The HBO show “Succession” examines American attitudes towards class and wealth, analysing who is allowed to accumulate status and power. This distinction is shown through the characters, who are allowed to act ruthlessly to get rich because this is how they got rich in the first place, by being born into wealth. The up-and-coming, on the other hand, are ridiculed for their ambition to achieve similar wealth and power. The show, which ends soon, skewers the idea that the rich are better, smarter and more competent than others. Its larger moral point is the price to be paid for sacrificing integrity, relationships and the public interest to reach selfish goals.
Donations from readers of the Toronto Star newspaper are being sought to help its Fresh Air Fund, which gives underprivileged and special needs children meaningful camping experience, like the trip enjoyed by a young Roveena Jassal with her family in the summer of 2011. The trip and subsequent camping have brought back special memories and strengthened the family unit. The Fresh Air Fund is now in its 123rd year and offers memories that last a lifetime, but it needs the public's support to continue to operate. It has a goal of raising CAD650,000 ($494,000).
Drew Pritchard, the star of Salvage Hunters, has slimmed down his dealer's business model to only having three employees and the warehouse. His famously beautiful shop on Conwy High Street is gone. Pritchard is sharing everything he has learnt from being in business for nearly 30 years, in his book How Not to Be an Antiques Dealer, which covers an overview of what the business is all about. He advises new antiques dealers to focus on the nuts and bolts of how money is made in the trade, saying: “A shop is a very expensive gilded anchor”. The world of antiques is not as romantic as one might imagine. It is a world of early starts, long journeys and no-nonsense deals. Pritchard's remarkable success, and the televisual fame that has accompanied it, have inspired many to try their hand at what he does. “I have a lot of imitators – and some of them are now doing Drew Pritchard better than me.”
A letter to the editor of The Sydney Morning Herald argues that property investors who leave their properties vacant solely for the purpose of making capital gains represent a clear example of market failure. The author suggests that introducing a vacancy tax would be an appropriate response to the issue. The letter also calls for Legislation whereby landlords are forced to offload excess properties and invest in something other than real estate in a housing crisis, rather than be taxed for owning vacant stock.
Francesca Martin, who is in the process of writing a book, is reflecting on the forthcoming changes in her life when her sons start their first jobs. In anticipation of her emptying nest, Martin is cataloging the things she might do for herself, including eating highly-prized meals alone and with friends, cooking small amounts of a dish rather than catering for large groups, and writing about her changing experience of the kitchen table.
More than half of teenagers believe that the world will likely end in their lifetime due to climate change, leading to anxiety and depression, according to a survey of sixth-formers by Civitas, a UK think tank. Half believe that having fewer children would stop overpopulation and climate change. The National Education Union offers guidance on how to “declare a climate emergency” in schools and the climate crisis is on the curriculum across the UK.
British writer Martin Amis has died aged 73. The author of 15 novels, seven non-fiction works, and a short story collection, his satire revealed the excesses of UK society. He was awarded the prestigious James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction twice, in 1987 for The Old Devils and in 1991 for Time’s Arrow. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Senior Minister Michael Gove and former Prime Minister David Cameron were among those who paid tribute to Amis's "incredible talent", calling his death "a great loss".
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has committed to protecting children from inappropriate sexual content and extremist gender views following a government review of England's sexual education curriculum. The UNESCO arm of the United Nations provided guidance for sexual education in Wales, and part of it was cited in laws passed in Scotland. Suggestions aimed at toddlers sparked a backlash among MPs and led to calls to rethink the UK’s links with the organisation, which have become more controversial in the wake of suggestions that their guidelines could be influencing British teaching materials. Some MP's have suggested that the government's review needs to determine whether the UNESCO framework has influenced current teaching materials.
Over 2.8 million Australian over 65s have not received a COVID-19 vaccine in the past six months, making it increasingly likely that the country will face a shortage of booster coverage ahead of winter, warn experts. Though recommended by the country's vaccine advisory group ATAGI in February, uptake of booster doses have been slow among the elderly due to vaccine hesitancy, fatigue and a belief that they are no longer at risk. The slow uptake has alarmed experts, who are calling for a vaccine before winter arrives, while reminding citizens to get the flu shot too as flu is more likely to mutate than COVID-19.
Spotify's chief content and advertising officer, Dawn Ostroff, is leaving as part of mass job cuts resulting from a 6% reduction in the company's headcount. Spotify is cutting about 600 jobs as part of a restructuring process. Ostroff was the driving force behind Spotify's podcasting investment, spending about $1bn on exclusivity deals and acquisitions, including podcasting company Gimlet and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Archetypes series in a reported $25m deal. Investors have begun to question the cost of the podcasting strategy, leading to cutbacks including several production teams in October. Spotify's stock rose 8% in trading in New York.
Teaching children that climate change poses an existential threat is deeply irresponsible given the lack of agreement between scientists and economists on the pace of temperature rises, their impact, and the most effective response. The fear instilled by this alarmist approach can have a damaging impact on mental health, with some teenagers even forgoing parenthood because of predicted overpopulation. Transport and heating policies have also been set with unrealistic targets, adding expense and practical difficulties. While society needs to address and protect the environment, it can ill-afford to ignore the psychological consequences of crisis-mongering among the young.
Obese Baby Boomers are more likely to think of losing weight as a personal responsibility, while younger people blamed an unhealthy environment, according to research by Rabin Medical Center in Israel. 63% of over-65s followed advice on diets given by medics, compared to 51% of younger people, and follow advice more readily once they have asked for it. However, GPs have been urged to provide advice to older patients on losing weight, while younger generations have been criticised for failing to personal responsibility and allowing obesity rates to rise.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) by students for academic purposes is growing rapidly, with schools and universities forced to rethink how they conduct tuition and academic testing. Many students are using AI tools to help with academic work, with some students using it to cheat on assignments and exams. However, educators and students are also cautiously experimenting with the use of generative AI to enhance lessons, and questioning whether it is possible to use AI in education without undercutting the most important features of human learning. One of the major challenges with generative AI is accuracy, including hallucination, the fabrication of facts and the black box effect, which produces false information and creates a vacuum for content to be reframed. There is also evidence that AI-written text can be biased and learned from internet content, including sexism, racism and political partisanship.
Orlando Pride hands Washington Spirit 1st NWSL loss, 2-1
The Toronto Star
23-05-21 03:18
Orlando Pride handed Washington Spirit their first loss of the regular season with a 2-1 victory, with goals coming from Marta and Kylie Strom. Meanwhile, Alex Morgan, Sierra Enge, and Madison Pogarch scored the goals for San Diego Waveas they beat Houston Dash 3-0. Racing Louisville beat the Kansas City Current 2-0 with a goal from Savannah DeMelo and Yuki Nagasato. The match between North Carolina Courage and Angel City ended in a scoreless draw, with both teams sharing points.
Japan is planning to double its child-rearing support budget to tackle the country's declining birthrate, according to sources. The government aims to achieve this target during the first half of the 2030s by creating a new special account to unify budgets related to children and raising funds through measures including the curtailing of social security and insurance premiums and increased contributions from companies. Over a three-year period starting in fiscal 2024, Japan hopes to secure JPY3tn ($26.1bn) annually in additional funding. Measures could include the expansion of child allowances and an increase in monthly allowances for families with three or more children to JPY30,000 from the current JPY15,000. The government aims to double the budgets from the JPY4.8tn earmarked for child-related expenditure during the 2021-22 fiscal year.
The Queensland government is considering offering free kindergarten services as part of next month's state budget. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the new measure would benefit children and tackle cost-of-living pressures for families. Across the state, over 8,000 children do not have access to kindergarten, while existing childcare costs are a primary concern for families. If approved, a free-kindergarten program would form an addition to early education places already offered free of charge.
A recent SATs exam paper given to Year 6 children in the UK, and seen by The Guardian, has been criticised as being too difficult, with young children left sobbing as a result. In the past, more difficult exams were taken as a challenge and a spur to improve. Today, high difficulty levels are seen as a threat to mental health, with teachers warning about negative impacts. A more astonishing fact is that teachers as well as children have failed to answer a number of questions included in the 38-question test.
Schools in Japan are turning to businesses to provide programming classes, apps and teaching materials due to the introduction of compulsory coding education last year. Companies are offering specialised support to teachers who lack knowledge of the subject and are also looking to contribute as part of their corporate social responsibility principles. According to the guidelines for the elementary school curriculum, the aim of the courses is to teach students to think in a systematic way, draw logical conclusions and achieve their goals logically, however firms such as major confectioner Ezaki Glico and electronic parts and robots manufacturer Murata Manufacturing, are taking advantage to provide teaching materials.
Kim Kardashian has described parenting as “f***ing hard” in a recent podcast interview. Speaking on a podcast with On Purpose's Jay Shetty, Kardashian spoke candidly about the difficulties of raising her four children – North, nine, Saint, seven, Chicago, five and Psalm, four – with her ex-husband, rapper Kanye West. “Parenting is really f***ing hard. It is the most rewarding job in the entire world,” she said. “There is nothing that can prepare you... I don’t care how long you wait. I don’t care what you’re waiting for. You are never prepared.” Kardashian, the founder of Skims, has spoken previously about difficulties co-parenting with West, who she was married to between 2014 and 2022. In November 2022, their divorce was finalised and in January 2022, West reportedly married 27-year-old fashion designer Bianca Censori at a non-legally binding ceremony.
The UK’s opposition Labour party could use stronger regulations to encourage better diets, according to the party’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting. While Streeting said he did not wish to ban products, he suggested the government needed to have increased expectations of the level of responsibility taken by food and drink companies in promoting “better choices”. Streeting said that measures including minimum pricing for alcohol and a ban on junk food advertising aimed at children by 2025 remained under consideration. He also promised stronger controls on smoking and vaping suppliers active in the children’s market.