#6 months of work and buildup and its only been a day in their universe

[venbetta]

Favorite little detail

...this is what he was referring too btw

[makeyourdeanabi]

Finale Reaction- 2 months later

In the wee hours after the Supernatural Finale, after tossing and turning in my bed, I got up and wrote this... this was before I was actually active on Tumblr and I never thought I would share this because I was too self conscious.  I deleted it shortly after I wrote it because it brought me so much pain to relive it.  I have since watched the Finale again and have come to terms with it and I felt it was a good time to share my thoughts. I hope that my words may bring other people comfort who feel the same way.  Thanks for reading :)

Alisha

P.S. Sorry so long, I was feeling things and the words just kept coming and coming  ___________________________________________

I don’t blog.  Never in my life have I sat down to tell the world about my feelings in such a manner.  I may contribute on message boards and social media comments, but I never thought anything was worth my time to spill my guts into the ether when I am near certain that not a soul will read them.  But here I am.  I have to write because if I don’t get these thoughts out of my head, I am going to go full on insane.

That ending was bad. It was a disservice to the 15 years of an incredible show that was not only genre bending it was cultural norms bending.

I could mention the various tropes that this ending (and the previous episodes) invoked, but I am not well versed in them and would never want to do anyone a disservice with a comparison that wasn’t apt.

The buildup up of each character arc and then the glaring lack of conclusion for said character arc was laughable.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement.

To say I am heartbroken is an understatement.

I am destroyed.  

I am destroyed that the two men who have been with this franchise since day 1 wrote and directed an episode that they thought was the perfect ending. They thought this is what their devoted fandom wanted.  

I am destroyed that the lead actors signed off on this script and went so far as to call it their favorite.  I realize Jared was the only one calling it his favorite episode. Jensen admitted he had reservations about the episode and needed the wise words of creator Erik Kripke to accept it. I do have to say that taking the word of a man who left the show 10 seasons ago and hasn’t been involved in all the plot lines and inner workings since season 5 is probably not the best idea. I could be mistaken about the extent of Kripke’s involvement, but I am fairly certain that I am right in my assumptions.  

Dean spent 15 years (probably more) of his life feeling unloved, unworthy, self-conscious and convinced that his life had but one purpose and that purpose would ultimately be the death of him, and he had made peace with that.

He is given a best friend, potential love interest, who helps him to see that he is more than that, so much more than that.  He is selfless, he is caring, he is a lover, not a killer. His friend’s soulmate’s sacrifice is the catalyst for him believing that all these things are true. He even takes the step of admitting out loud that he knows he has changed.  He knows that his life is worth living to the fullest and appreciating what he has every day and honoring those they have “lost along the way.”  

To then kill him during a routine hunting trip in which the boys are up against a vampire nest they could take down in their sleep.  What could possibly have been the purpose for that?  To show that once they were no longer God’s little play toys their lives were expendable?  WHY?

Dean, arguably the greatest hunter in the SPN universe, was taken out by a fucking rusty piece of rebar, and instead of trying to call for help and get the man to a hospital (not sure it would have helped) he has his final monologue, the one he has been due for the latter half all of Season 15.  He died scared, in pain, and sad.

Dean goes to heaven, and its not the heaven we have been told of in the past where you are living in your memories.  Its truly life after death and its wonderful. He meets Bobby again and told that various people in Dean’s and Bobby’s life are close by.  His parents live down the road.  His father, who was never confirmed to be but was most likely an abusive bastard, lives just down the road with his mother.  Wonderful. (WTF?) He gets confirmation that Cas is out of the empty and he smiles, nothing more.  He sees baby and goes for a drive, not to find Cas and thank him for his ultimate sacrifice, but to just drive.  I like this part because we see a happy, content Dean, and we finally get to hear Kansas’s “Carry on Wayward Son” (DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE LACK OF THE ROAD SO FAR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EPISODE). I just wish Dean’s path to heaven had been a little easier on him.

Dean deserved better.

Castiel, the selfless angel who just wanted to find purpose in his life and ultimately found it in death. He dies never being told that he is loved, after countless times of professing his love to his found family. The angel who sacrificed himself to the Empty, a horrible place of unspeakable torture, to protect the man he loves.  A man who, mere days later (in my mind anyway), arrives in heaven after being killed in a gruesome accident, rather than fulfilling his destiny that Cas fought so hard to protect.  Some sacrifice. It turns out that Cas is saved by the Empty from Jack, but we don’t get to see his joyful reunion with Dean, the man he loves.  

Cas deserved better.

Sam is left to live this life without his brother, and potentially the love of his life because the writers couldn’t be bothered to confirm Eileen’s re-existence after Chuck’s rapture.  He has a family, and he grows old (mind you with REALLY bad makeup in a show that is known for their incredible makeup/special effects departments).

He seems to be happy, but you can tell something is missing.  We come to see that he raised his son to be a hunter.  He raised his son in a life that, at the outset of this show, he was desperate to get out of and live a normal life.  Perhaps he no longer believes that anyone can live a normal life knowing what is out there. *EDIT* Looking back I don’t believe he raised his son to be a hunter, just gave him the tattoo in case.

He names his son Dean, because of course he does. He has a wife who we see from a distance and is never given the clarity if it is Eileen or not.  He finally dies after what looks like a slow and painful illness and is sent to heaven.

In heaven he meets up with Dean.  This was lovely.  The two of them meeting again after so long, for Sam, that is. Dean only had to seemingly wait for a few hours.

Sam deserved better.

For a show that had the potential to go out on a historically significant high, this is disappointing, to say the least.  The story had the potential to end with 2 brothers who have sacrificed so much and saved so many people, find a happy ending.  Not only that but find a happy ending with a deaf partner and a gay angel. If that isn’t breaking barriers and bending norms, I don’t know what is.  I really would like to know what prevented this from happening.  Be it the CW from restricting them or maybe the absolute lack of originality from the writers, I am curious as to their reasoning. Maybe it was COVID.  Maybe because they couldn’t have those two actors physically on set due to protocols, they didn’t want to shortchange them by having them appear otherwise: disembodied voice, phone call (DONT TOUCH ME) or even a flashback… hell STOCK FOOTAGE! I don’t know and I clearly can’t imagine the reason.

I realize that there is nothing that can be done about this episode now and that accepting it and moving on is really the only way forward.  But the legacy this show has left, and its lasting impact on me and my life, cannot be ignored.  I was looking forward to indulging in past episodes of this show for the rest of my life. It is going to be a long time before I can watch an episode without anger and resentment towards what I know to be their eventual end.  That, to me, is unforgiveable.  

I don’t expect anyone to actually read this because I do not have any followers. I have never blogged in my entire life and was only recently introduced to the online fandom, but I needed to write this.  I needed to share the impact that this episode had on me.  I do hope that it does reach those in the fandom that may have similar feelings and are able to use my words to help express how they are feeling.  We can move on, and we will move on, but we need to do it together.

I know that there are people who, if they read this, would shake their head in disbelief that I became so emotionally invested in this show that watching a bad ending would take such a toll on my mental health.  

To them I say, imagine this… The Pittsburgh Steelers (my favorite team, they can imagine their own) have an incredible season.  A season where they saw a myriad of highs and lows. Veteran players making incredible comebacks, rookie players coming in to their own.  Season ending injuries that lead to the next man stepping up and contributing in ways they weren’t sure possible.  Now imagine they make it to the Superbowl and after 3 tough quarters, in which they played their best, getting better with each quarter, they lose it in the final minutes.  All that blood, sweat, and tears for nothing.  Now imagine that was their last season and the Pittsburgh Steelers are no longer an NFL team.  They are done.  No “we’ll get ‘em next season.”  No “it’s just a game and there is always another one”.  Just done.  Their entire franchise, for a brief moment in time, reduced to those final minutes where they failed to win.  Devastating. Of course, in the long run that is not what they will be remembered for.  I mean, after all, they have won 6 Lombardi trophies, and no one is taking that away from them.  But the sting will remain for a while. *EDIT* This was as close to prophecy as I will ever get, the Steelers did all of the above until the playoffs, but THANK GOD, there will be another season.

If I can’t make you understand with a sports metaphor than I will never make you understand.  

I love this show and this loss is devastating.  I do hope that it is remembered for more than their last-minute loss.  I hope it is remembered for the joy and acceptance that their fandom felt with each episode, for the laugher on set and the gag reels. I hope it is remembered for the individual players who gave it their all. I know it will be, but for me personally, this sting is going to last for a while.  

[weissfai-blog1]

Please Teacher.

Can you teach a person how to love? What is happiness? What is sacrifice? What is being happy seeing the person you love happy? AePete AU where Pete is Teacher and Ae is his student.

Pete is a 21 years old Assistant Teacher and he was assigned to teach the senior high school English.

When he was first introduced to the class, the whole class shouted most especially the girls and bombarded him with questions like:

ARE YOU SINGLE?!

DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?

DO YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND?

Are you willing to accept 17 years old?

Can I be your faen?

The home room teacher massaged his aching temple and told them all to, ‘QUIET THE HELL UP! HE is your Assistant Teacher for six months! Don’t harass him! Act like humans! Stop acting like a pack of hungry hyenas!’

‘WE ARE HUNGRY! Teacher if we see your face all day of course we will be hungry! Who would want to see your ugly mug!’

‘Aish! These stupid students! Shut up!’

Pete chuckles with the closeness the students shows to their homeroom teacher Mr. Nattapol.

The students gasped at the beauty and musical laughter.

‘Mr. Pitchaya, please do let me know when the girls started harassing you. Scream if you must if one of them started undressing-‘

‘AISH! Teacher! You pervert! We won’t undress!’

‘Yeah! We’ll just seduce him-‘

‘Shut up!’ Mr. Nattapol looks at Pete and sighs once more, ‘If you need me, please do shout and if they corner you – RUN.’

Mr. Nattapol leave the classroom but look at his students and made a hand gesture – I AM SEEING YOU – and looks at Pete. Why the hell did this guy decided to be a teacher? He can be a bloody model or an actor. 

Mr. Pete Pitchaya created an uproar in just 3 days. The whole school become chaotic as students will loiter at the faculty just to get a glimpse of the beautiful angelic teacher, 3-D classroom becomes popular, what used to be the most notorious for misbehave and goofy and happy go lucky students becomes notorious to have their own personal ANGEL.

Pete enjoys the camaraderie and the students acceptance of him. He was really nervous because this was his first official on the job training. 

Pete teaches English every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Tuesday and Saturday, he goes back to his university to report and attend some of his major subjects. He is graduating soon and the Assistant Teacher job will give him more credits and experience. After all he plans to teach high school students.

Pete only have 6 months and he spends it wisely as he teaches each of his students the proper and best way to understand English.

He was checking the quizzes he gave the students when one particular paper caught his attention.

ZERO

There’s no bloody answer nor any sign / indication that the student tried to answer. Pete looks at the name of the student who dared to pass a blank quiz paper:

NAME: AE INTOUCH  | SECTION : 3-D | DATE : me please

Pete didn’t understand what’s going on or if this is a new prank of the student.

But Ae was the only one who didn’t answer.

He calls Ae and then Pete was now in front of the most mesmerizing eyes he had ever seen in his life.

Ae is short – or more like – because Pete is a tall man, Ae is a few centimeters short to his height of 181cm but Ae has body that Pete envies. Pete was born petite and well no matter how much he works out there’s no muscle in his body, he lose his baby fat but there’s no define abs and muscles, he is but a tall lanky boy whereas Ae even with his white uniform, you can see the buildup muscle and sturdiness in them. Pete wanted to have those muscles as well. But what made Pete frown and unsteady was the way Ae looks at him. Those eyes of Ae is so intense and looks at him as if he wants to kill him or eat him. 

‘Mr. Intouch, you didn’t answer any question on the quiz.’

‘Ae.’

‘Huh?’

‘Call me Ae. Or Intouch. Drop the Mister.’

‘Okay... Ae. You didn’t answer any question on the quiz.’

‘I know.’

‘Why is that?’

‘To get your attention.’

‘Huh?’

‘Date me… please.’

And that was the start of Pete’s headache double with trouble from avoiding Mr. Ae Intouch’s advances. 

Pete massage his temple and what a whirlwind one week, at first he was happy being accepted by his students and he didn’t see any problem especially they are all sweet and even though he is several years older than them, their sweet flirting is that – flirting to a new man in town. But the girls are very sweet and helpful so are the boys who usually helps him carry the books. But when Mr. Ae Intouch came into the picture he thinks he will have a heart attack before the end of his job.

Ae has been very forward to him. Those penetrating eyes are very intense and looks at him with so much hunger. He is not so naïve to not know what those looks indicate. 

Ae has been asking him out and keep on staying on his faculty room and even asked him to teach him out loud – and so the other teachers can hear and he cannot turn him down. The Dean heard about it and told him, that it’s a good idea. Ae is the school’s representative in the football and is a very diligent student only he has problems in English and who was the best to teach/ tutor their promising student but him Pete.

So it becomes their schedule, after class, he and Ae will stay the library where he teaches the kid English. He doesn’t know if Ae is making fun of him, but Ae really doesn’t have any clue even basic English.

Ae kept on asking him out and even telling him that they are ‘fated’ that in their past life, Pete was his wife. Well still a man, but his wife. That they are partners and that Ae was the one who saves Pete’s life when Pete was walking and was about to hit by a car. 

Ae told him, that they love each other, that the first time Ae said ‘I LOVE YOU’ to him was after the serenade he did and that even though they were separated for 3 years, Ae never forget about Pete and that both of them love each other.

Pete  laughs and told Ae, ‘You can be a writer you know.’ Which earns him a glare from Ae that made his heart skip a beat.

Ae’s grades aren’t improving and it would cause him his place in the football team and so with what he has left he told Ae, ‘If you score 100 in all your exams we will date.’

Ae scores 100 in all subjects except English – he scores 79. It was really hard for him and Pete saw the determination and disappointed look in Ae’s face.

Pete grins and told the boy, ‘So where do you want me to date you? McDonald’s? KFC? A&W? Pizza Hut?’

‘What the hell are those places? Pete I may not be rich but I can afford to date you properly.’

‘How many time do I have to tell you, call me ‘Teacher’ you’re so stubborn.

‘Stubborn is my middle name.’

‘Oh really? Not delusional?’

‘Let’s meet tomorrow’

Pete was impress with Ae’s food choice. It was at Marriot Café at JW Marriott Hotel – one of the hotel his mother manages. Without any one’s knowledge. 

It was a private room and Ae once again asked to be his lover.

‘Please Pete… please be Ae’s boyfriend.’

‘Ae. I’m sorry. But you are my student and I am several years older than you.’

‘You’re only 20 years old! And what does age have to do with it?!’

‘Ae. If you haven’t notice I am a man. Like you. And from what I gather you are not gay.’

‘Why do I have to be gay to be in love with you? If being in love with you means I’m gay then I am gay. I like you. I want you. I only love you.’

Pete can see the sincerity of Ae’s eyes and as someone older than him and thinks of this young boy’s future he have no choice but to turn him down.

‘Ae. Thank you for your love. But I cannot accept it. You’re young. You will meet someone beautiful and someone who will love you. I don’t feel the same-’

‘Liar. You love me.’

Pete was not able to counter the attack for its true. 

Little by little he is falling in love with Ae. But this is Ae’s future. He will never do anything that will ruin that future.

It would kill him, but he’d rather die a thousand times than let Ae have his future tarnish because of him.

‘Ae. I don’t love you. Please don’t mistake my care and adoration for a little brother into love.’

‘Why are you lying to me? Why are you hurting us both?’

‘Ae. I don’t love you. I like you as my little brother. I am your teacher and I care about you all the same. Please don’t interpret my care for you as something as ridiculous as love.’

Pete said those words and get up and out of the hotel.

Several days after the exam and when they meet again, Ae no longer look at him with smile, longing and love. There’s anger and pain behind those beautiful obsidian eyes.

‘I’m sorry Ae… but this is for your future.’

Pete cries alone when he heard that Ae accepted a girl’s confession.

[getthebutters]

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 Pure lavender doesn't have a universal scent number. The closest is GTFTS: Go The Fuck To Sleep No. 7 - a combination of chamomile & lavender.

 Details

4oz jar. typical usage approx. 3 months

Shelf Life: is 1 Year

Ingredients: shea butter, grapeseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, soy oil, palm oil, aloe, guar gum, apple cider vinegar, lavender essential oil

Scent: lavender essential oil 

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Each of The Butters' ingredients was chosen for their unique properties. For pure, easy to absorb moisture, we have aloe. For extended release moisture, conditioning and protection from ashiness, I add shea. To give your skin essential vitamins and lipids we have coconut and grapeseed oil. To protect from the elements and give your skin time to fully absorb the thinner oils, we add soy and palm oil. To hold that moisture to your skin, balance shine and absorb sweat, we have guar gum. Finally, to make sure your pH balanced, deodorized, clean and shining healthily, I add apple cider vinegar.

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[orbemnews]

A huge ship is blocking a vital trade artery. It could get costly What’s happening: Work continues to clear sand and mud away from the Ever Given, a 224,000-ton vessel that ran aground after 40-knot winds and a sandstorm caused low visibility and poor navigation. Ending the dramatic traffic jam, which has prevented dozens of ships from passing through, will not be easy. The effort could take “days to weeks,” according to the CEO of Boskalis, whose sister company SMIT Salvage is now working to dislodge the ship. Big picture: About 10% of global trade passes through the Suez Canal, according to Allianz, a top shipping insurer. Lloyd’s List, a shipping industry journal, said that nearly 19,000 vessels transited the artery last year. Allianz said ships “face costly and lengthy deviations if canal is not opened soon.” Diverting vessels via the Cape of Good Hope in the southern tip of Africa would add roughly two weeks to their journeys. Danish shipping company Maersk said that seven of its vessels have been affected. Four are already in the canal system and another three are waiting to enter. “The incident continues to create long tailbacks on the waterway, stopping vessels from passing and causing delays,” it said in a statement. The episode has also injected volatility into oil markets, which have been under pressure recently as investors weigh supply and demand heading into the next phase of the pandemic. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark for oil prices, shot up nearly 6% on Wednesday as traders raced to assess the ramifications of the blockage. Prices fell back again Thursday, and were last down 1.4% to $63.55 per barrel. In a note to clients, Commerzbank — citing analytics firm Vortexa — said that 10 oil tankers with 13 million barrels of crude on board are currently stuck in the Suez canal. “This equates roughly to the amount of oil produced in one day by Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the two largest OPEC producers,” the German bank said. Time is of the essence as the jam drags on, with the buildup poised to get worse by the day. But for now, oil traders are trying their best to look past the disruption. “The situation is likely to return to normal at the beginning of next week once the container ship has been freed, shifting the focus back onto the demand risks,” Commerzbank said. How AstraZeneca went from pandemic hero to vaccine villain After teaming up with Oxford University, AstraZeneca (AZN) produced a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine in just nine months, a huge achievement that will help end the pandemic. But a series of missteps along the way has led to scathing criticism from policymakers and health officials, tarnishing the company’s image as a hero of the coronavirus era. See here: The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker mistakenly gave some volunteers a half dose of the vaccine during clinical trials, and it has been criticized for omitting crucial information from its public statements. US regulators have questioned the accuracy of its vaccine data, and severe production delays in Europe have resulted in a political firestorm and a breakdown in relations with EU leaders. “What we have with AstraZeneca is a company that is not straightforward, that cannot be relied upon,” Philippe Lamberts, a Belgian member of the European Parliament, said in a radio interview with the BBC on Wednesday. AstraZeneca’s failure to deliver tens of millions of promised doses to the European Union, which is struggling to roll out vaccination programs, led the bloc to impose export restrictions that have already prevented at least one shipment of vaccines to Australia. Leaders could move to make the restrictions even tighter Thursday. AstraZeneca has cited “lower-than-expected output from the production process” as a major complication in Europe. “As our teams learn from each other and improve their knowledge, the yield is increasing,” CEO Pascal Soriot said in February. “Manufacturing of a vaccine is a very complex biological process.” Meanwhile, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases expressed concerns earlier this week that AstraZeneca had presented “outdated” data from a trial of the vaccine’s effectiveness. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the agency’s director, called it “an unforced error” that could erode trust in a “very good vaccine.” The latest: AstraZeneca updated its data on Thursday, reporting that the trials showed its vaccine to be 76% effective against Covid-19 symptoms. Earlier this week, it had said its shot was 79% effective. However, the rare rebuke from US regulators was a major blow to the company’s credibility. “They’ve made one mistake after the other,” said Jeffrey Lazarus, head of the health systems research group at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. How Wall Street is fighting Covid burnout To keep employees happy despite the rampant stress and exhaustion of working during a pandemic, some Wall Street banks are handing out toys, gifts and perks, my CNN Business colleague Alexis Benveniste reports. Jefferies sent a memo to its 1,129 analysts and associates, offering the option to pick between a Peloton bike, a MIRROR home workout system, or an Apple package that includes an Apple Watch, iPad and AirPods. “You have given us your all these past twelve months and these gifts are a sign of our deep appreciation for your dedication, sacrifice and contribution to our success in the face of challenging circumstances,” CEO Rich Handler wrote in a memo to employees. Earlier this week, Citi announced that it’s launching “Zoom-Free Fridays.” But it may not be much of a change: Citi said employees may still be expected to hop on internal audio-only calls as well as external Zoom calls, including with clients and regulators. Remember: Slammed by a wave of deals, some Wall Street employees are fed up. Goldman Sachs analysts spoke out earlier this year about working 95-hour weeks and enduring “inhumane” treatment. CEO David Solomon has said the bank will strengthen enforcement of its free Saturday rule and speed up the hiring of junior bankers. These days, free food and gym memberships aren’t options to boost team morale. That’s forcing banks to get creative as they try to stave off burnout. Up next Darden Restaurants (DRI) reports results before US markets open. US jobless claims for last week post at 8:30 a.m. ET. — Hanna Ziady contributed reporting. Source link Orbem News #artery #blocking #Costly #huge #investing #Premarketstocks:Ahugeshipisblockingavitaltradeartery.Itcouldgetcostly-CNN #ship #Trade #vital

[dipulb3]

A huge ship is blocking a vital trade artery. It could get costly

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/a-huge-ship-is-blocking-a-vital-trade-artery-it-could-get-costly/

A huge ship is blocking a vital trade artery. It could get costly

What’s happening: Work continues to clear sand and mud away from the Ever Given, a 224,000-ton vessel that ran aground after 40-knot winds and a sandstorm caused low visibility and poor navigation.

Ending the dramatic traffic jam, which has prevented dozens of ships from passing through, will not be easy. The effort could take “days to weeks,” according to the CEO of Boskalis, whose sister company SMIT Salvage is now working to dislodge the ship.

Big picture: About 10% of global trade passes through the Suez Canal, according to Allianz, a top shipping insurer. Lloyd’s List, a shipping industry journal, said that nearly 19,000 vessels transited the artery last year.

Allianz said ships “face costly and lengthy deviations if canal is not opened soon.” Diverting vessels via the Cape of Good Hope in the southern tip of Africa would add roughly two weeks to their journeys.

Danish shipping company Maersk said that seven of its vessels have been affected. Four are already in the canal system and another three are waiting to enter.

“The incident continues to create long tailbacks on the waterway, stopping vessels from passing and causing delays,” it said in a statement.

The episode has also injected volatility into oil markets, which have been under pressure recently as investors weigh supply and demand heading into the next phase of the pandemic.

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark for oil prices, shot up nearly 6% on Wednesday as traders raced to assess the ramifications of the blockage. Prices fell back again Thursday, and were last down 1.4% to $63.55 per barrel.

In a note to clients, Commerzbank — citing analytics firm Vortexa — said that 10 oil tankers with 13 million barrels of crude on board are currently stuck in the Suez canal.

“This equates roughly to the amount of oil produced in one day by Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the two largest OPEC producers,” the German bank said.

Time is of the essence as the jam drags on, with the buildup poised to get worse by the day. But for now, oil traders are trying their best to look past the disruption.

“The situation is likely to return to normal at the beginning of next week once the container ship has been freed, shifting the focus back onto the demand risks,” Commerzbank said.

How AstraZeneca went from pandemic hero to vaccine villain

After teaming up with Oxford University, AstraZeneca (AZN) produced a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine in just nine months, a huge achievement that will help end the pandemic.

But a series of missteps along the way has led to scathing criticism from policymakers and health officials, tarnishing the company’s image as a hero of the coronavirus era.

See here: The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker mistakenly gave some volunteers a half dose of the vaccine during clinical trials, and it has been criticized for omitting crucial information from its public statements. US regulators have questioned the accuracy of its vaccine data, and severe production delays in Europe have resulted in a political firestorm and a breakdown in relations with EU leaders.

“What we have with AstraZeneca is a company that is not straightforward, that cannot be relied upon,” Philippe Lamberts, a Belgian member of the European Parliament, said in a radio interview with the BBC on Wednesday.

AstraZeneca’s failure to deliver tens of millions of promised doses to the European Union, which is struggling to roll out vaccination programs, led the bloc to impose export restrictions that have already prevented at least one shipment of vaccines to Australia. Leaders could move to make the restrictions even tighter Thursday.

AstraZeneca has cited “lower-than-expected output from the production process” as a major complication in Europe.

“As our teams learn from each other and improve their knowledge, the yield is increasing,” CEO Pascal Soriot said in February. “Manufacturing of a vaccine is a very complex biological process.”

Meanwhile, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases expressed concerns earlier this week that AstraZeneca had presented “outdated” data from a trial of the vaccine’s effectiveness. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the agency’s director, called it “an unforced error” that could erode trust in a “very good vaccine.”

The latest: AstraZeneca updated its data on Thursday, reporting that the trials showed its vaccine to be 76% effective against Covid-19 symptoms. Earlier this week, it had said its shot was 79% effective.

However, the rare rebuke from US regulators was a major blow to the company’s credibility.

“They’ve made one mistake after the other,” said Jeffrey Lazarus, head of the health systems research group at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

How Wall Street is fighting Covid burnout

To keep employees happy despite the rampant stress and exhaustion of working during a pandemic, some Wall Street banks are handing out toys, gifts and perks, my Appradab Business colleague Alexis Benveniste reports.

Jefferies sent a memo to its 1,129 analysts and associates, offering the option to pick between a Peloton bike, a MIRROR home workout system, or an Apple package that includes an Apple Watch, iPad and AirPods.

“You have given us your all these past twelve months and these gifts are a sign of our deep appreciation for your dedication, sacrifice and contribution to our success in the face of challenging circumstances,” CEO Rich Handler wrote in a memo to employees.

Earlier this week, Citi announced that it’s launching “Zoom-Free Fridays.” But it may not be much of a change: Citi said employees may still be expected to hop on internal audio-only calls as well as external Zoom calls, including with clients and regulators.

Remember: Slammed by a wave of deals, some Wall Street employees are fed up. Goldman Sachs analysts spoke out earlier this year about working 95-hour weeks and enduring “inhumane” treatment. CEO David Solomon has said the bank will strengthen enforcement of its free Saturday rule and speed up the hiring of junior bankers.

These days, free food and gym memberships aren’t options to boost team morale. That’s forcing banks to get creative as they try to stave off burnout.

Up next

Darden Restaurants (DRI) reports results before US markets open. US jobless claims for last week post at 8:30 a.m. ET.

— Hanna Ziady contributed reporting.

[newstfionline]

Monday, February 8, 2021

America’s Mothers Are in Crisis (NYT) By now, you have read the headlines, repeating like a depressing drum beat: “Working moms are not OK.” “Pandemic Triples Anxiety And Depression Symptoms In New Mothers.” “Working Moms Are Reaching The Breaking Point.” You can also see the problem in numbers: Almost 1 million mothers have left the workforce—with Black mothers, Hispanic mothers and single mothers among the hardest hit. Almost 1 in 4 children experienced food insecurity in 2020, which is intimately related to the loss of maternal income. And more than three-quarters of parents with children ages 8 to 12 say the uncertainty around the current school year is causing them stress. The pandemic has touched every group of Americans, and millions are suffering, hungry and grieving. But many mothers in particular get no space or time to recover. Philip Fisher, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon who runs an ongoing nationally representative survey on the effect of the pandemic on families with young children, says, “People are having a hard time making ends meet, that’s making parents stressed out, and that’s causing kids to be stressed out.” This buildup can lead to toxic stress, “And we know from all the science, that level of stress has a lasting impact on brain development, learning and physical health.” Almost 70% of mothers say that worry and stress from the pandemic have damaged their health.

Pandemic’s Toll on Housing (NYT) As the pandemic enters its second year, millions of renters are struggling with a loss of income and with the insecurity of not knowing how long they will have a home. Their savings depleted, they are running up credit card debt to make the rent, or accruing months of overdue payments. Families are moving in together, offsetting the cost of housing by finding others to share it. Even before last year, about 11 million households—one in four U.S. renters—were spending more than half their pretax income on housing, and overcrowding was on the rise. By one estimate, for every 100 very low-income households, only 36 affordable rentals are available. Now the pandemic is adding to the pressure. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed that tenants who lost jobs in the pandemic had amassed $11 billion in rental arrears, while a broader measure by Moody’s Analytics, which includes all delinquent renters, estimated that as of January they owed $53 billion in back rent, utilities and late fees. Other surveys show that families are increasingly pessimistic about making their next month’s rent, and are cutting back on food and other essentials to pay bills.

In pandemic, more people choose to die at home (AP) Mortuary owner Brian Simmons has been making more trips to homes to pick up bodies to be cremated and embalmed since the pandemic hit. With COVID-19 devastating communities in Missouri, his two-person crews regularly arrive at homes in the Springfield area and remove bodies of people who decided to die at home rather than spend their final days in a nursing home or hospital where family visitations were prohibited during the pandemic. He understands all too well why people are choosing to die at home: His own 49-year-old daughter succumbed to the coronavirus just before Christmas at a Springfield hospital, where the family only got phone updates as her condition deteriorated. “My daughter went to the hospital and we saw her once through the glass when they put her on the ventilator, and then we never saw her again until after she died.” Across the country, terminally ill patients—both with COVID-19 and other diseases—are making similar decisions and dying at home rather than face the terrifying scenario of saying farewell to loved ones behind glass or during video calls.

Trump’s Senate impeachment trial (AP) Arguments begin Tuesday in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump on allegations that he incited the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Will he be convicted? It’s unlikely. While many Republicans were harshly critical of Trump for telling supporters to “fight like hell” and go to the Capitol, their criticism has since softened. The shift was evident during a Jan. 26 test vote. Only five Republican senators voted against a motion that was aimed at dismissing the trial. It will take a two-thirds vote of the 100-member Senate to convict Trump of the impeachment charge, which is “incitement of insurrection.” If all 50 Democrats voted to convict him, 17 Republicans would have to join them to reach that threshold. Most Republicans have avoided defending Trump’s actions the day of the riot. Instead, lawmakers have argued that the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office.

Ecuadoreans vote for president (Reuters) Ecuadoreans choose a new president on Sunday, with many voters weary of painful economic austerity measures and eager for a return to socialism, encouraging left-wing candidate Andres Arauz who hopes to win without needing a runoff vote. The 36-year-old economist, a protege of former president Rafael Correa, leads in polls on promises to make $1 billion in direct cash payments to families and to disavow the conditions of a $6.5 billion IMF financing package. His main rival, Guillermo Lasso, has been hurt by his image as a conservative banker, and pollsters say the possibility of low voter turnout due to the pandemic could dent his support. Lawyer and indigenous activist Yaku Perez is third in the polls. An Arauz victory would extend Latin America’s return to leftist policies, already evident in Argentina and Bolivia, a challenge for Washington as it duels with China for influence in the hemisphere.

With Carnival scrapped, Rio’s Sambadrome hosts vaccinations (AP) In a normal year, Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome would be preparing for its great moment of the year: the world’s most famous Carnival parade. But a week before what should be the start of Carnival, the pandemic has replaced pageantry, with the great celebration put on hold until next year as Rio struggles to quash a rise in COVID-19 cases. The Rio mayor’s office opened a drive-thru immunization station Saturday at the Sambadrome, where a line of cars queued up on a broad avenue built for floats. Rio’s city government officially suspended Carnival and warns it will have no tolerance for those who try to celebrate with open street parades or clandestine parties, saying it is monitoring social media to detect any.

Public Buildings Set Ablaze in Chile After Police Shoot Street Juggler (NYT) Demonstrators angered by the fatal police shooting of a popular street juggler set several public buildings ablaze in southern Chile Friday night, leaving a city of almost 34,000 people practically without public services. The shooting took place after the juggler, identified as Francisco Martínez, did not comply with a police officer’s request to provide identification as he performed at a busy intersection in the center of Panguipulli, a popular lakeside community, witnesses said. An argument followed, during which the officer pulled out his gun and fired at least two shots at Mr. Martínez’s feet, witnesses told reporters. Videos taken by witnesses, which spread widely on social media, show the juggler jumping to avoid the shots then running toward the officer with his props in the air. The officer then shot him in the chest, witnesses said, and he died at the scene. Police then barricaded themselves in their station. Since protesters were unable to attack the police station, they turned to other government symbols. Ten public offices in the city of Panguipulli burned to the ground, including the municipal government building, the post office, the civil registry, a local court and a water management company, the authorities said.

Himalayan glacier breaks in India, up to 150 feared dead in floods (Reuters) As many as 150 people were feared dead in northern India after a Himalayan glacier broke and swept away a hydroelectric dam on Sunday, with floods forcing the evacuation of villages downstream. “The actual number has not been confirmed yet,” but 100 to 150 people were feared dead, Om Prakash, chief secretary of Uttarakhand state where the incident occurred, told Reuters. A witness reported a wall of dust, rock and water as an avalanche roared down the Dhauli Ganga river valley located more than 500 km (310 miles) north of New Delhi.

Protests sweep Myanmar to oppose coup, support Suu Kyi (Reuters) Tens of thousands of people rallied across Myanmar on Sunday to denounce last week’s coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the biggest protests since the 2007 Saffron Revolution that helped lead to democratic reforms. In a second day of widespread protests, crowds in the biggest city, Yangon, sported red shirts, red flags and red balloons, the colour of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party (NLD). “We don’t want military dictatorship! We want democracy!” they chanted. On Sunday afternoon, the junta ended a day-long blockade of the internet that had further inflamed anger since the coup last Monday that has halted the Southeast Asian nation’s troubled transition to democracy and drawn international outrage. Massive crowds from all corners of Yangon gathered in townships and headed toward the Sule Pagoda at the heart of the city, also a rallying point during the Buddhist monk-led 2007 protests and others in 1988.

Palestinian leader’s path to elections is fraught with peril (AP) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ call for elections has thrown his political future into peril, forcing him to negotiate competing demands to engage with a friendlier U.S. administration, mend the rift with his militant Hamas rivals and keep his unruly Fatah movement from breaking apart. It’s far from clear the elections will actually be held. Doing so will require an agreement between Abbas’s secular Fatah movement and Hamas, which have been bitterly divided for more than a decade despite multiple attempts at reconciliation. The two sides plan to meet in Cairo this week. The outcome of the talks will largely depend on the 85-year-old Abbas. He has spent decades nonviolently seeking a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories seized by Israel in the 1967 war. Instead, he has come to rule an increasingly autocratic and unpopular Palestinian Authority confined to parts of the occupied West Bank. Reconciling with Hamas and holding elections could shore up his legitimacy and meet longstanding Western demands for accountability. But even a limited victory by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by Israel and Western countries, could result in international isolation and the loss of vital aid—as it did after Hamas won the last parliamentary elections in 2006.

[viralartic]

12 Foods That Naturally Lower Cholesterol

Are your cholesterol numbers sky-high? is that the fear of an attack supplying you with sleepless nights? Well, maybe it’s time to undertake and lower your cholesterol.

Our culture may be a pill-popping culture, so it's no surprise that the first method of lowering high cholesterol is by medicines and clinical approaches. Drugs are readily available from almost any doctor's office, they’re effective and let’s be honest they require little or no effort on your behalf to urge that cholesterol in check.

However, it’s always best to undertake and treat any health issues naturally and studies have shown that straightforward lifestyle changes and enhancements in your diet are often as effective and even more powerful than many drugs.

Controlling and lowering your cholesterol naturally is straightforward once your skills. Regular workouts are often the beginning you’ve been trying to find in your fight against an attack combined with a controlled diet that goes to be the simplest solution.

Foods That Naturally Lower Cholesterol Levels So don’t worry anymore, start to eat your thanks to a healthier heart with these 12 delicious superfoods which will naturally lower cholesterol.

1. Salmon and Fatty Fish

Salmon and other fatty fish are packed filled with Omega-3 fats that are shown to assist keep off dementia, a heart condition, also like many other diseases.

Omega-3 fats also are an excellent natural thanks to lowering your cholesterol and consistent with recent research from Loma Linda University by simply replacing unhealthy saturated fats with healthy Omega-3 fats can raise good cholesterol in your body by the maximum amount as 4%.

2. Oats

Even small changes in your lifestyle and diet can reap huge rewards, for instance simply changing your breakfast can help to lower your cholesterol.

Try switching up your breakfast to contain a minimum of two servings of oats, by doing this you'll lower your LDL cholesterol by roughly 5.3% in only 6 weeks.

What makes oats a superfood for lowering cholesterol is that the beta-glucan found within the oats which naturally absorbs LDL, which your body then excretes.

3. Beans

Try adding some beans into your diet, by adding roughly 1/2 cup of beans to soup lowers total your cholesterol, including LDL, by up to eight.

What makes bean so effective is that the abundance of fiber which has shown to assist reduce the quantity of absorption of cholesterol in certain foods.

4. Margarine

Yes, we all know “it just doesn’t taste the same” but attempt to make the switch from butter over to margarine to urge the advantages from the plant sterols, like bene col or promise active to assist lower your cholesterol.

The plant sterols are natural compounds that help to scale back the absorption of cholesterol within the body. A recent study by AJCN showed that ladies could lower their cholesterol by 3.5% when eating a better plant sterol–based diet.

5. Red Wine

If you're keen on a glass of wine, the excellent news is that it could help to lower your cholesterol levels by having a glass of red.

The tempranillo red grapes, wont to make wine like Rioja are high in fiber and may have a positive effect on the body’s cholesterol.

Studies out of Spain have shown that you simply can lower your LDL levels by a minimum of 9% by drinking wine.

6. Spinach

Spinach is a superb superfood that contains much lutein which is that the yellow pigment found in egg yolks also as dark green leafy vegetables.

Lutein may be already known to assist guard against degeneration which is a leading explanation for blindness but new research suggest that just 1/2 cup of a lutein-rich food added to your diet every day can help ward off heart attacks by reducing cholesterol buildup on the artery walls that cause clogging.

7. Nuts

Nuts like walnuts are an excellent source of Omega-3 fats which help to scale back cholesterol levels naturally.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study that showed that folks who ate around 1.5 ounces of whole walnuts 6 days every week for 1 month managed to lower their LDL cholesterol by 9.3% and their cholesterol by 5.4%.

If you're not a lover of walnuts cashews and almonds are other good options.

8. Garlic

If you don’t mind the stinky breath, garlic really may be a good way to lower your lower cholesterol, reduce vital signs, prevent blood clots, also as protect against other infections.

Garlic works by helping to prevent artery-clogging plaque build-up by preventing unwanted cholesterol particles from sticking to artery walls.

9. Tea Tea has gained popularity recently thanks to its cancer-fighting antioxidants but tea is additionally an excellent natural defense against high LDL cholesterol levels.

The USDA conducted research that showed tea helped to scale back blood lipids by up to 10% in roughly 3 weeks. Larger studies also showed that tea may additionally help to scale back the danger of coronary heart conditions in adults. Why not try Matcha tea for added health benefits.

10. Avocado

When it involves superfoods avocados are at the highest of the list. Avocados are a superb natural source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats that help to lower LDL cholesterol levels but at an equivalent time raise the great HDL cholesterol.

On top of that avocados also contain beta-sitosterol which may be a cholesterol-smashing plant-based fat that helps to scale back the quantity of cholesterol absorbed from food.

11. Chocolate

Believe it or not but there are tons of health benefits related to chocolate especially bittersweet chocolate. When it comes to heart health and cholesterol levels chocolate can prevent blood platelets from sticking together and may even keep arteries unclogged.

Chocolate may be a powerful antioxidant that helps to create healthy HDL cholesterol levels. A study by AJCN showed that folks who consumed chocolate had a 24% increase in HDL levels over 12 weeks compared to only a 5% increase within the control group.

For health benefits always choose bittersweet chocolate over chocolate just because bittersweet chocolate has over 3 times to amount of antioxidants.

12. Olive Oil

Olive oil may be a great healthy option for frying, using as salad dressings, or maybe marinating chicken and fish. vegetable oil contains an abundance of heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), which help to scale back and lower unwanted LDL cholesterol.

Controlling and lowering your cholesterol naturally isn’t as hard as you almost certainly first thought it had been. All it takes are a couple of small lifestyle changes and you'll have your cholesterol levels in check in no-time. If you think that your family and friends can enjoy reading this text why not share it with them?

[racingtoaredlight]

Profiles in IMDb Greatness: Glenn Fleshler

I love the Internet Movie Database. was that the big boy from Modern Family working the front desk at a hotel in Almost Famous? Sure was. As such I enjoy looking over random performer pages and arbitrarily judging the scope and quality of their careers to determine if they merit entry into my vaguely defined IMDb Hall of Fame. Today’s enshrinee: Glenn Fleshler

Hello old friends, hope everyone is doing well during this pandemic and instead of protesting at state capitol buildings with the shittiest people alive you’re safe at home enjoying wholesome blog content. While riding out quarantine the mind has more time to wander and ponder the deeper mysteries, like what are the moral obligations a government has to keeping its population alive and in the nearly 50 years of HBO has there ever been a more vital figure in its programming than Glenn Fleshler over the past decade?

Much like Gus Frerotte appearing out of nowhere to be every team’s backup quarterback at some point in the last 20 years, Fleshler just strolls from one prestige television set to another covering the gamut from drama to horror to comedy. I considered writing this post months ago when I first realized we were dealing with Mr. HBO here but quarantine boredom was just the propellant needed to get this baby off the ground.

First Listed Role: While fans of the IMDb HOF may remember my affinity for these actors getting their starts in soap operas the true character actor spirit is captured from appearing in network crime dramas so of course Glenn Fleshler opening up with an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street which also featured friend of the HOF Jon Polito! The episode description is simply “The team investigate a woman who appears to be murdering her husbands for the insurance money” so I’ll assume they ripped the whole thing from the plot of Addams Family Values and Fleshler played Uncle Fester.

Newest Role: Of course after calling Fleshler Mr. HBO I’m immediately served up a role on Showtime’s Billions. I didn’t get into that show when it premiered since I don’t trust Showtime original programming anymore and when I tried to start it up a couple weeks ago I made it five minutes before realizing that a show about rich assholes talking about the stock market wasn’t what I was looking for in 2020. I’m sure it’s delightful.

CSI/Law & Order/NCIS Guest Spots: Three episodes of Law & Order and three more of SVU, six different characters. This is legendary stuff. Let’s go in chronological order where I play my favorite game of trying to guess who the character was in each episode.

Don Hamilton, 2/6/02 - A former aide for a state senator has turned up missing and it’s revealed that she was having an affair with the senator and was pregnant. My money’s on Fleshler as the murderous, fertile politician.

Dr. Noah Kamens, 11/1/02 - Yikes, child sex ring episode here. Fingers crossed that Fleshler was just appearing as a child psychologist and not as a predatory pediatrician but as we’ll visit later he can pull off menacingly creepy well.

Rick Kawalchuck, 4/20/05 - A porn star is murdered, safe to assume Fleshler is the corpse and this light-hearted episode is filled with wisecracks about how with his rigor mortis they won’t be able to close the coffin.

Jimmy Curren, 12/3/08 - A man from upstate New York is found dead in Chinatown, a realistic crime based on my knowledge of midupstate New Yorkers and their appreciation of a good Chinese buffet. This crime leads all the way to the governor’s office and since Jimmy doesn’t sound gubernatorial I’ll guess Fleshler is an adviser who kills the victim over the last potsticker.

Corrections Officer Kravitz, 10/7/09 - This game isn’t fun if you do all the work for me, character name.

Phillip Altshuler, 12/6/17 - A true pro still doing these gigs when at this point he’d been in some truly great TV. this episode is about the rape of a social media star so he’s the venture capitalist funding the app and trying to keep the story under wraps.

One of these days I really should watch an episode of Law & Order.

Hall of Fame Ballot Submissions: Just from the HBO division we got Sex and the City (he looks like Charlotte’s type based on the schlubby lawyer she ends up marrying down the stretch), Boardwalk Empire (not the best show but I did love him as George Remus who always referred to himself as “Remus”), True Detective (hope everyone’s working from home in case remembering the “Making flowers” scene gets you understandably horny), The Knick (technically Cinemax but I always thought they were owned by the same crew, if not when a show has a guy taking a shot of cocaine to the dick it gets in here), The Night Of (kind of became a mess at the end and there entirely too much John Turturro foot picking but the pilot was great), Barry (fantastic show, Fleshler should do more comedy) and then he turned up in the best episode of the incredible Watchmen season.

What a run, when Glenn Fleshler passes on down the road I hope this kicks off his funeral.

Miscellaneous Credits: I didn’t think Joker in any way deserved a Best Picture nomination and the conversation around it was embarrassing all around since in the end it was a mostly entertaining Taxi Driver ripoff but hey, Glenn Fleshler can say he was in award nominated motion picture.

Highest Rated IMDb Entry: Kinda surprised that the True Detective finale landed here since I remember there being disappointment with it even though I thought it and that whole season were fantastic (his relative/ladyfriend Ann Dowd would be a good one to cover in the next post so keep that in mind for the next pandemic) but here it is at a robust 9.6. Fleshler is the right kind of unnerving after a season of buildup to who the killer was. I can see how a fella like that would catch on in multiple Law & Orders universes even if he’s appeared enough times for people to question why everyone in New York City looks like Glenn Fleshler.

Lowest Rated IMDb Entry: A 2016 film called The Rendezvous where Fleshler’s the only name I recognize on the cast list. Let’s learn about this movie together, shall we.

Oof, I was rooting for armageddon to come take me less than a minute in to that. My only intrigue in diving in further is to see if the “we work for a higher power” sticks with that Steel Magnolias accent all throughout the movie. And the quips, my god the quips. The “you think?” line is what happens when Marvel movies are oversold for their witty banter, everyone wants a taste of jokes they don’t have to work on.

IMDb Fun Fact: The only three I had to choose from

Off-Broadway, he has appeared in such plays as Measure for Measure and Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

Fleshler studied acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Performing Arts, from which he has an MFA.

Fleshler's Broadway credits include Death of a Salesman, Guys and Dolls, Arcadia and The Merchant of Venice.

Neat.

IMDb HOF Members: Looking for a Mother’s Day gift for the special ladies in your life? Just send her this list of links and they’ll wish quarantine would never end so long as there are more to read!

Bob Balaban

Jim Beaver

Clancy Brown

W. Earl Brown

Reg E. Cathey

Gary Cole

Keith David

Cary Elwes

Noah Emmerich

Glenn Fleshler

Jami Gertz

John Hawkes

John Michael Higgins

Toby Huss

Allison Janney

John Carroll Lynch

Margo Martindale

David Morse

Joe Morton

Robert Patrick

Bill Paxton

Jon Polito

Alan Rickman

Stephen Root

Matt Ross

Alan Ruck

Peter Stormare

Daniel von Bargen

Next Time: If the pandemic is still ongoing, the monkey from Outbreak. If not, the monkey from Outbreak.

[sciencespies]

Communities search for ways to live with growing fire threat

https://sciencespies.com/environment/communities-search-for-ways-to-live-with-growing-fire-threat/

Communities search for ways to live with growing fire threat

by Anton L. Delgado and Dustin Patar

In this photo taken June 11, 2019, is a sign outside Shingletown, Calif. The town got its name from its heyday making wooden roofing materials. The wildfire-vulnerable town has two nicknames, Little Paradise and Gateway to Mount Lassen. Despite federal fire suppression costs quadrupling and an increase in employed firefighters, the damages caused by wildfires has increased fivefold. (Anton L. Delgado/News21 via AP)

More

Unless it’s Sunday, Kelly Loew is steering her rusty red Jeep down the same mail route in Shingletown, as she has six days a week for the last seven years. But she delivers less mail these days as California’s persistent wildfires drive residents away.

Last year, California experienced its deadliest and most destructive wildfire season. Shingletown, nicknamed Little Paradise, is one of the state’s most wildfire-vulnerable communities.

Despite the National Interagency Fire Center recording federal fire suppression costs quadrupling since 1989, the damage caused by wildfires has increased fivefold.

“The fear is palpable,” Loew said. “When I drive home through my neighborhood, I see tinderboxes everywhere.”

According to data from the National Catastrophe Service, wildfires over the past decade have resulted in more than $52 billion in insured losses across the country. Flames have burned nearly 49,000 structures across the U.S. since 2014, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. That’s more structures lost than in the previous 14 years combined.

“We shouldn’t be surprised that we’re seeing not only our cities growing, but lots of people taking over what had been rural landscapes and making them an urban environment,” said Stephen Pyne, a wildfire historian. “People like to live in lots of areas that are full of natural hazards and it’s very hard in the American system to tell people they can’t do what they want on their property.”

This summer, the Woodbury Fire northwest of Superior, Arizona, burned close to 124,000 acres and prompted a mandatory evacuation of Roosevelt and nearby communities. It’s the fifth largest wildfire in state history.

“My mind was on overload. I have to pack this, I have to pack that. … Plus you have to pack your personal stuff,” said Pat Spencer, a business owner in Roosevelt, Arizona. “Everybody was like, ‘Why are you packing it up?’ I said, ‘Just to be safe, rather than sorry.'”

In this photo taken June 13, 2019, is Kelly Loew creating a defensible space around her home in Shingletown, Calif., by trimming pine branches and burning them in a pile. It’s a common but dangerous practice in the forested community. Despite federal fire suppression costs quadrupling and an increase in employed firefighters, the damages caused by wildfires has increased fivefold. (Anton L. Delgado/News21 via AP)

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Among her most important possessions: three figurines of angels embracing firefighters. Spencer has six firefighters in her family. Three of them—her son, husband and nephew—spent more than a week battling the Woodbury Fire, which broke out June 8.

Last year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, Arizona had 838 wildfires more than the U.S. state average, placing it among the top 10 in the nation. The data show that in the first six months of 2019, wildfires in Arizona have burned more land than was burned in all of 2018. Seven other states, including Alaska and Rhode Island, have shown the same trend.

Over the past three decades, the number of wildfires declared major disasters by the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been steadily growing, with 19 since 2009. Nearly 68% occurred in California, Colorado and Oklahoma; the others were in Texas, Washington, Tennessee and Montana.

The cost of wildfire recovery often falls to individual states. To get federal dollars flowing, the governor has to request a disaster declaration and FEMA must recommend it to the president, who can deny or approve it.

But while the number of wildfire disaster declarations has grown in the past two decades, only 16.2% of wildfires larger than 100,000 acres have been declared major disasters, which is about 0.002% of all wildfires in the past 20 years.

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TINDERBOXES EVERYWHERE

“Being human means there’s risk of some sort in your life,” Loew said. “If you’re looking for a quiet mountain town with a good community, a good school and great people, this is the place to be. … I don’t know why people wouldn’t want to live here.”

In this photo taken June 7, 2019, most homes in Shingletown, Calif., are barely visible through the thick trees of Shasta County, California. The town got its name from its heyday making wooden roofing materials. The wildfire-vulnerable town has two nicknames, Little Paradise and Gateway to Mount Lassen. Despite federal fire suppression costs quadrupling and an increase in employed firefighters, the damages caused by wildfires has increased fivefold. (Anton L. Delgado/News21 via AP)

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According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2010 Wildland Urban Interface report, Shingletown is an intermixed community, meaning housing and wildland vegetation intermingle, which increases wildfire risk.

The report shows over 39 million people across the country live in forested communities like Shingletown. More than half live in 10 states: Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, California, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama.

In California, more than 1.74 million residents live in such communities. Since the report came out in 2010, more structures have been burned in the Golden State than anywhere else in the United States.

The more than 41,000 burned structures in California is nearly 13 times more than the next state, Texas, which had 3,222 structures burned in the same time span.

“Fueled by drought, an unprecedented buildup of dry vegetation and extreme winds, the size and intensity of these wildfires caused the loss of more than 100 lives, destroyed thousands of homes and exposed millions of urban and rural Californians to unhealthy air,” according to a February report by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.

More than 25 million acres of California wildlands are classified as under very high or extreme fire threat. The report blames “climate change, an epidemic of dead and dying trees, and the proliferation of new homes in the wildland urban interface.”

Research by the University of Idaho in 2016 found that wildfires in the West have been made worse by higher temperatures associated with climate change. Warmer air has made forests drier, making vegetation more flammable and better wildfire fuel.

Shingletown, named after its historic production of wooden shingles, is considered vulnerable because of its average age of 61, its median household income of $42,000—more than $18,000 less than the national median—and its location in the foothills of the Cascade Range.

In this photo taken June 6, 2019, in the footprint of the 2018 Carr Fire, members of Cal Fire and the California National Guard grind dead vegetation to mitigate the wildfire risk in Shasta County, California. Despite federal fire suppression costs quadrupling and an increase in employed firefighters, the damages caused by wildfires has increased fivefold. (Anton L. Delgado/News21 via AP)

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To prevent larger wildfires, Cal Fire plans to grind down vegetation. Its top priority project is to create defensible space, along Shingletown’s main road, State Route 44.

In a low-income community like Shingletown, not everyone can afford to create defensible space. Some simply burn the flammable brush, known as slash, in their yards.

“Every slash pile being burned has the potential of getting away,” said Tom Twist, deputy chief of the Shingletown Fire Safe Council, which offers a program that gives residents access to a site to dump flammable vegetation. “We want to reduce the chances of what we call doorstep burn piles.”

California Assemblyman Jim Wood said he’s been working to find funding for wildfire prevention since wildfires in 2017 killed 44 people in Northern California, which until last year, were the most destructive in state history.

In November 2018, the Camp Fire in Butte County killed 86 people and destroyed close to 12,000 structures. That made it the deadliest wildfire since the 1918 Cloquet Fire, which killed more than 450 people in Minnesota.

Wood, a dentist by trade, volunteered with local authorities to use dental records to identify victims in Paradise. Less than a month later, he proposed Bill AB38, which would establish a $1 billion fund meant to financially aid low-income residents to fireproof their homes. The bill passed but was stripped of funding.

“The legislative process is not perfect,” Wood said. “But the commitment I have to trying to find a funding source … to help people protect their homes isn’t going away.”

California’s building code requires homes in fire-prone regions built after 2008 to have fire resistant roofs and siding, and other safeguards. This year, a similar amendment was passed in Oregon, which had the sixth most wildfires in 2018. Both codes require homeowners to pay for it.

In this photo taken June 8, 2019, is Tom Twist, deputy chief of the Fire Safe Council in Shingletown, Calif. Twist says the dump site eliminates the chance of wildfire. “We want to reduce the chances of what we call doorstep burn piles.” Despite federal fire suppression costs quadrupling and an increase in employed firefighters, the damages caused by wildfires has increased fivefold. (Anton L. Delgado/News21 via AP)

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In 2010, 40 million people in the country lived in forested communities, approximately 1-in-10 Americans. But despite the risk of wildfires, building projects continue to be approved in areas still recovering from previous blazes.

___

FIGHT OR FLIGHT

Twist, of the Shingletown Fire Safe Council, said he sees this as his second war. He served two tours in Vietnam—first in the infantry, then in the air cavalry.

“There is a lot of correlation between warfare between humans and warfare between humans and the environment,” he said. “When the fire comes … it’s chaotic for the first several hours until people settle in. It’s the same in a firefight.”

To control the chaos, Twist has been pushing to install SR-7 wildfire early-detection systems, which use infrared and optical cameras to detect growing wildfires.

“The Camp Fire is a prime example of what happens when you’re dealing with inadequate information in a rapidly developing wildfire,” he said. “If the SR-7 system had been deployed … it would have detected the fire and it would have given the people of Paradise about an hour and a half more time to evacuate.”

In June, residents of Roosevelt, Arizona, had a day’s warning before they had to flee the Woodbury Fire.

In this photo taken June 21, 2019, hotshot crews return to their camps as smoke from the Woodbury Fire rises over the Superstition Wilderness in central Arizona. Despite federal fire suppression costs quadrupling and an increase in employed firefighters, the damages caused by wildfires has increased fivefold. (Anton L. Delgado/News21 via AP)

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“We want people to be ready to go. If it’s moving towards them, when we say go, we want them to grab their bags and get out of there,” Dick Fleishman, a National Forest Service fire information officer, said the day before the June 20 evacuation.

Spencer spent five days working on her brother’s yard waiting for the threat to be extinguished and the evacuation lifted. She was among the first to re-enter Roosevelt Estates.

“In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, Amen. Thank you, Lord, for protecting us, for protecting our homes. Thank you, Lord, for protecting our firefighters; without them our homes would not be safe,” Spencer said. “There are just no words, but thank God we are home. There’s no place like home. Amen.”

As she prayed, Spencer’s eldest son and nephew were still on the fire line.

___

PRESCRIBED POTENTIAL

David Rubalcaba, 56, has been working fires for nearly half his life. As a hotshot, his job was to rappel from helicopters into wildfires across the country. He did that until 2003, when a burning sequoia crushed his left hand in California.

Now, as the assistant fire management officer—or “burn boss”—for the Karuk Tribe in Northern California, Rubalcaba’s job is to ignite and control prescribed burns. The forest management technique guides the destruction of vegetation that could fuel future wildfires.

In this photo taken June 26, 2019, a reflective mural of The Last Supper and three firefighter figurines were among the first things Pat Spencer unpacked after the mandatory evacuation over Roosevelt, Ariz., was lifted during the Woodbury Fire. Her husband, John, watches as she hangs up the mural. Despite federal fire suppression costs quadrupling and an increase in employed firefighters, the damages caused by wildfires has increased fivefold. (Anton L. Delgado/News21 via AP)

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“I came to the realization one day that firefighting is the problem. I wanted to become part of the solution, and so I got into prescribed fire,” Rubalcaba said. “Prescribed fire is the big thing now because it’s the only solution to this catastrophic event we’re having annually with fire.”

For the first time since the 1920s, data from the National Interagency Fire Center has recorded the amount of acreage being burned by wildfires increasing. Federal fire suppression costs quadrupled to nearly $18.5 billion from $4.5 billion 20 years ago.

In the same time span, wildfire damages have increased fivefold with more than $52 billion in damages this last decade, according to the National Catastrophe Service, which analyzes disasters to assess risk management.

Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order pushing for federal land management and wildfire risk reduction, which said “post-fire assessments show that reducing vegetation through hazardous fuel management … is effective in reducing wildfire severity and loss.”

To better respond to wildfires, firefighting agencies divided the U.S. into 10 geographic regions. The Southern region leads the country with more than 25 million acres of prescribed fires in the past decade—twice the amount of the nine other regions combined.

According to the annual wildland fire summary and statistics report, for the past two decades the Southern region is one of only two regions that has had more land burned by prescribed fires than by wildfires. In 2018, four of the five states with the most wildfires were in the Southern region: Texas, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. But none was in the top five for most land burned.

Research published this year by Crystal Kolden, a wildfire expert and professor in the department of forest, rangeland and fire sciences at the University of Idaho, shows that the region’s use of prescribed burns “may be one of the reasons why the Southeastern states have experienced far fewer wildfire disasters relative to the Western U.S.”

In 2018, California had the most amount of land burned and the second most wildfires. The two regions that represent the state have burned roughly 2.4% of the Southern regions’ total in the past decade.

In this photo taken June 12, 2019, David Rubalcaba, known as the “Burn Boss” of the Karuk Nation in Northern California, supervises all prescribed burns on tribal land. The former smoke jumper took the job after a burning tree crushed his left hand in 2003. “I came to the realization one day that firefighting is the problem. I wanted to become part of the solution, and so I got into prescribed fire,” Rubalcaba said. Despite federal fire suppression costs quadrupling and an increase in employed firefighters, the damages caused by wildfires has increased fivefold. (Anton L. Delgado/News21 via AP)

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“Fire is a driverless car,” Pyne said. “It’s barreling down the road integrating everything around it and at some point, it may be a really sharp curve called climate change. Another point it may be a really tricky intersection called wildland urban interface. It may just be filled with road hazards leftover from logging or past fires.

“There is no fix to the fire problem. … We have to live with it.”

Explore further

Prescribed burning to combat wildfires has not increased in the U.S. West

© 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Citation: Communities search for ways to live with growing fire threat (2019, September 22) retrieved 22 September 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-09-ways-threat.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

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Testing STILL Hampered by Disarray, Shortages, Backlogs…

Amid efforts to expand coronavirus testing, laboratory operators and state health officials are navigating a thicket of supply shortages, widespread test backlogs, unexpected snafus and unreliable results, often with no referee—prolonging the national crisis.

As President Trump and many of his advisers focus more attention on the nation’s economic reopening, lower ranking officials are trying to sort out the testing puzzle and individual labs are vying for supplies in a fractured and exhausted marketplace.

“It is a little bit insane. Everyone is running around trying to get as much as they can from every vendor,” said David Grenache, the lab director at TriCore Reference Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. “Laboratories are competing with each other to get needed resources,” he said, and often coming up short.

The private sector hasn’t so far been able to deliver nearly enough tests to meet the huge demand in the U.S., more than six weeks after the Food and Drug Administration allowed private companies to manufacture test kits and put them to use without having to be approved.

A signal White House effort to ramp up testing showcases the obstacles. Federal officials sought to distribute a new device by

Abbott Laboratories

around the country, but the push fell short when supplies proved scarce and the device’s reliability faced doubts, according to state officials and laboratory experts.

By one top administration official’s account, testing through April will only meet about half the capacity that is needed. Adm. Brett Giroir, the administration’s testing coordinator, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that he believed three or four million tests would be performed in April.

But he set a specific target for needed testing capacity at six million to seven million tests a month, while projecting the U.S. would reach that goal in May. Dr. Giroir said that estimate was based on an assumption that there would be 300,000 new cases of the virus a month, even as pockets of the nation are expected to reopen.

The next day, Dr. Giroir gave a rosier projection at a White House briefing, saying only 4.5 million tests would be needed based on an estimated 200,000 new cases a month. In an interview Saturday, he explained the change: “I revised that down from the podium.”

Some in the federal government, including Mr. Trump and his top advisers, say the job of figuring out how to further expand testing belongs to states and private labs. Mr. Trump tweeted Friday: “The States have to step up their TESTING!”

Dr. Giroir said Saturday the federal government was still fully engaged in fixing testing. “Believe me, because we’re working 18 to 20 hours a day, the feds are not relinquishing our system to the states,” he said.

On March 30, Mr. Trump had touted in a Rose Garden news conference the new testing device by Abbott. He said then, “We have built an incredible system.”

President Trump showed a coronavirus testing device from Abbott Laboratories on March 30.

Photo: MANDEL NGANAgence France-Presse/Getty Images

President Trump showed a coronavirus testing device from Abbott Laboratories on March 30.

Photo: MANDEL NGANAgence France-Presse/Getty Images

Mr. Trump said the Abbott tests could deliver “lightning-fast results in as little as five minutes,” at a time when politicians around the country were fretting over long backlogs at conventional laboratories. The federal government bought hundreds of the devices to distribute to states.

That marquee effort soon ran into the supply-chain issues that have plagued the testing buildup. State officials found they couldn’t easily obtain enough of Abbott’s single-use cartridges to actually test patients, they said. Each cartridge contains the chemicals and other components needed for the machine to process one test.

As of last week, Abbott said it had distributed about 600,000 cartridges for the machines.

“We understand there is great demand from both the public and private sectors for our rapid point-of-care test,” said Scott Stoffel, Abbott’s spokesman. “We’ve been clear from the outset on what we could initially provide, and we’ve met every commitment.”

In recent days, state and hospital officials found in internal studies that the devices frequently produced inaccurate results, leading at least one hospital to return the devices, they said in interviews.

Mr. Stoffel said the company believes the inaccurate results are rare, and said it has made changes to its instructions for using the machines to address them.

The obstacles in the push for national coordination of the lab supply chain follow an earlier failure when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention botched its first tests for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. A faulty component forced the CDC to recall the tests.

Almost a month later, the FDA cleared labs to devise tests of their own. Most of the dozens produced since identify the genetic footprint of the virus, but use different machines, methods and materials, including obscure ones such as chemicals derived from bacteria found in hot springs and deep-sea thermal vents.

Most require a long list of components that come from different producers, including swabs, throwaway polystyrene parts, chemical reagents, glass pipettes, pipette tips and more, resulting in a complex supply chain that easily breaks down when there is a shortage of any particular element.

The process is also used to detect other respiratory viruses. A huge surge in U.S. demand for the components during the pandemic stressed that system. Promega Corp., a Madison, Wis.,-based testing-chemical maker, told the Journal orders for their products had increased 10-fold so far this year, compared to the same time last year.

Absent a clearly organized system for allocating materials across the industry, “it feels a little bit like natural selection, doesn’t it?” said Andy Last, the chief operating officer at Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., a California-based laboratory equipment manufacturer.

The government has stepped in at times, and rebuffed calls for aid at others.

Adm. Brett Giroir, the administration’s testing coordinator, this month.

Photo: Alex Brandon/Associated Press

“There is zero probability we can help on plates,” said Dr. Giroir, the testing coordinator, referring to the disposable plastic trays used in the testing process, in an email this month to a doctor who had inquired about supplies on behalf of a commercial laboratory with dwindling stores.

“This was one lab in one place that is having trouble getting plates,” Dr. Giroir said to the Journal, adding that it would have been inappropriate for the federal government to intervene.

He said the administration had made strides by speaking to “every manufacturer” of key testing chemicals. “There are some spot shortages around,” he acknowledged.

In Sunday’s briefing, Mr. Trump said the administration was preparing to use the Defense Production Act, which can compel manufacturers to make needed products in an emergency, to direct one U.S. facility to produce 20 million additional swabs per month but played down concerns about shortages. Of the chemicals used in testing, he said: “We’re in great shape. It’s so easy to get.”

Dr. Giroir, days earlier, told the Journal that the supply shortages don’t rise to the level that the government should use powers such as the Defense Production Act. He also said some important lab suppliers, like testing-chemical maker Qiagen NV, a Dutch biotech with a key factory in Germany, are primarily overseas.

“I can invade Germany if I want to get Qiagen,” Dr. Giroir said. “But I can’t do anything aside from that.”

Lab directors, including in America’s hardest-hit areas, say the supply chain problems are severe. When an order of a testing chemical never arrived last week, “we delayed some testing as a result of it,” said Dwayne Breining, the laboratory director at Northwell Health, a New York City-area health system.

“In Seattle, no one seems to have enough supplies to do the amount of testing that is in demand,” said Geoffrey Baird, a laboratory director at the University of Washington’s health system.

With normal market forces warping under the pressure, some labs stockpiling goods and others struggling to get them, many see a clearer role for the federal government to resolve the mismatch.

“Even libertarians want the government to combat deadly, contagious diseases” when it can actually help, said Michael Cannon, a health policy analyst at the Cato Institute, which advocates for a small federal government that keeps its hands out of nearly every corner of American life.

Senior federal leaders, including Mr. Trump, have waffled over their role in ramping up testing. One official said the government’s job was to “rapidly prototype something,” before states and companies take over. Anthony Fauci, the longtime National Institutes of Health official, de-emphasized testing Friday, after weeks of arguing it is the key to reopening the economy, saying what “we’ve been hearing is essentially ‘testing is everything,’ and it isn’t.”

Mr. Trump backed away from a March 6 promise that “anybody that wants a test can get a test” to say, a month later, tests were unnecessary for people in much of the country.

Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “there is a sufficient capacity of testing across the country today for any state in America to go to a Phase 1 level” of reopening, with some business activity and daily life resuming.

An administration official said in an interview last week that widespread testing will be primarily important after the country starts reopening, rather than beforehand. Independent health experts dispute that.

“We can’t let anyone go back to work until we’re confident that the case numbers have stabilized. There’s no way to do that effectively without testing,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University.

So far, the U.S. has tested about 3.7 million people, about 1% of the population, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University researchers. In South Korea, which experts praised for a nimble response to the pandemic, about 560,000 people have been tested, also around 1% of the population, according to that country’s disease prevention agency. But testing ramped up far more quickly there, allowing officials to better contain the country’s outbreak.

Separate tests, for antibodies that would show a person had recovered from an infection, are also in development, but their usefulness in catching cases before the virus spreads isn’t clear.

Some U.S. labs continued to face significant backlogs. An internal

Quest Diagnostics Inc.

report this month viewed by The Wall Street Journal showed all of the company’s laboratories had backlogs of at least three days to perform tests, and in some cases as many as five days.

Drive-through testing at a Quest Diagnostics parking lot in Tampa in March.

Photo: Martha Asencio Rhine/Tampa Bay TimesZuma Press

Drive-through testing at a Quest Diagnostics parking lot in Tampa in March.

Photo: Martha Asencio Rhine/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma Press

Quest spokeswoman Wendy Bost said Thursday the company is now able to turn around tests sooner, in as little as one day for priority patients and two days for most others. She said the company can do 45,000 tests a day. Quest had earlier attributed the backlog to huge initial demand.

A regional microbiology lab that serves a network of seven St. Louis-area hospitals has the capacity to run about 1,000 tests a day, said Scott Isbell, a professor at Saint Louis University and lab director at the university-affiliated hospital that belongs to the network. But a shortage of swabs used to collect test specimens means the lab still has to ration tests.

“I have 300 swabs in my lab right now, and that’s got to last me until I get my next supply, and I don’t even know when that will be,” Dr. Isbell, a clinical chemist, said in a recent interview. “We aren’t really able to test the spouse of a nurse who worries they might have been exposed.”

An invoice viewed by the Journal shows another laboratory ordered about $13,000 worth of swabs on March 13. As of April 15, the supplier, Medline Industries Inc., estimated it could fill the order on May 18.

Dr. Giroir said the U.S. government was on track to purchase and distribute 12 million swabs by the end of May, including more than five million in the next few weeks.

Lab operators and their advisers say they are trying to crack the codes of who gets what and when on their own.

“It is more deli-style on swabs. When your number comes up, you are served,” said Greg Knapp, an executive at Vizient Inc., which advises hospitals on purchasing supplies.

When swabs aren’t the bottleneck, other supply-chain problems can throttle testing. Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City could theoretically do about 3,000 tests a day. “We’ve never approached that because of other shortages,” said Sterling Bennett, a lab director there, adding that in practice the lab can typically do somewhere between 10% and 30% of that volume.

Roche Holding AG, one of Dr. Bennett’s suppliers of the chemicals used in tests, said “the supply situation may be challenging in the short term” and that it was prioritizing customers most able to perform tests, such as those that already have its machines set up.

Promega, the Wisconsin chemical maker, said it is prioritizing orders as they come in, and filling them to the extent possible.

As of Friday, Dr. Bennett said he had received a good stock of testing chemicals, but had learned his main swab supplier was down to a two-week supply.

Some federal health officials recognized the risks of gaps in the supply chain early, but lacked the authority to take action. Starting in early March after hearing alarms from labs, FDA officials began an impromptu effort to track lab supplies.

“We have proactively reached out to over 1,000 manufacturing facilities, because people weren’t compelled to provide us information,” said Jeff Shuren, the FDA’s top official overseeing medical devices and tests.

FDA officials said they have also worked with labs to come up with stopgap alternatives when shortages emerge, publishing suggestions on a website. But, Dr. Shuren said, “We have neither the authority nor the ability to determine where tests or supplies should be distributed.”

Mr. Trump and officials discussed the coronavirus pandemic response at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in March.

Photo: Evan Vucci/Press Pool

At the White House, responsibility for the nationwide testing problems hopscotched from official to official in February and March. In late February, Mr. Pence took over the federal response from Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

On March 11, the president asked Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and adviser, to help coordinate with the private sector on testing and other elements of the federal response, administration officials said. The next day, Mr. Azar tapped Dr. Giroir as the new testing coordinator.

Almost immediately after the FDA cleared the Abbott device, called the ID Now, it became a symbol of the administration’s pandemic response. After a request from a White House official, an Abbott worker walked an ID Now over from one of the company’s Washington offices, and it became a prop at the March 30 news conference, people familiar with the matter said.

One of the people said the White House asked for the device so it could test officials.

Around the same time, Dr. Giroir said, he ordered the government to buy hundreds of the devices to distribute to states—which got 15 each—and federal agencies. He said he envisioned the tests being used, for instance, at nursing homes and on Indian reservations.

“I was not going to be a part of a biological genocide of the Native American population,” he said.

But the hype the administration created around the ID Now grew far beyond those niches. On Friday, Mr. Trump called the Abbott device “the hot one” during a daily virus briefing.

When state officials received the machines in early April, challenges quickly emerged. For one thing, the machine can do one result quickly, in under 15 minutes according to the company, but was never meant to run the large volumes of tests needed during a pandemic. Other machines, including one by Abbott, can run 96 samples at a time over several hours, far outpacing the ID Now in the course of an afternoon.

Also, state officials quickly found their initial allotment of cartridges—single-use containers for all the test ingredients—was sufficient only to verify the machines were working, and not actually test patients. For weeks some states were unable to obtain more from the government’s online lab supply store.

Officials in Oklahoma, for instance, were told another 800 tests had been set aside for them on April 9, according to Elizabeth Pollard, the state’s deputy secretary of science and innovation. But she said they had received no guidance on when they would get them. “It is a little bit of a black box for us,” she said. None had arrived as of Sunday morning, a spokeswoman said.

Dr. Giroir said he only bought about a quarter of the cartridges Abbott initially produced because he didn’t want to siphon off the supply available to private customers in hard-hit places.

Share Your Thoughts

How should testing for coronavirus be ramped up? Join the conversation below.

“I did not want to rob New Jersey and New York and other places for Montana,” he said. He said he had added thousands of cartridges to the stores available to states last week.

Other administration officials said they had learned from Abbott in recent days that the speed at which the company can make the cartridges is the limiting factor. The White House has tried to strike “the right balance between guidance and not disrupting the natural balance if the federal government weren’t going to intervene,” one said.

Last week, some state officials and lab workers at hospital systems said they are seeing ID Nows produce dubious test results.

At the University of Maryland Medical System, scientists compared the Abbott device to their traditional testing system and found the ID Now was wrong about 7.5% of the time when testing samples positive for coronavirus.

“The only thing that would have been acceptable was 100%” accuracy, said lab director Robert Christenson.

Coronavirus testing devices developed by Abbott Laboratories at a mobile clinic in San Francisco on Thursday.

Photo: JOHN G. MABANGLO/EPA/Shutterstock

Lab directors at two other hospitals said in interviews they were seeing inaccurate results on positive samples as much as 25% of the time.

Abbott officials concluded the problem was caused by a liquid used to preserve samples, the lab directors said, that could cause the specimens to become too diluted.

On Wednesday, the FDA said Abbott would be changing its label to preclude use of the preservative. Abbott’s Mr. Stoffel said when samples aren’t stored in the liquid, “the test is performing as expected.”

Dr. Christenson, a clinical chemist, said he planned to use the devices in hospital labs, not at patient bedsides, and needed to store samples to transport them. State officials worried the device’s limitations could reduce the machines’ usefulness in settings like drive-through testing sites where large numbers of samples are collected.

Dr. Christenson said he asked Abbott to take back the devices, which the health system had purchased directly. Abbott accepted the return collegially, he said.

“In our practice, it wasn’t going to work,” he said.

Write to Christopher Weaver at christopher.weaver@wsj.com and Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com

Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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Benefits of Soft Water - LP

New Post has been published on https://www.advancedwaterinc.com/soft-water/

Benefits of Soft Water - LP

Save up to 40% on energy costs for water-using appliances AND 75% on soap and cleaning chemicals, when you have soft water from Advanced Water Solutions!

Discover the Benefits of Affordable, Reliable Water Softeners & Soft Water in the Central Coast Area

What are the benefits of soft water? If you live in Ventura or Santa Barbara county, our experience shows that you most likely have hard water in your home. That includes homes both on city water or a well. As a homeowner, it seems like there is always something to do to keep our house clean and presentable. However, with hard water we never realized how much time and money we were wasting each week.

Here are a few of the things we learned and think other homeowners, like you, might appreciate.

Some Benefits of Soft Water In Your Home

Having soft water saves you money. According to a study by the Battelle Institute, you use up to 75% less soap and fewer cleaning products with soft water. Considering the soap and detergent aisle is the most expensive aisle in the grocery store, your budget will immediately reflect the savings!

Your plumbing will last longer. Hard water can cause a build up of scale from mineral deposits. Over time, pipes and fixtures can clog, water flow can diminish, and water pressure can be reduced. This doesn’t happen with soft water. Soft water is low in mineral content and therefore doesn’t leave deposits in the pipes.

Your hot water heater will last longer. Scale and lime build-up created by minerals will not take place if your water is soft. This adds life to your hot water heater. Also, if you have deposits in your hot water heater, the University of New Mexico found it will cost up to 29.6% more to heat the water that your family does use.

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Advanced Water Solutions

5.0

Based on 24 reviews

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Tim Lister

19:49 23 Feb 20

After moving into a new house with a complicated water softener system, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do to get the drinking water system serviced. We also had issues with the brine tank not using up its salt. Advanced Water Solutions were very helpful when I spoke to them on the phone, and the technician who came out (a fellow Tim!), was very competent and thorough at fixing the issues.

Jackie Williams

22:26 18 Feb 20

I am so happy with my soft water. My dishes sparkle. I wish I had installed this sooner. Alonzo was my installer and he explained everything to me so well and was one of the nicest technician I have ever had come to my home.

Deb H.

17:29 12 Feb 20

Let me first say, I don't know why I didn't get this done YEARS ago! We have wasted SO much $$$$$ on bottled water and bags of ice!! The cost is so...

Tracey powers

23:50 06 Feb 20

Okay I guess

Pat M.

05:46 23 Jan 20

I have a Water Demon who follows me to every property I purchase!! Thankfully, Jay has banished the Demon!!! He provided all the answers to my WHY WHY...

Ping P.

14:16 11 Dec 19

I had Advanced Water Solutions install my whole house water filtration as well as an under sink reverse osmosis system. I've had them for 6 years and moved...

April B.

13:28 11 Nov 19

Advanced Water Solutions are pros. A local company that is knowledgeable about the VENTURA water and one that will provide the proper, quality service for...

Alina D.

09:32 01 Nov 19

I waited a few months before writing this review. Advanced water installed a water softener, reverse osmosis system, and fixed one of my water main pipes...

Rudy Cobos

17:55 26 Oct 19

The customer service has been excellent. Paul and Tim was our salesman and installer. They were pleasant , prompt ,and knowledgeable. I love dealing with local businesses because the customer service is above and beyond .... 5 stars for this entire experience and might I add ....my water is fabulous!....Thank you!

Nicholas Falcone

22:27 25 Sep 19

Advanced Water Solutions (AWS) has exceeded our expectations! From the first phone call to final installation, AWS lived up to the stellar reviews we read before contacting them. Paul, the director of sales, arrived for his appointment with us. He tested our water, explained the results, and what our options we had. There was no pressure placed on us at any time. He clearly described what the AWS systems did so we could make our decision. We decided on the AWS100 Whole Home Water Softener and the Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water System.On the day set for installation the installer, Danny, arrived on time. He impressed my wife and I with his overall courtesy and professionalism. He struck us as extremely competent at installing these products. He answered all questions we had, and did so thoroughly. He worked tirelessly and without complaint. I would rate him as the best installer one could hope for.If you are considering a water system for your home, you owe it to yourself to consider AWS. They will soften and treat your water the way you would expect. Conditioned water protects your home. For drinking, the Reverse Osmosis System replaces all the costly filters and plastic bottles too. Very happy that we researched first and selected Advanced Water Solutions!

Nicholas F.

15:23 25 Sep 19

Advanced Water Solutions (AWS) exceeded our expectations! From the first phone call to final installation, AWS lived up to the stellar reviews we read...

Suzanne Y.

17:00 19 Sep 19

This is a great quality company to work with. Friendly, honest, came one day to review and quote water filtration/softening system, came back the next day...

Julz D.

15:54 09 Aug 19

I have used Advanced Water Solutions and their Reverse Osmosis equipment in my home for over two decades. The owner, Jay, has always been great to work...

Julian Dean

01:30 09 Aug 19

I have used Advanced Water Solutions and their Reverse Osmosis equipment in my home for over two decades. The owner, Jay, has always been great to work with, and his staff are skilled, professional, and easy to talk with. Tim recently performed the annual service on my equipment, and like Alanzo, he knows what he is doing and is happy to explain it all to me. One of the great things about their equipment is that it is a huge water saver because it uses a lot less to make the RO water than other equipment available. I have referred Advanced to family and friends all over the Santa Barbara and Ventura areas and like me, they stay with Jay and Advanced for years.

Lucia M.

11:58 26 Jul 19

I finally have great tasting, pure water!! My technician Rick did a really great installation job! Looks and works great. The sales reb Paul was very nice...

Lyn T.

10:58 21 Jul 19

Great customer service! Highly recommend this company to anyone looking at getting a water treatment system!

Karla P.

14:03 26 Jun 19

I've waited several weeks since getting everything installed to write this review, just to make sure things continued to work, and I'm excited to report...

Tyler R.

10:46 22 Jun 19

Your search for water treatment in Ventura County is over. Advanced Water Solutions is the company you want to give your business to. Last month, we had...

Sharonda Bolen

18:36 19 Jun 19

Best water drinking systems. For humans that care what they put in their bodies, especially water it's worth money. Think of your health and the health of your family.

Lisa Ehrnman

06:20 29 May 19

Advanced Water Solutions is by far the only water softener company I would ever use! The customer service is excellent and exceeded all of my expectations! Our water softener was installed within an hour and the water is fantastic! I would recommend this company to my best friend, my neighbors, my family and anyone who likes good customer service and an excellent finished product!Thank you Advanced Water Solutions!

Ann Van Cleve

23:16 17 May 19

I must say, I am very happy with my new water system. Advanced Water Solutions has been a wonderful experience. From the sales, by Paul and the installation by Timothy. Both of them were extremely nice and personable. Also, there is Paulette in the office that was very helpful to any question(s) I have had and feel comfortable calling with any in the future. So keep up the great job! I will recommend this company to friends and family.

Beverley Sharpe

21:28 03 May 19

When I read our municipal water company’s disclosure about the chemicals added to ensure our city water is safe, I was concerned about the monochloramine (which is a combination of chlorine and ammonia). My husband was on board with filtering our water and trusted Advanced Water Solutions because he knew some their satisfied customers. We chose an AWS125 water softener with a whole-house carbon filter. Alonso did our installation and he was terrific. His work was impeccable and he clearly explained what he was doing and how the system worked. After the installation, Alonso tested the water, which we watched, explained the results and patiently answering our questions. We are thoroughly satisfied with the complete filtration system.

Bobbi S.

19:29 25 Apr 19

Called them on Thursday, set up an appointment time that worked best for me on Monday and system was installed today! Rick, my installer, went above and...

Diego Sanabria

17:52 23 Apr 19

Tim came out to fix our water softener within hours of me calling and fixed the problem, quickly and efficiently! We ended up upgrading to a new water osmosis/carbon filter! Tim is so knowledgeable, kind, easy to talk to and I truly felt he cares in making sure we have clean water to drink! I am so glad we switched to Advanced Water Solutions for our drinking water and look forward to having cleaner, better tasting water... on top of the water softener that Tim rushed out to make sure was working properly. I feel confident in this company and I hope Tim's boss realizes they have a Gem of an employee, that represents you guys SO well!

Gary Rutledge

23:13 18 Apr 19

Rick did the install of our New Water System today he was in and out in less time than was scheduled, explained how to operate the system to me he was friendly and helpful. Thanks Rick!

David Seltzer

16:04 27 Jan 19

Everyone was very informative and answered all my questions. Rick did a great job installing and running through everything with me. Very happy with the outcome so far.

Nathan A.

07:03 18 Oct 18

We had a double tank water softener system and reverse osmosis drinking water system installed in our home last week. The salesman was very personable and...

Bruce Archer

14:36 17 Aug 18

Very welcoming and answered many of my questions

itsmetusher

05:52 14 Jul 18

Awesome and Very Fast... Thank You.

witwaltman

06:58 16 May 18

Advanced has been servicing our drinking water system for years, and we have the best tasting water. They keep a calendar and call us annually to change the filters. We have been pleased.

Sandra O'Meara

18:42 14 May 18

So Easy! So perfect! These guys are great! We are happy with our new water system and this company. Very straightforward and thoughtful.

Ryan Sandefer

19:23 12 Mar 18

Advanced Water Solutions has helped us with two commercial installations. Jay and his team are always professional and always get me the best prices. The system is fantastic as is the service! The few times I have had issues, a techninian was on site immediately. If you are looking for a company that does what they say they will do - then Advanced Water Solutions is for you.

K C H

21:06 28 Dec 17

Thank you

Tom Loge'

00:11 12 Sep 17

My long serving and rare Braswell Water Softener failed over the weekend. All the available water was salty with a capital T. Called this am first thing. They sent Danny out this afternoon. He was here 10 minutes checked a couple of possible causes. Very professional and knowledgeable. Had it nailed in short order. He explained thoroughly, had the necessary parts in the truck and was outta' here in 30 minutes. Very reasonable charges and I'm back in business. The way things are supposed to work but rarely does. Thank you Danny you're an ace! Thank you AWS. Well done all!

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CALL FOR A FREE WATER EVALUATION

805-385-4740

Phone: (805) 385-4740 Email: info@advancedwaterinc.com

1031 Factory Lane Oxnard, CA 93030-7200

Hours of Operation: 8:00 AM-5:00 PM M-Th 8:00 AM-4:30 PM F

[ghaw2007]

8 Hibiscus Tea Benefits

8 Hibiscus Tea Benefits

1. Lowers Blood Pressure

There are a few foods that lower blood pressure to take notice of, particularly if you are at risk for hypertension. Hibiscus tea makes that list with glowing reviews. Several studies have found it to lower blood pressures significantly, even in patients with certain health conditions that increase the risk of high blood pressure.

A 2013 review by the University of Arizona discovered that hibiscus tea is used in 10 or more countries as normal treatment for hypertension without any reported adverse events or side effects — except in extremely high doses. The study led these researchers to state that “extracts of [hibiscus] are promising as a treatment of hypertension.” They did point out, however, that high-quality studies (known in the scientific community as the “gold standard”) are needed to see the specific interactions of hibiscus tea on high blood pressure. (2)

It does seem to be the case that hibiscus can lower blood pressure in pre-hypertensive and mildly hypertensive animal and human models. (3, 4)

Of significant note is the fact that these results extend to diabetic patients. After about four weeks, researchers conducting multiple trials have found that blood pressure is positively impacted by daily drinking hibiscus tea. One study specifically mentions three glasses of tea each day as the chosen dosage. (5, 6)

A study in Nigeria discovered hibiscus tea to be more effective than hydrochlorothiazide, a common blood-pressure lowering medication, at decreasing blood pressure. The most significant finding was that hibiscus tea, unlike its study counterpart, hydrochlorothiazide, did not cause electrolyte imbalance. (7)

2. Supports Healthy Cholesterol and Triglycerides

Blood pressure isn’t the only heart disease risk factor for which hibiscus tea benefits you. It may also help people with dyslipidemia manage their cholesterol and high triglycerides.

These two heart disease risk factors are part of the greater cluster of symptoms known as metabolic syndrome, which also points to an elevated risk of diabetes and stroke. In a study published in Phytomedicine, scientists recommend the use of hibiscus extracts to naturally lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels in patients with metabolic syndrome. (8)

Like with blood pressure, hibiscus tea’s ability to reduce high “blood lipids” also extends to those with diabetes. A 2009 study had diabetes patients consume hibiscus tea twice a day for a month and found a significant increase in HDL (“good”) cholesterol and decrease in overall cholesterol, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and triglycerides. (9)

3. Prevents Oxidative Stress

Like most healthy teas, hibiscus is full of antioxidants that fight free radical damage caused by poor diet and constant exposure to dangerous chemicals. These are found mainly in the anthocyanins of the plant, the natural pigments that give this flower its red color, as shown in rat models. (10)

A small human research study discovered that supplementing with hibiscus tea increased antioxidant load in the bloodstream and reduced compounds that can contribute to oxidative stress that damages cells. Because subjects had elevated amounts of hippuric acid, the conclusion of the study suggests that the polyphenols (antioxidants) of hibiscus must have been significantly transformed by the gut microbiome. (11)

4. Shows Promise in Fighting Certain Cancers

Probably due, at least in part, to the antioxidants in hibiscus tea, it has been the subject of some introductory cancer research. While, like most natural cancer treatment research, this idea is in its infancy, there is some evidence to support hibiscus tea’s anticancer power.

In a lab, hibiscus extracts cause apoptosis (cell death) in leukemia cells. (12, 13) While the mechanisms behind this aren’t clear yet, this could be a promising step in the fight against leukemia, which affects about a quarter of the children and adolescents currently living with cancer.

The same results seem to occur when eight different kinds of gastric carcinoma cells are exposed to hibiscus tea extract, according to research conducted at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at Chung Shan Medical University in Taiwan. (14)

5. Reduces Obesity and Related Risks

Put some red hibiscus tea next to the bottle of red wine if you’re looking for a drink to help reduce obesity risk. While those antioxidants are working to protect your cells, those and other compounds found in hibiscus have the potential to encourage weight loss and minimize other related risks, as shown in research on rats. (15)

Human and animal studies have found a link between hibiscus tea and an increased metabolism. Hibiscus extract may even inhibit you from absorbing as much starch and sucrose as you might from a typical meal. (16, 17)

Drinking hibiscus tea at least once a day may also help you fight insulin resistance, a common marker of pre-diabetes and various other conditions. In fact, it can even help in maintaining healthy blood sugar in diabetes patients, which means it may help reduce every symptom in the metabolic syndrome cluster. (18)

Another disease connected to obesity (and diet) is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This disease is identified as a buildup of extra fat cells within the liver, not caused by alcohol use. Commonly understood causes of NAFLD include obesity, poor eating habits, diabetes and dyslipidemia.

In both animals and humans, studies have shown hibiscus tea benefits the liver by reducing the risk of this fatty buildup, which can potentially lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer or liver failure if left untreated. (19, 20)

6. Natural Antidepressant

If you suffer from or are at risk for depression, you may want to consider trying hibiscus tea as one natural way to combat these sometimes debilitating signs of depression, such as fatigue, feelings of hopelessness, loss of interest in hobbies and more.

This, too, is a brand new area of study, but animal studies that examine the improvement in depression symptoms have found that hibiscus flowers have specific bioflavonoids that might help as one natural remedy for depression. (21, 22)

7. Potential Staph Infection Remedy

At least one type of hibiscus displays antibacterial power, too. At least one lab study has found that extracts of Hibiscus rosa sinensis, a less common but still useful hibiscus plant sometimes used to make tea, might have serious MRSA-killing potential. (23)

MRSA is a bacteria that causes over 90,000 staph infections in the U.S. each year. Prevention and treatment of staph infection are vital, as they are linked to serious problems like abscesses, sepsis and pneumonia. (24)

8. May Prevent Kidney Stones

Because it functions as a diuretic, hibiscus tea has also turned the heads of those studying the health of the kidney and urinary systems. Initial animal testing suggests that hibiscus tea presents what is known as an “anti-urolithiatic property,” meaning that it may lower the instance of compounds that form kidney stones.

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[sherristockman]

Autophagy Finally Considered for Disease Treatment Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola Autophagy literally means "self-eating" and refers to your body's process of eliminating damaged cells by digesting them. It's an essential cleaning-out process that encourages the proliferation of new, healthy cells, and is a foundational aspect of cellular rejuvenation and longevity. Autophagy also destroys foreign invaders such as viruses, bacteria and other pathogens, and detoxifies the cell of harmful materials. Autophagy slows down with age, and autophagy defects are known to contribute to a wide variety of diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The good news is there are a number of different ways to activate and increase this natural process, thereby preventing many health problems before they begin. Autophagy Activation Is a Powerful Way to Treat Many Diseases Researchers are now also latching on to autophagy as a viable way to treat disease.1 As explained in the 2012 paper, "Autophagy Modulation as a Potential Therapeutic Target for Diverse Diseases:"2 "Autophagy occurs at a basal rate in most cells, eliminating protein aggregates and damaged organelles in order to maintain cytoplasmic homeostasis. This includes the degradation of dysfunctional mitochondria via mitophagy, a cytoprotective process that limits both the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the release of toxic intramitochondrial proteins … In addition to its vital homeostatic role, this degradation pathway is involved in various human disorders, including metabolic conditions, neurodegenerative diseases, cancers and infectious diseases … Autophagy may be dysregulated in several disorders, including metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, infectious diseases and cancer. In some conditions, autophagy is inhibited and this can occur at different stages of the process to enhance disease, whereas in other cases autophagic activity may be permissive toward pathogenesis. In addition, the induction of autophagy has been shown to increase longevity in a large panel of species, thus raising the possibility that ageing and longevity may be therapeutic targets for autophagy induction. Given these observations, pharmacological approaches to upregulate or inhibit this pathway are currently receiving considerable attention. For example, autophagy upregulation may be of therapeutic benefit in certain neurodegenerative diseases … whereas autophagy inhibition is being investigated as a strategy for treating some cancers." Autophagy May be Used to Treat Parkinson's Disease In 2016, the Nobel Prize in medicine was given to the Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi3 for his discovery of the actual mechanisms of autophagy, i.e., how cells recycle their contents. As reported by The Conversation:4 "Ohsumi identified key genes and molecules behind autophagy. In so doing, he shifted scientific paradigms about cellular quality control. He opened the gate for researchers … to understand how defects in autophagy are associated with neurological diseases … In neurodegenerative diseases, toxic proteins accumulate within brain cells called neurons. Neurons are irreplaceable. They must continue to recycle proteins and break them down into small amino acids to avoid a toxic buildup of abnormally large proteins. That is what autophagy lets them do. The process works by sequestering unwanted proteins into pipelines called 'autophagosomes.' Then they dump those proteins into a part of the cell called a 'lysosome,' where they are recycled. When this process doesn't work properly, harmful proteins can accumulate." Activating Autophagy Helps Prevent Neurological Degeneration By activating autophagy, or repairing the mechanism in cases where dysfunction has set in, researchers believe neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's can be successfully treated, as the autophagy process will naturally clear out harmful proteins. Interestingly, researchers have demonstrated that certain cancer drugs can trigger autophagy by activating a protein called parkin. Parkin is involved in the autophagy process, and some cancer drugs specifically activate this protein. As reported by Charbel Moussa, assistant professor of neurology at Georgetown University:5 "Keep in mind that cancer drugs work by killing cancer cells and can also be toxic to other cells. So our first step was to find out how these drugs worked in cancer cells and neurons. Our initial observation in cell culture models was stunning: Cultured cancer cells died while cultured neurons survived after treatment with several autophagy-stimulating cancer drugs. Next we introduced toxic proteins into cultured neuronal cells and treated them with several cancer drugs that activate autophagy and destroy tumors. The cells treated with these drugs survived and cleared their toxic proteins, while untreated cells died. Activating autophagy is a double-edged sword. One the one hand, the process clears toxic or infectious materials from cells. On the other hand, if the autophagy process goes beyond 'recycling' and clearing out proteins, it can start to destroy the cell, leading to cell death. This means that autophagy must be carefully manipulated to avoid the death of nonrenewable and irreplaceable neurons." Cyclical Autophagy, the Natural Way to Improve Health and Longevity Likely the safest way to achieve these benefits is simply to boost autophagy naturally, and there are many healthy lifestyle strategies that will do just that. Perhaps one of the most important and most effective is fasting. As explained in "Autophagy Modulation as a Potential Therapeutic Target for Diverse Diseases:"6 "Autophagy is stimulated during various pathological and physiological states, such as starvation … Starvation induced autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved response in eukaryotes, enables the degradation of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, which allows the cell to adapt its metabolism and meet its energy needs. Indeed, the induction of autophagy in newborn mice has a major role in maintaining energy levels in various tissues after the maternal nutrient supply via the placenta ceases. Moreover, starvation-induced autophagy has a cytoprotective effect by blocking the induction of apoptosis by mitochondria." Longer water-only fasts are a form of "starvation" that will induce autophagy. As little as 200 calories can thwart the process, and the starvation period needs to be at least 16 hours or 72 hours or even longer, so it's important to be strict if autophagy induction is your chief aim. On the flip side, autophagy cannot remain continuously activated all the time. You also need to allow the cells to rebuild and rejuvenate, which occurs during the refeeding phase, which is why cyclical fasting and feeding is so important. Fasting Is a Powerful Way to Activate Autophagy Based on the research that has emerged in recent years, I'm now convinced that multiple day water fasting is one of the most profound metabolic interventions you can do to radically improve your health, as it allows your body to upregulate autophagy and mitophagy to remove damaged senescent cells, including premalignant cells. It's also an extremely effective way to shed excess weight and extend your life span. For a refresher on how to do water fasting safely, see my interview with Dr. Jason Fung, who wrote "The Complete Guide to Fasting." Many have irrational fears about water fasting, even for a few days, and Fung expertly shreds many outdated myths about fasting. There are a few caveats, however. If you're on medication, you need to work with your doctor to ensure safety, as some medications need to be taken with food and/or can become toxic when your body chemistry normalizes. Those taking hypoglycemic or antihypertensive medication are particularly at risk, as they may end up overdosing. It's also recommended to continue taking nutritional supplements during your fast. You also need to take a high-quality salt. Certain health conditions may also need more stringent medical supervision to ensure safety when fasting. A gentler way that can still improve autophagy is intermittent fasting, provided you're not eating for at least 16 hours at a stretch. This is the time needed to activate autophagy. That then means you need to eat all of your meals for the day within an eight-hour window, and not snack on anything during fasting hours. If you want to try a water-only fast, I recommend starting out by intermittently fasting about 16 hours a day, and slowly working your way up to 20 hours a day. Once you've done that for a month, it will be a lot easier to do a water fast for five days. Fasting Regenerates Your Pancreas A powerful example of the regenerative power of fasting was demonstrated in a recent study7 that showed a fasting-mimicking diet — characterized by periods of feast and famine — can reverse diabetes and actually regenerate your pancreas. The experiment, conducted on mice, was led by Valter Longo, Ph.D., professor of gerontology and biological sciences and director of the USC Longevity Institute. What they discovered was that by starving and refeeding the animals in cycles, insulin-producing beta cells were generated, resembling that observed during pancreatic development. Beta cells detect sugar in your blood and release insulin if blood sugar levels get too high. As a side effect of restoring pancreatic function, diabetic symptoms were also reversed. Insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis were restored in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes models. According to Longo: "Our conclusion is by pushing the mice into an extreme state and then bringing them back — by starving them and then feeding them again —the cells in the pancreas are triggered to use some kind of developmental reprogramming that rebuilds the part of the organ that's no longer functioning … Medically, these findings have the potential to be very important because we've shown — at least in mouse models — that you can use diet to reverse the symptoms of diabetes. Scientifically, the findings are perhaps even more important because we've shown you can use diet to reprogram cells without having to make any genetic alterations." The fasting-mimicking diet developed by Longo involves restricting your calories to 75 percent less than your normal calories per day for five days each month. This approach greatly improves compliance, as many find a five-day, water-only fast to be too difficult. During these five days of calorie restriction, it's important to select foods low in carbohydrates, low in protein and high in healthy fats. The rest of the month, you are free to eat whatever you want. The goal is to mimic periods of feast and famine. However, while it may sound simple enough, Longo is quick to suggest this particular diet is best undertaken with medical guidance, as it's far more sophisticated than most people realize. You can learn more about the fasting-mimicking diet in my 2017 interview with Longo. Other Strategies That Will Activate Autophagy Download Interview Transcript Aside from fasting, there are several other ways to boost your autophagy process, including the following: • Time your nutrient intake appropriately. In her book, "Glow 15: A Science-Based Plan to Lose Weight, Revitalize Your Skin, and Invigorate Your Life," Naomi Whittel, former CEO of Twinlab, shares a number of different strategies specifically aimed at boosting autophagy. One of them involves the timing of nutrients. As a general rule, eat fats first and healthy carbohydrates last, whether you're intermittently fasting or not. In a recent interview, embedded above for your convenience, she explained: "On a low [protein] day, when you've done an intermittent fast, your first meal will be about fat, and fat first. Then at the end of the day, you'll have carbohydrates, and we talk about the quality carbohydrates that we need for health. When you're eating carbs … as your last meal, you're getting all of the benefits, from recovery to helping you relax and get ready to go to sleep. So, fat first and carbs last is my second principle." • Cyclical exercise. Every other day, do 30 minutes of high-intensity interval training or resistance training. The acute stress of exercise triggers autophagy much in the same way as fasting. • Eat autophagy-activating foods. In her book, Whittel includes 140 different types of foods that help activate autophagy — such as citrus bergamot tea, green tea and turmeric. • Activate adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) through proper diet and nutritional supplements. AMPK is an enzyme that stimulates mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy) and mitochondrial biogenesis, as well as five other critically important pathways: insulin, leptin, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), insulin-like growth factor 1 and proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1-alpha. (It also increases nerve growth factor and helps protect against the type of oxidative stress that leads to Parkinson's disease.) With age, your AMPK levels naturally decline. Certain dietary habits, such as eating too much unhealthy fat and not enough of healthy fats and getting insufficient amounts of flavonoids (antioxidants) also inhibit AMPK activity. Insulin resistance is also a powerful inhibitor of AMPK. So, keeping this enzyme activated through proper diet is another important factor for maintaining healthy autophagy. Two dietary supplements known to activate AMPK — thereby triggering mitophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis — are pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) and berberine. Both of these supplements also benefit your mitochondrial function and health. Activating Autophagy — A Simple Way to Boost Health and Prevent Disease Considering your health is dependent on well-functioning cells, addressing autophagy is of significant importance and can go a long way toward preventing disease, including neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. Without autophagy, your cells will eventually become gunked up with toxins and debris, and once they start to malfunction and/or die, your body will be unable to efficiently clear those cells out, which will further exacerbate the problem. The good news, it's not very difficult to optimize autophagy. Fasting appears to be the most efficient way, but exercise and adding certain foods and supplements are also helpful strategies. If you're truly dedicated, you'd do your best to incorporate all of these strategies.

[newyorkvoguette]

It’s gonna be May

MONTH OF May

Ready for more stability in your life, Aries? Well, here it comes—kinda. The Sun is in Taurus until May 20, heating up your second house of money, work and security. This is your annual time to get grounded after your birthday season and to put a practical action plan behind your big ideas. After an active and unpredictable April, you might be craving more certainty and direction!

But the headline news arrives smack in the middle of the month and with it, some surprising plot twists. On May 15, disruptor Uranus enters Taurus for the first time since 1942—so yeah, it’s definitely a big deal. Uranus, the planet of sudden change, revolution and innovation, will be here for the next eight years, causing a ripple effect through your career and financial endeavors.

In some ways, it could be a relief: You’ve hosted Uranus in Aries since 2011, which has been exciting and exhausting in equal measure. This chapter of your life was ripe with exploration and experimentation, but since Uranus also creates upheaval, it’s been hard to gain traction on your lofty plans. Now that Uranus will settle into Taurus and your concrete second house, you’ll be ready to build—and monetize—one (or more) of your brilliant ideas. If you’ve been dreaming of a career change, you might finally take action. The way you make a living could shift radically between now and 2026, and since Uranus rules technology, your income could come from unconventional sources. Perhaps you’ll start investing in cryptocurrency, launch an app that goes viral or begin earning passive income online.

But don’t blow your whole budget on bitcoin, Aries. Uranus is in “fall” in Taurus, meaning it’s in its least comfortable position here. It makes sense: Uranus is all about massive change, while Taurus craves consistency and wants to keep things the same. It’s like hosting a radical activist and a member of the old guard in the same place. They’ll have to settle their differences and strike a balance between progress and tradition.

Finding a middle ground can still be fun. While you might not quit your day job immediately, you could decide to go the freelance or independent-contractor route. Or you may start shifting your daily lifestyle to include some cutting-edge dietary and wellness practices. Uranus will back into Aries one last time—from November 6, 2018, until March 6, 2019—before it enters Taurus for the long haul next spring. Treat this first round as a test run by taking a toe-in-the-water approach or dabbling with a few different options.

That same day (May 15), the stars also serve up the year’s only Taurus new moon, which will reset your fiscal compass. While Uranus brews up some extreme possibilities, the new moon asks: What do you want in the next two weeks…and six months? Seeds planted now will manifest at the Taurus full moon on October 24. Map out a step-by-step action plan. If you’d like to change a habit or start some new daily rituals, this is an auspicious time to start.

On May 20, the Sun flits into Gemini for a month-long spin through your third house of communication and mental processes. Activity will heat up on the local scene, and your social life will be abuzz. After an industrious Taurus season, you can now step away from your workspace and pitch your ideas, brainstorm or just enjoy friendly companionship. You never know when one of your conversations could light a spark of inspiration. Since the third house rules neighborhoods, you might get involved in a community project, like a seed and plant exchange, a fundraising drive or a spring cleanup of a public space.

While a lot of this month’s cosmic activity is practical, there’s also a mystical undercurrent brewing. From May until August, expansive Jupiter in Scorpio will travel in a close trine—a harmonious, 120-degree angle—to spiritual Neptune in Pisces. Jupiter is in your eighth house of intimacy while Neptune is in your twelfth house of receiving and creativity. Merging with others for mutual gain—and to improve society—could be an auspicious move.

These “yin” energies are a very different vibe for many Aries, since you tend to be more of a proactive pursuer. Sitting back and waiting for divine guidance? Sounds good on paper, but it’s not something you actually DO most of the time. But patience is crucial to tapping into the magic of this transit, Aries. Visualize the outcome you desire, then let the universe arrange the details of how it happens.

On May 25, Jupiter and Neptune will make an exact alignment, which can bring a supercharged moment of manifesting. The saying “ask, believe, receive” could become more than a New Age bumper sticker platitude. You might connect with a kindred spirit or, under these supernatural stars, channel a powerful message from a departed loved one. If you’ve been grappling with a loss or feeling emotionally blocked, you might decide to try a past-life regression or a session with a qualified spirit medium. A close person could open up and share a secret; keep it in absolute confidence if they do.

Jupiter and Neptune’s alignment can help you open up to love, since these planets lend you the courage to be vulnerable and compassionate. As an experiment, let go of a grudge and forgive, Aries. Hanging onto that resentment is only hurting YOU, so release yourself from the grips of this toxic dynamic. And yes, we know this is easier said than done. Often we “protect” ourselves from further hurt by retelling a narrative that casts the other person as an untrustworthy villain. Leaving that story behind can be scary. But as Jupiter and Neptune make this rare alignment, they’ll help you to do so—and set yourself free in the process.

The month ends on a note of sweet freedom, when the May 29 Sagittarius full moon beams into your ninth house of adventure, travel and new experiences. Where have you been holding yourself back? Unleash yourself, Ram! You’re ready to take a leap of faith, perhaps on a project you’ve been developing since the Sagittarius new moon back on December 3, 2017. An idea that seemed outlandish or “impossible” might come together, or you could summon the courage to launch one of your visionary concepts to a wider market. With the revelatory full moon in your truth-telling ninth house, an honest conversation could clear the air. Have you been looking for the right moment to take a giant step into your own future? This full moon could be it!

LOVE & ROMANCE:

For the first half of May, amorous Venus is revving things up in mental Gemini and your social third house, but when it comes to heavy-duty romancing, she’s in more of a low-power mode. While it’s fine to go out and flirt, you may not be up to your usual level of focus and fierceness. But that could be a good thing! When dating feels like an obligation—or a job—nothing really gels. Relax and have fun, and who knows? By dialing the pressure down, you may actually feel more alluring! Attached? Schedule more hangouts with mutual pals and reconnect to the friendship part of your bond.

On top of that, Mars is trooping through Capricorn and your career house from March 17 to May 16, keeping you so busy at work that there’s precious little time for romance. Or, you could start to stress about the future of a commitment. Don’t get so caught up in where something is going that you lose sight of the here and now. Because this realm rules men and authority figures, you may be feeling some old “dad issues” or tension from your family that no Aries ever responds well to. Suss out what YOU want from a desire to gain approval from someone you admire. Nobody appreciates being treated like a trophy.

The emotional climate shifts in the second half of the month. Passionate Mars barrels into Aquarius and your eleventh house of technology and platonic connections on May 16 (through August 12—an extended visit because the red planet turns retrograde on June 26). This excitable energy will color your summer, possibly igniting a romance with a friend or a promising online prospect. Note that the retrograde could throw a wrench into things and delay progress, so be patient!

While Mars is in this somewhat aloof zone, Venus heads off in a whole other direction, shimmying into Cancer and your sentimental, touchy-feely fourth house on May 19. Domestic matters will be foremost on your mind. If you’re in a newish relationship, you might already be thinking of key exchanges—or least imagining what this person would be like to live with. Easy there, Ram: If this is a keeper, there’ll be plenty of time for that, so enjoy the buildup! Couples will enjoy doing more nesting, and nest-feathering. Got a dream reno project in mind? Start researching, gathering samples and getting bids!

Key Dates: May 7: Venus-Neptune square Old childhood wounds could get triggered and raise anxiety levels. But instead of reflexively talking them out, try to FEEL them in your body and work through them that way. Don’t let fear or confusion cause you to lash out at innocent parties. Chances are, your imagination is running wild.

All your biggest love days

Want some more? Get the must-know love and relationship dates for each month in The AstroTwins’ 2018 Planetary Planner. A whole year of forecasts, mapped out for you. Never miss an opportunity again!

MONEY & CAREER:

Keep on pushing, Aries! On May 16, energizer Mars will wrap up a two-month visit to Capricorn, your tenth house of career and success, which has sent your ambitions skyward. Mars happens to be your ruling planet, so you’re particularly impacted by its movements. And since it only visits his “exalted” sign every two years, you could make huge strides by the middle of May.

Just before Mars exits, innovator Uranus will blast into Taurus and your second house of work and finances on May 15, accompanied by a new moon in this same security-seeking sign. Uranus hasn’t been here in 77 years, so prepare for a once-in-a-lifetime money makeover—and possibly a radical one—between now and 2026. As Uranus ends a seven-year run through Aries, you may feel some relief, although he’ll be back for a final hurrah from November 6, 2018, until March 6, 2019. But finally, you can start turning your ahead-of-the-curve ideas into a reliable income stream.

Start mapping out ways to monetize your ingenuity, Ram. With technophile Uranus here, perhaps you’ll set up a platform where you can deliver digital products, thrive at e-commerce or work remotely. Explore ways that you can bring ease and simplicity to your life through apps or the “gig economy.”

These plans could accelerate once Mars marches into Aquarius and your digitally savvy, collaborative eleventh house from May 16 to August 12. Mars is here for an extended three-month stay, so your summer could be consumed with a project that has a strong virtual component. The only caveat? Mars will turn retrograde on June 26, which could bring frustrating slowdowns and tension. Try to work out most of the kinks in the next six weeks if you can! Mars will have a second, retrograde-free run from September 10 to November 15, so anything you “soft launch” in the next two months could go full-scale this fall.

Key Dates: May 8: Sun-Jupiter opposition Double-check your numbers! Today, as the willful Sun locks horns with optimistic Jupiter across your financial axis, some of your time-and-money calculations may be way off the mark. Don’t be lured into overspending. Go back to the drawing board and get it right.

All your must-know career dates

Want some more? Get the top money and career dates for each month in The AstroTwins’ 2018 Planetary Planner. A whole year of forecasts, mapped out for you. Never miss an opportunity again!

Love Days: 20, 25 Money Days: 14, 3 Luck Days: 12, 29 Off Days: 21, 27, 10

[newstfionline]

Catholic Worker Houses Remain a Place for Protest and the Poor

By Amanda Abrams, Religion & Politics, January 30, 2018

Steve Baggarly is standing before a photo collage, musing about the people pictured. One man, he says, died in prison of AIDS; he was there for violating parole by stealing bread--”literally, a loaf of bread.” Baggarly points to another who was blind in one eye after having been whipped with a belt buckle as a child. A third man also died in jail, in this case because the dialysis machine he used there wasn’t clean.

It’s a heartbreaking litany, but Baggarly tells the stories calmly, almost fondly. He knew these people well. In many cases, he’d lived with them for months or even years. And he’s used to poverty, illness, bad luck. He’s been voluntarily surrounding himself with men and women on the receiving end of tragedy for years.

Baggarly, who lives in Norfolk, Virginia, is co-founder of a Catholic Worker house, a community that welcomes people who are homeless or sick or in transition--anyone, really. In their Sadako Sasaki House, Baggarly and his wife Kim Williams have been living in solidarity with the poor and suffering for almost 30 years, helping where they can while actively promoting nonviolence, and trying to align as closely as possible with Jesus’ teachings.

“The core love messages from Jesus--it’s a whole different way of life. ‘Love your enemies and do good to them; lend expecting nothing back,’” he says, paraphrasing the Bible verse Luke 6:35. “Just that one line turns our society on its head. Gospel economics is to give and share. Gospel politics is nonviolence. And it’s worth dedicating our lives to putting some of that into practice.”

Sharing almost everything they have, Baggarly and Williams are about as radical as one can be while still being a practicing Catholic. But their model is nothing new: The Catholic Worker movement has been around since 1933. It was founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, a Catholic convert journalist and French lay philosopher, respectively, who were looking to create a society structured according to the gospel.

The movement promotes simple living, nonviolence, and doing the “works of mercy,” actions like feeding the hungry and caring for the sick. What that looks like in practice depends on a region’s needs. “Each house takes on a different character and emphasis,” says Benjamin Peters, a professor at the University of Saint Joseph who helped start a Catholic Worker community in South Bend, Indiana, near Notre Dame University. “But what they have in common is the idea that they’re practicing the works of mercy and resisting the works of war.”

Best known are the hospitality houses, where the hosts and those in need live together like family. There are more than 200 of the institutions around the world, and just about every big city in America has one. As a movement, it’s anarchic and not formulaic. Each community has its own structure and rules, and ever since Day died in 1980, it’s been leaderless. It’s also pretty fringe, as religious movements go.

But that might be about to change. Formerly consigned to a few sentences in Catholic school textbooks, Day is now en route to being canonized--a years-long process with an uncertain outcome, but one that underscores her importance to Catholic thought and action. She was one of four people mentioned by Pope Francis in a speech he gave to Congress in 2015.

Presumably many more people will soon know who she is and what she stood for. But despite it being a wholly homegrown movement, the Catholic Worker movement seems completely out of sync with today’s America--a place where billionaires who run the country are considering cuts to programs for the poor, where those who are financially comfortable rarely interact with those in need, and where blaming poor people for their circumstances has become increasingly acceptable. The biblical commandment to “love thy neighbor” doesn’t seem to have much significance these days--but it’s a prescription Catholic Workers aim to wholly embody.

“YOU’VE GOT TO UNLEARN what society teaches us and learn the gospel,” Baggarly says. He and Williams have spent their adult lives unlearning the individualism and materialism of American culture. Both were raised Catholic. They first encountered the ideals of the Catholic Worker movement in college and were immediately smitten. After a stint with the Los Angeles Catholic Worker community, they moved to Norfolk and opened their own house.

A two-story Victorian in a low-income neighborhood, the place feels like a group house, with as many as seven rooms that can be used for guests. In the early days, says Baggarly, “we had all kinds of folks--disabled, farmworkers, people just out of jail or the psych ward, pregnant women.” The house isn’t far from one of the city’s main hospitals, so some of the residents were invariably sick, and the house often served as a hospice as well.

Some of that changed in 2003, after the couple’s second child was born. “It got a little overwhelming,” explains Williams. A number of the residents had untreated mental illness or substance abuse addictions, and the place could be chaotic. Plus, their oldest child was on the verge of adolescence, and they felt he needed his own space.

They bought a second house for their family but maintained the original one. Right now, there are four people living there, including a woman who was recently laid off and at risk of becoming homeless, and a Peruvian mother-daughter pair who have been in Norfolk for five years while a local doctor treats the daughter’s rare disorder.

Baggarly and Williams and an army of volunteers also provide breakfast to more than 100 Norfolk residents three mornings a week, and they have a food pantry in the house stocked with donations from local churches. They assist people in other ways, too, cleaning the houses of elderly friends who might otherwise have to leave their homes and helping former residents with their rent. They’re professional do-gooders, essentially, and their actions are funded by donations from supporters.

They also routinely protest violence and militarization. Pacifism is a key tenet of the Catholic Worker movement; Day opposed wars and violence without exception, and objected to public funding being used for weapons rather than to help people. Twice a month, the couple demonstrates in front of Norfolk’s military bases and defense contractors’ offices. Baggarly has participated in several “plowshares actions,” protests that symbolically damage military equipment to show opposition to war. The name comes from a Bible verse about beating swords into plowshares.

Both are motivated by outrage--Baggarly is fond of quoting the Oxfam statistic that eight men have as much wealth as half the world’s population--but it’s their faith that provides the backbone for their alternative lifestyle.

“The place where God dwells among us most intensely is where people are suffering,” explains Baggarly. “So living simply and with people who have nothing is our chance to learn what it is to be a human being. We can tear down the walls in our heart and be open to other people, to the messy work of accepting other viewpoints.”

Spending decades observing injustice up close and watching people struggle has got to be heartbreaking work. But Baggarly has a point: The effort is clearly transformational. Both he and Williams exude tranquility and warmth, with what seems to be a remarkable acceptance of life’s rhythms and our ultimate lack of control over them.

“I think educated white Americans feel, ‘If there’s a problem, I can fix it,’” muses Williams. “But not everything can be fixed. There’s a lot of problems I can’t help.” The question for her, she says, is: “How can I just be with someone, and be kind?”

Their approach to money is particularly unusual. In solidarity with the poor, Baggarly and Williams rarely splurge on themselves and would never consider vacationing in Paris, for instance. And despite being in their early 50s, they aren’t squirreling money away for retirement. They say they don’t think about it much, but are guessing they’ll inherit some money from their parents eventually, and will figure the rest out. It’s called walking by faith: simply trusting that things will come together.

WHILE THERE ARE fundamental similarities among Catholic Worker communities, the movement has a looseness that allows for a range of attitudes. That’s intentional. Dorothy Day in particular “made no attempt to police any of it,” says Harvard professor Dan McKanan, author of the 2008 book The Catholic Worker After Dorothy.

As a result, communities have waxed and waned and morphed over time, usually in step with changes in the country. They flourished during the Great Depression, and then collapsed during the economic boom and patriotism of the World War II years. Houses began to spring up again during the Vietnam conflict, and continued to grow in the 1980s in response to rising homelessness, the nuclear buildup, and Day’s death in 1980. That’s when plowshares actions, the kind Baggarly and Williams have engaged in, hit their heyday.

These days, the latest style is a theological orthodoxy combined with political liberalism, and a movement away from cities--where Catholic Worker houses have traditionally been located--to the land. When he was writing his book in 2008, says McKanan, “the new cutting edge was a swing back to the agrarian ideal by young idealistic folks.” The shift has only increased since then, and today there are Catholic Worker homesteads or sustainable farms in rural areas like Sheep Ranch, California; Lockport, Illinois; Cuba City, Wisconsin; and Louisa, Virginia.

The movement in general has grown. According to the Catholic Worker website, there are now 248 communities in the United States and around the world, just about as many as there have ever been. That’s probably an underestimate, given that Catholic Workers have never gravitated toward counting or codifying. And it doesn’t include the unofficial groups that may be evangelical or even nonreligious but are nonetheless inspired by the model.

Observers are heartened to see that twenty-somethings are still attracted to the movement. “Young people who’ve been exposed to the gospel and principles of justice and love in our world--they look at the Catholic Worker and think, ‘That’s what it looks like,’” says Michael Baxter, a professor at Regis University who has helped found two Catholic Worker houses, one in South Bend and the other in Phoenix.

Because of residents’ physical proximity, living in a community provides a deep education about people and hard times. “We’re all under the illusion that everything we have, we’ve earned, and it’s not really true,” says Baxter. “I remember meeting one guy. He’d watched his wife burn to death in a car accident, and he just went downhill from there. Who of us would be immune from that?”

JOE SROKA AND HIS WIFE MICHELLE are a couple of those young people Baxter was talking about. In their case, the community initially started in Durham, North Carolina, thanks to a handful of Duke Divinity School students who began inviting homeless people in. The Srokas moved the project out to the country in 2015, after most of the other students graduated and left the area. They themselves had married and had a child, and they thought the farming life might be a better fit for their family.

Today, they have two more kids, plus four men who live with them in a sprawling house they rent on a few acres in Chatham County, a mostly white, rural area in North Carolina’s Piedmont region, about 30 miles west of Durham. In that time, they’ve learned to take care of cows and chickens and vegetables; back in May, they slaughtered their first bull. “In two years out here, we have formerly homeless guys who can provide a meal without a grocery store involved,” says Joe, 33.

Living in the country is notably different from urban life because they spend so much time together. “In the city, the house was a place people came and went from,” says Michelle. “We’d have a house meeting and there might be more frustration and conflict. Now, we’re around each other so often--we’ve learned how to work with each other really well.”

The other residents are Larry, who is Joe’s uncle, another Larry, Gene, and Slim. None of them has anywhere else to go besides the streets. A California native who’d been living in the woods in Durham, Slim has been with the community for five years, longer than the others. “This house is about two things: love one another, and God first,” he says. He’s comfortable there, though living in the country means he’s more dependent on the others and their vehicles. “Living with people in a positive way started rubbing off on me. I started forgiving a lot of people, and I started seeing things differently.”

They all take turns cooking and washing the dishes, and with six adults tending to a small homestead, the chores get done without difficulty. The residents say the household functions with ease.

It’s going so well that they’re planning to expand. The Srokas have purchased 45 acres of land nearby and will move the operation there in December, with more animals and more residents, should they arrive. Right now, they’re supported by donations, but the couple envisions the farm eventually supporting everyone.

“Joe and I are just really committed to doing this,” says Michelle, who is 28. Their house, the Community of the Franciscan Way, is actually Episcopalian, but they fully consider it a Catholic Worker community, one that adheres to all of the common ideals.

Joe first started thinking about poverty differently while in divinity school. He was attending a local church, and panhandlers would ask for money before and after morning prayers; it wasn’t uncommon to give out $10 a day. “I asked the priest, ‘Is this right? This isn’t sustainable.’ And he said, “Yeah--when the poor ask of you, you give,” remembers Joe. “That was my first experience with there being no agenda to make the poor into anything else. Not ‘get a job,’ but just accepting them for who they are.”

He and Michelle have been on the same page since day one. Still, being part of a Catholic Worker community has been a huge learning experience for her. It’s fundamentally different from working in a soup kitchen, for example. “What’s missing is the relationship [there],” she says. “For me, one of the best things about this was getting over that fear of poor and homeless people. I have the same reaction as everyone does when they see a homeless person who smells. The point is to learn who they are beyond that, and see them as people.” That makes it more of a two-way exchange, she explains.

Like Baggarly and Williams, they have no retirement plan and little financial cushion. They figure farm work will support them long past retirement age. And their attitude toward material goods is also similar. When asked if they ever worry that a resident might steal something, Joe responds hypothetically, “Is a stolen bicycle more important than a person? If you really believe God created everything, it wasn’t your bike to start with. The poor are doing you a favor by reminding you about it.”

What a radical--and remarkably rare--concept.