From the president of Mozambique to the US Secretary of Commerce, greater US economic engagement in Africa is the dominant theme at this year’s business summit organized by the Corporate Council on Africa. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo was there and reports.
…
U.S. authorities moved on Thursday to seize a Picasso painting given to American movie star Leonardo DiCaprio and the rights to two Hollywood comedies, as they filed complaints to recover about $540 million they say was stolen from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad sovereign wealth fund.
The U.S. Justice Department filing was the latest legal action tied to alleged money laundering at the fund set up by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 to promote economic development. In the complaints, the department alleges more than $4.5 billion was taken from 1MDB by high-level fund officials and their associates.
“This money financed the lavish lifestyles of the alleged co-conspirators at the expense and detriment of the Malaysian people,” Kenneth Blanco, acting assistant attorney general, said in a statement. 1MDB could not be immediately reached for comment.
Najib has denied taking money from 1MDB or any other entity for personal gain, after it was reported that investigators traced nearly $700 million to bank accounts that were allegedly in his name.
The assets U.S. authorities are seeking to seize include the rights to Dumb and Dumber To, a 2014 comedy starring Jim Carrey, they allege was financed with tens of millions of dollars stolen from 1MDB, and the 2015 film Daddy’s Home, starring Will Ferrell. Last year, U.S. authorities moved to seize rights to the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, which starred DiCaprio.
The three films were produced by Red Granite, a company founded by Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz. Red Granite said in a statement it was in discussions with the Justice Department “aimed at resolving these civil cases and is fully cooperating.”
U.S. authorities accuse Jho Low, a Malaysian financier, of laundering more than $400 million stolen from the fund through an account in the United States, where he and his friends used the money to pay for lavish parties, gambling and yachts.
Despite the civil allegations, U.S. authorities have not charged Low with any crime.
Low did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to his Hong Kong-based company Jynwel Capital.
Artwork, Oscar for DiCaprio
Authorities said that in 2014 Low used $3.2 million diverted from a 1MDB bond sale to buy a Picasso painting for DiCaprio.
“Dear Leonardo DiCaprio, Happy belated Birthday! This gift is for you,” a friend of Low’s wrote in a note.
Low also used $9.2 million diverted from 1MDB bond sales to buy a collage made by the New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat which was also given to DiCaprio. DiCaprio and Low signed a note in March 2014 absolving the star of “any liability whatsoever resulting directly or indirectly from these art-work,” according to the filings.
A spokesman for DiCaprio said in an emailed statement on Thursday the actor last July “initiated the return” of gifts he had received from financiers connected to the 1MDB case. The spokesman said DiCaprio also returned an Oscar won by actor Marlon Brando which was given to DiCaprio by Red Granite “to thank him for his work on The Wolf of Wall Street,” the statement said.
DiCaprio’s spokesman said the star accepted the gifts to raise funds in an auction for his environmental foundation.
Complaints against 1MDB
Fraud allegations against 1MDB go back to 2009, the Justice Department said, and the fund is subject to money laundering investigations in at least six countries, including Switzerland and Singapore.
The complaints allege that officials at 1MDB, their relatives and other associates allegedly laundered the funds using complex transactions and shell companies with bank accounts located in the United States and abroad.
That allowed the origin, source and ownership of the funds to be hidden and ultimately passed through U.S. financial institutions, with the money being used to buy and invest in assets in the United States and overseas, according to the complaints.
…
The White House lacks a unified plan to increase the government’s borrowing cap as a likely September deadline is drawing near, said Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
A failure by Congress to raise the debt ceiling could send dangerous shock waves through the global economy. The federal government could be at risk of defaulting on obligations such as interest payments on bonds as well as temporarily halting benefit programs.
The White House budget director suggested in an interview Thursday with reporters that neither the Trump administration nor Capitol Hill lawmakers had set their terms for an agreement.
“It’s fair to say we haven’t settled on a final way to address the debt ceiling any more than the Hill has,” Mulvaney said.
The former South Carolina congressman added that none of this was necessarily “unusual.”
Possible extension
Under the current borrowing restrictions, the government has already been taking extraordinary measures and will likely be unable to pay its bills at some point in September. But Congress still has a recess scheduled in August that could create time pressures. Private analysts say the debt ceiling deadline could be extended into October.
Mulvaney said he would like to see the debt ceiling raised in July.
But Trump administration officials still have yet to resolve internal differences on the best strategy to increase the legal cap on government debt, which already exceeds $19.8 trillion.
Mulvaney suggested he would like to have any increase in the borrowing authority be attached to other spending changes, a move that could attract Republican support but alienate Senate Democrats. President Donald Trump’s budget proposal seeks to beef up spending on the military and border security while cutting many social programs.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has indicated he would like a “clean” bill to raise the debt ceiling, so it would not have to be tied to any spending changes, but Capitol Hill conservatives are resisting the idea.
“Secretary Mnuchin believes it needs to be clean. I think the vast majority of the Republican conferences would not agree,” said Representative Mark Meadows R-N.C., chairman of the Freedom Caucus, a group of strongly conservative House Republicans.
Mulvaney said Mnuchin would ultimately be in charge of handling the debt ceiling push “once we do settle on our formal policy, if we do.”
A 2011 standoff between Republicans and the Obama administration over the debt ceiling led to tighter controls on spending. That standoff was not resolved until the 11th hour and prompted Standard & Poor’s to impose the first-ever downgrade to the country’s credit rating.
Talks with lawmakers
The administration is also engaged in talks with House and Senate Republican leaders about what kind of increase they could possibly pass. Mulvaney said the issue was not a source of division inside the White House or the Republican Party.
The discussions involve whether the House should increase the debt limit enough to last through the 2018 election or the president’s first term.
“It would be foolish of us to come up with a policy devoid of having talked to the Hill,” Mulvaney said.
Congress also faces pressure to pass a budget in September for next fiscal year, as well as to address administration priorities that include a tax code rewrite and the proposed repeal of former President Barack Obama’s 2010 health insurance law.
Failure to pass spending bills could cause a government shutdown and cause nonessential government agencies to close. Trump suggested on Twitter last month that he might welcome a shutdown to help shake up the government.
Mnuchin told the Senate Budget Committee this week that “at times there could be a good shutdown,” though he cautioned it’s not the administration’s “primary objective.”
With action on the budget front otherwise stalled, the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved the first of 12 spending bills, an $89 billion measure that contains generous increases for veterans programs and Pentagon construction projects.
But the White House and its GOP allies — much less opposition Democrats — haven’t come up with an overall plan for implementing Trump’s promises to increase the Pentagon budget and advance more than $500 billion worth of annual domestic agency spending bills.
…
American tourists strolling the ample squares and narrow streets of colonial Havana may not know it, but from novelist Ernest Hemingway’s famed Floridita bar to Sloppy Joe’s eatery, they are probably patronizing businesses owned by Cuba’s military.
It is that lucrative line of business that President Donald Trump will target when he rolls out his new Cuba policy Friday in Miami, the heart of the country’s hard-line exile community, according to U.S. officials who have seen a draft presidential memorandum.
Trump will significantly restrict U.S. companies from doing business with some military-linked enterprises, the officials said.
“Any ban on using military-owned tourism facilities would make it very difficult to bring groups larger than seven people, because for logistical reasons you need to work with the government,” said Collin Laverty, president of Cuba Educational Travel.
The number of Americans traveling to Cuba, mostly in large groups because of U.S. regulations, has nearly tripled in recent years and was expected to reach around 400,000 in 2017, according to U.S. travel agencies.
Trump’s expected limits on U.S. business deals will target the Armed Forces Business Enterprises Group (GAESA), a conglomerate involved in all sectors of the economy that is led by General Luis Alberto Rodriguez, reportedly President Raul Castro’s son-in-law.
That is bad news for the pro-engagement U.S. politicians and hundreds of businesses that flocked to Cuba in the last few years in search of new opportunities.
Lone hotel deal
The only hotel deal struck to date may prove the last for now, at least in the capital. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which is owned by Marriott International, signed on to manage a Gaviota hotel in Havana under the Sheraton brand, which opened in 2016.
Gaviota is part of GAESA, and tourism development projects in Havana and other choice locations are almost exclusively in its hands.
U.S. Gulf Coast ports and the Port of Virginia, which have signed letters of intent to work with the new Mariel container terminal, will most likely have to look elsewhere for shipping partners because it is controlled by Almacenes Universales, another GAESA company.
The terminal feeds a surrounding Chinese-style development zone that allows investors 100 percent ownership and that was visited by dozens of U.S. business delegations beginning in 2015, though no deals were signed. It also is controlled by Almacenes Universales.
GAESA does not run Cuba’s airports, or its cruise ship terminals, meaning U.S. airlines and cruise operators might not be directly affected, but it does control the marinas.
All the state hotels, stores and eateries in colonial Old Havana are owned by Habaguanex, which was recently taken over from the city historian’s office by GAESA.
GAESA began modestly enough in the 1980s as an effort to bring modern management to the civilian sector mired in the ways of Soviet-style administration.
It has grown dramatically over the last decade since Raul Castro took over for his ailing and now deceased older brother, Fidel.
Today GAESA boasts dozens of companies that control 40 percent to 60 percent of the Caribbean island’s foreign exchange earnings, according to Cuban economists.
GAESA’s books, like those of other state-run companies, are not public.
Military’s self-interest
Some Cuba experts and diplomats believe the military is feathering its own nest and perhaps preparing to cash in if the government falls.
But others believe revenues flow to the cash-strapped state.
A former British ambassador to Cuba, Paul Hare, who lectures at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies, said the military was viewed as a guardian of the Revolution.
“Their function is to ensure that private Cubans and foreign investors do not undermine the principles of ‘socialism,’ ” he said.
The holding company controls virtually all of the thousands of stores, supermarkets and malls in the country that sell imported products ranging from food and beverages to clothing and appliances, and hundreds of gas stations and eateries.
That means when you enter a shop in Cuba to purchase a bottle of water, soda or beer, you probably are patronizing a military establishment.
If you want to rent a condominium or satellite TV service, you have to go through a GAESA company.
The holding company also controls two banks and all credit card and money transfer transactions through Fincimex. RAFIN, the conglomerate’s mini-hedge fund, owns shares in the telecommunications monopoly ETECSA.
…
Scientists have identified three mutations that, if they occurred at the same time in nature, could turn a strain of bird flu now circulating in China into a potential pandemic virus that could spread among people.
The flu strain, known as H7N9, now mostly infects birds but it has infected at least 779 people in outbreaks in and around China, mainly related to poultry markets.
The World Health Organization said earlier this year that all bird flu viruses need constant monitoring, warning that their constantly changing nature makes them “a persistent and significant threat to public health.”
At the moment, the H7N9 virus does not have the capability to spread sustainably from person to person. But scientists are worried it could at any time mutate into a form that does.
To assess this risk, researchers led by James Paulson of the Scripps Research Institute in California looked at mutations that could potentially take place in the genome of the H7N9 virus.
They focused on the H7 hemagglutanin, a protein on the flu virus surface that allows it to latch onto host cells.
The team’s findings, published in the journal PLoS Pathogens on Thursday, showed that in laboratory tests, mutations in three amino acids made the virus more able to bind to human cells — suggesting these changes are key to making the virus more dangerous to people.
Scientists not directly involved in this study said its findings were important, but should not cause immediate alarm.
“This study will help us to monitor the risk posed by bird flu in a more informed way, and increasing our knowledge of which changes in bird flu viruses could be potentially dangerous will be very useful in surveillance,” said Fiona Culley, an expert in respiratory immunology at Imperial College London.
She noted that while “some of the individual mutations have been seen naturally, … these combinations of mutations have not,” and added: “The chances of all three occurring together is relatively low.”
Wendy Barclay, a virologist and flu specialist also at Imperial, said the study’s findings were important in showing why H7N9 bird flu should be kept under intense surveillance.
“These studies keep H7N9 virus high on the list of viruses we should be concerned about,” she said. “The more people infected, the higher the chance that the lethal combination of mutations could occur.”
…
Like many online video games, the one developed by scientists at the University of Exeter challenges players to quickly find hidden objects, but with a twist. They’re not looking for gold or swords or magical mirrors in an imaginary universe, but for birds in real photos. And everyone who plays “Where is that Nightjar” is contributing to a study of animal vision.
Nightjars are ground-nesting birds, whose mottled feathers help them disappear into the fallen leaves and twigs where they lay their eggs. They are hunted by a variety of predators and rely on their camouflage for their survival.
Some predators, such as mongooses, are color-blind and cannot see reds and greens. They are called dichromats. Others, like baboons and humans, are trichromats, and can see a wider range of colors. Researchers wanted to know how color vision affected an animal’s ability to find camouflaged prey.
“A huge number of mammals are dichromats,” ecologist Jolyon Troscianko explains. “But it does not take a huge evolutionary leap to develop this third color channel. So it is surprising that this has not happened more often in nature, suggesting there could be some advantage to being a dichromat.”
The game uses actual photos of nightjars, manipulated so the images appear as they would through the eyes of a dichromat predator, and also as we would see them. People could choose to play as a trichromat or a dichromat, and they had just 30 seconds to try to find each camouflaged bird.
After 30,000 volunteers played the game, the researchers got some surprising results, published in Behavioural Ecology.
Scientists assumed that dichromats, which are better at differentiating between light and shadow, would be better at finding camouflaged prey. But the trichromat competitors found the birds and their eggs faster, at first. Troscianko says as the game progressed, the dichromats improved faster, and were performing equally well by the end of the game.
“That shows that there is a huge element of learning, which has previously been largely ignored in the importance of camouflage. But if a predator in the wild is learning to try to find one type of prey, one type of camouflage faster than another, that could actually change the whole dynamics of an ecosystem where there is now a disadvantage to having a camouflage type that is easily learned by predators over time.”
The Exeter Sensory Ecology Group has also developed games to study camouflage in other animals, like crabs and moths.
…
Foreign fishing in Indonesian waters has long been a concern for the government, for which it has recently taken a literally explosive approach: blowing up illicit fishing boats. But the country’s wildly popular Minister of Marine Affairs lobbied the United Nations last week to declare illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF) an organized crime, signaling growing frustration and a new approach from Jakarta.
That said, even if the U.N. takes this step, Indonesia faces an uphill battle in protecting its fisheries. As the world’s largest archipelagic nation, it has somewhere between 15,000 and 17,000 islands and many kilometers of unsecured coastline. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo created a task force to address illegal fishing in October 2015, which reports directly to him and gives the Navy, the National Police and the Maritime Security Agency wide jurisdiction to deter illegal fishing by any means necessary.
But the fleet and law enforcement personnel are still small given the scale of the problem, which costs Indonesia, by one estimate, $3 billion a year.
Surprisingly empowered task force
Task forces, or “Satgas” (satuan tugas in Bahasa Indonesia) are almost a punchline in Indonesian governance because they are created for a wide variety of issues and often with unclear mandates. But the fishing task force feels different, according to Mas Achmad Santosa, head of the IUUF Fisheries Task Force.
“This is the first time for Indonesians that the president has set up a task force and it actually works well,” Santosa told VOA. “Every element needed for enforcement is there: investigators [from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fishery, Marine Police, Coast Guard, and Navy], prosecutors under the attorney general’s office, and several experts from fields like money laundering and environmental law.”
There are about 60 dedicated members of this task force, but they work closely with the above institutions so their effective numbers are larger, Santosa said.
The task force only directly prosecutes cases with “elements of serious crime,” said Santosa, and they have prosecuted 42 such cases over the last year.
“But our fleet is far from sufficient, we must admit,” Santosa said. “Compared to our oceans, which are huge, the technology is limited.” They only have four patrol boats, for instance.
Since Jokowi took office in 2014, Indonesia has blown up over 300 illegal fishing boats, taking out 81 near Ambon over a single weekend last April. The eye-catching strategy has become something of a local tourist attraction. Its symbolic impact, though, could be larger.
“Blowing up boats is just one of our treatments. But we hope it creates a general deterrent effect,” Santosa said.
Charismatic leader
Indonesia’s Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, known as “Bu Susi,” is a high school dropout turned entrepreneur with a knack for viral photo opportunities (smoking on a paddleboard, sleeping in an airport) and a no-nonsense style that has raised the profile of her relatively obscure ministry.
“It’s very important to have a strong leader, and she is a person of integrity who leads by example,” Santoso said.
Foreign fishing is concentrated in Maluku, Sumatra, and the Indian Ocean, according to the maritime ministry. Beyond that, there are also illicit Indonesian vessels that engage in what Santoso calls “unsustainable fishing that will destroy ecosystems.” So international cooperation is not a silver bullet; the task force’s inroads on domestic fishing will be equally important, and somewhat harder to attack in such a spectacular manner.
Domestic agenda
The Peoples Coalition for Fishery Justice (KIARA) has urged the maritime ministry to revise regulations that they say hinder the development of the local fishing industry.
“Today the biggest challenge faced by coastal communities, especially fishermen, is the investment from and development through foreign capital,” KIARA secretary-general Susan Herawati Romica told VOA. For instance, she said, on the island of Gili Sunut, Lombok, there are 109 households who have been displaced by construction on a Singaporean beach resort to more dangerous cliffside areas.
“Today, 90 percent of Indonesian fishermen are traditional fishermen with vessels that average below 10 gross tons,” she said. “They rely heavily on marine and coastal areas, but they still face major challenges in accessing the coast.”
According to KIARA data, there have been at least 34 recent cases of mine reclamation or development that have displaced local communities. “To that end, we say, if the country wants to push fisheries to provide the maximum benefit to coastal communities, then access to the sea [for local communities] should be guaranteed by the state.”
…
Teen vaping, which has been skyrocketing, fell dramatically last year in the United States.
A government survey released Thursday suggests the number of high school and middle school students using electronic cigarettes fell to 2.2 million last year, from 3 million the year before.
Health officials have worried about the booming popularity of vaping products among kids and the potential impact on adult smoking rates in the future.
“It certainly is a public health win,” said Brian King, an expert on smoking and health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s the first decline CDC has reported in teen vaping since the agency began tracking it in 2011. The findings echo a recent University of Michigan survey, which also detected a decline in 2016.
It’s unclear why teen vaping fell last year, and it’s too soon to know if the numbers will continue to drop.
One possibility may be a growing push to ban sale of e-cigarettes to minors, including a federal regulation that took effect in August. Another may be the influence of ad campaigns by the government and other organizations to discourage kids from smoking, the CDC said.
E-cigarettes may also be losing their novelty among teens, said Matthew Farrelly, a tobacco control researcher at RTI International.
Studies suggest many kids who vape use the products less often than kids who smoke cigarettes — a sign that vaping seems to be more social and experimental, some experts said.
“These products were new and novel and now we’re starting to see that change,” said Robin Koval, president of Truth Initiative, a public health education organization that runs anti-tobacco ads.
E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that provide users with aerosol puffs that can contain nicotine. Research has found kids like to vape flavorings like strawberry and bubble gum, though often in nicotine-free versions.
They’re generally considered a less dangerous alternative to regular cigarettes. But health officials have warned nicotine in e-cigarettes is harmful to developing brains.
The CDC study is based on a questionnaire filled out annually by about 20,000 students in grades 6 through 12. It focused on “current users” — kids who said they had used a tobacco product within the 30 days before they answered the survey.
It found an overall decline in use of vaping devices, traditional cigarettes and other tobacco products. Based on the survey responses, the CDC estimates that the number of middle and high school students using tobacco products fell to 3.9 million last year, from 4.7 million the year before.
Adolescent cigarette smoking has been falling for many years, but the decline in e-cigarette and hookah use was more remarkable.
In 2011, 1.5 percent of high school students said they’d recently vaped. That jumped to 16 percent in 2015, and it’s become more common than cigarette smoking. But it dropped to about 11 percent last year, the CDC said.
For middle school students, about 5 percent said they’d recently vaped in 2015. That fell to about 4 percent last year, the study found.
…
Among the people socializing in a tavern in Alexandra township in Johannesburg is Karabo Sathekge, who asked that VOA not give her real name. She is a slight, attractive 19-year-old in a veil of an orange dress, defying the winter chill.
Sathekge often meets one of her partners here. He is more than twice her age.
Sathekge explains that sex with older men is sometimes “rough,” and always without a condom.
South Africa has almost 7 million people living with HIV and manages the globe’s largest antiretroviral program, keeping about 4 million people alive with the drugs. At the South African National AIDS Conference in Johannesburg this week, specialists voiced their concern about the spiking rates of infections among young women, a trend reflected throughout the continent.
“What does it tell you about the lack of knowledge about HIV, 20, 30 years into the HIV epidemic?” said Mark Heywood, the director of the Section 27 social justice movement. “We have seen, shockingly, a decline in knowledge of HIV amongst young people. It is like we have taken our foot off the accelerator, in certain respects.”
Heywood says more than 200 young women, ages 15 to 24, are infected with HIV each day in South Africa.
In 2015, that demographic accounted for the largest segment of new HIV infections in South Africa and a disproportionate number of new cases in the region. Adolescent and young women made up a quarter of the new cases in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UNAIDS most recent global report.
UNAIDS says adolescent and young women in Africa are at “particularly high risk” for a variety of reasons, such as poverty, lack of education and violence.
Like Sathekge, many poor young women in South Africa have “transactional” sexual relationships with older men who have jobs and money. The men buy them food, clothes and gifts.
Health care workers in South Africa say transactional sex is a key driver of the new infections among young women in the country.
Heywood is at the forefront of protests to demand the government make a new weapon against HIV infection available to young women. That weapon is a combination of antiretroviral drugs called “pre-exposure prophylaxis,” or Prep. Taken correctly, the pill can prevent people from getting HIV.
Heywood says the state could afford to give the drugs to young women for free.
“If you have literally tens of billions of rand being stolen every year out of different government departments, that is money that could be generating programs that reduce the vulnerability of young women,” he said. “But there has to be a [political] will.”
South Africa’s health minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, says he plans to provide Prep to young women in about two to three years, after educating them about the pill. It must be taken at about the same time every day, and ideally is used with condoms.
However, Heywood says Motsoaledi’s “innovative” policies to prevent new HIV infections are likely to stall, as Motsoaledi has been politically isolated after publicly opposing President Jacob Zuma over Zuma’s alleged corruption.
…
The electronic bleeps and squawks of “Tetris,” “Donkey Kong” and other generation-shaping games that you may never have thought of as musical are increasingly likely to be playing at a philharmonic concert hall near you.
From the “ping … ping” of Atari’s 1972 ground-breaking paddle game “Pong,” the sounds, infectious ditties and, with time, fully-formed orchestral scores that are an essential part of the sensory thrill for gamers have formed a musical universe. With its own culture, sub-cultures and fans, game music now thrives alone, free from the consoles from which it came.
When audiences pack the Philharmonie de Paris’ concert halls this weekend to soak in the sounds of a chamber orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra performing game music and an homage to one of the industry’s stars, “Final Fantasy” Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu, they will have no buttons to play with, no characters to control.
Music triggers nostalgia
They’re coming for the music and the nostalgia it triggers: of fun-filled hours spent on sofas with a Game Boy, Sonic the Hedgehog and the evergreen Mario.
“When you’re playing a game you are living that music every day and it just gets into your DNA,” says Eimear Noone, the conductor of Friday’s opening two-hour show of 17 titles, including “Zelda,” “Tomb Raider,” “Medal of Honor” and other favorites from the 1980s onward.
“When people hear those themes they are right back there. And people get really emotional about it. I mean REALLY emotional. It’s incredible.”
Dating the birth of game music depends on how one defines music. Game music scholars — yes, they exist — point to key milestones on the path to the surround-sound extravaganzas of games today.
Game music remix
The heartbeat-like bass thump of Taito’s “Space Invaders” in 1978, which got ever faster as the aliens descended, caused sweaty palms and was habit-forming.
Namco’s “Pac-Man,” two years later, whetted appetites with an opening musical chirp. For fun, check out the 2013 remix by Dweezil Zappa, son of Frank, and game music composer Tommy Tallarico. Their take on the tune speaks to the sub-culture of remixing game music, with thousands of redos uploaded by fans to sites like ocremix.org — dedicated, it says, “to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form.”
Based on the Russian folk song “Korobeiniki,” the music of the 1984 game “Tetris” has similarly undergone umpteen remixes — including “Tetris Meets Metal,” with more than 2.2 million views on YouTube.
Fame for Kondo
By 1985, the can’t-not-tap-along-to-this theme of “Super Mario Bros.,” the classic adventure of plumber Mario and his brother Luigi, was bringing fame for composer Koji Kondo, also known for his work on “Legend of Zelda.” Both are on the bill for the “Retrogaming” concert in Paris. Kondo was the first person Nintendo hired specifically to compose music for its games, according to the 2013 book, “Music and Game.”
Noone, known herself for musical work on “World of Warcraft,” “Overwatch” and other games, says the technological limitations of early consoles — tiny memories, rudimentary chips, crude sounds — forced composers “to distill their melodies down to the absolute kernels of what melodic content can be, because they had to program it note by note.”
But simple often also means memorable. Think “da-da-da-duh” — the opening of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
‘It speaks to people’
“That is part of the reason why this music has a place in people’s hearts and has survived,” Noone says of game tunes. “It speaks to people.”
She says game music is where movie music was 15 years ago: well on its way to being completely accepted.
“I predict that in 15 years’ time it will be a main staple of the orchestral season,” she says. “This is crazy to think of: Today, more young people are listening to orchestral music through the medium of their video game consoles than have ever listened to orchestral music.”
She still sometimes encounters snobbism from orchestras: “They saw ‘Pong’ once and that’s video game music to them, you know?”
‘The Rolling Stones’
But “halfway through the first rehearsal, their attitude has changed,” she adds. “And then when they walk out on stage and the audience treats them like they’re The Rolling Stones.”
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first game-music concert: The Tokyo Strings Ensemble performed “Dragon Quest” at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall in August 1987. Now there are six touring shows of symphonic game music, Noone says.
“This is just the best way, the most fun way to introduce kids to the instruments of the orchestra,” she adds. “It may be the first time ever they are that close to a cellist, and that’s really exciting for me.”
…
Facebook has revealed it is using artificial intelligence in its ongoing fight to prevent terrorist propaganda from being disseminated on its platform.
“We want to find terrorist content immediately, before people in our community have seen it,” read the message posted Thursday. “Already, the majority of accounts we remove for terrorism we find ourselves. But we know we can do better at using technology — and specifically artificial intelligence — to stop the spread of terrorist content on Facebook.”
The company has been under increasing pressure from governments around the world to do a better job of removing posts made by terrorists
Some of the roles AI plays involve “image matching” to see if an uploaded image matches something previously removed because of its terrorist content.
“Language understanding,” the company says, will allow it to “understand text that might be advocating for terrorism.”
AI, Facebook says, is also useful for identifying and removing “terrorist clusters.”
“We know from studies of terrorists that they tend to radicalize and operate in clusters,” according to the blog post. “This offline trend is reflected online as well. So when we identify pages, groups, posts or profiles as supporting terrorism, we also use algorithms to “fan out” to try to identify related material that may also support terrorism.”
Facebook said AI has helped identify and remove fake accounts made by “repeat offenders.” It says it has already reduced the time fake accounts are active.
However, the company does not rely completely on AI.
“AI can’t catch everything,” it said. “Figuring out what supports terrorism and what does not isn’t always straightforward, and algorithms are not yet as good as people when it comes to understanding this kind of context.
“A photo of an armed man waving an ISIS flag might be propaganda or recruiting material, but could be an image in a news story. Some of the most effective criticisms of brutal groups like ISIS utilize the group’s own propaganda against it. To understand more nuanced cases, we need human expertise.”
…
New data show the U.S. job market becoming a bit stronger, while credit card costs are increasing for American consumers.
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department says the number of newly-laid off workers signing up for assistance fell 8,000 last week to a nationwide total of 237,000. Experts say any level below 300,000 indicates strong demand for workers and a healthy job market. Jobless claims have been under this benchmark now for well over two years, the longest streak since 1970.
On Wednesday, the U.S. central bank cited the improving job market as evidence that the economy no longer needs the boost it has been receiving from ultra-low interest rates. The Federal Reserve increased the key interest rate by a quarter of a percent. It is the latest in a series of gradual increases intended to bring interest rates closer to the average rates seen over the past few decades.
While economists say the increases are a vote of confidence in the economy, higher rates also raise costs for consumers who have run up credit card bills. The business group WalletHub says U.S. consumer credit card debt will likely exceed $1 trillion this year, a record high. The company says that means a quarter of a percentage point interest rate hike will cost consumers an extra $1.5 billion this year.
Wednesday’s action is the latest of several rate increases, and if all the higher costs are tallied, the bill for consumers will be $6 billion more this year than it would have been in the past.
…
The U.S. Senate voted 98-2 Thursday to approve sweeping sanctions against Russia and make it harder for President Donald Trump to ease punitive measures against Moscow.
“We have no time to waste,” said Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. “The United States of America needs to send a strong message to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and any other aggressor that we will not tolerate attacks on our democracy.”
“We must not allow this kind of interference in our elections become a normal process,” said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.
Adopted overwhelmingly as an amendment to an Iran sanctions bill, the measure targets Russia’s cyber espionage entities, energy sector, financial interests, and the flow of Russian weaponry to war zones like Syria.
“It expands the list of where sanctions can apply to the energy projects and foreign financial institutions,” said Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “It provides for actors undermining cyber security being subject to sanctions. It provides sanctions against suppliers of Russian arms to Syria. It’s comprehensive.”
The measure also asserts a role for Congress if the White House opts to ease any sanctions against Moscow.
“The president can’t remove a sanction until he’s given Congress notice and an opportunity to review,” Cardin said. “We can have congressional hearings, we can put a spotlight on it. And then we have an expedited process where we could reject the president’s decision to give relief. And all during that process, the sanctions remain in place.”
The Trump administration reportedly is weighing the return of Russian compounds on U.S. soil seized by the Obama administration, and the president has repeatedly expressed a desire for better relations with Moscow while downplaying the impact of Russia’s cyber activities.
“It’s particularly significant that a bipartisan coalition is seeking to reestablish Congress, not the president, as the final arbiter of sanctions relief,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat.
McCain described existing punitive measures against Russia as “modest” and “reversible at the discretion of the president.”
“We must take our own side in this fight, not as Republicans, not as Democrats, but as Americans,” McCain said.
The White House has not said if Trump would sign or veto the legislation, which would have to be passed by the House of Representatives before it could go to the president‘s desk. Testifying this week on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged the need to take action against Russia but warned against measures that would cut off dialogue with Moscow.
“We would ask for the flexibility to turn the heat up when we need to, but also to ensure that we have the ability to maintain a constructive dialogue,” Tillerson said.
The underlying bill imposed new sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program and support for international terrorism. Lawmakers of both parties stressed the measures in no way target Iran’s nuclear program or the landmark international nuclear accord with Tehran.
“We see destabilizing act after destabilizing act [by Iran], from missile launches to arms transfers to terrorist training to illicit financial activities to targeting Navy ships and detaining American citizens,” said the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee.
“It’s past time for us to take steps to protect the interests of the United States and our allies. This bill is the first time Congress has come together since the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal, to do just that,” Corker added.
“This bill will impose sanctions on Iran for its non-nuclear violations,“ Cardin said. “The debate we have here is on the non-nuclear activities of Iran that violate international norms and international agreements.”
President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered more money and a bigger role for private companies in designing apprenticeship programs meant to fill some of the 6 million open jobs in the U.S.
Trump signed an executive order to roughly double to $200 million the taxpayer money spent on learn-to-earn programs. The money would come from existing job training programs. The executive order would leave it to industry to design apprenticeships under broad standards to be set by the Labor Department.
“We’re training people to have great jobs and high paying jobs,” Trump said at a White House ceremony. “We’re here today to celebrate the dignity of work and the greatness of the American worker.”
Trump is directing the government to review and streamline some 43 workforce programs across 13 agencies. Senior administration officials have said Trump was reluctant to spend more federal funds on apprenticeships, so the boost would come from existing money, perhaps from the streamlining process. The officials spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity to preview Trump’s order.
Companies have long complained that they can’t find trained people to fill highly technical jobs, and apprenticeship programs have sprung up around the country. Companies now have to register with the Labor Department and adhere to government guidelines.
There are about 500,000 apprenticeship positions in the U.S.
Trump had campaigned on creating jobs. The executive order addresses the nation’s “skills gap” that have left millions of open jobs unfilled. Apprenticeships would give students a way to learn skills without the crippling debt of four-year colleges, and expand those opportunities to women, minorities and other populations underrepresented among the nation’s roughly 505,000 apprentices.
Trump accepted a challenge earlier this year from a CEO to create 5 million new apprenticeships.
The Trump administration has said there’s a need that can be met with a change in the American attitude toward vocational education and apprenticeships. A November 2016 report by former president Barack Obama’s Commerce Department found that “apprenticeships are not fully understood in the United States, especially” by employers, who tend to use apprentices for a few, hard-to-fill positions but not as widely as they could.
The shortages for specifically trained workers cut across multiple job sectors, from construction trades to agriculture, manufacturing, information technology and health care.
Critics say Trump can’t be promoting apprenticeships while he proposes cutting federal job training funding by as much as 40 percent – from $2.7 billion to $1.6 billion. There also are questions about oversight of apprenticeship programs that begin and operate almost completely under the control of the company.
Apprenticeships are few and far between. Of the 146 million jobs in the United States, about 0.35 percent – or slightly more than a half-million – were filled by active apprentices in 2016. Filling millions more jobs through apprenticeships would require the government to massively ramp up its efforts.
“Scaling is the big issue,” said Robert Lerman, a fellow at the Urban Institute.
Another complication: only about half of apprentices finish their multi-year programs. Fewer than 50,000 people – including 11,104 in the military – completed their apprenticeships in 2016, according to Labor Department.
Trump’s resume includes the hit television show, “The Apprentice.”
…
Photosynthetic bacteria and light may offer hope to heart disease patients, a new study suggests.
Researchers at Stanford University say that after injecting the bacteria into the hearts of rats with cardiac disease and using light to start photosynthesis, they were able to increase the flow of oxygen, improving heart function.
“The beauty of it is that it’s a recycling system,” said Joseph Woo, senior author of the study. “You deliver the bacteria, they take up carbon dioxide, and with energy from the light, they form oxygen.”
The findings could help many who have a condition called cardiac ischemia, which restricts blood flow and the delivery of oxygen to the heart muscles.
“We thought there is an interesting relationship in nature,” Woo said. “In nature, humans exhale carbon dioxide and plants convert it back to oxygen. During a heart attack, the muscle is still trying to pump. There’s carbon dioxide but no oxygen. We wondered if there were any way to use plant cells and put them next to heart cells to produce oxygen from the carbon dioxide.”
At first, the researchers tried to use spinach and kale cells, but the chloroplasts, the structures where photosynthesis occurs, were not stable enough to live outside the plant.
“So we kept looking around,” Woo said, saying the next option was photosynthetic bacteria called cyanobacteria because it is “more rugged” and could survive with heart cells in a petri dish.
After that, Woo and his team injected cyanobacteria into the beating hearts of anesthetized rats, comparing the oxygen levels among rats with their hearts exposed to light and rats that did not have light shined on their hearts.
“The group that received the bacteria plus light had more oxygen and the heart worked better,” Woo said, adding that the bacteria “dissipated” in about 24 hours. Improved cardiac function lasted at least four weeks, he said.
“This is still very preliminary,” Woo said.
The study was published in the journal Science Advances.
…
A U.N. humanitarian aid adviser for Syria says trucks are being prepared to ship polio vaccine into Islamic State group-held areas of Deir Ezzor governorate following confirmation of a “very dangerous” outbreak of the virus.
Jan Egeland made the comment to reporters Thursday in the wake of the confirmation announced last week by the World Health Organization of two cases in Deir Ezzor of a polio strain derived from vaccines that mutated under weakening health and immunization conditions.
He said 58 acute flaccid paralysis cases, a possible symptom of polio, had been reported in Deir Ezzor this year through June 6.
Egeland said “it’s one of the remarkable things” of Syria’s war that people have been reached with vaccines, even in the Deir Ezzor and Raqqa governorates held by IS.
A new report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) finds child poverty and hunger are widespread in 41 of the world’s richest countries. The report says one in five children in rich countries lives in poverty, while one in eight often do not have enough to eat.
The report finds high income does not necessarily lead to a good outcome for children and often serves to widen the gap between rich and poor. UN Children’s Fund Chief of Social Policy and Economic Analysis, Jose Cuesta says all 41 countries surveyed, in one way or another, are failing to protect the well-being of their children.
“If I were to grade all countries, no one will get an A,” he said. “There is good news, of course, in quite a number of targets and areas. For instance, childhood learning or reductions in neonatal mortality rates. But, there are also substantive gaps in some targets. For instance, poverty reduction of children, increasing inequality, increasing obesity and worsening mental health.”
The seven top ranked countries in UNICEF’s League Table of 41 countries includes all the Nordic countries — Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, as well as Germany and Switzerland. The seven countries holding up the bottom are Chili, Mexico, the United States, Bulgaria, Romania, Israel and Turkey.
Cuesta tells VOA the United States, which ranks 37th does not perform well in areas such as poverty, hunger, good health and well-being, and quality education.
“Actually, it is a surprise and it is not a surprise at the same time because consistently the U.S. is doing poorly across these key indicators. So, it is not really one indicator driving the results here,” he said.
The report notes wealth and economic growth alone are not enough to ensure the well-being of children. UNICEF is urging rich countries to put children’s needs at the heart of their policy agenda.
Thailand’s industrial development faces fresh calls for greater local community participation in addressing the challenges of environmental pollution, especially as reports point to an escalation in the production of hazardous industrial pollution.
Industrialization has been a core of Thailand’s economic progress over the past three decades as the country progressed from agricultural to industrial and manufacturing development.
Investments in major chemical and manufacturing industries have been marked by industrial estates, especially in the Eastern Seaboard some 150 kilometers from Bangkok.
The military government is now looking to expand industrial development to boost the economy through 10 special economic zones throughout the country and further investment near Bangkok by way of an Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
But Thailand’s push for growth has raised concerns by local communities about increasing pollution, despite controls and legislation.
Thailand’s Pollution Control Department (PCD), in its latest report, estimates some 37.4 million metric tons of industrial waste was generated nationwide in 2015, of which 2.8 million tons — or 7.5 percent of the total, were hazardous industrial waste.
Hazardous waste
At the same time, hazardous waste — covering all waste from communities, industrial activities and infectious waste — stood at 3.45 million tons, an increase of 28 percent from the previous year.
“The production and use of hazardous substances in the country has caused pollution as hazardous substances were released into the environment and may cause contamination or remain in the environment,” the PCD said.
A European Union funded report with the Thai-based Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand (EARTH) and Prague-based University of Chemistry and Technology covered eight provinces and the impact on local communities from dangerous heavy metal pollution.
The heavy metals examined in the study included arsenic, mercury, zinc, cadmium, chromium, and lead along with organic contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and petroleum products, which medical authorities warn can be potential dangers to health.
Key areas of concern were the eastern seaboard industrial areas of Map Ta Phut and the provinces of Samut Sakorn Saraburi and Praeksa — which was affected by leakages from industrial landfills into the local environment.
Heavy metal pollution
Marek Sir, a chemistry researcher from the University of Chemistry and Technology in the Czech Republic, said the studies indicated concerns over heavy metal pollution in areas near industrial plants.
“In some areas there are real problems with the mixture of heavy metals or with the mixture of pollution. I was surprised mainly by the levels of heavy metals around recycling plants and smelting plants,” Sir told VOA.
“That’s a problem — still there are toxic fumes released into the environment and the easiest way to spread the pollution of heavy metals, which are absorbed on solid particles and they can diffuse into the air and can be transported. So that’s the problem — one of the problems,” he said.
EARTH director Penchom Saetang said there is a need for local communities to participate in the studies or projects in the future, as well as taking part in any process to rehabilitate affected polluted areas or studies.
Thailand has more than 139,000 large and medium-sized industrial plants, both inside and outside industrial estates and parks which number some 87 throughout the country.
The EARTH/ARNIKA report accused factory owners responsible for pollution of “uncaring management,” with the result of water pollution, toxic air pollution and hazardous industrial waste — especially those mismanaged and illegally dumped.
Contaminated areas are often not restored with local people increasingly lacking trust in officials and the state, and leading to opposition to further industrial development.
Cost of rehabilitation
EARTH director Penchom said access to funding for land rehabilitation remains a major stopping block.
“The big problem is rehabilitation and remediation will consume lots or money. I think the private corporations and the polluters are not willing to pay and this is the fundamental cost in Thailand. It’s very difficult to enforce the law for the polluters to pay,” she said.
Greenpeace Thailand country director Tara Buakameri said too often environmental policy depends on “top down” decision making, failing to address the pollution at the source.
Tara said policy often compromises the environment to the benefit to industry and development.
“It is a compromise situation – the compromise that benefits the polluter, benefits irresponsible companies that pollute the environment. When we can see that the result from the toxic contamination in different regions in Thailand — also affects the community,” Tara told VOA.
He said communities have a “right to know” when pollution has occurred and the amount and toxicity to be able to respond and to seek solutions and treatments.
The Pollution Control Department set out a strategic plan covering 2012-2021 calling for “rules and regulation amendments to facilitate effective waste management as well as strict enforcement of the laws. Additionally, compensation schemes for local administrations and residents should be developed.”
…
The U.S. central bank raised its benchmark interest rate Wednesday amid concerns about sluggish growth, a slowdown in consumer spending and low inflation. But the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve says the one-quarter of 1 percent increase in the federal funds rate demonstrates the committee’s confidence in the overall health of the U.S. economy. Mil Arcega has more.
…
The real estate firm owned by the family of Jared Kushner has withdrawn a request for a big tax break for one its buildings in Jersey City, New Jersey, the latest setback for the company in the area.
The Kushner Cos. sent a letter withdrawing its application for a 30-year break from city taxes for a planned two-tower project in the struggling Journal Square section of the city, Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said Wednesday. Opponents of the tax breaks marched downtown earlier this year and the city’s mayor recently came out against the Kushner request.
Jared Kushner was CEO of the family company before stepping down to become a senior adviser to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump.
Committed to area
Kushner Cos. spokesman James Yolles said the company is committed to the “much-needed investment” in that area of the city.
The loss of the tax break is the latest blow for the company in a city where it is major real estate developer.
The 79-story building, One Journal Square, gained attention last month after Jared Kushner’s sister, Nicole Kushner Meyer, mentioned her brother in a presentation in Beijing where she had hoped to attract Chinese investors in the building. Marketing material noted the “celebrity status” of her family.
Government ethics experts blasted the family for what they said was an attempt to profit off Jared Kushner’s position in Washington, and the Kushner Cos. canceled upcoming investor presentations in the country.
The company said Meyer wasn’t trying to use her White House ties to attract investors.
EB-5 visa program
The Kushner family is seeking 300 wealthy Chinese to invest a total of $150 million in One Journal Square. The family was trying to raise money through the EB-5 visa program that grants temporary U.S. residency to wealthy foreigners in exchange for investments of at least $500,000 in certain U.S. projects
The company also is in danger of losing another tax break for the building. The shared office space firm WeWork recently pulled out as anchor tenant. That has put in doubt a state tax break tied to WeWork.
Another project is off, too. The Kushner Cos. once considered bidding to develop a 95-acre industrial site along the Hackensack River in the city for housing, called Bayfront. Last month, it was revealed the family had withdrawn from those plans last year.
The Kusnher Cos. has said politics had nothing to do with its decision to withdraw from Bayfront, and that “economics of the deal” drove the move.
As for One Journal Square, company spokesman Yolles said the project will provide 4,000 construction jobs and $180 million in tax revenue for the city over 30 years.
Tax breaks an issue
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democrat, is running for re-election this fall, and tax breaks to developers have become a major issue.
Unlike neighboring Hoboken, Jersey City has granted dozens of tax breaks in recent years. Fulop had campaigned to reform the practice, but critics say he has done little.
Another Kushner property in the city overlooking the Hudson River got a five-year tax break soon after Fulop was elected mayor. That 50-story building has licensed the Trump name and is called Trump Bay Street. The building was also partly financed with EB-5 visa money from abroad.
The Kushner family owns or manages 20,000 apartments, 13 million square feet of office space and industrial properties in several states, including New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Illinois.
…
A new report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) says getting more women into the world labor market would add trillions of dollars to the global economy and boost tax revenues.
According to the report, the ILO World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends for Women 2017, just more than 49 percent of women globally are in the labor force, a rate nearly 27 percent lower than that for men.
The ILO is calling for a narrowing of the gender gap, which it says is widespread, persistent and substantial, in the world of work. But unfortunately, ILO says, this situation is expected to remain unchanged in 2018.
G-20 commitment
Deborah Greenfield, ILO deputy director for policy, says the Group of 20 (G-20) leaders have committed themselves to reducing the gender gap in work participation rates between men and women by 25 percent by the year 2025.
Greenfield says huge benefits would accrue to women, society and the economy if this goal is met.
“This would have the potential to add $5.8 trillion, measured in U.S. dollars, to the global economy,” Greenfield said. “This could also unlock large potential tax revenues. We estimate roughly $1.5 trillion globally, most of it in emerging and developed countries.”
Areas that would benefit most
The report says North Africa, the Arab states and southern Asia have the lowest number of women in paid labor. It says these regions would benefit most from narrowing the gaps, which exceed 50 percentage points, in participation rates between men and women.
The ILO says society must change its attitudes toward the role of women in the world of work and not fall back on the excuse that it is unacceptable for a woman to have a paid job.
…
Typewriter enthusiasts gather at an Albuquerque restaurant to experiment with vintage Smith Coronas. Fans in Boston kneel in a city square and type stories about their lives during a pro-immigration demonstration. A documentary on typewriters featuring Tom Hanks and musician John Mayer is set for release this summer.
In the age of smartphones, social media and hacking fears, vintage typewriters that once gathered dust in attics and basements are attracting a new generation of fans across the U.S.
From public “type-ins” at bars to street poets selling personalized, typewritten poems on the spot, typewriters have emerged as popular items with aficionados hunting for them in thrift stores, online auction sites and antique shops. Some buy antique Underwoods to add to a growing collection. Others search for a midcentury Royal Quiet De Luxe — like a model author Ernest Hemingway used — to work on that simmering novel.
The rescued machines often need servicing, leading fans to seek out the few remaining typewriter repair shops.
“I haven’t seen business like this in years,” said John Lewis, a typewriter repairman who has operated out of his Albuquerque shop for four decades. “There’s definitely a new interest, and it’s keeping me very busy.”
Renewed interest began around 10 years ago when small pockets of typewriter enthusiasts came together online, said Richard Polt, a philosophy professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati and author of The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist’s Companion for the 21st Century. Since then, the fan base has grown dramatically, and various public events have been organized around the typewriter.
“It’s beyond the phase where this is just a fad,” Polt said.
It’s almost impossible to gauge recent typewriter sales. Almost all of the original manufacturers are out of business or have been bought out and become different companies. Moonachie, New Jersey-based Swintec appears to be one of the last typewriter makers, selling translucent electronic machines largely to jails and prisons.
But operators of thrift stores and estate sales say typewriters are some of the quickest items to go.
“That’s part of the fun: the hunt,” said Joe Van Cleave, an Albuquerque resident who owns more than a dozen typewriters and runs a popular YouTube channel on restoring the machines. “Sometimes, like a little luck, you might find something from the 1920s in great condition.”
Link to the past
Doug Nichol, director of the upcoming documentary California Typewriter, said the interest stems from “digital burnout” and people wanting a connection to the past. That interest seems to transcend age, he said.
“Kids who grew up knowing only mobile phones and the computer are excited to see a letter typed with your own hand,” Nichol said. “It’s a one-on-one interaction that doesn’t get interrupted by Twitter alerts.”
In his film, set for release in August, Nichol interviews Hanks, who said he uses a typewriter almost every day to send memos and letters.
“I hate getting email thank-yous from folks,” Hanks says in the film. “Now, if they take 70 seconds to type me out something on a piece of paper and send to me, well, I’ll keep that forever. I’ll just delete that email.”
Hanks owns about 270 typewriters but often gives them to people who show an interest.
One way the typewriter craze is growing is through organized “type-ins” — meet-ups in public places where typewriter fans try different vintage machines. Such events have been held in Phoenix, Philadelphia, Seattle, Los Angeles and Cincinnati.
During a recent type-in at Albuquerque soul food restaurant Nexus Brewery, around three dozen fans took turns clicking the keys of an Italian-made 1964 Olivetti Lettera 32 and a 1947 Royal KMM, among others.
‘Real refreshing’
Rich Boucher spent most of his time on a 1960s-era Hermes 3000 crafting poetry.
“I haven’t used a typewriter in forever,” he said. “This is a real refreshing way to spend a summer afternoon.”
After finishing his work, Boucher grabbed his phone and sent a Facebook status update about the experience. He then started looking online for a Hermes 3000.
“That’s the typewriter I want,” he said. “I’m going to find one.”
…
Imagine that you could not see. Or hear. And that you were just a child.
What would your world be like? How would you communicate? Who would teach you to speak, to sign or to read Braille? To play?
For more than 6 million children around the world, many in developing countries, this is their reality.
Experts say the overwhelming majority of children with multiple disabilities are falling through the education system.
“These children for the most part don’t get an education — something on the order of 90 percent,” said Dave Power, president and chief executive officer of Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, the United States’ oldest academic institution serving blind, deaf-blind and low-vision students.
Children with these disabilities have tremendous potential, he and other educators say, but they need the right education to realize it.
Challenges
“The stigma and discrimination that exists around disabilities — it is the attitudinal barrier — it has a wide-ranging impact,” said Gopal Mitra, senior adviser on disabilities at UNICEF, the U.N. Children’s Fund.
Another hurdle is the availability of resources from governments and within families, which often means educating a disabled child becomes a lower priority. “Within the family, often parents do not see the value of educating the child who cannot see or cannot hear,” Mitra said.
There also is a general lack of programs to provide teachers with the specialized training required for teaching children with visual or hearing impairments.
“I think that the greatest challenge across the world is to get the government involved in the need for teacher training,” said educator Roseanne Silberman. “Even talking about being hungry, being thirsty, wanting to go to the bathroom, if you are in pain or in discomfort — our kids have no way of expressing it without having teachers who are expert in teaching communications skills.”
Depriving an entire part of the population of vital life skills ultimately has a negative impact on society, advocates say.
“Human capital is the most precious, most important resource any community has,” said Juan José Gómez Camacho, Mexico’s U.N. ambassador and an advocate for persons with disabilities. “What we are doing by not investing and educating young children with any kind of disability or visual impairment or blindness, we are not only depriving them of means to live meaningful lives, but countries and communities are depriving themselves from thriving members of society that can contribute enormously.”
Training teachers
This week at the United Nations on the sidelines of meetings for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Perkins School for the Blind announced that it is launching an initiative to close this gap by training 1 million teachers worldwide by 2030 to educate children with multiple disabilities.
“We want to do that in a way that supports teachers who are in public schools and teachers that are in special schools, so all children will have a quality education,” said Michael Delaney, executive director of Perkins International. He said the program, which will have three different course levels ranging from two days to nine months, would train teachers to an international standard.
“We feel that we can get more people out there — better educators, better policymakers, better programmers — that are going to be able to make a change in their societies,” he added.
The Perkins school has a history of training teachers from other countries so they can go home and work with blind, deaf-blind and low-vision children. Now, Power said, they want to standardize that approach so they can have a wider reach.
“Because we already have the knowledge and know-how and have done it, we can do it very efficiently,” Power said.
The school expects to fund the program through a combination of government and philanthropic support.
Success story
Maricar Marquez was born deaf and at age 7 was diagnosed with Usher syndrome, an inherited condition that causes progressive vision loss. Today she is deaf-blind. She also has an older sister with the same condition.
Born in the Philippines, Marquez moved with her family to Canada, where both girls received specialized education. Marquez has defied stigmas that people with disabilities cannot learn. She earned a master’s degree, is married, works at a national center for deaf-blind youth and is a marathon runner, triathlete and skydiver.
“I am a very different person than anyone thought when I was younger,” she said through a sign language interpreter. “And had I not gotten the services that I did, I would not be where I am.”
…