Dating back more than 1000 years ago, the style of Chinese landscape painting that uses brush and ink has evolved over time. This traditional art form is evolving once again in an exhibit called “Lightscapes: Re-envisioning the Shanshuihua.” It is on display at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles. The goal: to connect the new, digital generation to this type of art and capture its essence in a new way. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details
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Month: February 2019
Powerful Magnets Can Relieve Depression
Depression is more than just feeling sad. It’s a serious disease that interferes with normal life, a sense of self-worth, and it can end in suicide. Some people do well with standard treatments like talk therapy or medication, but these treatments don’t always work. Fortunately, there are other treatments people can try.
Soyna Kibbee likes playing pickleball. It’s a game that is similar to tennis only the rackets are smaller and the ball is different.
Kibbee is a physical therapist in Columbia, Missouri. She is normally active, but last year, because of severe depression, she had trouble making simple decisions.
“Just dumb little decisions that we make and don’t even think about, I have to think about. And then it just gets me more stressed out because every little decision is hard,” Kibbee said.
People who are depressed are often listless. Depression affects eating habits and can interfere with sleep.
Even with medication and therapy, Kibbee thought about suicide and was hospitalized several times. Then she heard about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or TMS. It doesn’t involve surgery, and it doesn’t require anesthesia.
TMS uses a coil to deliver powerful magnetic pulses to the brain. Doctor Muaid Ithman runs the TMS program at University of Missouri Health Care.
“These pulses will stimulate neurotransmitters which are the chemical signals which will improve the communication between different regions of the brain that are responsible for mood regulations. And over time, this will improve the symptoms of depression,” Ithman said.
During the procedure, patients feel like someone is gently tapping on their head, which can cause a headache. Kibbee took a non-prescription pain reliever before her treatments. After just one week, she noticed a real difference.
“I just felt so much better,” Kibbee said.
After more than 30 treatments, her symptoms of depression almost disappeared. Ithman says the therapy can help when other methods don’t.
“Basically 50 or 60 percent of people who suffer from treatment resistant depression will see a clinically meaningful response to TMS. And one third of those people will go into remission, which means their symptoms completely go away,” Ithman said.
The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health says two large studies on the safety of TMS found that most side effects, such as headaches or scalp discomfort, were mild or moderate. Because the treatment is relatively new, however, long-term side effects are unknown, and more studies are needed.
As for Kibbee, it worked. She returned to work and picked up pickleball and her other activities once again.
…
Powerful Magnets Can Relieve Depression
Depression is more than just feeling sad. It’s a serious disease that interferes with normal life, a sense of self-worth, and it can end in suicide. Some people do well with standard treatments like talk therapy or medication, but these treatments don’t always work. Fortunately, there are other treatments people can try.
Soyna Kibbee likes playing pickleball. It’s a game that is similar to tennis only the rackets are smaller and the ball is different.
Kibbee is a physical therapist in Columbia, Missouri. She is normally active, but last year, because of severe depression, she had trouble making simple decisions.
“Just dumb little decisions that we make and don’t even think about, I have to think about. And then it just gets me more stressed out because every little decision is hard,” Kibbee said.
People who are depressed are often listless. Depression affects eating habits and can interfere with sleep.
Even with medication and therapy, Kibbee thought about suicide and was hospitalized several times. Then she heard about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or TMS. It doesn’t involve surgery, and it doesn’t require anesthesia.
TMS uses a coil to deliver powerful magnetic pulses to the brain. Doctor Muaid Ithman runs the TMS program at University of Missouri Health Care.
“These pulses will stimulate neurotransmitters which are the chemical signals which will improve the communication between different regions of the brain that are responsible for mood regulations. And over time, this will improve the symptoms of depression,” Ithman said.
During the procedure, patients feel like someone is gently tapping on their head, which can cause a headache. Kibbee took a non-prescription pain reliever before her treatments. After just one week, she noticed a real difference.
“I just felt so much better,” Kibbee said.
After more than 30 treatments, her symptoms of depression almost disappeared. Ithman says the therapy can help when other methods don’t.
“Basically 50 or 60 percent of people who suffer from treatment resistant depression will see a clinically meaningful response to TMS. And one third of those people will go into remission, which means their symptoms completely go away,” Ithman said.
The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health says two large studies on the safety of TMS found that most side effects, such as headaches or scalp discomfort, were mild or moderate. Because the treatment is relatively new, however, long-term side effects are unknown, and more studies are needed.
As for Kibbee, it worked. She returned to work and picked up pickleball and her other activities once again.
…
Nigerian Center Teaches Coding to Conflict-Displaced Kids
Nigeria’s internal conflicts have displaced nearly 2 million people, according to the United Nations, with 60 percent of them being children. A program in the Nigerian capital is trying to teach internally displaced children technology skills, including computer coding, with a mobile laboratory.
Twelve-year-old Michael Oladimeji fled with his family from Nigeria’s Borno State two years ago to escape Boko Haram terrorist attacks.
Over 10,000 people are living in camps in Abuja struggling for food, water, health care and education.
But Oladimeji was lucky – he became one of 100 students his age learning computer coding and animation at a mobile laboratory. The tech curriculum includes writing code with a program known as Scratch.
“At home I used to play with my daddy’s phone but it’s not enough for me to do my coding and to do my Scratch. So since we started this program, I’ve got the chance to do Scratch and make cartoons,” Oladimeji said.
Children like Oladimeji make up the majority of Nigeria’s 1.8 million displaced people.
But Nigeria’s Civic Innovation Lab – a technology hub – runs the initiative, which is shaping children’s futures, according to program facilitator Angu Kingsley.
“Judging from where they came from, they have little knowledge about computers and education generally. So what we’re trying to do is improve on what they already have, the knowledge they already have and build on it,” Kingsley said.
While only a hundred or so displaced kids have benefited so far, the project hopes to expand – if it can secure funding, says program head Fanto Foday.
“We only have few tablets and few computers so we’ve been having difficulties in the areas of giving assignment because when we leave we have to take the equipment, although the truck is there, they have access to the lab but they don’t really have access to the gadgets,” Foday said.
But for conflict-displaced students like Oladimeji, the chance to learn computer coding could be a game-changer.
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Nigerian Center Teaches Coding to Conflict-Displaced Kids
Nigeria’s internal conflicts have displaced nearly two million people, according to the United Nations, 60 percent of them children. A program in the Nigerian capital is trying to teach internally displaced children technology skills, including computer coding, with a mobile laboratory. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja.
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Magnetic Therapy Can Relieve Depression
Depression is more than just being sad. It’s a serious disease that interferes with normal life, a sense of self-worth, and, in serious cases, it can end in suicide. But, depression is treatable with talk therapy, medication, or a combination of the two. There is also a treatment that delivers magnetic pulses directly to the brain. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports.
…
Magnetic Therapy Can Relieve Depression
Depression is more than just being sad. It’s a serious disease that interferes with normal life, a sense of self-worth, and, in serious cases, it can end in suicide. But, depression is treatable with talk therapy, medication, or a combination of the two. There is also a treatment that delivers magnetic pulses directly to the brain. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports.
…
Scientist Who Popularized Term ‘Global Warming’ Dies at 87
A scientist who raised early alarms about climate change and popularized the term “global warming” has died. Wallace Smith Broecker was 87.
The longtime Columbia University professor and researcher died Monday at a New York City hospital, according to a spokesman for the university’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Kevin Krajick said Broecker had been ailing in recent months.
Broecker brought “global warming” into common use with a 1975 article that correctly predicted rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere would lead to pronounced warming. He later became the first person to recognize what he called the Ocean Conveyor Belt, a global network of currents affecting everything from air temperature to rain patterns.
“Wally was unique, brilliant and combative,” said Princeton University professor Michael Oppenheimer. “He wasn’t fooled by the cooling of the 1970s. He saw clearly the unprecedented warming now playing out and made his views clear, even when few were willing to listen.”
In the Ocean Conveyor Belt, cold, salty water in the North Atlantic sinks, working like a plunger to drive an ocean current from near North America to Europe. Warm surface waters borne by this current help keep Europe’s climate mild.
Otherwise, he said, Europe would be a deep freeze, with average winter temperatures dropping by 20 degrees Fahrenheit or more and London feeling more like Spitsbergen, Norway, which is 600 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
Broecker said his studies suggested that the conveyor is the “Achilles heel of the climate system” and a fragile phenomenon that can change rapidly for reasons not understood. It would take only a slight rise in temperature to keep water from sinking in the North Atlantic, he said, and that would bring the conveyor to a halt. Broecker said it is possible that warming caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases could be enough to affect the ocean currents dramatically.
“Broecker single-handedly popularized the notion that this could lead to a dramatic climate change ‘tipping point’ and, more generally, Broecker helped communicate to the public and policymakers the potential for abrupt climate changes and unwelcome ‘surprises’ as a result of climate change,” said Penn State professor Michael Mann.
In 1984, Broecker told a House subcommittee that the buildup of greenhouse gases warranted a “bold, new national effort aimed at understanding the operation of the realms of the atmosphere, oceans, ice and terrestrial biosphere.”
“We live in a climate system that can jump abruptly from one state to another,” Broecker told the Associated Press in 1997. By dumping into the atmosphere huge amounts of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, “we are conducting an experiment that could have devastating effects.”
“We’re playing with an angry beast — a climate system that has been shown to be very sensitive,” he said.
Broecker received the National Medal of Science in 1996 and was a member of the National Academy of Science. He also served a stint as the research coordinator for Biosphere 2, an experimental living environment turned research lab.
Broecker was born in Chicago in 1931 and grew up in suburban Oak Park.
He joined Columbia’s faculty in 1959, spending most of his time at the university’s laboratory in Palisades, New York. He was known in science circles as the “Grandfather of Climate Science” and the “Dean of Climate Scientists.”
“His discoveries were fundamental to interpreting Earth’s climate history,” said Oppenheimer. “No scientist was more stimulating to engage with: he was an instigator in a good way, willing to press unpopular ideas, like lofting particles to offset climate change. But it was always a two-way conversation, never dull, always educational. I’ll miss him.”
…
Scientist Who Popularized Term ‘Global Warming’ Dies at 87
A scientist who raised early alarms about climate change and popularized the term “global warming” has died. Wallace Smith Broecker was 87.
The longtime Columbia University professor and researcher died Monday at a New York City hospital, according to a spokesman for the university’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Kevin Krajick said Broecker had been ailing in recent months.
Broecker brought “global warming” into common use with a 1975 article that correctly predicted rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere would lead to pronounced warming. He later became the first person to recognize what he called the Ocean Conveyor Belt, a global network of currents affecting everything from air temperature to rain patterns.
“Wally was unique, brilliant and combative,” said Princeton University professor Michael Oppenheimer. “He wasn’t fooled by the cooling of the 1970s. He saw clearly the unprecedented warming now playing out and made his views clear, even when few were willing to listen.”
In the Ocean Conveyor Belt, cold, salty water in the North Atlantic sinks, working like a plunger to drive an ocean current from near North America to Europe. Warm surface waters borne by this current help keep Europe’s climate mild.
Otherwise, he said, Europe would be a deep freeze, with average winter temperatures dropping by 20 degrees Fahrenheit or more and London feeling more like Spitsbergen, Norway, which is 600 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
Broecker said his studies suggested that the conveyor is the “Achilles heel of the climate system” and a fragile phenomenon that can change rapidly for reasons not understood. It would take only a slight rise in temperature to keep water from sinking in the North Atlantic, he said, and that would bring the conveyor to a halt. Broecker said it is possible that warming caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases could be enough to affect the ocean currents dramatically.
“Broecker single-handedly popularized the notion that this could lead to a dramatic climate change ‘tipping point’ and, more generally, Broecker helped communicate to the public and policymakers the potential for abrupt climate changes and unwelcome ‘surprises’ as a result of climate change,” said Penn State professor Michael Mann.
In 1984, Broecker told a House subcommittee that the buildup of greenhouse gases warranted a “bold, new national effort aimed at understanding the operation of the realms of the atmosphere, oceans, ice and terrestrial biosphere.”
“We live in a climate system that can jump abruptly from one state to another,” Broecker told the Associated Press in 1997. By dumping into the atmosphere huge amounts of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, “we are conducting an experiment that could have devastating effects.”
“We’re playing with an angry beast — a climate system that has been shown to be very sensitive,” he said.
Broecker received the National Medal of Science in 1996 and was a member of the National Academy of Science. He also served a stint as the research coordinator for Biosphere 2, an experimental living environment turned research lab.
Broecker was born in Chicago in 1931 and grew up in suburban Oak Park.
He joined Columbia’s faculty in 1959, spending most of his time at the university’s laboratory in Palisades, New York. He was known in science circles as the “Grandfather of Climate Science” and the “Dean of Climate Scientists.”
“His discoveries were fundamental to interpreting Earth’s climate history,” said Oppenheimer. “No scientist was more stimulating to engage with: he was an instigator in a good way, willing to press unpopular ideas, like lofting particles to offset climate change. But it was always a two-way conversation, never dull, always educational. I’ll miss him.”
…
Cheap and Green: Pyongyang Upgrades Its Mass Transit System
Pyongyang is upgrading its overcrowded mass transit system with brand new subway cars, trams and buses in a campaign meant to show leader Kim Jong Un is raising the country’s standard of living.
The long-overdue improvements, while still modest, are a welcome change for the North Korean capital’s roughly 3 million residents, who have few options to get to work or school each day.
First came new, high-tech subway cars and electric trolleybuses — each announced by the media with photos of Kim personally conducting the final inspection tours. Now, officials say three new electric trams are running daily routes across Pyongyang.
Transport officials say the capacity of the new trams is about 300, sitting and standing. Passengers must buy tickets in shops beforehand and put them in a ticket box when they get on. The flat fare is a dirt cheap 5 won (US$ .0006) for any tram, trolleybus, subway or regular bus ride on the public transport system. The Pyongyang Metro has a ticket-card system and the Public Transportation Bureau is considering introducing something similar on the roads as well.
Private cars are rare
Privately owned cars are scarce in Pyongyang. Taxis are increasingly common but costly for most people. Factory or official-use vehicles are an alternative, when available, as are bicycles. Motorized bikes imported from China are popular, while scooters and motorcycles are rare.
The subway, with elaborate stations inspired by those in Soviet Moscow and dug deep enough to survive a nuclear attack, runs at three- to five-minute intervals, depending on the hour. Officials say it transports about 400,000 passengers on weekdays. But its two lines, with 17 stations, operate only on the western side of the Taedong River, which runs through the center of the city.
“The subway is very important transportation for our people,” subway guide Kim Yong Ryon said in a recent interview with The AP. “There are plans to build train stations on the east side of the river, but nothing has started yet.”
The lack of passenger cars on Pyongyang’s roads has benefits. Traffic jams are uncommon and, compared to Beijing or Seoul, the city has refreshingly clean, crisp air. Electric trams, which run on rails, and electric trolleybuses, which have wheels, are relatively green transport options.
Crowded and slow
But mass transit in Pyongyang can be slow and uncomfortable.
The tram system, in particular, is among the most crowded in the world.
Swarms of commuters cramming into trams are a common sight during the morning rush hour, which is from about 6:00 to 8:30. Getting across town can take about an hour.
Pyongyang’s tram system has four lines. In typical North Korean fashion, one is devoted to taking passengers to and from the mausoleum where the bodies of national founder Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong Il, lie in state.
The city’s red-and-white trams look familiar to many eastern Europeans. In 2008, the North bought 20 used trams made by the Tatra company, which produced hundreds of them when Prague was still the capital of socialist Czechoslovakia.
North Korea squeezes every last inch out of its fleet.
Red stars are awarded for every 50,000 kilometers (31,000 miles) driven without an accident, and it’s not unusual to see trams with long lines of red stars stenciled across their sides. One seen in operation in Pyongyang last month had 12 — that’s 600,000 kilometers (372,800 miles), or the equivalent of about 15 trips around the Earth’s circumference.
The numbers work
Impossible as that might seem, the math works.
Ri Jae Hong, a representative of the Capital Public Transportation Bureau, told an AP television news crew the main tram route, from Pyongyang Station in the central part of town to the Mangyongdae district, is 21 kilometers from end to end. He said a tram might do the full route there and back on average six times a day.
By that reckoning, it would take just over 198 days of actual driving to win that first red star.
…
Cheap and Green: Pyongyang Upgrades Its Mass Transit System
Pyongyang is upgrading its overcrowded mass transit system with brand new subway cars, trams and buses in a campaign meant to show leader Kim Jong Un is raising the country’s standard of living.
The long-overdue improvements, while still modest, are a welcome change for the North Korean capital’s roughly 3 million residents, who have few options to get to work or school each day.
First came new, high-tech subway cars and electric trolleybuses — each announced by the media with photos of Kim personally conducting the final inspection tours. Now, officials say three new electric trams are running daily routes across Pyongyang.
Transport officials say the capacity of the new trams is about 300, sitting and standing. Passengers must buy tickets in shops beforehand and put them in a ticket box when they get on. The flat fare is a dirt cheap 5 won (US$ .0006) for any tram, trolleybus, subway or regular bus ride on the public transport system. The Pyongyang Metro has a ticket-card system and the Public Transportation Bureau is considering introducing something similar on the roads as well.
Private cars are rare
Privately owned cars are scarce in Pyongyang. Taxis are increasingly common but costly for most people. Factory or official-use vehicles are an alternative, when available, as are bicycles. Motorized bikes imported from China are popular, while scooters and motorcycles are rare.
The subway, with elaborate stations inspired by those in Soviet Moscow and dug deep enough to survive a nuclear attack, runs at three- to five-minute intervals, depending on the hour. Officials say it transports about 400,000 passengers on weekdays. But its two lines, with 17 stations, operate only on the western side of the Taedong River, which runs through the center of the city.
“The subway is very important transportation for our people,” subway guide Kim Yong Ryon said in a recent interview with The AP. “There are plans to build train stations on the east side of the river, but nothing has started yet.”
The lack of passenger cars on Pyongyang’s roads has benefits. Traffic jams are uncommon and, compared to Beijing or Seoul, the city has refreshingly clean, crisp air. Electric trams, which run on rails, and electric trolleybuses, which have wheels, are relatively green transport options.
Crowded and slow
But mass transit in Pyongyang can be slow and uncomfortable.
The tram system, in particular, is among the most crowded in the world.
Swarms of commuters cramming into trams are a common sight during the morning rush hour, which is from about 6:00 to 8:30. Getting across town can take about an hour.
Pyongyang’s tram system has four lines. In typical North Korean fashion, one is devoted to taking passengers to and from the mausoleum where the bodies of national founder Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong Il, lie in state.
The city’s red-and-white trams look familiar to many eastern Europeans. In 2008, the North bought 20 used trams made by the Tatra company, which produced hundreds of them when Prague was still the capital of socialist Czechoslovakia.
North Korea squeezes every last inch out of its fleet.
Red stars are awarded for every 50,000 kilometers (31,000 miles) driven without an accident, and it’s not unusual to see trams with long lines of red stars stenciled across their sides. One seen in operation in Pyongyang last month had 12 — that’s 600,000 kilometers (372,800 miles), or the equivalent of about 15 trips around the Earth’s circumference.
The numbers work
Impossible as that might seem, the math works.
Ri Jae Hong, a representative of the Capital Public Transportation Bureau, told an AP television news crew the main tram route, from Pyongyang Station in the central part of town to the Mangyongdae district, is 21 kilometers from end to end. He said a tram might do the full route there and back on average six times a day.
By that reckoning, it would take just over 198 days of actual driving to win that first red star.
…
Brazil’s Bolsonaro Fires Senior Minister, Investor Sentiment Sours
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday fired one of his most senior aides and cabinet members, Gustavo Bebianno, amid a scandal involving campaign financing for some of his party’s congressional candidates.
Bebianno was secretary general of the president’s office.
His departure punctuated Bolsonaro’s first cabinet crisis since he took office on Jan. 1 and has cast a shadow over the young government’s plans.
Brazilian markets fell on Monday as investors feared that the brewing scandal could hurt Bolsonaro’s ability to pass a pension overhaul seen as key to fiscal and economic recovery.
In a short video clip released late on Monday, Bolsonaro said he took the decision to dismiss Bebianno due to “differences of opinion on important issues,” although he did not elaborate.
Bebianno, who helped coordinate government affairs and was acting president of Bolsonaro’s right-wing Social Liberal Party for the election campaign last year, denies any wrongdoing.
Analysts at Eurasia Group said in a note on Monday, before Bebianno was dismissed, that the scandal is unlikely to dent Bolsonaro’s approval ratings. Despite the dubious optics, the president can claim to be taking a tough stand against an aide accused of illicit activity.
But the timing could not be worse. Days before unveiling its landmark pension reform proposal, the government is mired in scandal, even if it is one that probably will not have much lasting impact on the administration or pension reform.
“It is indicative, however, of a political team in disarray,” they wrote, adding that everything points to “an end result that will probably lead to the approval of a less ambitious version of the government’s proposal for pension reform.”
The scandal is denting investor sentiment, which had brightened last week after early details of Bolsonaro’s social security reform proposals were released. The full package will be presented to senior lawmakers on Wednesday.
Brazil’s Bovespa stock market fell 1 percent on Monday, the dollar rose almost 1 percent to 3.7350 reais and January 2020 interest rates rose two basis points to 6.39 percent.
Last week, the Bovespa rose 2.3 percent, within touching distance of its record-high 98,588. Interest rates fell 15 basis points, the biggest weekly drop in two months, and the real also rose.
The Bebianno scandal got personal after one of Bolsonaro’s sons branded him a liar on Twitter, putting pressure on the president to dismiss him just weeks into his term.
…
Brazil’s Bolsonaro Fires Senior Minister, Investor Sentiment Sours
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday fired one of his most senior aides and cabinet members, Gustavo Bebianno, amid a scandal involving campaign financing for some of his party’s congressional candidates.
Bebianno was secretary general of the president’s office.
His departure punctuated Bolsonaro’s first cabinet crisis since he took office on Jan. 1 and has cast a shadow over the young government’s plans.
Brazilian markets fell on Monday as investors feared that the brewing scandal could hurt Bolsonaro’s ability to pass a pension overhaul seen as key to fiscal and economic recovery.
In a short video clip released late on Monday, Bolsonaro said he took the decision to dismiss Bebianno due to “differences of opinion on important issues,” although he did not elaborate.
Bebianno, who helped coordinate government affairs and was acting president of Bolsonaro’s right-wing Social Liberal Party for the election campaign last year, denies any wrongdoing.
Analysts at Eurasia Group said in a note on Monday, before Bebianno was dismissed, that the scandal is unlikely to dent Bolsonaro’s approval ratings. Despite the dubious optics, the president can claim to be taking a tough stand against an aide accused of illicit activity.
But the timing could not be worse. Days before unveiling its landmark pension reform proposal, the government is mired in scandal, even if it is one that probably will not have much lasting impact on the administration or pension reform.
“It is indicative, however, of a political team in disarray,” they wrote, adding that everything points to “an end result that will probably lead to the approval of a less ambitious version of the government’s proposal for pension reform.”
The scandal is denting investor sentiment, which had brightened last week after early details of Bolsonaro’s social security reform proposals were released. The full package will be presented to senior lawmakers on Wednesday.
Brazil’s Bovespa stock market fell 1 percent on Monday, the dollar rose almost 1 percent to 3.7350 reais and January 2020 interest rates rose two basis points to 6.39 percent.
Last week, the Bovespa rose 2.3 percent, within touching distance of its record-high 98,588. Interest rates fell 15 basis points, the biggest weekly drop in two months, and the real also rose.
The Bebianno scandal got personal after one of Bolsonaro’s sons branded him a liar on Twitter, putting pressure on the president to dismiss him just weeks into his term.
…
Women in Hollywood See Some Gains After Oscars Equality Plea
A year after best actress winner Frances McDormand used the Oscars stage to advocate for more women in front of and behind the camera, Hollywood is celebrating some progress – but remains far from reaching parity with men.
McDormand urged powerful celebrities to insist on inclusion riders: contractual provisions that require producers to interview female candidates for jobs ranging from gaffer to director.
In the aftermath of McDormand’s speech, one major Hollywood studio, Warner Bros., adopted policies based on the idea, and A-list stars such as Matt Damon and Michael B. Jordan, who also work as producers, committed to pushing for inclusion riders.
“It’s been remarkable,” said Kalpana Kotagal, a civil rights attorney who co-developed the inclusion rider concept, which also is being used to encourage hiring of people of color, as well as gay, disabled and older people. “We are actually seeing it being implemented.”
Kotagal pointed to coming-of-age movie “Hala,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and will be distributed by Apple Inc. Producers adopted inclusion riders and filled many off-screen jobs, including the majority of department head positions, with women.
The publicity around the riders kick-started a nascent effort to pressure filmmakers into boosting female representation.
A study released this month showed some gains. Forty of the top 100 films in 2018 featured a female as a lead character, the highest number since tracking began 12 years earlier, according to University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. Those movies included best picture nominees “A Star is Born,” “The Favourite” and “Roma.”
And 28 percent of this year’s Oscar nominees are women, the highest percentage in history.
The industry is taking other steps to promote gender diversity.
The 4 Percent Challenge asks for a commitment to announcing at least one feature film with a female director in the next 18 months. Four percent refers to the pool of women-directed films among the top 1,200 movies of the past 10 years.
“For decades, directors have been viewed as a male job,” said Oscar-nominated “Vice” director Adam McKay.
But he said that attitude is changing, and his production company has made five feature films with female directors.
“I think you are seeing the whole town rally around the idea that there are voices that need to heard,” he said.
More than 120 actors, producers and writers, and seven studios, have signed on to the 4 Percent Challenge. Many studios also have established mentoring programs for women.
Still, “the work is far from done,” Kotagal said.
The industry remains far below the 50/50 parity that advocates are pushing for among on-screen talent, behind-the-scenes workers and studio executives. The number of female cinematographers is particularly low, comprising just 3 percent of last year’s 100 top-grossing films, according to data from San Diego State University.
And none of the major studios aside from AT&T-owned Warner Bros. has committed to using inclusion riders across the board on productions.
Actress Natalie Portman said she had encountered resistance to the idea. “I think a lot of people are making the argument that you’re hiring people for their talent, not their gender,” she told Hollywood website Deadline in December.
A common refrain across the movie business is that decades of inequality make it hard to find qualified women to fill positions.
Betsy West, co-director of Oscar-nominated documentary “RBG” about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, rejected that argument. Key jobs on “RBG,” including editor, producer and cinematographer, were performed by women.
“People say ‘How did you find the people?'” West said. “It wasn’t that hard. They are out there, and you just have to look.”
…
Women in Hollywood See Some Gains After Oscars Equality Plea
A year after best actress winner Frances McDormand used the Oscars stage to advocate for more women in front of and behind the camera, Hollywood is celebrating some progress – but remains far from reaching parity with men.
McDormand urged powerful celebrities to insist on inclusion riders: contractual provisions that require producers to interview female candidates for jobs ranging from gaffer to director.
In the aftermath of McDormand’s speech, one major Hollywood studio, Warner Bros., adopted policies based on the idea, and A-list stars such as Matt Damon and Michael B. Jordan, who also work as producers, committed to pushing for inclusion riders.
“It’s been remarkable,” said Kalpana Kotagal, a civil rights attorney who co-developed the inclusion rider concept, which also is being used to encourage hiring of people of color, as well as gay, disabled and older people. “We are actually seeing it being implemented.”
Kotagal pointed to coming-of-age movie “Hala,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and will be distributed by Apple Inc. Producers adopted inclusion riders and filled many off-screen jobs, including the majority of department head positions, with women.
The publicity around the riders kick-started a nascent effort to pressure filmmakers into boosting female representation.
A study released this month showed some gains. Forty of the top 100 films in 2018 featured a female as a lead character, the highest number since tracking began 12 years earlier, according to University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. Those movies included best picture nominees “A Star is Born,” “The Favourite” and “Roma.”
And 28 percent of this year’s Oscar nominees are women, the highest percentage in history.
The industry is taking other steps to promote gender diversity.
The 4 Percent Challenge asks for a commitment to announcing at least one feature film with a female director in the next 18 months. Four percent refers to the pool of women-directed films among the top 1,200 movies of the past 10 years.
“For decades, directors have been viewed as a male job,” said Oscar-nominated “Vice” director Adam McKay.
But he said that attitude is changing, and his production company has made five feature films with female directors.
“I think you are seeing the whole town rally around the idea that there are voices that need to heard,” he said.
More than 120 actors, producers and writers, and seven studios, have signed on to the 4 Percent Challenge. Many studios also have established mentoring programs for women.
Still, “the work is far from done,” Kotagal said.
The industry remains far below the 50/50 parity that advocates are pushing for among on-screen talent, behind-the-scenes workers and studio executives. The number of female cinematographers is particularly low, comprising just 3 percent of last year’s 100 top-grossing films, according to data from San Diego State University.
And none of the major studios aside from AT&T-owned Warner Bros. has committed to using inclusion riders across the board on productions.
Actress Natalie Portman said she had encountered resistance to the idea. “I think a lot of people are making the argument that you’re hiring people for their talent, not their gender,” she told Hollywood website Deadline in December.
A common refrain across the movie business is that decades of inequality make it hard to find qualified women to fill positions.
Betsy West, co-director of Oscar-nominated documentary “RBG” about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, rejected that argument. Key jobs on “RBG,” including editor, producer and cinematographer, were performed by women.
“People say ‘How did you find the people?'” West said. “It wasn’t that hard. They are out there, and you just have to look.”
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Tycoons Tell Mexico’s President That Unions ‘Extorting’ Businesses
A group representing some of Mexico’s biggest companies told left-wing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday that politicians should resist “extortion” by labor unions after strikes and blockades in recent weeks.
Alejandro Ramirez, president of the Mexican Business Council, said strikes at factories in the northern state of Tamaulipas and blockades of railways by a teachers union had caused more than a billion dollars in losses and could cause businesses to close.
Critics of Obrador
Members of the group, including Mexico’s second-richest man, German Larrea, who controls mining and transport conglomerate Grupo Mexico, were critics of Lopez Obrador before his July 1 election, warning voters should be wary of populism.
“In labor matters, we look favorably on Mexicans starting a new era of union freedom that will allow the end of old protectionist practices for a few unions and companies,” said Ramirez, chief executive of cinema chain Cineopolis.
“Freedom of association and respect of the rule of law should be the axis of this new labor reform. For that reason, we make a respectful call to lawmakers of all parties that it doesn’t just guarantee union freedom but also avoids union extortion.”
Lower prices on services
Since taking office, Lopez Obrador and members of the ruling party have sought regulation in areas ranging from banking and pensions to mining to make services cheaper for consumers.
The former Mexico City mayor wants to encourage investment to drive growth, but some worry regulation will be heavy handed and unpredictable.
MORENA, the party created by Lopez Obrador, is planning a reform to make it easier for workers to form independent unions.
Traditionally, unions have allied with the former party of power, the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
Lopez Obrador brought veteran union leader Napoleon Gomez into his party as a senator. Gomez has a history of conflict with Grupo Mexico, including strikes.
Gomez last week founded a federation called the International Workers Confederation.
First meeting since election
Monday’s event was the first time the group met with Lopez Obrador since he took office in December. Earlier in the day, he met the Council for Investment Promotion, Job Creation and Growth, a body he created to advise on economic policy.
Labor strikes in January at manufacturers in the Mexican city of Matamoros on the U.S. border cost about $50 million a day in unfulfilled international contracts.
Teachers from the National Committee of Education Workers blocked railroad tracks for weeks in January to protest labor demands.
…
Tycoons Tell Mexico’s President That Unions ‘Extorting’ Businesses
A group representing some of Mexico’s biggest companies told left-wing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday that politicians should resist “extortion” by labor unions after strikes and blockades in recent weeks.
Alejandro Ramirez, president of the Mexican Business Council, said strikes at factories in the northern state of Tamaulipas and blockades of railways by a teachers union had caused more than a billion dollars in losses and could cause businesses to close.
Critics of Obrador
Members of the group, including Mexico’s second-richest man, German Larrea, who controls mining and transport conglomerate Grupo Mexico, were critics of Lopez Obrador before his July 1 election, warning voters should be wary of populism.
“In labor matters, we look favorably on Mexicans starting a new era of union freedom that will allow the end of old protectionist practices for a few unions and companies,” said Ramirez, chief executive of cinema chain Cineopolis.
“Freedom of association and respect of the rule of law should be the axis of this new labor reform. For that reason, we make a respectful call to lawmakers of all parties that it doesn’t just guarantee union freedom but also avoids union extortion.”
Lower prices on services
Since taking office, Lopez Obrador and members of the ruling party have sought regulation in areas ranging from banking and pensions to mining to make services cheaper for consumers.
The former Mexico City mayor wants to encourage investment to drive growth, but some worry regulation will be heavy handed and unpredictable.
MORENA, the party created by Lopez Obrador, is planning a reform to make it easier for workers to form independent unions.
Traditionally, unions have allied with the former party of power, the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
Lopez Obrador brought veteran union leader Napoleon Gomez into his party as a senator. Gomez has a history of conflict with Grupo Mexico, including strikes.
Gomez last week founded a federation called the International Workers Confederation.
First meeting since election
Monday’s event was the first time the group met with Lopez Obrador since he took office in December. Earlier in the day, he met the Council for Investment Promotion, Job Creation and Growth, a body he created to advise on economic policy.
Labor strikes in January at manufacturers in the Mexican city of Matamoros on the U.S. border cost about $50 million a day in unfulfilled international contracts.
Teachers from the National Committee of Education Workers blocked railroad tracks for weeks in January to protest labor demands.
…
Brazil Wants Compensation, May Retaliate Against EU Steel Duties
Brazil has asked the European Union for compensation after it imposed import tariffs on steel from major producing countries earlier this month, the Brazilian government said in a statement on Monday.
The government has also notified the World Trade Organization that it may adopt its own countermeasures to “rebalance” trade following the EU’s actions, according to a joint statement from the foreign, economy and agriculture ministries.
Brazil is seeking 180 million euros ($203.6 million) in compensation, a government source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
If the EU denies compensation, that could open the way for Brazil to place or increase tariffs on European products, including powdered milk, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be named.
On Feb. 1, the EU announced limits on steel imports in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s metals tariffs. The tariffs establish limits and quotas for major exporting countries including China, India, Russia and many others.
“The Brazilian government remains open to dialogue with the European Union in order to seek the best way to address these issues,” the statement said.
“It also reiterates its willingness to continue defending the interests of Brazilian producers and exporters with every effort.”
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Brazil Wants Compensation, May Retaliate Against EU Steel Duties
Brazil has asked the European Union for compensation after it imposed import tariffs on steel from major producing countries earlier this month, the Brazilian government said in a statement on Monday.
The government has also notified the World Trade Organization that it may adopt its own countermeasures to “rebalance” trade following the EU’s actions, according to a joint statement from the foreign, economy and agriculture ministries.
Brazil is seeking 180 million euros ($203.6 million) in compensation, a government source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
If the EU denies compensation, that could open the way for Brazil to place or increase tariffs on European products, including powdered milk, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be named.
On Feb. 1, the EU announced limits on steel imports in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s metals tariffs. The tariffs establish limits and quotas for major exporting countries including China, India, Russia and many others.
“The Brazilian government remains open to dialogue with the European Union in order to seek the best way to address these issues,” the statement said.
“It also reiterates its willingness to continue defending the interests of Brazilian producers and exporters with every effort.”
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Shrimpers Hope Industry Lost to Warm Seas Won’t Be Forgotten
Glen Libby looks back fondly on his days as a Maine shrimp trawler, but he’s concerned about what seafood lovers will think if the shuttered fishery ever reopens.
“Shrimp? What are those?” he said. “There will be a market. But it depends how big of a market you’re talking about.”
Maine’s historic shrimp industry has been closed since 2013 due to a loss in population of shrimp off of New England that is tied in large part to warming oceans. And with a reopening likely several years away — if it ever happens at all — Libby and others who formerly worked in the business are grappling with how much of the industry they’ll be able to salvage if the time ever comes.
The state’s shrimp fishery was traditionally a winter industry, but it’s in the midst of its sixth straight season with no participation because of a government-imposed moratorium. Fishermen, wholesalers, distributors and others in the seafood business lament the industry wouldn’t be in a good position to return right away even if fishing for the little, sweet pink shrimp was allowed.
The region’s shrimp are much smaller than those caught in the Gulf of Mexico, which has a much more extensive fishery. Maine’s shrimp were essentially a specialty item available fresh only in the winter, though widely available in New England grocery stores.
Maine lacks processing infrastructure for the shrimp now, because that went away when the fishery closed down. The shrimp are largely absent from restaurants and stores, save for some imports from Canada. And the shrimp’s brand as a local, wintertime New England delicacy has taken a hit due to years off the market.
If Maine shrimping does come back, it will likely be at a smaller scale, centered on local retail as opposed to freezing the product for export around the country and internationally, said Bert Jongerden, general manager of the Portland Fish Exchange auction house.
“I mean, I think people would remember it. But you couldn’t be dumping millions of pounds of shrimp into the market expecting to get rid of it,” Jongerden said. “It would have to be a slow build up.”
There is no clear timeline for the return of the fishery, because its future is tied to the status of the shrimp population, which looks grim off of New England. Decisions about the future of the fishery are made by an arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an interstate body that regulates fisheries. The panel voted in November to extend the fishing moratorium for another three years.
Scientific reports that guide the commission have consistently portrayed the shrimp population as depleted and with poor prospects for the future. The shrimp, which were also brought to land in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, were primarily fished from the Gulf of Maine, a body of water that is warming faster than most of the world’s oceans.
Maine shrimpers were mostly fishermen who harvested other fisheries, such as lobsters, scallops and cod, during other parts of the year. The lack of a shrimp season has caused them to lose income or try their luck in other fisheries.
If the fishery does return, part of its appeal could be selling the story of a local New England shrimp fishery to consumers, said Ben Martens, executive director of Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, a fishing advocacy group.
“We would have this slow ramp up where we’d have this delicious, local and highly prized resource, that restaurants, customers and especially local consumers really want,” he said.
In the meantime, Canada’s shrimp fishery for the same species is still active, but it lacks the brand of the New England-caught product, which long held cachet in Maine and beyond. And Canada’s catch has also declined. The country harvested less than 168 million pounds (76 million kilograms) of the shrimp in 2017, less than half the 2010 total and the lowest haul in at least a decade.
Stephenie Pinkham, who was executive director of the Maine Shrimp Trappers Association when it was active, is hopeful. She hears from Mainers that they miss the product, and is confident they’ll buy it if the fishery ever reopens.
“A shrimp market is definitely out there,” Pinkham said.
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The Real ‘Jaws’: Great White Shark’s Genetic Secrets Revealed
The great white shark, one of the most fearsome predators in the world’s oceans in both fact and fiction, is a formidable creature — right down to its genes.
Scientists on Monday said they have decoded the genome of Earth’s largest predatory fish, detecting numerous genetic traits that help explain its remarkable evolutionary success, including molecular adaptations to enhance wound healing as well as genomic stability such as DNA repair and DNA damage tolerance.
The great white shark, whose scientific name is Carcharodon carcharias, boasts a very large genome, 1-1/2 times bigger than the human genome.
In theory, large genomes with a lot of repeated DNA, like this shark possesses, and its large body size should promote a high incidence of genome instability, with much more DNA and many more cells seemingly vulnerable as targets for damage through an accumulation of routine mutations.
Just the opposite seems to be the case for this shark, thanks to adaptations in genes involved in preserving genome integrity.
“This knowledge, in addition to providing understanding into how sharks work at their most fundamental level — their genes — may also be useful in downstream applications to human medicine to combat cancers and age-related diseases that result from genome instability,” said Mahmood Shivji, director of the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center and Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
This species, star of the 1975 Hollywood blockbuster “Jaws” and its multiple sequels, roams the world’s oceans, primarily in cool coastal waters.
Gray with a white underbelly and torpedo-shaped body, it can reach 20 feet (6 meters) long, weigh 7,000 pounds (3.18 tons) and dive to nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) deep. It uses its mouthful of large, serrated teeth to rip into prey including fish, seals and dolphins, swallowing mouth-sized chunks of flesh whole.
Sharks are an evolutionary success story, thriving for more than 400 million years. Our species appeared roughly 300,000 years ago.
The great white shark also displayed genetic adaptations in several genes that play fundamental roles in wound healing. For example, a key gene involved in producing a major component of blood clots was found to have undergone adaptations.
“These adaptations and enrichments of essential wound-healing genes may underlie the ability of sharks to heal from wounds so efficiently,” said Cornell University’s Michael Stanhope, co-leader of the research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
…
The Real ‘Jaws’: Great White Shark’s Genetic Secrets Revealed
The great white shark, one of the most fearsome predators in the world’s oceans in both fact and fiction, is a formidable creature — right down to its genes.
Scientists on Monday said they have decoded the genome of Earth’s largest predatory fish, detecting numerous genetic traits that help explain its remarkable evolutionary success, including molecular adaptations to enhance wound healing as well as genomic stability such as DNA repair and DNA damage tolerance.
The great white shark, whose scientific name is Carcharodon carcharias, boasts a very large genome, 1-1/2 times bigger than the human genome.
In theory, large genomes with a lot of repeated DNA, like this shark possesses, and its large body size should promote a high incidence of genome instability, with much more DNA and many more cells seemingly vulnerable as targets for damage through an accumulation of routine mutations.
Just the opposite seems to be the case for this shark, thanks to adaptations in genes involved in preserving genome integrity.
“This knowledge, in addition to providing understanding into how sharks work at their most fundamental level — their genes — may also be useful in downstream applications to human medicine to combat cancers and age-related diseases that result from genome instability,” said Mahmood Shivji, director of the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center and Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
This species, star of the 1975 Hollywood blockbuster “Jaws” and its multiple sequels, roams the world’s oceans, primarily in cool coastal waters.
Gray with a white underbelly and torpedo-shaped body, it can reach 20 feet (6 meters) long, weigh 7,000 pounds (3.18 tons) and dive to nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) deep. It uses its mouthful of large, serrated teeth to rip into prey including fish, seals and dolphins, swallowing mouth-sized chunks of flesh whole.
Sharks are an evolutionary success story, thriving for more than 400 million years. Our species appeared roughly 300,000 years ago.
The great white shark also displayed genetic adaptations in several genes that play fundamental roles in wound healing. For example, a key gene involved in producing a major component of blood clots was found to have undergone adaptations.
“These adaptations and enrichments of essential wound-healing genes may underlie the ability of sharks to heal from wounds so efficiently,” said Cornell University’s Michael Stanhope, co-leader of the research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
…