Month: December 2017

Apple Acknowledges Taking Action to Slow Down Older iPhones

Posted on 12/21/2017 by Cobiz

Apple, the American multi-national technology company, has acknowledged it has taken action that slows the performance of its older iPhones.

After Primate Labs, which makes an application that measures the speed of iPhone processors, disclosed data Monday that seemingly showed the iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 models perform slower as they aged, Apple addressed the claims two days later.

Apple said it released software last year that makes those models operate more slowly to countervail problems with their aging lithium ion batteries, which can sometimes cause operational problems or cause phones to unexpectedly shut down.

The technology giant said the reason for the updated software was to provide better power management capabilities, which also slows down the phones, to prevent them from shutting down.

One solution to a slower, older iPhone would be to buy a new battery instead of a new phone. Apple charges $79 to replace the battery if the phone is no longer covered by a warranty. Owners can also purchase a kit to replace the battery. But the company has long been criticized by repair advocates for making the batteries difficult for users to replace on their own.
…

A Shoe James Bond Would Be Proud Of

Posted on 12/21/2017 by Cobiz

For every person who just loves James Bond, it’s the perfect gift. A very nice, stylish pair of shoes, that just happen to be full of high-tech hidden compartments. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
…

Fans Say Farewell to S. Korean Singer Who Died in Suspected Suicide

Posted on 12/21/2017 by Corts

Grief-stricken fans braved Seoul’s winter cold on Thursday to bid farewell to Kim Jong-hyun, the lead singer of top South Korean boy band SHINee, who died in hospital in a suspected suicide.

Weeping, wailing and embracing one another, young men and women dressed in grey and black lined the road as the hearse carrying Kim’s coffin left the hospital.

“I am so sad that I cannot even cry. My heart aches so much”, 18-year-old Chinese fan Chen Jialin said.

Fellow singers, including SHINee’s Minho and members of bands Super Junior and Girls’ Generation, joined the funeral procession.

Kim, 27, was found unconscious next to burning briquettes on a frying pan inside a serviced residence in Seoul on Monday, police told Reuters.

Yonhap news agency had reported that the singer sent a final message to his sister asking her to “let me go.”

Kim spent nearly a decade as one of five members of SHINee, one of the most popular bands in the country, as well as a solo artist. His death was a massive blow to the worldwide fan base that Korea’s K-pop music has attracted in recent years.

K-pop is the rage in Asia and other continents, with a song by the group BTS maintaining a spot on the Billboard 200 for seven weeks as of the end of November.
…

New York Gets Ready for Christmas

Posted on 12/21/2017 by Corts

Cities around the United States are getting ready for Christmas. And when it comes to the season’s decorations, New York City stands out for turning Manhattan’s streets into a big, dazzling holiday display. Faiza Elmasry has this report narrated by Faith Lapidus.
…

Thailand Battles Drug-Resistant Malaria Strains

Posted on 12/21/2017 by Cosc

While progress has been made against malaria, the mosquito-borne disease kills more than 420,000 people each year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Now, drug-resistant malaria strains in Southeast Asia could threaten the global fight against the disease. VOA’s Faith Lapidus reports.
…

Clifford Irving, Author of Howard Hughes Literary Hoax, Dies at 87

Posted on 12/21/2017 by Corts

Clifford Irving, whose scheme to publish a phony autobiography of billionaire Howard Hughes created a sensation in the 1970s and stands as one of the all-time literary hoaxes, died after being admitted to hospice care. He was 87.

Irving’s wife, Julie Irving, confirmed that he died Tuesday at a hospice near his Sarasota home, The New York Times reported. She said he had been admitted there after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about a week earlier.

A novelist of little note in 1971, Irving conned McGraw-Hill publishers into paying him a $765,000 advance for a book about the reclusive Hughes. His elaborate ruse became the subject of the 2006 movie “The Hoax,” starring Richard Gere.

Irving served 17 months in federal prison for fraud after Hughes emerged to condemn the work as a fabrication. The bogus autobiography wasn’t published until 1999, when it was printed as a private edition.

‘It became an adventure’

The scam “was exciting. It was a challenge. It became an adventure,” Irving told the Los Angeles Times in 2007.

The International Herald Tribune called the fake autobiography “the most famous unpublished book of the 20th century.” Time magazine dubbed Irving “Con Man of the Year” in a 1972 cover story.

Irving said the idea of fabricating an autobiography of Hughes came to him after reading a magazine article about the billionaire’s eccentric lifestyle. Hughes’ hermit-like obsession with his privacy all but guaranteed that the “gorgeous literary caper” would succeed, Irving wrote in “The Hoax,” his 2006 account of the scheme.

“Hughes would never be able to surface to deny it, or else he wouldn’t bother,” he wrote.

Rising skepticism

At the time of the hoax, Hughes had long withdrawn from his life as a powerful industrialist, aviator and filmmaker. He reportedly lived the final 10 years of his life, from 1966 to 1976, in near-total seclusion, even neglecting personal hygiene to avoid contact with the outside world.

Hughes’ intense aversion to publicity gave rise to skepticism about Irving’s claims to have interviewed the billionaire.

Irving insisted that he had several clandestine meetings with Hughes. He submitted to a lie-detector test and produced documents purportedly from the billionaire, including a handwritten letter written to McGraw-Hill.

The letter, forged by Irving, was deemed authentic by handwriting analysts hired by McGraw-Hill. At that point, the publisher decided to move forward with the book.

Irving put the cash advance into a Swiss bank account, opened in the name Helga R. Hughes.

The unraveling

The deception unraveled when investigative reporter James Phelan, writing a book about Hughes, recognized passages of his work in an excerpt from Irving’s manuscript of the autobiography.

Hughes himself then surfaced to conduct a telephone conference with reporters during which he repudiated Irving’s story and said that he never met him. His lawyer sued Irving and his publisher.

At the urging of McGraw-Hill, Swiss authorities investigated the Helga R. Hughes bank account and learned that the deposits had been made by Irving’s wife, Edith.

Irving and his collaborator, Richard Suskind, were indicted on fraud charges and were found guilty in June 1972. In addition to his prison term, Irving returned the $765,000 advance to McGraw-Hill. Suskind was sentenced to six months and served five.

Edith Irving served a total of 16 months in U.S. and Swiss jails for fraud. She left jail announcing her intent to file for divorce.

Irving was unhappy with the movie version of his escapades and asked to have his name removed from the credits as a technical adviser.

“Movie Clifford has the energy of a not-too-bright psychopath. If I were that man, I’d shoot myself,” he wrote on his website. “The movie is best thought of as a hoax.”

Background, books

Born in 1930, Irving grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He attended public schools and his boyhood friends included William Safire, the late columnist and speechwriter for President Richard Nixon.

He attended Cornell University and stayed on for a year after graduation in 1951 on a creative writing fellowship. He worked odd jobs after leaving academia and traveled to Europe, where he finished his first novel, “On a Darkling Plain.”

He moved in 1962 to an artists’ colony on the island of Ibiza off the east coast of Spain. It was there that he wrote “Fake!” the story of art forger Elmyr de Hory. The reviews of the book were favorable, but it sold fewer than 30,000 copies.

In all, Irving wrote more than a dozen books. In recent years, he and fifth wife Julie lived in Mexico, Colorado and Florida.
…

Overdose Deaths Soar, Cut Life Expectancy for 2nd Year

Posted on 12/21/2017 by Cosc

U.S. deaths from drug overdoses skyrocketed 21 percent last year, and for the second straight year dragged down how long Americans are expected to live.

The government figures released Thursday put drug deaths at 63,600, up from about 52,000 in 2015. For the first time, the powerful painkiller fentanyl and its close opioid cousins played a bigger role in the deaths than any other legal or illegal drug, surpassing prescription pain pills and heroin.

“This is urgent and deadly,” said Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The opioid epidemic “clearly has a huge impact on our entire society.”

Opioids behind two-thirds of deaths

Two-thirds of last year’s drug deaths, about 42,000, involved opioids, a category that includes heroin, methadone, prescription pain pills like OxyContin, and fentanyl. Fatal overdoses that involved fentanyl and fentanyl-like drugs doubled in one year, to more than 19,000, mostly from illegally made pills or powder, which is often mixed with heroin or other drugs.

Heroin was tied to 15,500 deaths and prescription painkillers to 14,500 deaths. The balance of the overdose deaths involved sedatives, cocaine and methamphetamines. More than one drug is often involved in an overdose death.

The highest drug death rates were in ages 25 to 54.

Preliminary 2017 figures show the rise in overdose deaths continuing.

Life expectancy 78 years, 7 months

The drug deaths weigh into CDC’s annual calculation of the average time a person is expected to live. The life expectancy figure is based on the year of their birth, current death trends and other factors. For decades, it was on the upswing, rising a few months nearly every year. But last year marked the first time in more than a half century that U.S. life expectancy fell two consecutive years.

A baby born last year in the U.S. is expected to live about 78 years and 7 months, on average, the CDC said. An American born in 2015 was expected to live about a month longer and one born in 2014 about two months longer than that.

The dip in 2015 was blamed on drug deaths and an unusual upturn in the death rate for the nation’s leading killer, heart disease. Typically, life expectancy goes back up after a one-year decline, said Robert Anderson, who oversees the CDC’s death statistics. The last time there was a two-year drop was 1962-1963. It also happened twice in the 1920s.

“If we don’t get a handle on this,” he said, “we could very well see a third year in a row. With no end in sight.”

Flu pandemic

A three-year decline happened in 1916, 1917 and 1918, which included the worst flu pandemic in modern history.

Overall, there were more than 2.7 million U.S. deaths in 2016, or about 32,000 more than the previous year. It was the most deaths in a single year since the government has been counting. That partly reflects the nation’s growing and aging population. But death rates last year continued to go down for people who are 65 and older while going up for all younger adults, those most affected by the opioid epidemic.

The CDC also reported:

• West Virginia continued to be the state with highest drug overdose death rate, with a rate of 52 deaths per 100,000 state residents in 2016. Ohio and New Hampshire were next, both at about 39 per 100,000.

• Life expectancy for men decreased, but it held steady for women. That increased the gender gap to five years; about 76 for men and 81 for women.

• U.S. death rates decreased for seven of the 10 leading causes of death, but rose for suicide, Alzheimer’s disease and for a category called unintentional injuries, which includes drug overdoses.

• Accidental injuries displaced chronic lower respiratory diseases to become the nation’s third leading cause of death. Contributing were increases in deaths from car crashes and falls.

• Gun deaths rose for a second year, to nearly 39,000. They had been hovering around 33,500 deaths a few years ago.

The United States ranks below dozens of other high-income countries in life expectancy, according to the World Bank. Highest is Japan, at nearly 84 years.

“The fact that U.S. has basically stagnated over the past seven years, and now we’re seeing small declines, is a real sign that the U.S. is doing badly,” said Jessica Ho, a University of Southern California researcher who studies death trends.
…

US Youth Conservation Group Enjoys Holiday Cheer

Posted on 12/21/2017 by Corts

Throughout the year, young members of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps beautify the city — cleaning and planting trees, and creating trails and green spaces in the city. They get a break at the holidays to share holiday cheer.

“We all come together to have fun,” says Corps member Chrishana Cameron, 21, who was enjoying the festivities at one of the Corps’ job sites. “It’s not always about work,” she said of the holiday celebration.

Some members bring their young children. Others bring parents, brothers and sisters, and the youngsters all receive presents from Santa Claus.

The nonprofit organization helps young people at risk, says staff member Alex Lopez, a senior program director who once belonged to a street gang and served five years in prison.

“I made a mistake,” he says, “but I use that as a tool to reach out to the young people and let them know that I’ve been there, done that.”

Lopez joined the Corps in 1991. He was later hired to a staff job and became a supervisor.

“Whatever they’re going through,” he says of the young recruits, “I use my experience to lead them in the right direction.”

The program combines job training and education. “I dropped out of high school,” recalls staff member Denise Haynes, who grew up in the Watts neighborhood. I made some bad choices in my life, but I didn’t know you can turn all those things around.” After joining the Corps in 1997, she completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

The LA Conservation Corps was founded in 1986 by Mickey Kantor, a Los Angeles lawyer who would later serve as U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton. Modeled on the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, it is one of many groups that offer job training and a second chance to 26,000 young people around the United States.

There are many kinds of youth corps, says Jimmie Cho, LA Conservation Corps board chairman. Some focus on the city, and others on rural regions. Cho says “it’s really all about service and working to invest in other people.”

Corps members in Los Angeles say the work is hard but rewarding, and the holidays are a time to celebrate their accomplishments with co-workers and family.
…

Laurie Metcalf Gets her First Oscars Shot With ‘Lady Bird’

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Corts

Laurie Metcalf has won three Emmys and a Tony Award in her nearly 40-year year career, but the veteran stage and screen actress still feels uncomfortable in front of a camera.

She says even after all her years on “Roseanne,” she still finds that a camera recording her makes her feel inhibited.

Metcalf is also feeling out of her element as a serious Academy Award contender for her role in the film “Lady Bird,” in which she plays the mother to a 17-year-old daughter who is going through a selfish phase.

The 62-year-old actress has already gotten supporting actress nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, the Golden Globe Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards. She says she’s flattered by the attention, which she also calls surreal. And on January 23, she might add the coveted Oscar nomination to her resume too.
…

Militants in Lake Chad Region Block Polio Program

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Cosc

Scientists warn a campaign to eradicate polio in central Africa is falling short because of upheaval in the Lake Chad Basin area, where the Boko Haram militant group remains active. On the positive side, on country – Gabon – has been declared polio-free.

Professor Rose Leke, who heads the Africa Regional Certification Commission for polio eradication, says Central Africa has seen no cases of polio in the past 15 months. But, she adds, scientists cannot be sure the polio virus has been eradicated in the region.

Leke says medical teams find it difficult getting access to conflict zones in Mali, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and parts of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

“DRC has circulating polio viruses, so many of them. We are worried about the country and so we have specific recommendations also for DRC and for all the others. We are still very concerned about the Lake Chad basin area, the Borno [state in Nigeria] area where we do not know what is happening there. I think that is a concern for the entire world,” she said.

Leke says polio cases have decreased by more than 99 percent in the past 30 years, from an estimated 350,000 per year to just 37 reported cases in 2016.

She says as a result of the global effort to eradicate the disease, more than 16 million people have been saved from paralysis.

According to the United Nations, once a case of polio is recorded, it takes three years of no other case to declare the zone polio-free. Gabon recently reached that goal.

Gabon’s neighbor Cameroon has attained the status of “non-polio exporting country,” but is still considered a high-risk nation like other African states with an influx of refugees from conflict zones that health care workers mostly avoid.

But Alim Hayatou, Cameroon’s secretary of state in the ministry of health, says the country is also on track to be polio-free.

He says they have prepared an ambitious plan to make sure Cameroon eliminates polio by 2019.

Central African states have organized numerous inoculation campaigns, but more than 15 percent of children in the region remain unvaccinated due to cultural resistance, conflicts and illiteracy.
…

Chilled Music: Performer Makes Instruments Out of Ice

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Corts

While most musicians seek to avoid a frosty reception at concerts, for Norwegian composer and performer Terje Isungset a chilly feeling is nothing to fear: he performs with instruments he makes himself out of ice.

A recent performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall featured a set including ice horns, ice drums and an “iceofone” — an ice xylophone — accompanied by the vocal stylings of singer Maria Skranes.

He sees his work as being about more than making music, since he also aims to display the beauty and fragility of ice.

“I see it as a part of something bigger. It’s not me and my project and my ego — it’s the elements,” he told Reuters.

The Norwegian, equipped with a background in traditional Scandinavian music and jazz, makes his instruments using chainsaws and pick axes.

Founder of an ice music festival in Norway, Isungset plays at about 50 festivals and concerts a year, many in the cold conditions of Norway, Canada or Russia.

At concerts in warmer climes, however, hotter temperatures can pose difficulties, as spending any more than 50 minutes at room temperature could damage the instruments.

All of the instruments for the London show were made in Norway and shipped over in special containers, highlighting the fact that, when it comes to making ice instruments, not any old water will do.

“If ice is from polluted water it doesn’t sound that good. If it’s from tap water it doesn’t work because there’s some chemicals in it,” he said. The best ice, he said, was from 2003 in the north of Sweden, adding “I’m very interested in that ice.”
…

When It Comes to Holiday Cards, Which Celebs Do It Right?

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Corts

The Associated Press recently caught up with a few celebrities and asked them about their favorite holiday cards from fellow notables.

Hugh Jackman of The Greatest Showman wouldn’t name any names, but he said some cards are remarkable. He even rates them. Liam Neeson, who stars in The Commuter, really appreciates a certain sender every Christmas season: Steven Spielberg. Neeson said Spielberg has never forgotten his birthday or Christmas since the two did Schindler’s List together.

Rebecca Ferguson wasn’t shy about a little name dropping: Tom Cruise. Of her Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation co-star, she says he has a signature cake he sends for birthdays that he claims is healthy but really isn’t.
…

Survey: Rohingya Refugees Fear for Health, Safety

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Cosc

A survey by the U.N. refugee agency reveals heightened worries by the Rohingya refugee population in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh over their health and safety.

It has been nearly four months since the mass exodus of Rohingya refugees began from Myanmar into Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. More than 645,000 Rohingya who escaped violence and persecution in Myanmar are living in squalid, overcrowded settlements.

A survey by the U.N. refugee agency and 13 other organizations finds the refugees have developed strong support networks to help them cope with their difficulties.

UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says the refugees have many worries. They express concern about their safety, considering their weak shelter accommodations and poor lighting at night.

“Access to sanitation is still insufficient, leading sometimes to long queues for latrines,” said Mahecic. “Women and girls are anxious about the shortage of private bathing spaces, forcing some to wash outside their shelters in early morning hours.”

The survey finds some children have to walk long distances to fetch water and firewood, a situation that can put them at risk. Mahecic says both parents and children want access to education and more safe places for children to play. He says health services also are a major concern.

“Increased mental health support for those who have witnessed the killings or suffered torture or rape remains crucially needed,” said Mahecic. “Refugees cite continued feelings of depression and rejection, especially among the elderly and disabled. Many young people are worried about their uncertain future.”

Mahecic says the UNHCR will use the survey findings to improve its protection and assistance programs for the Rohingya in the coming year. He says the agency already has begun providing alternatives to firewood to address child labor and environmental concerns.

He says efforts also are under way to improve the hygiene and sanitary conditions for women and girls and to provide more child-friendly spaces where boys and girls can play in safety. Children account for more than half of the refugee population.

Health officials say the refugees are extremely vulnerable to diseases as they have low vaccination coverage and are living in congested, unsanitary settlements that are breeding grounds for infectious diseases.

EU Court Rules Uber Should be Regulated Like Taxi Service

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Cobiz

The European Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that ride-hailing company Uber should be regulated like a taxi service instead of a technology firm, a decision that limits its business operations in Europe.

The decision was handed down in response to a complaint from a Barcelona taxi drivers association, which tried to prevent Uber from expanding into the Spanish city. The drivers maintained that Uber drivers should be subject to authorizations and license requirements and accused the company of engaging in unfair competition.

The San Francisco-based Uber contends it should be regulated as an information services provider because it is based on a mobile application that links passengers to drivers.

The European Union’s highest court said services provided by Uber and similar companies are “inherently linked to a transport service” and therefore must be classified as “a service in the field of transport” under EU law.

The decision will impact ride-hailing companies in the 28-nation EU, where national governments can now regulate them as transportation services.

Uber attempted to downplay the decision, saying it only affects its operations in four countries and that it will move forward with plans to expand in Europe. But the company was previously forced to abandon its peer-to-peer service in several EU countries that connect freelance drivers with riders.
…

World Meteorological Org.: Arctic Warming Appears Irreversible

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Cosc

The World Meteorological Organization reports 2017 is on track to be among the three hottest years on record, just behind the two preceding years.

While 2017 may only emerge as the third warmest year on record, scientists predict it will beat out the competition for warmest year without a warming El Nino. These record setting years concern those who see this as a sure sign that climate change is happening at a quickened pace.

The WMO says the overall long-term warming trend since the late 1970s is worrying and cannot be ignored. The United Nations agency says rising temperatures are ushering in more extreme weather with huge socioeconomic impact.

WMO spokeswoman Claire Nullis says the warming conditions prevailing over both the Arctic and the Antarctic are very alarming. She says the Arctic is warming at about twice the rate of the global temperature increase.

“We are very, very concerned about the rate of warming in the Arctic,” she said. “There was an Arctic Report Card released last week. It said while 2017 saw fewer records shattered than in 2016, the Arctic shows no sign of returning to the reliably frozen region it was decades ago.”

The Arctic Report Card is a peer-reviewed report that brings together the work of 85 scientists from 12 nations.

WMO notes warmer than average temperatures dominated across much of the world’s land and ocean surfaces during November. It says the most notable temperature rises were across the Northern Hemisphere.

For example, it reports temperatures in northern Canada and northwestern Alaska were two degrees centigrade above the average, indicating a very pronounced warming at the Arctic.

EPA Says Superfund Task Force Left Behind Little Paper Trail

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Cosc

The Environmental Protection Agency says an internal task force appointed to revamp how the nation’s most polluted sites are cleaned up generated no record of its deliberations.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in May announced the creation of a Superfund Task Force that he said would reprioritize and streamline procedures for remediating more than 1,300 sites. Pruitt, the former attorney general of Oklahoma, appointed a political supporter from his home state with no experience in pollution cleanups to lead the group.

The task force in June issued a nearly three-dozen page report containing 42 detailed recommendations, all of which Pruitt immediately adopted. The advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, known as PEER, quickly filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking a long list of documents related to the development of Pruitt’s plan.

After EPA didn’t immediately release any records, PEER sued.

Now, nearly six months after the task force released its report, a lawyer for EPA has written PEER to say that the task force had no agenda for its meetings, kept no minutes and used no reference materials.

Further, there was no written criteria for selecting the 107 EPA employees the agency says served on the task force or background materials distributed to them during the deliberative process for creating the recommendations.

According to EPA, the task force also created no work product other than its final report.

“Pruitt’s plan for cleaning up toxic sites was apparently immaculately conceived, without the usual trappings of human parentage,” said Jeff Ruch, the executive direction of PEER. “It stretches credulity that 107 EPA staff members with no agenda or reference materials somehow wrote an intricate plan in 30 days.”

The task force was led by Albert “Kell” Kelly, whom Pruitt hired at EPA as a senior adviser. Kelly was previously the chairman of Tulsa-based SpiritBank, where he worked as an executive for 34 years.

The Associated Press reported in August that Kelly was barred by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from working for any U.S. financial institution after officials determined he violated laws or regulations, leading to a financial loss for his bank. The FDIC’s order didn’t detail what Kelly is alleged to have done. Without admitting wrongdoing, he agreed to pay a $125,000 penalty.
…

History Behind the Carol of the Bells

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Corts

The traditional Ukrainian Bell Carol has become an essential part of the American Christmas tradition. “Carol of the Bells” is a popular Christmas carol composed by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914 with lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky. The song is based on a Ukrainian folk chant called “Shchedryk.”
…

A Collision of Two Stars 1,800 Years Ago Will be Visible to Us in 2022

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Cosc

In the universe, particularly in our galaxy, there are a great number of multiple-stellar systems where two or more stars rotate around each other. In many of these systems, the stars collide – a phenomenon that has been familiar to astronomers for a long time. But scientists say a collision that happened almost two thousand years ago will soon be able to be seen with the naked eye. VOA’s Aram Vanetsyan has more.
…

Studying Music’s Healing Powers

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Cosc

“Music hath charms,” the saying goes, and it does have power, to make us happy, sad, or even ignite social change. But it also has healing powers, and researchers want to know how that works. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
…

Displaced by Mining, Peru Villagers Spurn Shiny New Town

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Coeco

This remote town in Peru’s southern Andes was supposed to serve as a model for how companies can help communities uprooted by mining.

Named Nueva Fuerabamba, it was built to house around 1,600 people who gave up their village and farmland to make room for a massive, open-pit copper mine.

The new hamlet boasts paved streets and tidy houses with electricity and indoor plumbing, once luxuries to the indigenous Quechua-speaking people who now call this place home.

The mine’s operator, MMG Ltd, the Melbourne-based unit of state-owned China Minmetals Corp, threw in jobs and enough cash so that some villagers no longer work.

But the high-profile deal has not brought the harmony sought by villagers or MMG, a testament to the difficulty in averting mining disputes in this mineral-rich nation.

Resource battles are common in Latin America, but tensions are particularly high in Peru, the world’s No. 2 producer of copper, zinc and silver. Peasant farmers have revolted against an industry that many see as damaging their land and livelihoods while denying them a fair share of the wealth.

Peru is home to 167 social conflicts, most related to mining, according to the national ombudsman’s office, whose mission includes defusing hostilities.

Nueva Fuerabamba was the centerpiece of one of the most generous mining settlements ever negotiated in Peru. But three years after moving in, many transplants are struggling amid their suburban-style conveniences, Reuters interviews with two dozen residents showed.

Many miss their old lives growing potatoes and raising livestock. Some have squandered their cash settlements. Idleness and isolation have dulled the spirits of a people whose ancestors were feared cattle rustlers.

“It is like we are trapped in a jail, in a cage where little animals are kept,” said Cipriano Lima, 43, a former farmer.

Meanwhile, the mine, known as Las Bambas, has remained a magnet for discontent. Clashes between demonstrators and authorities in 2015 and 2016 left four area men dead.

Nueva Fuerabamba residents have blocked copper transport roads to press for more financial help from MMG.

The company acknowledged the transition has been difficult for some villagers, but said most have benefited from improved housing, healthcare and education.

“Nueva Fuerabamba has experienced significant positive change,” Troy Hey, MMG’s executive general manager of stakeholder relations, said in an email to Reuters. MMG said it spent “hundreds of millions” on the relocation effort.

Mining is the driver of Peru’s economy, which has averaged 5.5 percent annual growth over the past decade. Still, pitched conflicts have derailed billions of dollars worth of investment in recent years, including projects by Newmont Mining and Southern Copper.

To defuse opposition, President Pablo Kuczynski has vowed to boost social services in rural highland areas, where nearly half of residents live in poverty.

But moving from conflict to cooperation is not easy after centuries of mistrust. Relocations are particularly fraught, according to Camilo Leon, a mining resettlement specialist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Subsistence farmers have struggled to adapt to the loss of their traditions and the “very urban, very organized” layout of planned towns, Leon said.

“It is generally a shock for rural communities,” Leon said.

At least six proposed mines have required relocations in Peru in the past decade, Leon said. Later this month, Peru will tender a $2-billion copper project, Michiquillay, which would require moving yet another village.

‘Everything is Money’

MMG inherited the Nueva Fuerabamba project when it bought Las Bambas from Switzerland’s Glencore Plc in 2014 for $7 billion.

Under terms of a deal struck in 2009 and reviewed by Reuters, villagers voted to trade their existing homes and farmland for houses in a new community. Heads of each household, about 500 in all, were promised mining jobs. University scholarships would be given to their children. Residents were to receive new land for farming and grazing, albeit in a parcel four hours away by car.

Cash was an added sweetener. Villagers say each household got 400,000 soles ($120,000), which amounts to a lifetime’s earnings for a minimum-wage worker in Peru.

MMG declined to confirm the payments, saying its agreements are confidential.

Built into a hillside 15 miles from the Las Bambas mine, Nueva Fuerabamba was the product of extensive community input, MMG said. Amenities include a hospital, soccer fields and a cement bull ring for festivals.

But some residents say the deal has not been the windfall they hoped. Their new two-and-three story houses, made of drywall, are drafty and appear flimsy compared to their old thatched-roof adobe cottages heated by wood-fired stoves, some said.

Many no longer plant crops or tend livestock because their replacement plots are too far away. Jobs provided by MMG mostly involve maintaining the town because most residents lack the skills to work in a modern mine.

Many villagers spent their settlements unwisely, said community president Alfonso Vargas. “Some invested in businesses but others did not. They went drinking,” he said.

Now basics like water, food and fuel – once wrested from the land – must be paid for.

“Everything is money,” Margot Portilla, 20, said as she cooked rice on a gas stove in her sister-in-law’s bright-yellow home. “Before we could make a fire for cooking with cow dung. Now we have to buy gas.”

Ghost Town

Some residents said they have benefited from the move.

The new town is cleaner than the old village, said Betsabe Mendoza, 25. She invested her settlement in a metalworking business in a bigger town.

Portilla, the young mom, says her younger sisters are getting a better education than she did.

Still, the streets of Nueva Fuerabamba were virtually deserted on a recent weekday. Vargas, the community leader, said many residents have returned to the countryside or sought work elsewhere.

Alcoholism, fueled by idle time and settlement money, is on the rise, he said.

Some villagers have committed suicide. Over the 12 months through July, four residents killed themselves by taking farming chemicals, according to the provincial district attorney’s office. It could not provide data on suicides in the old village of Fuerabamba.

MMG, citing an “independent” study done prior to the relocation, said the community previously suffered from high rates of domestic violence, alcoholism, illiteracy and poverty.

While the company considers the new town a success, it acknowledged the transition has not been easy for all.

“Connection to land, livelihood restoration and simple adaptation to new living conditions remain a challenge,” MMG said.

Nueva Fuerabamba residents continue pressuring the company for additional assistance. Demands include more jobs and deeds to their houses, which have yet to be delivered because of bureaucratic delays, said Godofredo Huamani, the community’s lawyer.

MMG said it stays apace of community needs through town hall meetings and has representatives on hand to field complaints.

While villagers fret about the future, many cling to the past. Flora Huamani, 39, a mother of four girls, recalled how women used to get together to weave wool from their own sheep into the embroidered black dresses they wear.

“Those were our traditions,” said Huamani from a bench in her walled front yard. “Now our tradition is meeting after meeting after meeting” to discuss the community’s problems.
…

Los Angeles Muralist Aims to Make a Big Mark

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Corts

Brushstroke by brushstroke, muralist Robert Vargas is telling the story of this changing metropolis, using the facade of a 14-story downtown apartment building as his canvas.

Vargas suggests the massive painting, an homage to his hometown, was inevitable.

He grew up in East Los Angeles “on a street called City View, and from my stoop, I had a clear sight line to the downtown L.A. skyline. So I think I was always destined to dream big and to paint big,” Vargas said. “I’m fulfilling my destiny.”

Vargas, of Mexican and Native American descent, began painting as a child. He studied at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, as well as New York’s Pratt Institute. His art has taken him from doing portraits on local streets to crafting scenes abroad — in Australia, Japan and, most recently, the United Arab Emirates. He showcases his work on an Instagram account that identifies him as “Artist based in Downtown Los Angeles, but for the world!”

The scale of Vargas’ painting has grown over time.

His current mural stretches more than 5,500 square meters (6,600 square yards) – painted freehand, without a preliminary grid or stencils. He works from the kind of adjustable platform used by window washers.

Vargas started painting the mural this summer and expects to finish it in early 2018. He’s touting it, in numerous media interviews, as the largest done by a single artist. Guinness World Records has “received an application on Robert’s behalf, but we have not received any further evidence for the claim,” a spokeswoman told VOA in an emailed response.

Hope and inclusion

Vargas’ mural depicts a multicultural metropolis.

“The message here is one of hope, one of inclusion, one of just kind of celebrating the diversity of Los Angeles – an allegory of the city, if you will,” he said.

His mural is ripe with symbolism, such as the image of a Native American girl.

She’s a Tongva Indian girl, one of “the original natives to inhabit the L.A. Basin,” Vargas explained. Another figure will depict Oscar De La Hoya, “an Olympic gold medal winner who has led the charge in bringing the Olympics back in 2028.”

De La Hoya, a lightweight boxer who won his medal in 1992, served on the committee that landed the future Summer Games for Los Angeles. Vargas will paint the boxer carrying an Olympic torch.

Angels for Los Angeles

The crowning figures for the mural, called “Angeles,” are three angels.

“One of the angels up there, the one at the very top, is actually a portrait of my mother, the first person to introduce me to downtown L.A.,” Vargas said.

Another was inspired by “a homeless woman [who] would hang out here every day,” said the painter, later explaining that he wants to recognize residents who are losing ground in a gentrifying area. “… That’s one way of uplifting someone through the creative process.”

The mural is giving Vargas a boost, too.

“I’m just really excited about painting something this big,” he said, “in the heart of the city where I grew up.”
…

Study: There’s No Fail-safe Way to Prevent Dementia

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Cosc

A new study has dashed hopes that people may be able to protect themselves from dementia through medicine, diet or exercise.

“To put it simply, all evidence indicates that there is no magic bullet,” Dr. Eric Larson wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study outlined in the medical journal looked at four types of intervention to try to prevent dementia — prescription drugs, exercise, cognitive training, and nonprescription vitamins and supplements.

Researchers found none worked.

The Lancet, a British medical journal, reported earlier this year that about one-third of dementia cases could be linked to such conditions as cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, a lack of exercise and depression.

While Larson said there was no simple answer to the prevention of dementia, he highly recommended a commonsense, healthful lifestyle that may help delay the disease. It would involve exercising regularly, refraining from smoking, eating a healthful diet and taking part in activities that stimulate the brain.
…