded giovanni poggi, director of the uffizi gallery, to come with them (vincenzo specifically wanted the mona lisa to go be kept at the uffizi gallery). they all went up to room 20. vincenzo took everything out of the crate and revealed the painting. giovanni said he wanted to take the painting back to the uffizi gallery to see if it was the real deal. he and a few other experts examined it, and lo and behold, it was!

they then contacted the police and vincenzo was arrested, which he really was not expecting.

meanwhile, the italian people celebrated the mona lisa’s return to italy. it was kept in room 28 of the uffizi gallery. over 30,000 people visited the painting in just four hours; those who couldn’t get into the gallery rioted.

after a week in florence, the mona lisa traveled to rome, where it was handed over to the french ambassador. a good deal of italians wanted it to stay in italy, but y’know napoleon had never actually stolen it so they had no claim.

the mona lisa was exhibited in rome for a bit, then in milan, then it was returned to the louvre on december 31, 1913.

back to vincenzo: vincenzo’s trial began in florence on june 4, 1914. many italians still regarded him as a hero and a patriot. he denied ever trying to sell that painting to that guy in london and was angered by the accusation. his defense went for insanity; dr. paolo amaldi, the psychiatrist who examined him, had declared him "mentally deficient.” however, it’s possible that he lied about this because he supported vincenzo. paolo was a member of the socialist party, and vincenzo was probably some kind of leftist. also, paolo may have sympathized with vincenzo’s dislike of the french due to his (vincenzo’s) experiences as an immigrant worker.

that didn’t really matter though, as vincenzo was sentenced to one year and 15 days in prison. however, his attorneys filed an appeal and he was released after seven months and eight days.

(and remember vincenzo lancellotti? he and his brother, michele, were arrested and subsequently released without charges.)

world war 1 began a few days after vincenzo peruggia’s trial ended, and when he was released vincenzo joined the italian army. he was then captured by the austrians and was a prisoner of war for two years. at the end of the war he couldn’t find work in italy, so he went to paris with his wife annunciata. to avoid being detected by the french government who still hadn't gotten over the whole art theft thing, he adopted his birth name, pietro. they visited the louvre and saw the mona lisa.

also, he had a daughter named celestina. vincenzo died when she was a toddler. she said that her mother had told her to run toward him. she did and he collapsed, dead of a heart attack. also he was holding a tray of champagne & cookies at the time. this was on october 8, 1925, his 44th birthday.

30 years after he was buried, the cemetery needed the plot where he had been buried and what was left of him was moved into an underground locker thing.

and uh. i don't know where to put this but he was 5'3

#ask #vincenzo peruggia #sorry this took six days. for some reason i was just in a writing mood today ig

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aphrodite-would-be-proud · 3 years

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🕯Anon said: just wanna say I adore your writing and how you write Reiner and the kids and the other warriors is my favourite thing ever !! I just wanna give them all hugs :) do u have any hcs for the types of jobs you see them all doing in modernverse ?🕯

The types of jobs they have in modern au

{Annie, Bertolt, Colt, Marcel, Pieck, Porco, Reiner, Zeke, }

{Implied Reiner x reader}

{ "Porto" 1935 by Renato Natali 1883-1979 }

Annie is an Animal rescue worker.

Having had experience as a dog trainer before, it wasn't hard to find a full time job at her local shelter after graduating high school, having volunteered there before.

With time, effort and a lot of energy she made her way into the position of "animal control officer" now she spends her days busting animal's abusers doors and rescuing injured or neglected pets.

With long shifts and a high maintenance job, her time was all poured into her work. Usually she'd be exhausted after a long day.

Despite that, she's fulfilled and satisfied with her job. Not having to deal with a lot of people is a plus too, it's a hard job yes but she prefers it this way.

Her friends are bumped about not being able to see her a lot but they understand, plus she keeps in touch with them by lurking in the group chat only to send a snarky remark to stir the pot every now and then.

Bertolt sees her everyday because they work at the same animal shelter, even if their jobs are different they still walk home together, she also met some different people like Hitch and Marco at her job.

The kids love her job, they think it's badass, especially Gabi and Udo. Gabi because Annie gets to kick people in the face and Udo because he genuinely cares about animals.

She'd never tell anyone this, but part of the reason she wanted the job was because she felt guilty for her past self and wanted to fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves.

Bertolt is a veterinarian.

Having changed his mind post graduation and going to college instead of with Reiner, he graduated after 4 years of studying and is currently working with Annie at the local shelter while also planning to open his own clinic one day.

He takes some animals under his personal care for weeks or months even till they get adopted, he fears something bad will happen to the weak or ill ones if left at the shelter overnight.

Just like Annie, the job takes a lot of his time, not to mention caring for animals off of work. So he's in the same situation as her, but for the sake of his best friend he still finds time to visit and hang out once a week.

Reiner and him still text daily, it's mostly pictures Bertolt took of the animals, Annie on her break, interesting plants he finds along the way. And Reiner replies with pictures of the kids.

They still find time to play basketball together, they try to keep it a secret from Annie because she will kick their ass in it.

Bertolt is comfortable with his job, he feels like he belongs and likes being needed. Yes the long hours are a con but seeing the fruits of his labour grow and get better day by day makes it all worth it.

The kids like visiting his house because there usually will be a new dog or some animal in there every month or so, Reiner makes sure they don't bother the animals.

Something he's never told anyone is a big part of the reason he changed his mind last minute was because Animals feel much safer and secure for him to work with than humans.

Colt is a college student working part time.

He's majoring in nursing, being a four years degree he's trying to balance his studies with work and taking care of Falco.

Zeke offered him to work full time after graduation at his clinic, since he's been working part time there for a while and the pay is good, plus it's really convenientnal.

He has worked different part time jobs in the past like a barista, flower shop assistant, tutor, kindergarten teacher, etc.

Between all his responsibilities he barely has time for himself, his courses end right before his work starts and the small bits in-between is spent on Falco and his friends. Zeke and Pieck try to take some of his responsibility but he refuses saying it's the least he could do to Falco.

He's really good at his job like multitasking, reading people, gaining their trust and having high stamina that he could stay for night shifts even.

He relies on coffee a lot.

Falco sees him as a real life superhero, they weren't that close before but after the incident he really started appreciating his big brother.

Something he keeps inside is that despite pursuing this job because he genuinely wanted to make a difference in people's lives and help the sick, he also felt a crushing guilt after his parents passed away, and so he's trying to save other people's lives now instead.

Marcel is a pilot.

It's a dream he always had since middle school, soon after graduation he joined the military to gain enough flying hours and experience to apply to a commercial airline after taking some mathematics, aviation and some general flying courses.

He was officially hired as a pilot after getting his first class medical certificate to check his health.

His work isn't measured by hours to him but by days, he needs to be available 24/7 in case of an emergency call. Now he's working overseas and far away from his friends.

You've actually never met Marcel, only seen pictures of him and received letters. The person he keeps in touch with the most is Porco.

He likes his work, it's his dream. He doesn't like the work hours and being so absent from his friends and brother, he misses them so much at times.

Pieck is a tattoo artist.

Her shop is actually her old flower shop after she decided to change her career. She's always been good with plants and taking care of them, at that time Colt worked as her assistant.

It wasn't till later after some years of practice and training under other artists that she was confident enough about her skills to start the project

Her art is full of life, mesmerising and beautiful. She puts her soul in every piece and has gained a good reputation because of it, plus having really high ratings and strict hygiene rules, no health inspector could ever challenge her.

Having her own independent work meant that she has a very flexible schedule, being mostly free ment she could pursue other hobbies like gardening.

A peaceful and simple life where she can indulge in her art and be happy is all she ever wanted

Porco is a frequent customer of hers that gets a family discount, Zeke came once before and later sent his friend, a really tall and blonde woman who became her most frequent customer.

Zofia thinks her work is really cool and wants to go and just watch her do her thing, but it's frowned upon to have a kid just sitting at a tattoo shop.

Despite changing into this career, the town people still think of her as the sweet flower shop lady.

Porco is a bartender.

That job came to him by accident more than anything, he was working part time as a bouncer in a local bar but a slot was open after the old bartender suddenly quit and he gave it a chance.

He didn't expect to love it so much, neither did he know about his hidden talent in mixing drinks. So he took it as full time and changed to better bars after gaining the experience he needed.

Being naturally charismatic and good at influencing people, while also multitasking in making drinks and keeping a conversation going, he was instantly a hit in whatever place he worked at.

Working the night shift ment he's mostly free in the morning, he tries to help Pieck with her gardening and is actually attempting to grow some plants at his house.

Naturally whenever there's a gathering, he's the one mixing drinks and being the self assigned bartender who openly judges his friends for their choice in drinks. The charismatic persona being thrown out the window and replaced by a no mouth filter.

He genuinely cares tho, he's the one taking care of someone when they drink more they can handle. It's mostly Colt who underestimates his drinks and is left clinging to Porco who drives him home.

Because of his line of work, tattoos and general brash personality, the kids' parents don't like him even one bit. They're suspicious of him no matter how many times Reiner assures them he's trustworthy.

It's actually only Colt who trusts Falco with him, and maybe Zofia's mom who is at the bar every weekend.

Reiner is a firefighter.

With his mother pushing him into this line of work, he applied for the physical and psychological exams after graduation before getting accepted. He wasn't unprepared per say but actually being in that line of work was more than he could ever prepare for.

It instantly took a great hit at his mental health, so much in fact that he was thankful Bertolt changed his mind last minute and didn't follow him in this job.

It was both everything he ever wanted, like saving people, helping children, animals and knowing it's him who saved them even if it means putting his own life at risk.

But also everything he hated, like the hunting faces and screams of the people who were far too gone for him to save, the recurring nightmares and constant guilt paired with imposter syndrome.

He works a 24/72 shift, meaning he works for a whole day before getting 3 days off. Approximately only working 7-8 days a month, not to mention unpaid leave, sick days and holidays.

So it both gave him a really tight schedule on some days and on others more free time than he knows what to do with, that's why he naturally took the main role of being the kid's caretaker. Looking after his little cousins genuinely helped him and he liked playing the big brother role.

Especially to Gabi, he was the only stable adult in her life. It's common knowledge that you call Reiner first for anything concerning her before her parents because he's more likely to answer and be available.

After meeting you, his life improved to the better as you moved in and became a trustworthy person in his life, someone he can depend on to take care of his little cousins on the days he works.

Not to mention that after you persuaded him to see a therapist, his mental health began improving too.

Gabi may or may have not committed arson at one point, she still wants to be a firefighter despite that and follow in Reiner's footsteps.

He hasn't told anyone beside you this, but he really fears for her, but doesn't have the heart to tell her no.

Zeke is a doctor.

Previously he worked in a hospital but was able to open his own clinic afterwards, Colt was a great help to him at that time when he was getting on his own feet and even worked a lot of unpaid hours.

After that he insisted Colt works an official part time job there with a much higher pay, till he graduates at least. Plus the experience will greatly improve his resume.

Zeke is brilliant at his job, he'd be a perfect doctor wasn't it for the fact he's a huge hypocrite who doesn't follow the advice he gives his patients.

He does a side job in his free time that honestly no one of his friends know what it is, but they know it gained him a lot of connections and made new friends.

Something he always keeps buried inside was that he really never expected himself to become a doctor especially after what his dad did to his mother, and yet here he is. In some way it's like his own personal stepping stone to prove he's a better man than his father ever was.

Bonus:

Falco: middle schooler

He does volunteer work on the weekends, sometimes Udo joins him.

Doesn't want Gabi becoming a firefighter.

Likes all videogames , just all types.

Likes watching cartoons and medical shows with Colt who covers Falco eyes whenever an adult scene is on

His favourite food is chicken nuggets

Wants to try coffee

Is good at PE

Reads comic books

Likes yellow and blue

Gabi: middle schooler

Takes self defence classes and really wants to go to summer camp

Wants to be like Reiner, aspires to be as strong too.

Likes shooter videogames or really hard ones.

Likes watching Anime and cartoons

Her favourite food is Pizza

Wants to try energy drinks

Is also really good at PE and surprisingly good at puzzles.

Likes red and pink

Udo: middle schooler

Takes music classes at the weekend, wants to go to science camp

Kinda wants to be like Reiner or an astronaut.

Likes calming videogames

Likes watching anime and Minecraft let's play

His favourite food is mac and cheese

His favourite drink is strawberry milk

Is good at language classes and creative writing, he also just likes animals a lot.

Likes green and black

Zofia: middle schooler (could've been in a special program)

Takes music classes with Udo

Wants to be a lawyer

Likes co-op Videogames

Likes watching true crime and youtubers drama

Her favourite food is Donuts

She likes strawberry milk and ice tea

Is good at all classes

Likes white and purple

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that-fannerd-with-the-glasses · 4 years

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Huhh so, here’s some general characterization/fun fact things for Incredibles AU!! I usually don’t post this kinda stuff but since I’m still working on chapter three, figured I might as well!

Phoenix (36), Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr counterpart

Superpower is super strength

Superhero name is Captain Indestructible.

Didn’t really start to realize his powers until late in high school, though he didn’t actually begin superhero work until he was in college. Mia was one of his professors and she ended up eventually catching on to his abilities and offered to be his mentor (as she’s also a super). They worked as a team together up until the point Mia was killed in a severe incident, from that point on Phoenix ended up working alone. He did end up taking Maya under his wing since she was supposed to train with Mia before she died, though she eventually branched out on her own as well.

Was an art major, and had plans of mainly working from home as a freelance artist.

He really does try to be a good dad, okay, and he fucking loves his kids. It’s not his fault that every job the government’s placed him sucks the life and willpower out of him. He studied art dammit, being stuck at a desk job selling insurance was his worst nightmare come true.

Was in peak shape during his hero days, but years of being hunched over at a desk and little to no exercise--not to mention poor eating habits ended up developing into a soft dad bod that he’s a tad insecure about.

Meets up with Maya once or twice during the week, they usually end up getting burgers and reminiscing about the old days together.

Tried so hard to forget about hero work and live a normal steady life with his family, but that’s easier said than done. His entire den at home is decorated with all sorts of posters and articles and lately, he’s been spending just a bit too much time in it.

He’s already blown cover on their family twice, and he’s so torn between wanting to stay put and wanting to resume hero work.

Miles (36), Elastigirl/Helen Parr counterpart

Superpower is elasticity.

Superhero name is Flexuous.

Has been dealing with his powers pretty much since childhood. After his parents died, he was taken in by Manfred Von Karma and trained to be his prodigy.

He ended up breaking away from Von Karma’s teachings sometime later and tried to do hero work on his own, his first instance of this being when he and Phoenix met for the first time. For a while they actually were rivals, before becoming friends and eventually dating, and were far too amused by the media’s obsession with their supposed rivalry.

Was studying to obtain a law degree and had hopes of becoming a lawyer, but when the lawsuits started happening and superheros were all uprooted, he ended up having to abandon any hopes of having any sort of high profile career.

Sometimes works as a legal mediator just to make a bit of extra money/put his law knowledge to good use.

He is the true backbone of the Edgeworth-Wright household. It would be in shambles if he weren’t in charge of it, as hair pulling as such a task is. For some years he and Phoenix co-parented without a problem, but with middle age starting to settle and Phoenix delving into a midlife crisis, he’s more or less been having to manage things on his own.

Phoenix and Miles -

They formally met through a foreign language course they were both taking, though officially had actually met several times under their super personas. It didn’t take long for either of them to figure each other’s identities out, however.

By the media’s standards, Captain Indestructible and Flexuous were rivals to one another, which up until a point was true. When they started dating, however, the rivalry all became a pretense just for the public’s entertainment. Though that wasn’t to say their butting heads and bickering outside of their super suits wasn’t all real, because it very much was.

They dated for about two years before they were engaged, but their wedding had to be put on hold due to all the lawsuits and Super-related scandals going on.

Miles pretty much planned his and Phoenix’s wedding up to a T, which didn’t matter in the end since they couldn’t afford the venue they’d wanted. They tried to wait a while, so they could save up enough money but that didn’t work out, and thus they decided to just go ahead and have a small private ceremony at the local courthouse.

Phoenix knows Miles will never admit it, but he’s heartbroken that they didn’t get to have the wedding they wanted, especially after all the effort he put into it. That and the venue they’d booked was where his parents had gotten married, it’d meant so much to him to have their wedding there and they didn’t get to do that.

They made the promise to each other that someday, when they were more financially stable, that they’d renew their vows and have the ceremony they’d always wanted, however that’s easier said than done when you’re trying to pay off bills and raise three kids.

Adopted Apollo two years into their marriage, then Athena a few years after that, and just recently have adopted Trucy.

Apollo (14), Violet Parr counterpart

Superpower is invisibility/force fields.

The oldest child of the Edgeworth-Wright family.

Has a crush on Klavier, who’s one of the more popular students in school because of course he is.

Struggles with having to keep his powers a secret, which in-turn causes a great deal of self doubt.

Enjoys classic literature and music.

Is stressed 24/7. His family is weird and he just wants to be normal, please help him.

Athena (10), Dash Parr counterpart

Superpower is super speed.

The middle child of the Edgeworth-Wright family.

Her biological mother was also a super, who was killed by an ex-villain. Something similar happened to Miles when he was young, so of course he was all for adopting her.

She has way too much energy for her own good, and has trouble focusing on one thing at a time. Her parents have tried time and time again to find a proper outlet for her to take her energy out on, but nothing’s worked so far and has only resulted in multiple visits to the principal’s office.

She wants so badly to play sports and has begged her parents time and time again to let her try out for one of the teams, though this usually ends in disagreement. Miles will put his foot down over the fear of her having an unfair advantage due to her powers, while Phoenix wants nothing more than to let her go ahead and do it.

She very much loves and cares for her siblings, even if she does tend to pick on Apollo sometimes.

Trucy (11 months old), Jack Jack Parr counterpart

Superpower is transformation, but the rest of her family doesn’t know this yet shhhh.

The youngest child of the Edgeworth-Wright family.

She was an urgent emergency adoption, as well as being a closed one, so not much is known about her birth family.

Maya (30), Frozone/Lucius Best counterpart

Superpower is telepathy/telekinesis.

Every woman in her family ended up developing these sorts of powers one way or another, so when hers started to get out of control she confided in Mia and was promised help in the matter. When she did finally arrive in the city though, Mia was dead so Phoenix took over the whole mentor thing, even if admittedly he wasn’t very good at it.

Despite everything, with Phoenix knowing next to nothing about Maya’s sort of power, he really tried his best to be of help to her and they ended up becoming close friends, even when she went off to do hero work on her own.

After the superhero relocation program went into effect, she started work as a medium as a low key means of using her powers without giving herself away. She now owns her own small “mystic elements” type of shop where she does palm readings and the like, though nothing too drastic since a full display of her powers would give her away and have her relocated.

Has never once been relocated come to think of it, and Phoenix is kind of jealous. It helps that she can be more subdued about her powers, while he doesn’t really have that option.

Pearl lives with her and works in the shop as well. She ran away from home several years ago after a fight with her mother and Maya’s been looking after her ever since.

Is the cool, eccentric aunt to Phoenix and Miles’ kids. She or Pearl are their go-to whenever they need a babysitter (since they can’t actually afford one lmao).

Franziska (33), Edna Mode counterpart

Has no superpowers.

Works in the fashion industry, used to be responsible for a lot of super’s suits before the whole lawsuits and relocation shit went down.

The adoptive sister of Miles, who at one point was incredibly resentful towards him due to their father paying him more attention than her due to his having powers. They’ve both made peace since then, on the account that their father sucks.

Before Phoenix had met her, he was wearing his own homemade suit which she absolutely tore to shreds upon seeing. Ever since that day, he’s been low key terrified of her.

Is essentially that wealthy lesbian aunt who likes to show off around Christmas and dump expensive presents on her nieces and nephew.

Travels around a lot due to her job, so she’s not around often.

Dick Gumshoe (45), Rick Dicker counterpart

Has no superpowers.

Works with the whole Agency that regulates supers and what not, personally made sure that he’d be both Phoenix and Miles’ assigned case worker since he’d already known them a while.

Is doing his best in a crappy situation. Personally if you asked him, he’d be fine with supers coming out of their forced retirement but he’s not able to do much about it in his position. Regardless, he’s still a valued family friend and the kids love it when he visits.

Is married to Maggey Byrde because its what he deserves.

Dahlia Hawthorne (32), Syndrome counterpart

Has no superpowers so to speak, but instead relies on technology invented by her family’s company.

She and Phoenix crossed paths during a supers convention, where she tried to convince him to train her as well, going on and on about how she wanted to be a hero too. But seeing as she didn’t actually have powers and wasn’t a hero herself, he turned her down.

The first attempt wasn’t the last, as she tried time and time again to get his attention and get her to train him, and each time he would refuse. He admired her efforts but the fact was, she was a civilian and even with her technology, she could be seriously hurt.

Inadvertently foiled his attempts to sabotage a villain that ended up causing a railway explosion. She was arrested afterwards for interference with hero work, and Phoenix didn’t see her again for a long time.

Took Phoenix’s rejection very personally, and holds her public humiliation towards her arrest as his fault.

Moved away to the island after she got out of jail and spent the next several years building up a brand new company from the ground up as part of her revenge plot.

Iris Hawthorne (32), Mirage counterpart

Has no superpowers.

Is the twin sister of Dahlia.

She took on many of the company responsibilities until Dahlia was released from jail, then was forced into being her assistant for the new company.

#a lot of this stuff may be subject to change since #y'know #this fic IS a wip and all #but uhhhh #yeah idk #ace attorney #incredibles au

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Virginia woman does 53 acts of kindness for 53rd birthday (AP) The pandemic didn’t allow Debra Ferrell to gather with her whole family for her birthday. So instead, she celebrated the day by giving back—with 53 gifts from her heart. Ferrell went on social media and asked people for suggestions on acts of kindness that she could perform for others during her birth month, one for every year that she’s been alive. “It’s one of the hardest times in my history, so I figured why not make other people smile,” said Ferrell. The requests for her Oct. 4 birthday arrived from across the U.S.: Parents who hoped for words of encouragement for their kids on their first year of virtual school. A woman who wished for a gift basket for her fiancé, a doctor at a hospital’s COVID-19 unit. A friend of a family in Minnesota that lost their 4-year-old to cancer, who wanted them to feel that they were not alone. “I know that might sound cheesy, but it’s just one of my favorite things to do,” said Ferrell, who works as a resident service coordinator at a retirement community. “I just feel that if we live our life trying to make other people smile, I’m the one who gets the most out of it.”

Some people actually had a pretty good year (NYT) Though a wide array of businesses are suffering this year, many that cater to professionals and the elite are doing better than ever. It’s now well-documented that the coronavirus pandemic has both exposed and exacerbated American inequality. While the wealthy and the highly educated haven’t entirely escaped the soul-crushing effects of the virus—quarantine-induced cabin fever, sharing at-home work spaces with Zoom schoolrooms and a number of other shared losses and stresses—they have also been, on the whole, getting richer. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City found that jobs that can be performed remotely made up a relatively small share of pandemic-related job losses, and according to The Wall Street Journal “workers with bachelor’s degrees or higher had nearly fully recovered jobs lost in early spring” by September. Meanwhile, the vast majority of workers are without college degrees. And many of those who have been unable to work from home have been struggling in shocking numbers. Women and especially mothers employed in the service sector were more likely to experience pandemic-related job loss. Black and Latino adults, who, because of health inequities, are more likely to contract and die from Covid-19 than their white counterparts, have also faced disproportionate financial struggles during this recession. A small but substantial sliver of America, however, is doing better than ever, or at least just fine: enjoying the freedoms that remote work paired with disposable income can bring, using this pause in the typical 24/7 busyness of professional-class social life to take a breath and to reassess and rejigger their lives.

Barr flies (Foreign Policy) U.S. Attorney General William Barr is out of the job, following an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday evening. Trump tweeted a letter written by Barr outlining his respect for the president, ending with the confirmation that he would resign on Dec. 23. Barr had reportedly fallen out with Trump over the attorney general’s statement that no significant voter fraud could be found in the Nov. 3 presidential election. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will now take on Barr’s former post in an acting capacity.

Unwelcome in other countries, Americans are fleeing lockdowns and flocking to Mexico (Los Angeles Times) The pandemic was raging, but on the beaches of Cabo San Lucas it felt like spring break. Tipsy young Americans in bikinis and swim trunks vied for buckets of beer in a push-up competition at a crowded bar. Vendors in wide-brimmed hats plodded through the sand, offering rugs, massages and—under their breath—cocaine. Down near the water, 24-year-old Kierston Jackson sat entwined with her boyfriend, their matching blue surgical masks a concession to the coronavirus. “It’s a good change of pace,” said Jackson, a Houston resident, as she gazed at the gently lapping waves. “I’d definitely prefer to be here with a mask on than in my home without one.” Unwelcome in many countries as the virus surges worldwide, U.S. tourists are fleeing lockdowns at home and flocking to Mexico. Nearly half a million Americans flew to Mexico in October—the most recent month for which data is available—mainly to beaches on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. The influx of Americans is a ray of hope for the country’s battered tourism sector, which has hemorrhaged more than $11 billion this year.

Natural disasters cost insurance industry $76 billion in 2020—Swiss Re (Reuters) Natural disasters like wildfires which devastated parts of the United States and a record number of hurricanes in the Atlantic caused $76 billion in insured losses during 2020, Swiss Re said on Tuesday. The 40% increase from $54 billion in 2019 dwarfed the $7 billion in man-made losses during 2020, the reinsurance company said in its sigma estimate for the year. The total insurance industry losses of $83 billion made 2020 the fifth costliest year since 1970, the company said. “Losses were driven by a record number of severe convective storms—thunderstorms with tornadoes, floods and hail—and wildfires in the U.S.,” Swiss Re said.

ICC prosecutor sees ‘reasonable basis’ to believe Venezuela committed crimes against humanity (Reuters) The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor believes there is “reasonable basis” to believe Venezuela has committed crimes against humanity, according to a report published by the prosecutor’s office on Monday. United Nations investigators in September determined that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government has committed systematic human rights violations, including killings and torture, amounting to crimes against humanity. The Hague-based tribunal has been examining Venezuela’s case since 2018 and expects to determine in 2021 whether to open a full investigation. Though Maduro’s adversaries have celebrated the ICC’s probe of Venezuela, few believe the process is likely to lead to a short-term change in the struggling nation. ICC criminal proceedings stretch for years, and it has in the past struggled to carry out arrest warrants when it obtains them.

Netherlands to go into tough, five-week lockdown over Christmas (Reuters) The Netherlands will go into a tough second lockdown, with the closure of all schools and shops for at least five weeks, in a government-led push to fight the coronavirus, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Monday. “The Netherlands is closing down,” he said to the sound of protesters banging pots and pans outside his office in The Hague. “We realise the gravity of our decisions, right before Christmas.” The measures, detailed in a rare live television address, include limiting gatherings to no more than two people, also at home. An exception will be made for three days around Christmas, when three adult visitors will be permitted, he said. People were further advised to stay at home, not to travel to work and to avoid contact with other people as much as possible. From Tuesday, all public places—including daycare centres, gyms, museums, zoos, cinemas, hairdressers and beauty salons—will close until Jan. 19. Schools will close until Jan. 18. Supermarkets, banks and pharmacies will be allowed to stay open.

Chernobyl tourism (Foreign Policy) In a year has shown that what you do after disaster has struck is often more important than the disaster itself, it’s perhaps fitting that Chernobyl—the site of the world’s worst nuclear incident—is in a push to be recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. The Ukrainian government is pursuing an initiative to have the site added to the heritage list in a bid to boost tourism to the area, 20 years after the power plant finally ceased operating, and four years since a protective dome over the doomed fourth reactor was completed. 124,000 tourists—a record number—visited Chernobyl in 2019 amid renewed interest following a popular television drama of the same name. Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko now hopes to boost annual tourist numbers to one million.

Russia’s Putin recognizes Biden’s win (Washington Post) More than a month later than most world leaders, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday congratulated President-elect Joe Biden for his victory in the election, a delayed recognition that could set the tone for icy relations. “In his message Vladimir Putin wished the president-elect every success and expressed confidence that Russia and the United States, which bear special responsibility for global security and stability, can, despite their differences, effectively contribute to solving many problems and meeting challenges that the world is facing today,” the Kremlin said in a statement. Putin was one of the last heads of state to acknowledge Biden’s win; Mexico’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and North Korea’s Kim Jung Un are other holdouts. The congratulations come after Biden’s victory became more formal on Monday, when 306 electors officially voted for him.

Silent nights (Worldcrunch) Catholic church officials in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, have announced Christmas carol activities will be banned, The Philippine News Agency reports. Churches were asked not to organize carolings in order to “protect the public and the choir members” as according to experts, the virus could easily spread through singing, officials say. Christmas carols are an important part of the holiday traditions in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country that celebrates the world’s longest Christmas season, from Sept. 1 to New Year’s Eve.

Package-tour diplomacy: Thousands of Israeli tourists flock to Dubai after peace deal (Washington Post) Ashish Negi prides himself on spotting the nationality of tourists as soon as they walk into his jewelry store—so he can be jokey with Americans, chatty with Brits and ready to bargain with Russians—but he was baffled by the man in the tall black hat and the curly sideburns who came in last week. “This was something I had not seen in Dubai,” Negi said of the first ultra-Orthodox Jewish visitor to reach his corner of the city’s traditional gold market, part of a wave of Israeli tourists who have descended on the United Arab Emirates in recent days. In the two weeks since commercial flights began between Tel Aviv and the Emirati cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Israelis have caused a remarkable tourism boomlet in the Gulf nation. Suddenly, Hebrew can be heard throughout the markets, malls and beaches of a destination that was strictly off-limits until the two countries achieved a diplomatic breakthrough in August and established normal relations. More than 50,000 Israelis have brushed aside covid-19 concerns, a terrorism warning and decades of tension to make the three-hour flight across the Arab Peninsula. Israeli tourism officials expect more than 70,000 to arrive during the eight days of Hanukkah, which began last week, in an unprecedented exchange between the Jewish state and one of its historically standoffish Muslim neighbors.

Ten years on, anger grows in Tunisian town where ‘Arab Spring’ began (Reuters) Ten years ago, a fruit seller set himself ablaze in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid after an altercation with a policewoman about where he had put his cart. Word of Mohammed Bouazizi’s fatal act of defiance quickly spread, sparking nationwide protests that eventually toppled Tunisia’s long-serving leader and helped inspire similar uprisings across the region—the so-called “Arab Spring”. Huge demonstrations broke out in Egypt and Bahrain, governments fell and civil war engulfed Libya, Syria and Yemen. Tunisians are now free to choose their leaders and can publicly criticise the state. Yet for all the chaos they have been through, many people look back on the events of 2010 and regret that their dreams remain unfulfilled. “Something went wrong in the revolution,” said Attia Athmouni, a retired philosophy teacher who helped lead the uprising after Bouazizi’s death by standing on the fruit seller’s abandoned cart to address the crowd the night he died. Protests have flared again in recent weeks across Tunisia’s poorer southern towns against joblessness, poor state services, inequality and shortages.

#headlines #news

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its-queency-12-blog · 4 years

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Little Steps Do Matter

Being in Manila doesn’t put me at ease. There are always worries about earthquakes, fire, or even accidents, running on my mind 24/7.

Coming from the province of Rizal, and having to study in the University of Santo Tomas, I have to be apart from my mother, and she can’t help but always remind me to never forget to pray and pray, for accidents are unpredictable, and this year is marked with a lot of instances of earthquakes, especially with the case of Manila which is located near the West Valley Fault line.

Actually, it is not like I haven’t experienced alarming situations before. When I was in Grade 11, I was alone in our dormitory because there was a typhoon that time and my dorm mates, who are also from my province, and were just about to return, were left with no choice but to stay in their homes. Suddenly, the fire alarm of the dormitory rang and that immediately put me in panic, losing all the “mind-over-matter” techniques that I was taught to apply during those types of situations. Fortunately, according to the management, there was only an overheating of microwave oven of one of the tenants and there’s nothing to worry about. That was followed by instances of actual earthquakes when I was in Grade 12 and now in college, which always make me wonder about my preparedness for these kinds of disasters. Well not only mine, but the community as well.

Are we really prepared for different disasters?

Civic Welfare Training Service gave me an opportunity to have an interview with Barangay 471 secretary Rose Mae P. Lambanecio and have a glimpse of how they implement disaster and risk reduction for the welfare of their community.

The streets are haven for those who have hearts which are always fervently craving for food as it were embedded with different establishments: from samgyupsal to tapa to unli-wings to dimsum, the list goes on. But, I learned from Ms. Lambanecio that this actually presents one of the hazards in the community. Because there are many restaurants, along with boarding houses as well, they cook a lot and this presents a fire hazard. In fact, Ms. Lambanecio mentioned a fire incident that happened in Antonio, last year, 2018. Not only that, but the place is also exposed to flood hazards as what happened in typhoon Ondoy and Pedring.

Because it is a must to be aware about the possible disasters that may struck the area, aside from tv or radio news, the secretary and the barangay chairman uses the application Pureforce, to connect with the responders in their barangay, the Raha volunteers, and ask for their aid during emergency situations. She also recommends the said application as it promotes convenience whenever someone is in need of fire truck, for instance, or an ambulance, or even police, during fires, earthquakes, or even typhoons.

Despite hearing how dangerous it can get in this area of Manila, I felt a bit more relieved when Ms. Lambanecio told me that we were lucky for floods only happen once every five years and fire also happens once in three to five years. As I moved to Manila for studying, I became already accustomed to the sirens of the fire truck that sometimes wake me up early in the morning or prevent me from sleeping late at night. With these, I thought fires are something that happens frequently within the community. But as I dig deeper, turns out that barangay 471 effectively manages the establishments around them to minimize disasters such as that.

According to her, they require establishments to have CCTV cameras, fire extinguishers, and grease traps, especially for restaurants. Grease traps serve as a measure not to only avoid fires, but also to avoid flooding since it collects on waterways when left to cool. These measures were used, knowing that Asturias St. and Rosarito St. have restaurants which are in great proximity with each other as well as in Juaning St. which have boarding houses side by side each other and are made of light materials– a situation that presents a high risk for fire.

However, even though disasters seldom happen as the secretary had said, when they do, they really leave marks. As these disasters happen, their appliances and belongings are affected and become unusable. Loss of profit is also evident in restaurant owners.

With these, Ms. Lambanecio says the barangay have to do their part which is to be the first responders before fire trucks or other authorities can. They need to assist the residents in seeking other necessary help and ensure that they have a safe place to stay in during such incidents. They also facilitate the distribution of relief goods, financial needs, and shelter (especially in case of fire incidents), from the government and social services when needed, as they are the one who are capable of identifying and testifying the residents who really need help.

During earthquakes, I am glad for UST serves as an open space for people to seek safety. And when typhoons hit and fires happen, Ms. Lambanecio says that the second floor and third floor of their barangay hall is open for evacuees.

In contrast to this, she also identifies places like the Juaning St. and Rosarito St. where there are tall buildings that can pose a risk during earthquakes and this is further severed by the fact that the location is characterized by a narrow alley.

Because of how the secretary answers my questions comprehensively, I came to think that possibly, this barangay faces only few challenges in disaster and risk management. But as I inquired further, I realized that I forgot that there are other factors which serve as their challenges.

With a current population 1872 people, and is comprised greatly of students and workers who are not really residents of the area, they face difficulty in information dissemination. Ms. Lambanecio describes the people as “come and go” since some might only stay for months only, or weeks, or even just in the couple of days. The situation of the area is not suitable for one big meetings where they will raise awareness about preparedness. In response to this, their barangay officers must roam and monitor the residents to constantly remind them for their own sake. They also connect to the transient residents through the landlords and landladies of dormitories and boarding houses for they have the accessibility to identifying the other residents, and thus they can help the barangay in information dissemination.

Failing to plan is planning to fail that’s why for authorities like the barangay, they construct plans for proper response during calamities.

According to Ms. Lambanecio, it is important to have a vision and mission to determine their goals in developing their plans. They also identify the risks and hazards in the barangay and they assign focal persons to train, for their barangay must be quick in responding to disasters. In line with this, they have committees or disaster and risk management council. They also have equipment such as megaphone and public address system directed to different streets of the barangay which also aid them when they have to make important announcements.

The barangay also conducts de-clogging activities for the community in general and for requesting establishments, not only for the sake of cleanliness but also to prevent flooding.

For fires, the Raha volunteers are the one to respond and aside from fire trucks, they also have their ambulance to assist patients to the hospital.

For police-related incidents, Ms. Lambanecio says they will be having an outpost to better facilitate it.

The barangay also allots financial assistance in their funds for victims of calamities, with sack of rice, canned goods and other necessities, and they also have first aid kits for medical-related concerns.

It is also relieving to know that on Wednesdays, they have a doctor on duty in the barangay to perform blood pressure monitoring as well as blood glucose monitoring and Ms. Lambanecio assists the doctor in these since she is a nurse. They extends their help further by referring the residents who were assessed to have high blood pressure or high blood glucose levels to the health center on Thursdays.

They also have their task force which is composed of their warning service leader, rescue evacuation service leader, disaster and supply leader, medical service leader, fire brigade leader, disaster control leader, information and communication service leader.

Maximizing their resources through using technology, in the form of Facebook group, as a platform for information dissemination is also commendable.

Lastly, they conduct earthquake drills every quarter and on an annual basis.

After my interview, I took a walk in the places near Barangay 471. There, I noticed that aside from fires, earthquakes, and typhoons, there can be places which can be sources of other hazards such as unsanitary streets where rodents and cockroaches can breed and infect the community.

In some streets, many cigarette butts are evident which can imply that despite policies which ban smoking in public places, especially in the case of the barangay wherein it is located near a campus, there are still smokers which can affect other people in the community through second-hand smoking diseases that they may get. ff

This reality is very much in contrast with the UST campus which is not only a conducive place for learning, but also a safe place in the community. As mentioned by Ms. Lambanecio, it provides an open space for residents during earthquakes. In addition to that, the enforcement of security within the vicinity is high which gives an assurance to the well-being of people in it. The school also has a denser collection of trees and plants than other areas in Manila, which in turn contribute to lessening greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide. With this, there is lesser pollution within the campus.

All of these led me to a realization. Based on my interview session with Ms. Lambanecio, they really put efforts on making the welfare of their residents sacrosanct. Actually, I can say that most parts of the government in the country in general has improved in terms of preparation for calamities. Municipalities suspend classes before the storms’ or typhoons’ landfall in their areas. We receive texts from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, reminding us to be prepared always. These are all invested by our past experiences of tragic calamities such as Typhoon Ondoy and Yolanda, to name a few. But, if we as individuals don’t feel the need to cooperate with our government because of our greater inclination towards our own interests such as capitalization, then their efforts in the end may be futile.

We are not oblivious to the fact that there will always be people who complain about the government, raising eyebrows at every action of the government and raising suggestions about what must be done instead. Yes, the government is not perfect. There are shortcomings. But, maybe aside from just waiting for them to make an action, we must also be making our own actions too. They may conduct cleanup drives, like what Barangay 471 is doing, to lessen the effects of flooding during typhoons, but we should also help through actualizing our knowledge of where to place our trash. We know what to do. We should do something about what we know. We cannot stop disasters especially the natural ones. But we can always do something, even in our little ways to lessen their devastating effects.

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prettywordsyouleft · 6 years

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Becoming Human - Chapter 24

Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23

_________________________

“What are you doing?” I asked as Leo stood in the kitchen, midway through washing the dishes that he insisted he do to feel more at home after being away so long. He remained unmoving, holding a dishcloth in one hand and a plate in the other, his eyes unfocused.

It made me frown and I approached him, tapping his shoulder. “Leo?”

He moved all too quickly then, the plate dropping to the ground in a shatter and his body contorted as he attempted to understand where he was and what had happened. Leo’s eyes fell to my foot and he gasped, picking me up and carrying me quickly to the sofa. “You’re bleeding. I hurt you!”

“It was an accident, you zoned out, don’t stress.” I glanced at the small cut on the top of my foot where my slipper didn’t cover and smiled. “It’s so tiny, Leo.”

“Stay there,” he commanded all the same, rushing to the bathroom and returning with the first aid kit, sitting down on the coffee table and then expertly dressed my wound. He then stared at it for some time, sighing a little now and then. I wasn’t worried about my foot at all, but I was about him.

“Leo?”

“Huh?” He blinked several times, his eyes finally focusing on mine. He looked so exhausted.

“Maybe you need to take a break in your schedule, you’re really tired.”

“I’m tired?” he enquired, looking over himself and then shaking his head. “My battery is at ninety-seven percent.”

“Then why do you seem so exhausted?”

“I don’t know,” he answered slowly, sitting down on the couch and lifting my legs so they were now resting in his lap. Smiling as he gently ran his hands up and down them; he then rested his head on the back of the couch and stared at me. “I missed you.”

“It’s weird that you’re busier when you’re in the same city as me,” I admitted and he sighed.

“We’re launching a new aspect to all Kboys soon and it’s been keeping me rather preoccupied.”

I nodded. “Our call center has been pretty hectic of late too.”

“Business is good,” he mentioned as he closed his eyes, nodding once. And then he was out to it again. I smiled, leaning over to wave my hand in his face before getting up quietly.

“So much for a full battery, you little liar. Rest up well, you need it.”

At first, I continued to believe it was exhaustion, as further shutdowns happened over the next week. Most were innocent but there were awkward ones too, like when he fell asleep on the elevator at work with a bunch of co-workers around us. Or when we were walking home from work and he just stopped moving. It had taken fifteen minutes to rouse him enough to get home. Even forcing him to stand on his charge station did nothing, because he kept saying his battery levels were reading at max power. It was odd, but nothing seemed more serious than being midway through sex and everything suddenly halting just as I was close to climaxing.

“You’re freaking kidding me!” I breathlessly cried out and slapped at his chest. The man beneath me did nothing in response and I groaned heavily, slumping down into the bed beside him and glared up at the roof. There had to be an answer for why this kept happening and if he wasn’t going to be bothered by it, I would make sure to address it myself.

The next day, I followed Gunhee and Leo up into their department, dragging Leo by his hand into Doctor Jung’s office. The older man was surprised by our visit, especially since I was hardly invited here for assessments anymore. Leo had grown some independence in exchange for his home being permanently at my apartment.

“This is a pleasant surprise,” the doctor mentioned, and Leo glowered at me. “To what do I owe such a visit?”

“There’s something wrong with him.”

“Honestly Yerin, you’re being dramatic,” Leo stated darkly and I ignored him, pleading the doctor with my eyes to take my concerns seriously.

He nodded at me to continue and directed Leo to silently sit up on the examination chair. The dark haired man huffed but did as he was told and started to unbutton his shirt a little for the access Doctor Jung would require. “He’s been freezing. Or glitching. Going offline. Whatever it is, it’s increasing in the amounts it’s been happening and I’m worried.”

“What are your battery levels, Leo?” Doctor Jung requested.

Leo kept his focus on mine, tilting his head in annoyance. “Ninety-nine percent.”

“He shouldn’t be going offline then Miss Choi. Are you sure he’s not in deep thought?”

Last night’s incident almost made me scoff as I shook my head. “He never remembers what has happened; he’s unresponsive, sometimes up to fifteen minutes.”

The flash of panic in the doctor’s eyes was immediate and my mood swiftly changed. I had expected it to be a small problem, but with how he was reacting, instructing Leo with haste to prepare for his examination and buzzing a button on the wall that brought in Gunhee and the rest of his team, I became dizzy and confused. Why was there such a fuss? Maybe his battery was broken? Was that such a big deal? I was certain I had ordered a new battery for a Choi Minho model in the past month. It was all too overwhelming and I backed up slowly as the team encircled the now offline Leo.

There was a flurry of action, and a lot of voices with terms I couldn’t understand. But their tone told me enough.

This was serious.

I started to regret letting this carry on for over a week. Could I have helped him earlier so it wouldn’t get to whatever point it was at? My body began to shake as I feared the worst. I stood there convincing myself that these were trained scientists who made and repaired robots every day. Like doctors who healed humans, they were equipped with the knowledge to fix Leo.

He would be fine. He had to be.

After what felt like forever, Doctor Jung emerged out of the bustle, his eyes bleak. I didn’t like that look and I was transported to the day where he told me he would be taking Leo from me. Was this another challenge? I was tired of fighting to keep the man I loved at my side through his little games.

“Yerin,” he called. I knew he only used my name when serious. It made my knees buckle and I grasped onto whatever was beside me for support. “You need to come over here.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” I heard myself say but it didn’t sound right. It sounded too broken, too weak. He guided me over to the side where he had been working.

Although I knew what was under the lifelike skin of a Kboy all too well, it was surreal to see the machinery of Leo up close. It was intricate and beautiful and for a moment I was mesmerised. I travelled over the side of his head and all its little details until I saw what was sticking out. I didn’t need to be a doctor to see the damage.

“Yerin that is Leo’s main motherboard. It’s where his memory chip sits, and where all of his thought process happens. Essentially this small circuit is what makes him from our point of view exceptional.” Doctor Jung picked up one of his tools to gently scrape at the blackened surface. “This damage I don’t know what caused it. I’m guessing the perfectionist in Leo has created a monster in his thought process. One that isn’t allowing him to shut off when he needs to. Essentially, he’s burned out this section of the motherboard by thinking too much.”

“It can be repaired, right? Put a new one in.”

“We can do that Yerin, but there’s a big risk,” Gunhee said, my gaze turning to my best friend. He looked as destroyed as I felt. “Where the damage has happened is right near his memory bank. If we so much as make an error in the repair, he could be wiped for good.”

“Wiped as in how?” I knew the answer, but I couldn’t listen to my own thoughts. I needed the reassurance they would do everything to make sure Leo was coming home.

“Thankfully we store all of his data in our backups. And Leo has a smaller chip that he requested be put in his brain when he felt like there was not enough room and he needed to expand his thought space. I don’t know what is on it, he keeps that area private. But I do know is that we run the risk of losing him the longer we wait to repair everything,” Doctor Jung mentioned, glancing at me and then his team. “I know he belongs to us but we’ve come to respect Leo as one of our own. I know he’d respect us further if we ask his uh, next of kin to allow us to proceed, knowing all the risks.”

I blinked several times; the information was all too much to bear. But knowing any delay could cause problems for Leo spurred me to nod my head as the tears began to fall. I grabbed at his hand tightly before being steered out of the room by Gunhee, Jinyoung waiting for me on the outside. When the door shut I collapsed to the ground, my emotions flooding out of me.

Leo couldn’t leave me now.

_________________________

Next chapter

A/N: Did anyone guess this from the hint I left in the previous chapter? Leo would overwork himself into a state like this D: I just hope you’re all ready for what happens next.

I cannot believe next week is the last week of this fiction. I’m not crying, I swear >__>

Want to be added to the notified list? Leave a comment or reblog letting me know that you wish to get tagged in the upcoming chapters! Thanks everyone for the continued support!

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impressivepress · 3 years

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In defense of Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry frescoes

“Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Detroit,” at the Detroit Institute of Arts, March 15-July 12, 2015 The current exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), “Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Detroit,” treats the 11 months the famed Mexican artists spent in the city, between April 1932 and March 1933.

The exhibition contains much that is fascinating and even sublime. However, the overall approach taken by the curators, which exalts art concentrated on the “self,” is troubling and, in some places, wrongheaded and even reactionary.

Rivera (1886-1957) and Kahlo (1907-1954) were married in August 1929, and spent much of the years 1930 to 1933 in the US, in response, in part, to an anti-communist witch-hunt in Mexico. A socialist and supporter of the October Revolution, Rivera had been expelled from the Communist Party of Mexico in 1929 for speaking out in opposition to Stalin.

While in Detroit, Rivera painted his magnificent Detroit Industry frescoes, which remain the centerpiece of the DIA. The murals depict industrial production in all its facets, with workers at the center of the imagery, as well as the natural and social processes that culminate in modern human life. This complex work directs the viewer to many of the great dramas and dilemmas of the 20th century.

The DIA show contains full-sized cartoons, the preparatory drawings for the murals, as well as documentary videos, paintings and drawings by both Rivera and Kahlo from before, during and after the time the artists spent in Detroit. The cartoons, in particular, are spectacular, but fragile. They have not been seen for thirty years.

A brief video of Rivera at work is riveting. The great care, precision and enthusiasm with which he and his collaborators carried out the mural work are evident. Often working eighteen hours at a time, the Mexican artist lost a great deal of weight in the course of the Herculean physical and mental effort.

Another video clip shows workers in soup lines, and then, on March 7, 1932, Dearborn police and Ford company thugs attacking the Hunger March of 3,000 unarmed, unemployed people as they approached the Ford Rouge Plant. Four workers were shot to death in the infamous incident, a fifth died of his injuries three months later and 60 more were wounded in the bloody attack.

The funeral procession five days later, estimated at 60,000 people, shook the city’s foundations as chorus after chorus of “The Internationale” echoed for miles. That took place only weeks before Rivera and Kahlo arrived.

A series of works illustrates Rivera’s art prior to his stay in Detroit. There is the iconic portrait of Emiliano Zapata, the revolutionary peasant leader, and a lithograph of a peasant, “Boy with Dog,” from 1932. The unforgettable paintings “Flower Day” from 1925 and “Flowered Barge” (1931) in his mature, glowing, monumental style, appear as well. “Sawing Rails,” done in Moscow in 1927, and “Soviet Harvest Scene” are also on display.

Frida Kahlo’s “Portrait of Eva Frederick” from 1931 is appealing and shows the influence of Rivera. Her painting “Frieda and Diego Rivera, 1931” uses a flattened, primitive approach. Kahlo’s “Window Display on a Street in Detroit” (1932), the first painting she completed in Detroit, is quite touching.

Rivera’s pieces, “Juanita Rosas,” “Self-Portrait” and “Nude with Beads,” all from 1930, and “Friend of Frida,” from 1931, along with Portraits of Edsel Ford and DIA director William Valentiner, responsible for Rivera’s coming to Detroit, are included as well.

On May 24, 1932, Valentiner wrote in his diary with deep respect and admiration: “Today Rivera made a sketch of me in profile, with finest red and black chalk. While other artists usually waste a lot of paper, he used only one sheet. With the greatest assurance he drew the outlines with fine and even lines. It was at its best after half an hour, when the sketch was finished… Contrary to other great artists, he immediately brings out the likeness between the portrait and the model. With his mathematically inclined mind he immediately hits upon the right proportions.” (Margaret Sterne, The Passionate Eye, The Life of William R. Valentiner)

Unfortunately, as noted above, the remarkable character of many of the works in “Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Detroit” does not compensate for the exhibition’s real and significant weaknesses, which tend to compromise and undermine its important material.

At the center of the difficulties lies the organizers’ unjustifiable attempt to elevate Kahlo’s artistic stature and, more generally, to make the case for art that primarily explores the individual artist’s “anguish and sense of suffering,” in the words of a DIA press release. This effort is in line with contemporary identity politics and upper-middle class self-absorption. This inevitably involves, implicitly or explicitly, diminishing or dismissing the significance of the Detroit Industry frescoes and its subject matter.

To understand why the frescoes are so offensive to contemporary art museum officials and critics alike, one has to grasp the driving forces in Rivera’s artistic life in the early 1930s, which animated the painting of the murals. The Mexican painter was inspired by great events, especially the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920, in the production of his most important works.

It will come as a revelation, and one hopes an inspiration, to many who attend the exhibition that there is a history and tradition of revolutionary art. It has proved possible in the past to develop the highest forms of creative expression wedded to the aspirations, struggles, sufferings and trials of the masses. Rivera and his work were perhaps the greatest demonstration of this possibility in the field of fine art in the 20th century.

Leon Trotsky, whose supporter Rivera became for a number of years, wrote in 1938: “In the field of painting, the October revolution has found her greatest interpreter not in the USSR but in faraway Mexico… Nurtured in the artistic cultures of all peoples, all epochs, Diego Rivera has remained Mexican in the most profound fibres of his genius. But that which inspired him in these magnificent frescoes, which lifted him up above the artistic tradition, above contemporary art, in a certain sense, above himself, is the mighty blast of the proletarian revolution. Without October, his power of creative penetration into the epic of work, oppression and insurrection, would never have attained such breadth and profundity.” (“Art and Politics in Our Epoch”)

Rivera defended Trotsky against the vicious attacks of Stalinism and was instrumental in the Russian revolutionary’s obtaining asylum in Mexico in 1937. They collaborated, together with André Breton, on an important “Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art.” The omission of Trotsky’s name from the exhibition can hardly be an accident.

One of the extraordinary videos on display at the DIA shows a mass of workers battling police, as well as Rivera and Kahlo in front of a banner advertising works by Lenin and Marx in English. “There remained one thing left for me to prove,” said Rivera, speaking of his trip to the US. “My theory of revolutionary art would be accepted in an industrial nation where capitalists rule.” An overhead view of the DIA courtyard when the murals were opened to the public in March 1933 shows the space packed wall to wall.

Both in the mural work and in the video footage, a powerful sense of the industrial working class in Detroit emerges. Museum-goers perhaps used to the often demoralized and irrationalist outpourings of postmodernism, racial politics, feminism and other trends in recent decades will be struck by the massive and creative force of the working class.

The viewer must also be struck by the striking parallel, despite the changes over many decades, between present-day Detroit and the situation described in one of the videos of growing popular anger over the mass poverty at one pole of society and the immense wealth at the other, in the midst of the Depression. Many must see this and think, “So it remains today!”

The Industry frescoes are the greatest draw at the DIA and have always held a special place with the most conscious elements of the population in Detroit and beyond. The threat to the DIA two years ago, in connection with city’s filing for bankruptcy protection, aroused popular outrage. On the one hand, DIA officials are obliged to pay nominal tribute to the frescoes, describing the work as a “masterpiece” in their promotional material. On the other hand, the current show contains a sustained and consistent attack on Rivera and his work.

Before the Detroit Industry murals were made public in 1933, right-wing forces and religious bigots were howling for their destruction. Rivera’s artistic response was powerful and enduring. The frescoes depict the emergence of the working class, drawn like minerals from all regions and races and formed in the cauldron of industrial production into the central creative force of a bright future.

Now, however, a new kind of attack is under way, proceeding from within, as it were, from the DIA hierarchy and the art world.

Along these lines, certain aspects of the current exhibition’s organization are significant. The room containing Rivera’s breathtaking cartoons, for example, is followed by one almost entirely devoted to Kahlo’s miscarriage, or abortion, that occurred while she was in Detroit.

Three weeks before Rivera began to paint his murals, his wife entered Henry Ford Hospital. Evidence suggests, according to the exhibition catalogue, that Kahlo induced the loss of her pregnancy on July 4, 1932 by ingesting quinine. A few weeks later, with Rivera’s encouragement, she made the lithograph “Frida and the Abortion, 1932” to memorialize the event.

The end of her pregnancy figures prominently in Kahlo’s work and may have influenced Rivera’s decision to replace an agricultural scene, which appears in the exhibition as a full-sized cartoon, with a healthy infant curled in a plant bulb. This remarkable series of cartoons of the images that surround the infant is at the center of the current show. Root systems extend into rich soils and subterranean aquifers. Plowshares cultivate the surrounding terrain.

The artist said the image represented the museum “as the central organism for the development of the aesthetic culture of the community.” (“Dynamic Detroit--An Introduction,” Creative Art, April 1933). Giant, exquisite female nudes cradle fruits and grain on either side and lovingly watch over the child--the picture of a rich and satisfying future for all.

In any event, the loss of the unborn baby was traumatic for Kahlo and Rivera, but the curators’ decision to raise this personal tragedy to the level of a world-historical event strikes a false, tasteless and disoriented note.

In Kahlo’s “Henry Ford Hospital, 1932” we are confronted with a stricken woman, in a pool of blood, connected by multiple umbilical cords to a fetus, a snail, a pelvis and several other objects. The curator’s argument that somehow this agonizing, intimate experience must supplant the grand conception of a harmonious future for all mankind is deeply disturbing.

This sort of imagery becomes the basis for the claim, for example by the New York Times’ Roberta Smith, that “Kahlo emerges in the final galleries as the stronger, more personal and more original artist.” Kate Abbey-Lambertz headlines her piece at the Huffington Post, “How Frida Kahlo’s Miscarriage Put Her On The Path To Becoming An Iconic Artist.”

One of the foulest efforts to denigrate Rivera, Michael H. Hodges’ “Kahlo trumps Rivera in popular fame,” recently appeared in the Detroit News, a chief organ of Detroit business circles. There is a certain appropriateness here. The new, slightly more sophisticated, assault on the murals is taken up by the newspaper that was at the center of the original attacks.

On March 19, 1933, a News editorial argued that the Rivera murals were “psychologically erroneous, coarse in conception and, to many women observers, foolishly vulgar.” The News further asserted that the work was “un-American, incongruous and unsympathetic,” recommended that DIA director Valentiner be fired and concluded that “perhaps the best thing to do would be to whitewash the entire work and return the Court to its original beauty.”

Hodges’ piece in March 2015 takes a different tack, assembling fashionable and snobbish contemporary attacks on Rivera. The News journalist first notes that in 1932 Rivera was one of the most famous artists in the world. “How times have changed,” he observes, and then carries on: “Kahlo, the subject of the hit 2002 movie ‘Frida,’ has morphed into a pop-culture superstar and feminist icon, her fame today easily swamping Rivera’s. To explain this, curators and art historians point to changing fashions and the compelling nature of Kahlo’s personal narrative, which resonates with our self-obsessed age.

“For Rivera, one-half of the current Detroit Institute of Arts blockbuster… it’s been quite a fall from grace,” he writes.

Hodges calls on none other than the current, soon-to-retire, DIA director Graham Beal to help make his case. Beal terms Kahlo “an international superstar,” adding, “you often have to explain to people--particularly anyone under 40--just who Rivera was and why we should care.” (Who talks like this, using terms like “international superstar?”)

The News article continues: “‘When I first visited here in the early 1970s,’ he [Beal] adds, ‘Rivera looked hopelessly old-fashioned and wrong-headed--realistic, political, and in a way, propagandistic. Her art is much more in keeping with today--highly personal and intimate, full of pain and uncertainty.’”

These comments speak to decades-old processes that are now coming to a head. Wide layers of the so-called intelligentsia, who have become affluent and moved far to the right, no longer feel the need to conceal their social indifference and outright hostility to the working population… and their utter obsession with themselves. It’s repugnant.

They latch onto Kahlo because what they read in her art corresponds to their own unease, interpreted in purely existential and individual terms. Rivera’s challenging and carefully conceived imagery of people at work or engaged in epic struggles against war and disease, ignorance and prejudice is compared unfavorably to a series of pictures focusing on one individual’s physical and psychic injuries.

The attack on art that addresses great social questions is relentless. On the audio guide, for example, guest curator Maria Cotera, a Women’s Studies professor at the University of Michigan, asserts that we now know that “the minor is where we find the big ideas” and that “big ideas became deeply personal.” Wall texts celebrate Kahlo’s subjectivism and criticize Rivera for advocating and explaining political principles and big historical and intellectual conceptions.

The curators write, for example, “Her [Kahlo’s] intellectual and artistic interests hinged on defining and representing herself,” while “Diego Rivera wanted his murals to become part of a dialogue about society that supported his intellectual and artistic agendas.”

The line of the exhibition, never stated in an honest manner, is that Rivera may have had some justification for his social art given the conditions of the 1930s, but we have long since transcended the period when art and politics concentrated on the working class. Kahlo’s critique of life is far more profound, “more thorough” than the class struggle conception promoted by Rivera because it is not fixated on changing the external world. Instead, it focuses on the inner being and “deeper” questions such as gender, sexuality, etc.

These views inevitably raise more directly the question of Kahlo’s art and career, a subject far too large for extended treatment here. It is evident that the discovery of Kahlo coincides with the emergence of gender politics and postmodern ideology in the 1970s and 1980s.

As “Made in Her Image: Frida Kahlo as Material Culture,” by Lis Pankl and Kevin Blake, points out: “It is certainly no accident that Kahlo’s popularity rose with the linguistic and cultural turn in the humanities and social sciences. With a greater emphasis on representation and identity politics, the academy found in Kahlo a perfect subject for analysis. Kahlo’s complex ethnicity… artistic autoeroticism, and evident links to gender construction are of much appeal to poststructuralists.”

One cannot place all the blame for the uses to which she and her work are put on Kahlo, but there is certainly some basis in the art itself for the current infatuation. It does violence to the history of art and helps no one to reduce Rivera, a colossal figure who drew upon a profound study of art and conveyed powerfully the impact of the Russian and Mexican Revolutions, to the benefit of Kahlo, a figure identified with extreme subjectivity. Such a readjustment in the artistic-intellectual world’s opinion must give one pause.

The victim of a serious accident at the age of 18 that required her to undergo dozens of surgeries over the course of her lifetime, Kahlo was no doubt a gifted artist, but her work is strikingly dominated by considerations of herself and her difficulties. She produced 143 paintings, 55 of which were self-portraits. Why so many? “Because I am so often alone,” she explained, “because I am the subject I know best.” Yes, but did she truly understand herself? An immense focus is hardly a guarantee that one understands a subject all that well.

There is something static, unchanging, in Kahlo’s self-portraiture, even immature. Of course, she died quite young and she came under various influences, not all of them happy or helpful ones. But in the self-portraits of Rembrandt and van Gogh, for example, one feels an unending intellectual and aesthetic development, the result of a bottomless curiosity about the world, history, society, resulting in an intense and compassionate realism.

A self-portrait is more than a picture of an individual. In its psychological depth and rigorous objectivity, a great self-portrait points beyond itself to something about the human situation in general, and perhaps the artistic personality in particular. Kahlo’s self-portraits are unusual and distinctive, but they tend to refer the viewer always back to Kahlo and her immediate situation. They seem often to be a reminder of her anguished presence more than a window onto something broader. One cannot help but have the feeling these paintings are intended in part to impress and even to shock.

The subject cannot be removed from art, nor should it be, but there is a distinction between dealing honestly and vividly with oneself and one’s circumstances and self-obsession. If a work becomes excessively personal, the universal may be lost in the process.

At a certain point, if the representation becomes too particular, why should anyone else care a great deal? Kahlo was neither the first nor the last person to suffer physical ailments and complications. Pankl and Blake write, “Kahlo’s depictions of bodily pain are the most widely explored elements within her work.”

Art also requires a certain detachment, and the most compelling artistic figures have treated suffering, including their own, with restraint and dignity, not self-pity.

Uncritical admirers of Kahlo are miseducating the public and aspiring artists as well when they suggest, by implication, that wholeheartedly embracing one’s afflictions or perhaps one’s biology by itself is a possible route to artistic greatness. If such were the case, there would be no need for a serious study of art or society, or a concern with the fate of anyone other than oneself. And, indeed, such an outlook helps account for the largely desiccated, angst-ridden and self-centered art that predominates today.

All in all, the DIA’s “Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Detroit,” a peculiar and contradictory event, raises a host of pressing issues.

Much of the imagery, including video imagery assembled by the curators themselves, tends to direct the museum-goer toward the big events of the 20th century, to the revolutionary role of the working class and, by implication, to a consideration of what point society and the human condition have now reached. After all, the exhibition is being held in an economically devastated city, where tens of thousands of people face the possibility of having their water shut off in the near future!

Yet the show’s organizers and museum officials, along with their media apologists, are waging a ferocious ideological campaign in opposition to such concerns—even at the expense of the DIA’s own centerpiece—in favor of art, in the words of the New York Times ’ Smith, suffused with “existential torment.”

The defense of the Detroit Industry frescoes falls once again, as it did in the 1930s, to the only social force with an interest in the cultural development of the population as a whole and in art that looks at life and reality critically, the working class.

~ Tim Rivers, David Walsh · 21 April 2015.

#diego rivera #review #exibition review #painting #wsws #detroit industry murals #frida kahlo

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koreaunderground · 3 years

Text

(2018/02/21) 'Dirty meat': Shocking hygiene failings discovered in US pig and chicken plants

web.archive.org][1]

[1]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.theguardian.com/animals-farmed/2018/feb/21/dirty-meat-shocking-hygiene-failings-discovered-in-us-pig-and-chicken-plants>

# 'Dirty meat': Shocking hygiene failings discovered in US pig and chicken plants

Andrew Wasley

11-14 minutes

* * *

Shocking hygiene failings have been discovered in some of the US’s biggest meat plants, as a new analysis reveals that as many as 15% (one in seven) of the US population suffers from foodborne illnesses annually.

A joint investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and the Guardian found that hygiene incidents are at numbers that experts described as “deeply worrying”.

US campaigners are calling once again for the [closure of a legal loophole][2] that allows meat with salmonella to be sold in the human supply chain, and also warn about the industry’s [push to speed up production][3] in the country’s meat plants. And UK campaigners warn that the UK could be flooded with “dirty meat” if a US trade deal is signed post-Brexit.

[2]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.theguardian.com/animals-farmed/2018/feb/21/the-controversial-law-that-allows-salmonella-into-the-human-food-chain> [3]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.theguardian.com/animals-farmed/2018/feb/21/how-us-plans-to-speed-up-pig-slaughter-times-could-endanger-food-safety>

The unpublished US- government records highlight numerous specific incidents including:

* Diseased poultry meat that had been condemned found in containers used to hold edible food products; * Pig carcasses piling up on the factory floor after an equipment breakdown, leading to contamination with grease, blood and other filth; * Meat destined for the human food chain found riddled with faecal matter and abscesses filled with pus; * High-power hoses being used to clean dirty floors next to working production lines containing food products; * Factory floors flooded with dirty water after drains became blocked by meat parts and other debris; * Dirty chicken, soiled with faeces or having been dropped on the floor, being put back on to the production line after being rinsed with dilute chlorine.

All of the reported breaches resulted in immediate remedial action with no risk posed to consumers, according to the companies involved.

But campaigners warned that other violations may go undetected. Tony Corbo, senior lobbyist with [Food][4] and Water Watch, said: “While the inspectors are able to cite the plants for hundreds of violations per week, I am confident that they are not catching every instance of unsafe practices being committed in these plants.”

[4]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/food>

Meat hygiene inspectors interviewed by the Guardian agreed, saying fast line speeds and other pressures in some plants meant it was “inevitable” that some breaches slipped through the net.

The findings are worrying, according to Prof Erik Millstone, a food safety expert at Sussex University, “because of the risks of spreading infectious pathogens from carcass to carcass, and between portions of meat. The rates at which outbreaks of infectious food poisoning occur in the US are significantly higher than in the UK, or the EU, and poor hygiene in the meat supply chain is [a] leading cause of food poisoning in the US.”

[ ![Black bacterial colonies of salmonella. Food poisoning outbreaks are much higher than in the UK.][5] ][6]

[5]: https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808im_/https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/bccf391007b5800ba489bd3788af25cc5657f49a/0_82_5472_3283/master/5472.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=8a763f7347bda33bb8a0d647be3053e8 [6]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.theguardian.com/animals-farmed/2018/feb/21/dirty-meat-shocking-hygiene-failings-discovered-in-us-pig-and-chicken-plants#img-2>

[ ][7] Black bacterial colonies of salmonella. Food poisoning outbreaks are much higher than in the UK. Photograph: Chansom Pantip/Getty Images/iStockphoto

[7]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.theguardian.com/animals-farmed/2018/feb/21/dirty-meat-shocking-hygiene-failings-discovered-in-us-pig-and-chicken-plants#img-2>

The Bureau and the Guardian obtained previously unpublished documents relating to 47 meat plants across the US. Some of the documents relate to certain companies, including Pilgrim’s Pride, one of the US’s biggest poultry producers, and Swift Pork. Although not a comprehensive portrait of the sector - there are around 6,000 US plants regularly inspected by Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) - the documents provide a snapshot of issues rarely detailed in public which has rung alarm bells with campaigners in both the US and UK.

“The US meat industry has a responsibility to clean up its act,” said David Wallinga, senior health officer at the Natural Resources Defence Council, which obtained some of the documents. He said the Pilgrim’s Pride records detailed “numerous food safety violations.”

Kerry McCarthy, former UK shadow environment minister and Labour MP, called for urgent reassurances from both the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) and “the top of government” that standards would not be allowed to slip as trade negotiations with the US get underway.

“We cannot allow this to be a race to the bottom. We should insist the US raises its standards, and guarantees food safety, before we are prepared to allow in US meat imports,” she said. McCarthy has written to the environment secretary, Michael Gove, and Liam Fox, the trade secretary, to raise the matter.

The documents seen by the Bureau and Guardian do not reveal the full numbers of non-compliance reports across the whole sector. However, one dataset covering 13 large red meat and poultry plants over two years (2015-17) shows an average of more than 150 violations a week, and 15,000 violations over the entire period. Thousands of similar violations were recorded at 10 pork-producing plants over a five-year period up until 2016, further documents show.

Another batch of previously unpublished documents shows frequent failings at 24 plants operated by Pilgrim’s Pride who recently bought the British chicken giant Moy Park. The company slaughters 34 million birds each week and produces one in five of the chickens in the country.

More than 16,000 non-compliance reports on Pilgrim’s Pride operations detail 36,612 individual regulatory violations - an average of 1,464 a month - at the 24 plants during a 25-month period between 2014 and 2016.

[ ![Pilgrim’s Pride chickens on display at a supermarket.][8] ][9][ ][9] Pilgrim’s Pride chickens on display at a supermarket. Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar / Alamy/Alamy

[8]: https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808im_/https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/422b39ce068a064e0bb6421f0fa194d1592da57a/0_171_5000_3000/master/5000.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=ea14df16e9314c61034c0e81b8530c07 [9]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.theguardian.com/animals-farmed/2018/feb/21/dirty-meat-shocking-hygiene-failings-discovered-in-us-pig-and-chicken-plants#img-3>

In one incident, diseased meat – condemned from entering the human food chain – was placed in a container meant for edible product. An inspector discovered “carcasses of poultry showing evidence of septicemic disease ... carcasses showing evidence of having died from other causes than slaughter ... guts of carcasses, [and] poultry carcasses with heads attached.” He requested that the condemned items be removed. A similar incident was recorded some days later.

One inspector saw chicken drumsticks piling up on the floor, and instructed workers to pick them up “to be reconditioned with chlorinated water.” Again, a similar incident had occurred previously. In another incident in a bagging department, 36 shrink-wrapped whole birds were found scattered on the floor. An inspector noted: “in my presence the establishments began initiating their corrective action by picking up all affected product off the floor ... to be carried to the establishment’s designated wash station to be thoroughly rinsed off.”

Meat soiled with faecal matter was also recorded, with an inspector noting “... I observed a poultry intestine in the liver bin. The intestine was approximately 6.5 inches long and had visible faeces oozing out both ends.” The incident resulted in the livers being condemned from the human food chain.

At another Pilgrim’s Pride plant, the records reveal how deficient equipment led to a carcass becoming contaminated with faeces. “I observed one of my 10 test birds with a spot of faecal matter on the exterior of the right thigh. The spot of faecal [sic] was … brownish green in colour and had a pasty consistency,” an inspector notes. The affected bird was “retained by management for review then sent to reprocessing for reconditioning with chlorinated water.” Similar carcass contamination had been recorded before.

Internal FSIS records also highlight numerous violations at meat plants producing pork. In an incident recorded at a plant run by Swift Pork, owned by meat giant JBS, 48 pig carcasses were found to have fallen on the floor because of defective equipment, leading to contamination with “black trolley grease, floor grime and bloody smears”. The records noted: “The line was stopped for about 15 minutes. The carcasses were sent to be trimmed first then steam vacuumed with 180F water.”

On another occasion, an employee cleaned the factory floor with meat products on an adjacent conveyor belt, creating a mist that could contaminate the meat. “This mist is contaminated by the inedible debris and ... comes into contact with edible product,” an inspector observed.

[ ![Pigs are seen in a factory farm December 2003 in northern Missouri.][10] ][11][ ][11]

[10]: https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808im_/https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/48f14914916eb56a50b577f0985404c1e5334428/0_300_3000_1800/master/3000.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=f4eb7cdbf74ff8c4c1cef9aaf077a5e2 [11]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.theguardian.com/animals-farmed/2018/feb/21/dirty-meat-shocking-hygiene-failings-discovered-in-us-pig-and-chicken-plants#img-4>

Pigs are seen in a factory farm December 2003 in northern Missouri. Photograph: Daniel Pepper/Getty Images

In a separate incident, a pig’s head was found to have partially covered a drain, leading to “bloody waste water filling the area”. This and another blockage caused by a buildup of skin led to dirty water flooding other areas. “Because of the plugged drains, an insanitary condition was created; the bloody water in the walkway could be splashed and carried throughout the kill floor after employees walked through the puddle,” an inspector wrote.

In a different part of the factory, inspectors found a stainless steel handwash sink “plugged and approximately one-quarter full of standing bloody water with pieces of fat and meat. Production employees use this sink to clean and sanitise their hands and gloves. This creates an insanitary condition.”

In a statement, JBS, which owns Pilgrim’s and Swift Pork, said all of the violations recorded were “immediately addressed” and that consumers were never put at risk. “The US meat and poultry sector is one of the most highly regulated industries in America,” said Al Almanza, JBS’s global head of food safety and quality assurance, and former head of FSIS for 39 years. “Non-compliance reports are issued by USDA [United States Department of Agriculture] inspection personnel to document when an establishment has not met a specific regulatory requirement. However, the vast majority of non-compliance issues are addressed immediately and have no impact on food safety.”

“All of the documented incidents regarding JBS [Swift Pork] and Pilgrim’s were immediately addressed by our facilities. None of these incidents put anyone at risk or resulted in any adulterated product released into commerce. Food safety is achieved by implementing processes that consistently detect and correct issues before products are released into commerce. Our team at JBS and Pilgrim’s is committed to the highest food safety standards and we partner with USDA each and every day to ensure that consumers can enjoy safe and quality products with confidence.”

## Salmonella and other foodborne illnesses

The US has shockingly high levels of foodborne illness, according to a [new analysis][12] by UK pressure group Sustain. It says that annually, around [14.7% (48 million people)][13] of the US population is estimated to suffer from an illness, compared to around 1.5% (1 million) in the UK. In the US, 128,000 are hospitalised, and 3,000 die each year of foodborne diseases.

[12]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.sustainweb.org/news/feb18_US_foodpoisoning/> [13]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html>

One bug, salmonella, causes [around 1m illnesses][14] per year in the US, while in the UK the numbers of officially recorded incidents is relatively low, with just under 10,000 laboratory confirmed cases in 2016. However, unreported incidents could substantially increase those numbers. Salmonella takes hold on farms and is found in the guts of poultry and livestock: farm animals and birds can become contaminated with faeces containing the bacteria during transport to abattoirs, where slaughter and processing procedures can also spread it.

[14]: <https://web.archive.org/web/20180306071808/https://folio.iupui.edu/handle/10244/1022>

Kath Dalmeny, chief executive of Sustain, said the figures underscored concerns about future US-UK trade deals: “The US has already warned us that we will need to lower our food standards in exchange for a quick trade deal, but we need to fight this hard. They are desperate to sell us their chlorine-washed chicken, but we know chlorine and other unpalatable treatments can mask dirty meat, low hygiene standards and poor animal welfare, which the UK consumer will not stand for.

“In recent years, the UK meat, dairy and egg industries have improved food safety; so we should all be alarmed about any trade deal that opens up our market to products that undermine this progress.

#2018 #food #usa

0 notes

gondalgroupofmarketing · 3 years

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About the Blue Group of Companies

Introduction

Welcome to the Blue World City, a project sponsored by the Blue Group of Companies, leaded by Saad Nazir, son of the ex-deputy commissioner Lahore, Ch. Nazir, in association with Shan Jian Municipal Engineering, China. The company was established in 1989 in Lahore. After its excellent services and architectural designs, the Blue Group of Companies became trustworthy and professionally renowned to its clients gaining immense popularity among investors.

It is an opportunity for all those who dream to own a land and a roof now in an affordable budget and a convenient installment plans.

About the Blue Group of Companies

It was established in 1989 in Lahore. The company offered a great deal of services and succeeded to win people’s heart and trust with its honest, creative, and hard work.

Today, it has over 300 professionals working in different departments. The Blue Group of Companies owns a number of sets of businesses that include the following companies:

Blue bricks

Blue properties

Blue palms

Blue technologies

WPZ

Blue media

Mart blue

Brands square

Artimmix

The successes of Blue Group of Companies

PIA cooperative society

Center park Lahore

Blue sapphire

Blue mart and;

Blue technologies

All of these projects were a big hit by Saad Nazir.

What Is Blue World City

It is a housing scheme launched under the name of blue world city. It is near the Rawalpindi ring road. The project offers easy installment plans and affordable budgets to own plots within a short time span.

Salient Features Of Blue World City

Chinese development and architecture

State of the art designs and architectures are used in the development of the Blue World City.

Affordable budgets

The mission is to raise the middle class living standards to a degree of luxury and for that purpose the project planning includes affordable budgets for an average earning person in Pakistan.

Designed to accommodate over 2 million Chinese residents coming to Pakistan for CPEC work

Since the project initiation is in collaboration with the Chinese, another major purpose is to provide the Chinese CPEC workers accommodation.

Everything is built and planned according to international standards

Chinese development technology is used in making the levels meet at international lifestyle ground.

Envisions to improve Pakistani living standards

As mentioned earlier, the Blue World City aims to improve the Pakistani middle class living standards to international levels in affordable budgets.

Water, Gas & Electricity:

Blue World City Islamabad is arranged in a moderately distant spot and since for such a long time this region has been ignored and the associations for power, gas, and water are infrequently conceded. Despite the fact that it was a hard assignment, the representatives worked nonstop and interminably to encourage the financial specialists and to furnish them with the necessities of life including day in and day out hour accessibility of gas, power, and gas so the residents of this general public can appreciate a tranquil life.

Replica Of Blue Mosque At Turkey:

Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey is a wonder of old style engineering worked between the years 1609 by Muslim originators and designers have roused the organizers of the Blue World City to manufacture an imitation of this stupendous mosque in the general public to reestablish Islamic qualities and culture in Pakistan. After the Faisal Mosque, the copy of the Blue Mosque will turn into a milestone and will draw in guests to this general public. The mosque will really speak to and supplement the topic of Blue World City.

Commercial Hubs, Schools & Colleges:

The general public will demonstrate to get one of the greatest business center point in the district with CPEC course in its closeness, the business openings are perpetual. The end-all strategy of this dynamite society has been planned including cutting edge, present day business roads and elevated requirement instructive offices in all the areas of the general public for the availability of individuals.

The Biggest Water Theme Park In Pakistan:

Park which will incorporate fun water rides, slides, wave pools, volcanic cascade, exceptionally planned water pools for underage kids and water surfing. The general public has intended to assemble the greatest and Pakistan’s first International water subject.

Gated Community:

Blue World City will be a vigorously protected and gated network. Unapproved individuals will be restricted in the general public. A safe limit divider will encompass the general public to add a layer of security. Extra highlights, for example, face acknowledgment and key cards will be consolidated in the general public to stay away from undesirable guests and incidents in the general public.

24/7 Security:

Blue World City takes the security of its occupants and guests truly, an uncommonly prepared security group will screen and guarantee the wellbeing of its inhabitants day in and day out. CCTV cameras will be introduced all through the general public to manufacture a safe climate in the lodging society so you can appreciate a lavish pressure climate.

Sector And Jamia Mosques:

Each area of society will have uniquely planned area mosques for the occupants of every area so they can supplicate easily and satisfy their strict commitments with no issue or significant voyaging. To oblige individuals for the more Jummah petitions, Jamia Mosques will be worked all through the general public for the accommodation of the tenants and guests of the general public.

A Wide Network Of Carpeted Roads:

The general public has just started chipping away at the foundation and the first of that progression is to construct a wide organization of covered streets in the general public to interface all pieces of the general public. These streets are proposed to be 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 feet wide separately and will likewise have solid pathways and walkways for the people on foot and cyclists.

Public Transport:

The general public will have an interior organization of the public vehicle framework in the general public to make the going in the public arena simpler for the inhabitants just as any individual who is visiting the general public.

Electric Power Plant:

To make the general public a heap shedding free zone, the authorities have proposed introducing an electric force plant in the public eye. With society’s own one of a kind force plant the accessibility of power in the general public will guarantee a more proficient and profitable network.

Underground Electricity:

In spite of the fact that the idea of underground power isn’t new and all the most current lodging plans are choosing it, it has become a fundamental redesign for the wellbeing of the network. Not just this progression will acquire an improvement the excellence and rich arrangement of the general public yet will likewise be much more secure and diminish the odds of any accidents.

Sports And Cultural Complex:

Multifunctional sports and social complex will be implicit Blue World City to engage and advance variety of societies and advance extra-curricular exercises in the general public.

Sewerage Treatment Plant:

Condition of workmanship sewerage treatment plants will be introduced in the general public to guarantee a clean and eco-accommodating garbage removal framework in the general public.

Water Filtration Plant:

Blue world city will be an independent and feasible society and one of the most conspicuous highlights of a free lodging society is to have the option to furnish its occupants with clean water. Establishment of an imaginative water filtration plant will guarantee the gracefully of clean water wherever in the public eye and will improve the everyday environments in the area.

Oxygen Park And Lake:

The Oxygen Park and lakes in the general public will add to the excellence of the general public and the allure of society. These metropolitan green spaces are fundamental to making a positive effect on wellbeing, making social associations and helping the climate.

3D I-Max Cinema:

Films have become a significant methods for diversion and recreation in the lives of individuals in any network. Blue World City will acquaint 3D I-max films with bring the most cutting edge innovation and diversion to its kin.

Adventure Club:

The general public will have an undertaking club to unite the network and make social associations in the public eye. This club will organize an assortment of brave exercises for the joy of its individuals including horseback riding, soil bicycle riding, paragliding, dropping, climbing, and so forth

Safari Zoo:

One more striking element in the general public will be its Safari Zoo, with a protected drive through a way in the midst of in the general public with wild creatures meandering uninhibitedly won’t be just energizing however will give an exceptional encounter to the guests. The zoo will contain a wide range of types of creatures and fowls imported from all around the globe.

Water Pools And Spa Clubs:

Another extravagance that will be appreciated by the tenants of this general public will be its warm and freshwater pools and spa club. These brilliant spas and pools will permit the individuals to appreciate an assortment of loosening up medicines just as helpful meetings.

Police Station:

Blue World will likewise have a completely practical and responsive police headquarters in its environmental factors to help with any criminal experiences and criminal behavior in the general public.

40-Bed Hospital:

Wellbeing is the main worry in any network, a completely operational 40-bed Hospital is planned as a huge portion of the all-inclusive strategy of Blue World City. This cutting edge new wellbeing office will be furnished with the most recent innovation and hardware to encourage the patients and to manage any crisis circumstance in the general public.

Where Is Blue World City Located

The Blue world city is located on the main Chakri road near the Chakri interchange at Lahore-Islamabad motorway M2. The best part about its exact location is that it is not so far away from Islamabad and Rawalpindi. So anyone investing or buying land there will be at a hop in to all the surrounding cities.

Suburban Landmarks Of The Blue World City

The hit project of housing schemes, Capital Smart City, is near Blue world city along with many other well known housing societies such as Mumtaz City, Khaniyal Homes, Star Argo Farms, Top City and University Town. This makes the Blue World City a prime location to start a dream life.

Blue World City Map

The entrance from Islamabad is through Lahore-Islamabad motorway M2 directly to Chakri road. After the project completion, the ring road will also allow access to Chakri road cutting the travel time short for travelers coming from Rawalpindi areas like DHA, and Bahria enclave.

The Master Strategy

The wide and well constructed network of carpeted roads lay throughout the society premises connecting it completely with the areas all around. The roads measurements will he as follows:

Main boulevard: 120ft wide

Main roads: more than 180ft wide

Streets: 40ft wide

Blue World City NOC And Planning Permission

Rawalpindi development authority RDA granted NOC to Blue world city for 5000 kanal of land for phase 1. The application was under process till August, 2018. The NOC situation is similar to that of Capital Smart City.

DETAILS:

The total area that Blue World City covers is 5000 kanals which is planned to be divided into four main phases and then further into blocks and plots. The housing scheme is offering:

residential plots starting from 5 marlas to 2 kanals (5, 8, 10 marlas, 1 and 2 kanals)

Residential farmhouses of 4 and 8 kanals.

Commercial plots of 5 and 8 marlas.

The housing authority is offering installment plans that vary from 3 to 4 years. The booking can be done by 10% down payment which is as low as 80,000 rupees.

Blue World City Payment Strategy

The Overseas Block In Blue World City

It is a specially designed landmark within the society for overseas Pakistani residents to provide them with the perfection of luxurious lifestyle at the best of their expectations. The number of commercial plots is quantified to a small limit hence only those can avail who will come first.

The uniqueness of the overseas block is its international standard facilities that overseas Pakistanis usually demand. The overseas block consists of a limited number of commercial plots:

7 marlas

10 marlas

14 marlas

1 kanal

2 kanal

Blue Hills Country Farms

Having a farmhouse is like having an escape valley where one can snap off from his daily life and hop in the comfortable quilt on the cloudy bed in his farmhouse! Blue World City brings the chance to buy lavishing farmhouse at an affordable budget.

The farmhouses are located in the most peaceful alley of the society surrounded by natural beauty and serene water stream flowing near by.

The Farmhouse Payment Method Is Mentioned Below:

Blue World City Awami Complex

It is the latest addition to the Blue World City family. The society now comprises of independent and duplex units with all the basic facilities and necessities to make its residents’ lives luxurious and remarkable. The complex building consists of five stories. The first three floors are dedicated to duplex villas whereas the rest of the top floors are for apartments.

Awami complex residential apartments

Apartments:

375 Sq. Ft. 1 bed studio apartment

550 Sq. Ft. 1 bed family apartment

830 Sq. Ft. 2 bed family apartment

Awami complex: duplex villas

Duplex Villas:

675 Sq. Ft. Ground floor villa

675 Sq. Ft. First floor villa

675 Sq. Ft. Second floor villa

Blue World City Awami Villas

The successful housing society is also offering 3 marlas complete awami villas. They are designed to provide the most up to the mark lifestyle in a small space.

The Pak-China Friendly City

This mega housing society project is not just an investment point but is a mission to accomplish progressive friendly relations with the Chinese. The Blue World City management authority signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Shan Jian municipal engineering company, which is a leading development and investment organization in China. The Pak China friendly city is supposed to have:

Chinese and Pakistani development, progress, and architecture

Pak-China investment

CPEC route proximity

Residency of Chinese citizens and workers

Why Choose Blue World City To Invest

The purpose of this mission is to change the perception of low class living standards in Pakistan. It is a great chance for all those who want to have a luxurious lifestyle and a dream home but do not have a big budget to invest. This project promises the best of lifestyle and living standards in reasonable and affordable investments.

Here are some valid reasons for you to choose Blue World City:

Affordable budgets and investments

Easy installment plans

Up to the mark facilities, and services

A family community

Luxurious lifestyle

State of the are technology

The right time to invest and get a maximum return

The Booking Procedure

In order to book a land in Blue World City, visit the office with the following documents:

Two passport size pictures

Two copies of NIC

Two copies of any kin’s NIC

Two copies of overseas national ID card for an overseas Pakistani

Plot possession

The possession of plots will take a period of three years in Blue World City phase 1. The possession of land also depends on the development time span of the society which may further depend on other factors such as the time of issuance of permission from NOC, or natural causes. However, the possession is guaranteed after a small timeframe.

FAQ’s

What is Blue World City and where id it located?

It is a real estate housing scheme project where one can buy and invest in land. It is located on main Chakri road, Rawalpindi.

Is Blue World City project illegal?

It is approved by RDA, however the NOC approval is under process and will be granted to the Blue World City soon. Hence, the Blue World City is not illegal, it is a guaranteed legal housing society.

How long will it take for the society to develop?

The work has started. The given time of development is 3 to 4 years.

What are the instalment plans?

The project offers installment plans for all the categories of land. The plan varies from 3 to 5 years.

Conclusion

To conclude, the Blue World City is not just a project. It is a dream. A dream of every individual who is struggling to build an asset and have a life of comfort. It is a dream for every individual who visions to have a name. An identity. It is a mission of making low class living standards into international standard in a limited budget. It is affordable and convenient for the clients to buy and invest.

The other main factor about the project is the establishment of strong ties among Pakistani and Chinese residents. The accommodation for the Chinese is made to the international standards to meet their level of expectations in Pakistan and improve the Pakistani living culture.

It is the best time to invest and expect a full return as the housing society is in the developing phase. Undoubtedly, Blue World City is the next milestone of Pakistan in the world of real estate.

0 notes

riseabovedefeat · 6 years

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99 good things that happened in 2017 world wide

1. This year, the World Health Organisation unveiled a new vaccine that’s cheap and effective enough to end cholera, one of humanity’s greatest ever killers. New York Times

2. Cancer deaths have dropped by 25% in the United States since 1991, saving more than 2 million lives. Breast cancer deaths have fallen by 39%, saving the lives of 322,600 women. Time

3. Zika all but disappeared in 2017. Cases plummeted in Latin America and the Caribbean, and most people in those places are now immune. Science Mag

4. A new report showed that the world’s assault on tropical diseases is working. A massive, five year international effort has saved millions of lives, and countries are now signing up for more. STAT

5. Soft drink sales in the United States dropped for the 12th year in a row, thanks to consumer education and new sugar taxes aimed at stemming obesity and diabetes. Reuters

6. Trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, was eliminated as a public health problem in Oman and Morocco, and Mexico became the first country in the Americas to eliminate it. NBC

7. Meet Sanduk Ruit and Geoff Tabin, two eye doctors responsible for helping restore sight to 4 million people in two dozen countries, including North Korea and Ethiopia. CBS

8. Premature deaths for the world’s four biggest noncommunicable diseases — cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory — have declined by 16% since 2000. World Bank

9. Global abortion rates have fallen from around 40 procedures per 1,000 women in the early 1990s, to 35 procedures per 1,000 women today. In the United States, abortion rates have reached their lowest level since 1973. Vox

10. In July, UNAIDS, revealed that for the first time in history, half of all people on the planet with HIV are now getting treatment, and that AIDS deaths have dropped by half since 2005. Science Mag

11. There were only 26 cases of Guinea worm in 2017, down from 3.5 million cases in 21 countries in Africa and Asia in 1986. Devex

12. The United Kingdom announced a 20% fall in the incidence of dementia over the past two decades, meaning 40,000 fewer people are being affected every year. iNews

13. Thanks to better access to clean water and sanitation, the number of children around the world who are dying from diarrhoea has fallen by a third since 2005. BBC

14. Leprosy is now easily treatable. The number of worldwide cases has dropped by 97% since 1985, and a new plan has set 2020 as the target for the end of the disease. New York Times

15. In October, new research from the Center for Disease Controlrevealed that between 2000 and 2016, the measles vaccine saved 20.4 million lives.

16. And on the 17th November, the WHO said that global deaths from tuberculosis have fallen by 37% since 2000, saving an estimated 53 million lives. These astonishing achievements were of course, reported by every media outlet on the planet.

Some stunning victories for global conservation

17. Chile set aside 11 million acres of land for national parks in Patagonia, following the largest ever private land donation from a private entity to a country. Smithsonian

18. China invested more than $100 billion into treating and preventing water pollution, and launched nearly 8,000 water clean-up projects in the first half of 2017. Reuters

19. The United States, Russia, China and the European Union reached a deal to make the Arctic off-limits to commercial fishers for the next 16 years. Science Mag

20. In July, 1.5 million people in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh set a new Guinness record for reforestation by planting more than 67 million trees in a 12 hour period. RT

21. A province in Pakistan announced it has planted 1 billion trees in two years, in response to the terrible floods of 2015. Independent

22. In August, the Canadian government and Inuit groups signed a deal to create the ‘Serengeti of the Arctic’ by far the largest marine reserve in the country’s history. Globe & Mail

23. A month later, one of the world’s largest marine parks was created off the coast of Easter Island, and will protect 142 species, including 27 threatened with extinction. Guardian

24. The EU imposed new, stricter limits on pollutants such as nitrogen, sulphur, mercury and particulates that will apply to all 2,900 of Europe’s large power plants. Reuters

25. China carried out its largest ever crackdown on pollution, reprimanding, fining or jailing officials in 80,000 factories, 40% of the country’s total. NPR

26. Indonesia pledged $1 billion to clean up its seas from plastic, Kenyaannounced a ban on plastic bags, and Chile said it will ban them in its coastal cities (30 countries now have existing or impending bans in place). ABC

27. Eleven countries continued their plan to build a wall of trees from east to west across Africa in order to push back the desert. In Senegal, it’s already working. BBC World Hacks

28. Cameroon committed to restoring over 12 million hectares of forest in the Congo Basin, and Brazil started a project to plan 73 million trees, the largest tropical reforestation project in history. Fast Co.

29. In November, Mexico’s government created a new 148,000 square kilometer ocean reserve, ‘the Galapagos of North America’ for the conservation of hundreds of species, including rays, humpback whales, sea turtles, lizards and migratory birds. Reuters

30. In 2017, the ozone hole shrunk to its smallest size since 1988, the year Bobby McFerrin topped the charts with ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy.’ CNET

Rising living standards for billions of people

31. The International Energy Agency announced that nearly 1.2 billion people around the world have gained access to electricity in the last 16 years.

32. In February, the World Bank published new figures showing that 20 years ago, the average malnourished person on planet Earth consumed 155 fewer calories per day than they needed. Today, that number is down to 88.

33. Since 2000, life expectancy in Rwanda is up from 49 to 64, child mortality is down more than two-thirds, maternal mortality is down nearly 80%, and HIV/AIDS prevalence is down from 13% to 3%. Mail & Guardian

34. In the last three years, the number of people in China living below the poverty line decreased from 99 million to 43.4 million. And since 2010, income inequality has been falling steadily. Quartz

35. 275 million Indians gained access to proper sanitation between 2014 and 2017. Gates Notes

36. In 1991 more than 40% of Bangladesh lived in extreme poverty. The World Bank said this year that the number has now dropped to 14% (equating to 50 million fewer people). Quartz

37. The United States’ official poverty rate reached 12.7%, the lowest level since the end of the global financial crisis. And the child-poverty rate reached an all time low, dropping to 15.6%. The Atlantic

38. Between 2005 and 2017, Afghanistan built 16,000 schools, the nation-wide literacy rate increased by 5%, and the youth literacy rate increased by more than 16%. USAID

39. In October, a new report by the International Labour Organisation revealed that global child labour has plummeted. In 2016, there were 98 million fewer boys and girls being exploited than in 2000. CS Monitor

A terrible year for the fossil fuels industry

40. Sweden committed to phasing out all carbon emissions by 2045, and the country’s largest pension fund divested from six companies that violate the Paris Agreement, including Exxon, Gazprom and TransCanada. CleanTechnica

41. New figures at the beginning of the year showed that the global coal industry is taking a hammering. A 48% drop in pre-construction activity, a 62% drop in construction starts and a 19% drop in ongoing construction. CoalSwarm

42. In May, a shareholder rebellion forced ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil company, to start reporting on the effect of preventing climate change on its bottom line. Washington Post

43. France stopped granting all licences for oil and gas exploration, and said it will phase out all production by 2040, a major transition towards clean energy being driven by the new Macron government. Bloomberg

44. Deutsche Bank, one of the coal industry’s biggest financiers, announced it would stop financing all new coal projects. Ouch. Mining.com

45. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the largest pile of money on the planet, announced they were officially divesting from all fossil fuels, and the global insurance industry has pulled $20 billion. Telegraph

46. In 2017, the United Kingdom, France and Finland all agreed to ban the sale of any new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040.

47. China continued its all out war on coal, stopping construction on more than 150GW of coal plants, and laying off more than 700,000 coal workers since 2014. CleanTechnica

48. In one of the great climate change victories of our time, TransCanada terminated its tar sands pipeline, triggering a $1 billion loss and ending an epic 4 year battle between politicians, big oil, environmentalists and indigenous communities. Calgary Herald

49. On the eve of one of their major feast days, 40 Catholic institutions on five different continents announced the largest ever religious divestment from fossil fuels. Catholic Reporter

50. In the United Kingdom, the birthplace of the industrial revolution, carbon emissions fell to the lowest levels since 1894, and on the 21st of April the country did not burn coal for the first time in 140 years. Independent UK

51. In November, a new global alliance of more than 20 countries, including the UK, France, Mexico, Canada and Finland, committed to ending their use of coal before 2030. BBC

…and an amazing one for clean energy

52. The cost of solar and wind plummeted by more than 25% in 2017, shifting the global clean energy industry on its axis. Think Progress

53. The cost of solar plants in the United States dropped by 30% in one year and in the United Kingdom, the price of offshore wind dropped by half in less than two years.

54. Solar energy is now responsible for one in every 50 new jobs created in the United States, and the clean energy sector is growing at 12 times the rate of the rest of the economy. CNBC

55. In June, South Korea announced a major U-turn on energy, shifting one of the world’s staunchest supporters of coal and nuclear power toward natural gas and renewables. Reuters

56. JP Morgan Chase said it will source 100% of its energy from renewables by 2020 and will facilitate $200 billion in clean financing through 2025. PV Tech

57. General Motors believes “the future is all-electric” Volkswagenannounced it’s investing 70 billion euros and “putting its full force behind a shift into electric cars” and Volvo said that starting in 2019 it will only make fully electric or hybrid cars “the end of the combustion engine-powered car.” Atlantic

58. China is going to install 54GW of solar by the end of 2017, more than any country has ever previously deployed in a single year, and doubled their 2020 goal to 213 GW. PV Magazine

59. The world’s largest carbon emitter also announced that their Paris Agreement pledges will now be met a decade ahead of schedule, with emissions forecast to peak in 2018. Australian Financial Review

60. Following in China’s footsteps, India more than doubled its solar installations in 2017, accounting for more than 40% of new capacity, the largest addition to the grid of any energy source. Quartz

61. A new report from the European Union said that between 1990 and 2016 the continent cut its carbon emissions by 23% while the economy grew by 53%. So much for the propaganda of fossil fuel lobbyists… CleanTechnica

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”

62. On the 21st January 2017, the Women’s March became the largest single-day demonstration in recorded U.S. history. Washington Post

63. On International Women’s Day 2017, Iceland became the first country in the world to make equal pay compulsory by law. Two days later, India passed a bill giving every working woman in the country 26 weeks of compulsory maternity leave. Economic Times

64. Thanks to the legalisation of same-sex marriage, suicide attempts by LGBT teenagers have decreased by 14% in US high schools since 2014. Guardian

65. In May, Taiwan’s constitutional court ruled in favour of allowing same-sex marriage, becoming the first Asian country to do so. SCMP

66. Saudi Arabia said women would no longer need male permission to travel or study. A few months later, women received the right to drive. BBC

67. New figures showed that the gender pay gap in the United States has narrowed from 36% in 1980 to 17% today. For young women the gap has narrowed even further, and now stands at 10%. Pew Research

68. Women now occupy 23% of parliamentary seats around the world, up from 12% in 1997. The Middle East and North Africa have seen a fourfold increase in that time. World Bank

69. As plunging crime closed prisons across the Netherlands, the government started turning them into housing and cultural hubs for ten of thousands of refugees instead. Fast Company

70. New data showed that young people are officially less racist than old people. The worldwide trend is towards towards less discrimination on the grounds of skin tone or caste. Quartz

71. 17% of newlyweds in the United States now marry someone of a different race or ethnicity, a fivefold increase since 1967, when interracial marriage was legalised. Pew Research

72. The immigrant population of the US (people born in another country) has now reached 43.7 million people, one out of every eight residents, the highest proportion in 106 years. CIS

73. Canada became the 9th country to allow a third gender, rather than male or female, on passports and government documents. That came two months after country number 8, Pakistan. Vox

74. India’s Supreme Court issued a historic ruling confirming the right of the country’s LGBTQ people to express their sexuality without discrimination. Independent UK

75. California became the first US state to legally recognise nonbinary genders, and Germany’s top court ruled that lawmakers must legally recognise a third gender from birth. CNN

76. In December, Australia became the 26th country to legalise same sex marriage. A wonderful victory, hard fought for by so many brave people. About bloody time. ABC

The world got a little less violent

77. Global deaths from terrorism dropped by 22% from their peak in 2014, thanks to significant declines in four of the five countries most impacted: Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. ReliefWeb

78. After quintupling between 1974 and 2007, the imprisonment rate in the United States is now dropping in a majority of states. New York Times

79. The number of executions recorded worldwide fell by 37% since 2015. The decline was largely driven by fewer deaths recorded in Iran and Pakistan. BBC

80. You didn’t see this story in the evening news — in June, we heard that the homicide rate in Australia has dropped to one victim per 100,000 people, the lowest ever recorded. Guardian

81. Rates of violent crime and property crime have dropped by around 50% in the United States since 1990, yet a majority of people still believe it’s gotten worse. Pew Research

82. A new report showed that incidents of bullying and the number of violent attacks in American public schools have decreased significantly since 2010. Associated Press

83. The European Union passed fresh rules that make it more difficult for armed groups to finance their activities through the sale of conflict minerals. Mining.com

84. Heckler & Koch, the world’s deadliest arms manufacturer, announced it would end gun sales to countries falling short of corruption and democracy standards. Deutsche Welle

85. Nepal passed a law criminalising an ancient Hindu practice called chhaupadi that banishes women from the home during menstruation and after childbirth. Al Jazeera

86. Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon repealed provisions in their penal codes that allow rapists to escape punishment by marrying their victims. Al Jazeera

87. India’s Supreme Court outlawed non-consensual marital sex with child brides, and raised the age of sexual consent for all women to 18. CNN

Signs of hope for a living planet

88. Snow leopards have been on the endangered list since 1972. In 2017, they were taken off, as the wild population has now increased to more than 10,000 animals. BBC

89. In March, in a big win for two of the world’s most endangered big cats, the Amur leopard and tiger, China approved a national park 60% larger than Yellowstone. HuffPost

90. Taiwan became the first Asian country to ban the eating of cats and dogs, with new laws imposing fines for consumption and jail time for killing and cruelty. National Geographic

91. A decrease in pollution in the Ganges brought Gangetic dolphins, one of the four freshwater dolphin species in the world, back from the brink of extinction. Hindustan Times

92. Germany banned fur farming. This followed similar decisions by Japan and Croatia within the last year. A victory that was two decades in the making. Well done PETA.

93. Vietnam agreed to end bear farming, and said it would work with Animals Asia to rescue 1,000 remaining caged animals.

94. The British government unveiled new plans to require compulsory CCTV cameras in all slaughterhouses, in order to enforce laws against animal cruelty. Guardian

95. In more than 60 regions across the globe, more populations of large sea turtles are improving than declining, a big change from a decade or two ago. Associated Press

96. China agreed to ban the domestic ivory trade in 2017. By mid year, the price of raw ivory in Asia had fallen by around half. And in October, the UK government banned the sale and export of all ivory items. BBC

97. Gucci announced it would go fur-free in 2018 and auction off all remaining fur items. It follows in the footsteps of Armani, which went fur free in 2016. Harper’s Bazaar

98. One of China’s richest women, He Qiaonv, announced a $2 billion donation for wildlife conservation, the largest environmental philanthropic pledge of all time. Bloomberg

99. The Indian government officially banned the use of all wild animals in circus performances. One month later, the Italian parliament did the same. 40 nations now have animal circus bans in place. Inhabit

source: https://qz.com/1169003/the-99-best-things-that-happened-in-2017/

#good news

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localocksmithnearme · 4 years

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Hyundai Elantra Fob Keys And Remote Program San Antonio TX

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stephscivilrightsblog · 4 years

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Violence Vs. Non-Violence in the Civil Rights Era

Warning: There may be some sensitive material.

There were many groups that existed and were created in the Civil Rights Era. Some of them believed in violence, others self-defense (violence if necessary), and most were non-violent. My goal is to examine the groups and deem them right or wrong based on a traditional sociological scale. Most people have a learned instinct of what is right and what is wrong, but some people don’t have that same scale as most. For example, the Ku Klux Klan which I will be speaking of below created children’s chapters, they may or may not have participated in the violence, but it was a good way for families to pass on their beliefs and alter what otherwise would most likely have been the same developed sense of right or wrong.

The Ku Klux Klan has existed long before the Civil Rights Era, being founded on December 24, 1865 by Confederate Veterans in Pullaski, Tennessee, shortly after the end of the Civil War. For a while the public didn’t realize the use of violence the Klan has become known for. The KKK has a history of beating, burning, and lynching African Americans because they disapproved of a world in which African Americans were free and had the same rights as whites.

The KKK was revived during the Civil Rights Era by Edward L. McDaniel who lived in Natchez, Mississippi. His chapter of the Klan eventually became known as the White Knights of the KKK and were involved in at least 10 murders. One of these murders too place on June 16, 1964 where 3 Civil Rights workers were killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Their names are James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner and they worked for CORE (see below). After being released from jail for a speeding ticket, the Klan followed the three men onto the highway where Klansman James Jordan shot Chaney and Wayne Roberts shot the other two. They then put the bodies in the vehicle they recognized as belonging to CORE and drove it to a farm where they buried the bodies.

Note: The KKK is still in existence today, but violence against African Americans has become highly scrutinized and people are more likely to be prosecuted and sentenced today.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was known to be a non-violent Civil Rights organization that was created to defend African Americans from injustice and aid in gaining equal rights for them. Founders include W.E.B Dubois, Ida B. Wells, Mary White Ovington, William English Walling, Lillian Wald, Archibald Grimke, Henry Moskowits, Oswald Garrison Willard, and more.

The incident that resulted in their founding was the on-going violence against African Americans and the Springfield Race Riot of 1908 in which a mob attacked African Americans resulting in many deaths which included lynching. After its founding the NAACP won many major legal victories in the 50′s and 60′s. The most-known case would be that of the 154 Brown v. Board which took place in Topeka, Kansas. Thurgood Marshall worked with a group of NAACP attorneys to win the case.

Note: The NAACP is still in existence today.

Core is another non-violent Civil Rights group that was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1942 by James Farmer, George Houser, Bayard Rustin, and Bernice Fisher. They were known to work with other Civil Rights groups for the freedom rides, which were organized in the effort to desegregate public facilities, starting with bus terminals. They also fought for the right to register for voting and were apart of the March on Washington in 1963. Their efforts were often met with violence and arrests.

It was in 1962 when CORE continued participating in the Freedom Rides which were met with violence. They were traveling on the interstate through Anniston, Alabama and a mob met them with firebombs and fists. The activists were beaten and some even died as they attempted to escape. This didn’t stop CORE from participating in efforts to gain their civil rights who co-sponsored the March on Washington.

The White Citizens’ Council was founded on July 11th, 1954 as a result of the Brown V. Board Decision to end segregation of schools. This day became known as “Black Monday” to Southern whites. Targets included those participating in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The first meeting of the Citizens’ Council was two months after the Brown V. Board case ended. They were known to have a system which would track both blacks and whites. Those who tried to help register black voters, or black voters themselves would be targeted: they would lose everything, including their lives. They were active within the Mississippi Delta where Emmett Till was beaten beyond recognition and heavily disfigured then dumped in a body of water. Today the WCC is known as the Council of Conservative Citizens.

The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee was definitely anti-violence: Its in the name! This organization was founded in April of 1960 (my mother was born in December - wild!) at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina by Ella Baker, Diane Nash, Julian Bond, Bernard LaFayette, and Charles Sherrod. They were most known for their participation in the Freedom Rides and Sit-Ins at lunch counters. Many members died during the Freedom Rides because the police were told not to protect the African American participants. The Black Panthers were founded on October 15, 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale after the assassination of Malcolm X and the wrongful shooting of Matthew Johnson, and unarmed black teenager, who was killed by San Francisco police. They believed in Self-Defense or violence if necessary and were known to wear leather jackets and black berets which is depicted in the photo above. They believed in embracing your African roots by dressing as one would in Africa and doing your hair like one would in Africa.

It was on April 6, 1968 that the Black Panthers had an altercation with the Oakland police after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4th, just two days earlier. While the Panthers stated that they believed in self-defense, this term typically applies to situations where someone defends themselves after being attacked. What happened on April 6th, by this definition cannot be classed as self-defense because the Panther’s were the ones who bombarded the police, which resulted in a 90-minute long shootout and the death of Bobby Hutton, one of their members. He was just 17 years old at the time. Eventually it came to an end when the police used tear gas on the Panthers’. Two police officers and two civilians were injured.

Note: The Black Panther Party became inactive in 1982.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded on January 10, 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia by Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Bayard Rustin, Fred Shuttlesworth, and Joseph Lowery. This organization was non-violent, which is to be expected because of the non-violent stance MLK Jr. himself held in his work toward gaining civil rights. The SCLC mostly worked in the South to perform leadership training programs, citizen education projects, and voter registration drives. Their efforts in this and their participation in the March on Washington during the early 1960′s eventually led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965).

On February 18, 1965 an Alabama Civil Rights activist was beaten and shot by an Alabama State Trooper while he was participating in a peaceful march trying to gain the right to vote. The victims name was Jimmie Lee Jackson and the officers name, James Bonard Fowler. Jackson would die 7 days later on February 26, 1965. His death resulted in the organizing of the Selma to Montgomery marches by the SCLC Director of Direct Action, James Bevel. There were a total of 3 marches, one on March 7 the day that became known as “Bloody Sunday” where 600 marchers peacefully protesting had tear gas thrown at them and were beaten with billy clubs, another on March 9 in response to the death of Jackson and one MLK Jr. himself organized, then another from March 21st to March 25th.

By looking at the history through an objective lens and stating the facts for everyone to see its obvious where each organization stands on a scale of right or wrong. It’s clear that the KKK was a group that encouraged and performed violence against those of a different race as did the White Citizens’ Council. The Black Panther Party based on their claim of a self-defense stance would ordinarily go in the middle of the scale, but because they didn’t always act out of self-defense as shown above this makes them a group that isn’t necessarily trustworthy which could be part of the reason they are no longer active. Groups such as SNCC, SCLC, CORE, and the NAACP who are non-violent tended to make the most progress in gaining their civil rights and are more likely to exist still today.

Disclaimer: I own none of the images.

Sources:

1. Seltzer, Rick, and Grace M. Lopes. “The Ku Klux Klan: Reasons for Support or Opposition Among White Respondents.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 17, no. 1, 1986, pp. 91–109. JSTOR, https://www-jstor-org.proxyse.uits.iu.edu/stable/pdf/2784043.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_expensive%252Fcontrol&refreqid=excelsior%3A82c874052f38d91359ec94903d1f9304

This article gives a brief history on the creation of the Ku Klux Klan and discusses research on racism and authoritarianism. The authors of the article created a survey for people to take so they could determine the extent of support for the KKK or the extent to which people don’t support the radical group.

2. “KKK Founded.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Mar. 2010, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kkk-founded

This article gives a more detailed history of the Ku Klux Klan including when they were founded and by who. It also explained why the KKK was formed and the views they held of pro-violence. The Klan’s formation led to many deaths of African American men, women, and children through burning, lynching, beating and even bombing. The Klan had many reprisals despite the Supreme Court declaring the Ku Klux Act unconstitutional. This is a useful source because it clearly displays the information needed to provide to readers and aids in furthering the conclusion that the Klan was clearly wrong.

3. History.com Editors. “NAACP.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/naacp

This article gives a detailed history surrounding the founding of the NAACP and its goals. The NAACP was an organization created to further the Civil Rights Movement and defend African Americans against the injustices brought on by white society and government officials. Their most-known case is Brown V. Board which some white people didn’t approve of and protested against, often using violence as a tool.

4. History.com Editors. “CORE.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/congress-of-racial-equality

This article gives a detailed history surrounding the founding of CORE and their goals in aiding the Civil Rights Movement and the peaceful protests they participated in which resulted in violence. It goes on to give more information surrounding what they do, however I didn’t use this as a main source of information.

5. History.com Editors. “SNCC.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Nov. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sncc

This article gives a detailed history surrounding the founding of SNCC. They were a non-violent group of young African Americans so they could have a voice in the Civil Rights Movement. Like the other articles from history.com I did not use this as my main source of information, just a few snippets.

6. “White Citizens’ Councils (WCC).” The Martin Luther King Jr., Research and Education Institute, 5 June 2018, https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/white-citizens-councils-wcc

This website gives a biography on the WCC starting with the Brown V. Board decision. I used this to find an example of casualties at the hands of WCC members. In this case, it was Medgar Evers, local chairman of the NAACP.

7. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Southern Christian Leadership Conference.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 12 Feb. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Southern-Christian-Leadership-Conference

This website provides background information regarding the SCLC and its founding. Like the other groups it played a critical role in the Civil Rights Movement through carefully coordinated non-violent teaching opportunities and at times protest rallies such as the March on Washington.

8. American Public Media. “American RadioWorks – State of Siege: Mississippi Whites and the Civil Rights Movement.” APM Reports – Investigations and Documentaries from American Public Media, http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/mississippi/e1.html

This article details the White Knights of the KKK in Mississippi and the amount of violence they were responsible for throughout the 1960’s, led by Edward L. McDaniel. There is an insight given as to what it was like for African Americans living in Mississippi and the danger they were in at the hands of the local chapter of the Klan.

9. “Murder in Mississippi.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-murder/

This article discusses the deaths of three CORE members traveling through Mississippi: Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Henry Schwerner. After being jailed and forced to pay a fine for a speeding ticket, they were followed by the KKK and brutally murdered.

10. Niekerken, Bill Van. “The Death of a Black Panther: 50 Years after Bobby Hutton’s Killing.” SFChronicle.com, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Apr. 2018, https://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/The-death-of-a-Black-Panther-50-years-after-12855923.php

This article is about the death of 17-year-old Bobby Hutton during a physical ambush from the Black Panther Party to the Oakland police. This set out to prove that despite the BPP’s claim of self-defense they are inclined to instigate violence, thus tarnishing their reputation far more than the media could have.

11. “1965 Selma to Montgomery March Fast Facts.” CNN, Cable News Network, 27 Feb. 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/us/1965-selma-to-montgomery-march-fast-facts/index.html

This describes briefly the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March in bullet points. It provides the three dates of the March that I was unable to find elsewhere and even provides a video of the March where you can clearly see protestors surrounded by tear gas.

#Civil Rights #Civil Rights Era #Civil Rights Movement #CRE #CRM #mlk jr #Malcolm X #KKK #SNCC #SCLC #WCC #NAACP #BPP #CORE #Equality #Race #Violence #Self-Defense #Non-Violence

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soto-translates · 7 years

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Saiyuki Ibun: Report Cards

Translating the Saiyuki Ibun character report cards from here:http://nitroblog.exblog.jp/22526276/

Saiyuki Ibun Report Cards Sanzo Priest succession candidates Group 1 (total: 11 people)

Mt. Byakuyou, Taisou Temple, representing all responsible parties Sensuu, Shousouzu*

HOUMEI　峯明 Born 8/29; age 22 Height: 175 cm / 5’9” Weight: 65 kg / 143 lbs

Academics: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★ 3 Gifted in memorization; extremely quick-witted. However, doesn’t remember anything he has no interest in. Physical: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★ 3 Lightness of body, execution of skills, and physical abilities are definitely not low. However, frequently skips drills whenever he has a mind to. Buddhist Skills: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10 Can instantly complete large skills without the need to intone mantras; has a comparatively rare genius. Behavior: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆★ 1 Daydreams, skips drills. Demeanor seems soft at first glance, but is only pretending to be polite; is far too bold. Understanding: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Appears to have a single strong thought. Seems to be calculating, but is possibly a natural idiot. Notes: His easy-going nature is hard to pin down. Foundation is strong and therefore does not bend in his thinking. Brilliant in everything, but behaves far too freely. Most problematic pupil on record. ※ Birth and background are largely unknown. Requires investigation. Total Score: 23 / 50 pts

TOUDAI　桃醍

Born 1/1; age 29 Height: 210 cm / 6’11” Weight: 121 kg / 267 lbs

Academics: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Foundation is solid; attendance is excellent. Still in the midst of studies as devotion to Buddhism came late. Physical: ☆★★★★★★★★★ 9 Extremely excellent power and spirit. However, physique is too large and is not flexible. Buddhist Skills: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Diligently practices fundamental Buddhist skills but, perhaps because he is conscious of his shortcomings, relies on physical abilities. Behavior: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10 Very excellent. Swiftly judges conditions; able to read the truth of the matter. Also, heavily trusted by his peers. Understanding: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Recognizes others’ personalities; possesses desired ability to be both hard and soft; however, is a man of strict morals. Notes: Lacks experience as a Buddhist monk, but works hard and has already achieved excellence. Has labored since he was young; is a natural leader who combines common sense, morals, and decorum. His lover’s suicide prompted his devotion to Buddhism; suffers from insomnia, unable to shed the emotional wounds from this incident. Total Score: 41 / 50 pts (excellent)

GENKAI　玄灰 Born 3/2; around 30 years old? Height: 90 cm / 2’11” Weight: 28 kg / 62 lbs

Academics: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Likes books and has extensive knowledge due to having seen both sides of the world, but Buddhist learning is still weak. Physical: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Body sense is extremely good; speed and execution of skills is excellent. However, physique is small and lacks power. Buddhist Skills: ☆★★★★★★★★★ 9 Mantra recall and chanting is unrivaled; skills are powerful. Has talent for concentration. Behavior: ☆☆☆★★★★★★★ 7 Dislikes fighting and is taciturn, but is often the origin of trouble due to being a youkai. Understanding: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Understands the world too well due to past experiences; it feels like he has gone beyond resignation and given up. Notes: Has the power to see the future and has never been wrong. Appears far younger than his true age and his usual behavior is close to that of a child, but internally has mature thoughts and decision-making capabilities. Extremely taciturn, perhaps because he is aware of the weight of his words as a seer. Total Score: 34 / 50 pts

DOUTAKU　道卓 Born 10/17; age 30 Height 186 cm / 6’1” Weight: 85 kg / 187 lbs

Academics: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Excellent recall. However, is not motivated to expand his knowledge on his own. Physical: ☆★★★★★★★★★ 9 Has a trained and lean body; excels in skills requiring power. Imaginative in actual combat. Buddhist Skills: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Mastered all basics; skills are reasonably powerful. Good at attacking. Behavior: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Rough behavior usually stands out, but surprisingly values propriety and is punctual. Heavily trusted by those around him. Understanding: ☆☆☆★★★★★★★ 7 Extremely virtuous but places too much priority on boosting up other people. Lacking something in a decisive ego. Notes: In opposition to his rough behavior, he is a model apprentice monk and is trusted by not only his contemporaries but by his elders as well. Values his experiences and handles everything cleverly, but sometimes does not wish to improve. Appears that aiming to become the next Sanzo was not his own wish. Total Score: 40 / 50 pts (excellent)

SEIRAN　青藍 Born 2/14; age 28 Height: 179 cm / 5’10” Weight: 74 kg / 163 lbs

Academics: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10 Extremely brilliant and above reproach. Has covered even scriptures from other sects, and never boasts. Physical: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Excellent. Able to make calm decisions, but isn’t always able to apply them. Spirit is strong; staying power is excellent. Buddhist Skills: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Excellent and exemplary. However, like the physical abilities, isn’t always able to apply Buddhist skills. Has no individualism. Behavior: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10 Extremely serious and exemplary. Values the canon above all, able to make calm decisions. Understanding: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Has charged himself with always making the “correct decision”; hard-headedness stands out. Notes: Raised and trained by Sousui Sanzo. Brilliant and exemplary in everything, but is a neat freak who is too harsh on both others and himself. Thus his interaction with others (other than Doutaku) is weak. Prideful, but able to evaluate himself calmly. Total Score: 42 / 50 (excellent)

JYOUAN　蝶庵 Born: 9/28; age 24 Height: 173 cm / 5’8” Weight: 62 kg / 137 lbs

Academics: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Average. Diligent in his own way but his habit of gazing into a mirror during lectures is unnecessary. Physical: ☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★★ 4 Avoids getting injured to an extreme extent; lacks aggressiveness in exercises. Comparatively violent, for all that. Buddhist Skills: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Buddhist power stands out; skills are reliably effective. Forte is original and unique skills. Behavior: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Appears confident in his own aesthetics but his actions are coarse and shabby. Submissive towards lecturers. Understanding: ☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★★ 4 Problems are his looking down on others and the vulgarities he voices. However, has a straight-forward nature and doesn’t lie to himself. Notes: Doesn’t hide his greed, perhaps because he was born in an area ravaged by war and experienced a childhood plagued by hunger. However, impressed by the image of the previous Sanzo who saved his village, he is serious in his stance aiming to be the next Sanzo. Increasingly hates to lose; a considerably hard worker. Total Score: 28 / 50 pts

GANPUKU　丸福 Born: 5/13; age 22 Height: 165 cm / 5’5” Weight: 76 kg / 168 lbs

Academics: ☆☆☆★★★★★★★ 7 Buddhist studies are a bit below average, but is exceedingly bright in only language, math, and economics. Physical: ☆☆☆★★★★★★★ 7 Rather stout and short in stature, but quite muscular. Powerful and surprisingly agile. Buddhist Skills: ☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★★ 4 Not very skilled. He himself admits he concentrates more on counting money than on the mantras. Behavior: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Faults are his tendency to simply go along with others and to steal food without permission. Understanding: ☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★★ 4 Doesn’t sugar-coat his words and only has eyes for food and money, but is a likable mood-maker. Notes: Parents are peddlers from the Western continent; he himself has the physical traits and accent of a foreigner. Because of this, both parents and child experienced discrimination, and it seems he wishes to overcome his complexes and to remove prejudice by achieving the status of highest-ranking monk. Total Score: 28 / 50 pts

RYUUZEN　隆善 Born: 7/24; age 29 Height: 180 cm / 5’11” Weight: 65 kg / 143 lbs

Academics: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10 Broad intelligence that spans many qualifications. Known as the “walking dictionary” and “talking manual”. Physical: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆★ 1 Has no staying power or ability to act suddenly; severely lacking in body movement sense. Buddhist Skills: ☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★★ 4 Ability to concentrate is strong; diligently applies himself. However, tends to lose concentration in sudden situations. Behavior: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Values the canon and cooperation, but is the silent type. Awfully weak against accidents. Understanding: ☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★★ 4 Prideful; not good at recognizing others’ abilities. Thus is not very trusted by others. Notes: Called a “child prodigy”; self-identifies as having acquired numerous qualifications. As such has challenged himself with the exams to succeed the highest-ranking monk, Priest Sanzo. Fundamentally a hard worker, but his faults are seriously dwelling on small or prideful matters, and also his tendency to show off. Total Score: 27 / 50 pts

SHOUUN　抄雲 Born: 12/12; age 24 Height: 170 cm / 5’7” Weight: 66 kg / 146 lbs

Academics: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★ 3 It’s apparent that he is earnestly trying, but it is also plain that he is not good at studying. Physical: ☆☆☆★★★★★★★ 7 Small stature, but has staying power and guts. Not learning the katas and devolving into a brawl-like style is a problem. Buddhist Skills: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Memorization of mantras is exceedingly slow, but execution of memorized skills is reliably swift; success rate is fairly high. Behavior: ☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★★ 4 Attempts to value the morals of an apprentice monk and the canon, but cannot hide his naturally rough behavior. Understanding: ☆☆☆☆☆★★★★★ 5 Tends to jump to conclusions based on feelings, but is fundamentally a man who thinks of his peers and hates duplicity. Notes: Applied to succeed Sanzo in order to rebuild the old mountain temple where he was raised. Before leaving his home he rebelled against his parents, became a delinquent and dirtied his hands with wrong doings, but reformed himself after his father’s passing. Three convictions of theft and injury. Currently is still rough around the edges, but is very serious in his training. Total Score: 25 / 50 pts

GICHOU　義兆 Born: 4/10; age 34 Height: 178 cm / 5’10” Weight: 75 kg / 165 lbs

Academics: ☆☆☆☆☆★★★★★ 5 Studies seriously but tends to spin in place. Achieves neither good nor bad grades. Physical: ☆☆☆★★★★★★★ 7 Physical power is above average and reflexes are on the high side. However, tends to favor moves from the pro wrestling he is interested in. Buddhist Skills: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★ 3 Lacks concentration. Perhaps he simply fails to properly complete his skills, but often executes unnecessary or useless techniques. Behavior: ☆☆☆☆★★★★★★ 6 Tries to fulfill the duties of an apprentice monk very seriously, but has no composure and is uselessly noisy. Understanding: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★ 3 His passion is fine, but tends to force his enthusiasm on others and is generally unable to read the atmosphere. Notes: Has a wife and young daughter, but they separated before he became a monk. While he stands out as being a subpar monk, he does have natural “strong luck” and time after time has easily escaped dangerous situations using only this luck. Very positive and strong-spirited, but easily moved to tears. Total Score: 24 / 50 pts

SOUJIN　宗迅 Born 6/4; age 61 Height: 175 cm / 5’9” Weight: 78 kg / 172 lbs

Academics: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Devoted himself to Buddhism when he was near 60 years old, but is diligent and originally quite learned. Well-informed in various trivial matters. Physical: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Lacks agility but has stability in his legs and hips; has as much strength and staying power as the younger monks. Buddhist Skills: ☆☆☆★★★★★★★ 7 High level of concentration; acceptably manages an average level. Specializes in defensive rather than offensive maneuvers. Behavior: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Perhaps because of his age, lacks zeal and aggressiveness, but is skilled at stepping back from a situation before making a decision. Understanding: ☆☆★★★★★★★★ 8 Lends his support from the sides without standing out; makes use of his rich life experiences and is relied on by his peers. Notes: Taison Temple’s eldest apprentice monk, but has a well-trained body in opposition to his gentle bearing and age. Has had various types of jobs until now (too many to believe); rich in knowledge and experience; is flexible, good-natured, and composed. Wife passed away several years ago. Total Score: 39 / 50 pts

*Sensuu（線秀）= Monk’s name. I went with the most likely pronunciation, since pronunciation wasn’t written. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know! Shousouzu（少僧都）= One of the rankings of monks. I couldn’t find an English equivalent. Again, if anyone knows, please let me know!

#saiyuki #saiyuki ibun #translation

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gordonwilliamsweb · 4 years

Text

Making Gyms Safer: Why the Virus Is Less Likely to Spread There Than in a Bar

After shutting down in the spring, America’s empty gyms are beckoning a cautious public back for a workout. To reassure wary customers, owners have put in place — and now advertise — a variety of coronavirus control measures. At the same time, the fitness industry is trying to rehabilitate itself by pushing back against what it sees as a misleading narrative that gyms have no place during a pandemic.

In the first months of the coronavirus outbreak, most public health leaders advised closing gyms, erring on the side of caution. As infections exploded across the country, states ordered gyms and fitness centers closed, along with restaurants, movie theaters and bars. State and local officials consistently branded gyms as high-risk venues for infection, akin to bars and nightclubs.

In early August, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called gym-going a “dangerous activity,” saying he would keep them shut — only to announce later in the month that most gyms could reopen in September at a third of the capacity and under tight regulations.

New York, New Jersey and North Carolina were among the last state holdouts — only recently allowing fitness facilities to reopen. Many states continue to limit capacity and have instituted new requirements.

The benefits of gyms are clear. Regular exercise staves off depression and improves sleep, and staying fit may be a way to avoid a serious case of COVID-19. But there are clear risks, too: Lots of people moving around indoors, sharing equipment and air, and breathing heavily could be a recipe for easy viral spread. There are scattered reports of coronavirus cases traced back to specific gyms. But gym owners say those are outliers and argue the dominant portrayal overemphasizes potential dangers and ignores their brief but successful track record of safety during the pandemic.

A Seattle gym struggles to comply with new rules and survive

At NW Fitness in Seattle, everything from a set of squats to a run on the treadmill requires a mask. Every other cardio machine is off-limits. The owners have marked up the floor with blue tape to show where each person can work out.

Esmery Corniel, a member, has resumed his workout routine with the punching bag.

“I was honestly just losing my mind,” said Corniel, 27. He said he feels comfortable in the gym with its new safety protocols.

“Everybody wears their mask, everybody socially distances, so it’s no problem here at all,” Corniel said.

There’s no longer the usual morning “rush” of people working out before heading to their jobs.

Under Washington state’s coronavirus rules, only about 10 to 12 people at a time are permitted in this 4,000-square-foot gym.

“It’s drastically reduced our ability to serve our community,” said John Carrico. He and his wife, Jessica, purchased NW Fitness at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, the cost of running the businesses has gone up dramatically. The gym now needs to be staffed round-the-clock to keep up with the frequent cleaning requirements, and to ensure people are wearing masks and following the rules.

Keeping the gym open 24/7 — previously a big selling point for members — is no longer feasible. In the past three months, they’ve lost more than a third of their membership.

“If the trend continues, we won’t be able to stay open,” said Jessica Carrico, who also works as a nurse at a homeless shelter run by Harborview Medical Center.

Given her medical background, Jessica Carrico was initially inclined to trust the public health authorities who ordered all gyms to shut down, but gradually her feelings changed.

“Driving around the city, I’d still see lines outside of pot shops and Baskin-Robbins,” she said. “The arbitrary decision that had been made was very clear, and it became really frustrating.”

Even after gyms in the Seattle area were allowed to reopen, their frustrations continued — especially with the strict cap on operating capacity. The Carricos believe that falls hardest on smaller gyms that don’t have much square footage.

“People want this space to be safe, and will self-regulate,” said John Carrico. He believes he could responsibly operate with twice as many people inside as currently allowed. Public health officials have mischaracterized gyms, he added, and underestimated their potential to operate safely.

“There’s this fear-based propaganda that gyms are a cesspool of coronavirus, which is just super not true,” Carrico said.

Gyms seem less risky than bars. But there’s very little research either way

The fitness industry has begun to push back at the pandemic-driven perceptions and prohibitions. “We should not be lumped with bars and restaurants,” said Helen Durkin, an executive vice president for the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA).

John Carrico called the comparison with bars particularly unfair. “It’s almost laughable. I mean, it’s almost the exact opposite. … People here are investing in their health. They’re coming in, they’re focusing on what they’re trying to do as far as their workout. They’re not socializing, they’re not sitting at a table and laughing and drinking.”

Since the pandemic began, many gyms have overhauled operations and now look very different: Locker rooms are often closed and group classes halted. Many gyms check everyone for symptoms upon arrival. They’ve spaced out equipment and begun intensive cleaning regimes.

Gyms have a big advantage over other retail and entertainment venues, Durkin said, because the membership model means those who may have been exposed in an outbreak can be easily contacted.

A company that sells member databases and software to gyms has been compiling data during the pandemic. (The data, drawn from 2,877 gyms, is by no means comprehensive because it relies on gym owners to self-report incidents in which a positive coronavirus case was detected at the gym, or was somehow connected to the gym.) The resultant report said that the overall “visits to virus” ratio of 0.002% is “statistically irrelevant” because only 1,155 cases of coronavirus were reported among more than 49 million gym visits. Similarly, data collected from gyms in the United Kingdom found only 17 cases out of more than 8 million visits in the weeks after gyms reopened there.

Only a few U.S. states have publicly available information on outbreaks linked to the fitness sector, and those states report very few cases. In Louisiana, for example, the state has identified five clusters originating in “gym/fitness settings,” with a total of 31 cases. None of the people died. By contrast, 15 clusters were traced to “religious services/events,” sickening 78, and killing five of them.

“The whole idea that it’s a risky place to be … around the world, we just aren’t seeing those numbers anywhere,” said IHRSA’s Durkin.

A study from South Korea published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is often cited as evidence of the inherent hazards of group fitness activities.

The study traced 112 coronavirus infections to a Feb. 15 training workshop for fitness dance instructors. Those instructors went on to teach classes at 12 sports facilities in February and March, transmitting the virus to students in the dance classes, but also to co-workers and family members.

But defenders of the fitness industry point out that the outbreak began before South Korea instituted social distancing measures.

The study authors note that the classes were crowded and the pace of the dance workouts was fast, and conclude that “intense physical exercise in densely populated sports facilities could increase the risk for infection” and “should be minimized during outbreaks.” They also found that no transmission occurred in classes with fewer than five people, or when an infected instructor taught “lower-intensity” classes such as yoga and Pilates.

Public health experts continue to urge gym members to be cautious

It’s clear that there are many things gym owners — and gym members — can do to lower the risk of infection at a gym, but that doesn’t mean the risk is gone. Infectious disease doctors and public health experts caution that gyms should not downplay their potential for spreading disease, especially if the coronavirus is widespread in the surrounding community.

“There are very few [gyms] that can actually implement all the infection control measures,” said Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease epidemiologist in Phoenix. “That’s really the challenge with gyms: There is so much variety that it makes it hard to put them into a single box.”

Popescu and two colleagues developed a COVID-19 risk chart for various activities. Gyms were classified as “medium high,” on par with eating indoors at a restaurant or getting a haircut, but less risky than going to a bar or riding public transit.

Popescu acknowledges there’s not much recent evidence that gyms are major sources of infection, but that should not give people a false sense of assurance.

“The mistake would be to assume that there is no risk,” she said. “It’s just that a lot of the prevention strategies have been working, and when we start to loosen those, though, is where you’re more likely to see clusters occur.”

Any location that brings people together indoors increases the risk of contracting the coronavirus, and breathing heavily adds another element of risk. Interventions such as increasing the distance between cardio machines might help, but tiny infectious airborne particles can travel farther than 6 feet, Popescu said.

The mechanics of exercising also make it hard to ensure people comply with crucial preventive measures like wearing a mask.

“How effective are masks in that setting? Can they really be effectively worn?” asked Dr. Deverick Anderson, director of the Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention. “The combination of sweat and exertion is one unique thing about the gym setting.”

“I do think that, in the big picture, gyms would be riskier than restaurants because of the type of activity and potential for interaction there,” Anderson said.

The primary way people could catch the virus at a gym would be coming close to someone who is releasing respiratory droplets and smaller airborne particles, called “aerosols,” when they breathe, talk or cough, said Dr. Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Health.

He’s less worried about people catching the virus from touching a barbell or riding a stationary bike that someone else used. That’s because scientists now think “surface” transmission isn’t driving infection as much as airborne droplets and particles.

“I’m not really worried about transmission that way,” Blumberg said. “There’s too much attention being paid to disinfecting surfaces and ‘deep cleaning,’ spraying things in the air. I think a lot of that’s just for show.”

Blumberg said he believes gyms can manage the risks better than many social settings like bars or informal gatherings.

“A gym where you can adequately social distance and you can limit the number of people there and force mask-wearing, that’s one of the safer activities,” he said.

Adapting to the pandemic’s prohibitions doesn’t come cheap

In Bellevue, Washington, PRO Club is an enormous, upscale gym with spacious workout rooms — and an array of medical services such as physical therapy, hormone treatments, skin care and counseling. PRO Club has managed to keep the gym experience relatively normal for members since reopening, according to employee Linda Rackner. “There is plenty of space for everyone. We are seeing about 1,000 people a day and have capacity for almost 3,000,” Rackner said. “We’d love to have more people in the club.”

The gym uses the same air-cleaning units as hospital ICUs, deploys ultraviolet robots to sanitize the rooms and requires temperature checks to enter. “I feel like we have good compliance,” said Dean Rogers, one of the personal trainers. “For the most part, people who come to a gym are in it for their own health, fitness and wellness.”

But Rogers knows this isn’t the norm everywhere. In fact, his own mother back in Oklahoma believes she contracted the coronavirus at her gym.

“I was upset to find out that her gym had no guidelines they were following, no safety precautions,” he said. “There are always going to be some bad actors.”

This story is part of a partnership that includes NPR and Kaiser Health News. Carrie Feibel, an editor for the NPR-KHN reporting partnership, contributed to this story.

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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stephenmccull · 4 years