Bahama residents struggle to start over after Dorian’s devastation

By MELISSA HERNANDEZ of Fresh Take Florida news service Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida

GRAND BAHAMA, Bahamas (AP) — Tanya Fox ignored evacuation warnings three years ago when Hurricane Matthew pummeled the Bahamas _ and survived in a nearby hotel. So when Dorian threatened, she again decided to ride out the monster storm.

She was convinced she would remain safe, she said. “Until I saw that it turned into a (Category) 5.”
Or “Category Hell,” as the United Nations chief later described it.

Fox had never called anywhere but Grand Bahama home and she certainly didn’t want to abandon it, even as the storm raged north across the Atlantic. She stacked sandbags around her door and again, fled to a nearby hotel.

This time, she would not be so lucky.

Dorian mustered massive strength over warm waters and lashed the Bahamas for almost 40 hours. It struck the Abaco Islands on September 1, slowly churned west to hit Grand Bahama and then stalled for a day, compounding the misery. The winds howled and gusted at up to 220 miles an hour. The ocean roared ashore and swelled 20 feet high.
Whatever hope Fox had harbored turned to utter fear.

Dorian left a calamitous trail of destruction in the Bahamas; at ground zero lay the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama.

The government has reported 56 deaths, though it’s widely believed the toll may be significantly higher. More than 600 people are still listed as missing, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis told the United Nations Friday.

Some risk modeling estimates put the Bahamas’ overall hurricane losses as high as $7 billion. More than 13,000 homes were destroyed.

Two weeks after Dorian, Lana Johnson, a nursing informatics specialist from Gainesville, Florida, carried palates of aid to her homeland. She also served as a guide for University of Florida journalism students who spent a week in the Bahamas reporting this and other stories for the Fresh Take Florida news service.

The Bahamas Johnson knew was gone. Her heart broke when she spotted her compatriots picking through the rubble, desperate to salvage their possessions.

“Everything around us had lost its color, its luster,” Johnson said. “It was gone. Everything was just brown and destroyed.”

The long-term impact of Hurricane Dorian remains uncertain. But the 70,000 or so people who called Abaco and Grand Bahama home, including Fox, know one thing: it will take a long time to get back to normal. Dorian took with it everything that is basic to life: hospitals, schools, roads, gas stations, grocery stores.

In Freeport, the main city on Grand Bahama, the lines at relief kitchens wrap around the street corner and shelves in the water aisles of supermarkets remain bare. Many residents are still without power and water and the lines are long for fuel and food.

Some public schools _ even in areas that weren’t badly flooded or escaped major wind damage remain closed – partly because of a lack of safe drinking water for young students. Other schools awaited the slow process of assessments by engineers that buildings wouldn’t collapse once classes filled with returning children.

Now, almost a month after Dorian, Bahamians are left to assess the loss and devise a plan to recovery. They are unsure how they will forge ahead when many are still reeling from Matthew in 2016.

American Red Cross spokeswoman Jenelle Eli said the timeline for the Bahamas’ recovery is unpredictable.

“Recovery from Hurricane Dorian won’t be just about clearing rubble and rebuilding _ it will be about addressing people’s needs and meeting them where they are, so they can determine their own recovery alongside the government,” said Eli, who was the first International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent team member to arrive in Abaco after the storm.

Fox is trying to do just that. She returned home once Dorian’s fury dissipated, even though she wasn’t prepared for what she saw to begin the long and arduous task of removing debris and cleaning her house.

“My home was just destroyed,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

Some Bahamians described Dorian’s destruction as “the devil’s work.” It was like nothing they had seen before.

The United States has pledged nearly $26 million in assistance so far. International organizations have executed a massive aid operation, but the sprawling island geography of the Bahamas and the extensive damage to infrastructure presented challenges in distribution of food and supplies.

Mercy Corps has pledged to deliver 3,000 emergency shelter kits to families. They also installed a tap stand at the YMCA that has the capacity to generate 7,500 gallons of drinkable water every day. Saline This is from Mercy Corps from the storm contaminated the more than 200 wells that Grand Bahamians depend on for water.

There are only two places on the island where residents can access clean water that’s not from a bottle, said Christy Delafield, director of communications for Mercy Corps.
“The estimates that we’ve heard about how long it’ll take for the water table to flush out the saltwater have really varied,” she said. “But for the foreseeable future you will be drinking saltwater.”

On Abaco, residents are still dependent on goods brought in by the military and aid groups. Traz Nixon said survivors are growing desperate. Some, he said, have been robbed at gunpoint over cases of water.

Throughout Freeport, mud lines on walls are 8-10 feet high, marking where flood waters once reached. Entire neighborhoods look like landfills, reduced to giant piles of belongings. Appliances, dinner plates, wedding photographs, clothes.

In Abaco, Dorian deposited cars and boats onto people’s yards. Shipping containers weighing 2 tons flew like missiles from the port miles away to land on lawns.

B.J. Swain returned for the first time to a house with no roof and half broken walls.
“There’s nothing left,” he said. “We managed to grab a few clothes that we can wash, but that’s about it.”

Swain, a draftsman by trade, knows the challenges that lie ahead in rebuilding so many homes and businesses. He plans not only to rebuild his own home, but he’s determined to help put his community back together.
___
This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.

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Didier Six names former captain Florentin Pogba in first Guinea squad

Newly-appointed Guinea manager Didier Six names former captain Florentin Pogba in his first squad.

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System helps smart devices find their position

A new system developed by researchers at MIT and elsewhere helps networks of smart devices cooperate to find their positions in environments where GPS usually fails.

Today, the “internet of things” concept is fairly well-known: Billions of interconnected sensors around the world — embedded in everyday objects, equipment, and vehicles, or worn by humans or animals — collect and share data for a range of applications.

An emerging concept, the “localization of things,” enables those devices to sense and communicate their position. This capability could be helpful in supply chain monitoring, autonomous navigation, highly connected smart cities, and even forming a real-time “living map” of the world. Experts project that the localization-of-things market will grow to $128 billion by 2027.

The concept hinges on precise localization techniques. Traditional methods leverage GPS satellites or wireless signals shared between devices to establish their relative distances and positions from each other. But there’s a snag: Accuracy suffers greatly in places with reflective surfaces, obstructions, or other interfering signals, such as inside buildings, in underground tunnels, or in “urban canyons” where tall buildings flank both sides of a street.

Researchers from MIT, the University of Ferrara, the Basque Center of Applied Mathematics (BCAM), and the University of Southern California have developed a system that captures location information even in these noisy, GPS-denied areas. A paper describing the system appears in the Proceedings of the IEEE.

When devices in a network, called “nodes,” communicate wirelessly in a signal-obstructing, or “harsh,” environment, the system fuses various types of positional information from dodgy wireless signals exchanged between the nodes, as well as digital maps and inertial data. In doing so, each node considers information associated with all possible locations — called “soft information” — in relation to those of all other nodes. The system leverages machine-learning techniques and techniques that reduce the dimensions of processed data to determine possible positions from measurements and contextual data. Using that information, it then pinpoints the node’s position.

In simulations of harsh scenarios, the system operates significantly better than traditional methods. Notably, it consistently performed near the theoretical limit for localization accuracy. Moreover, as the wireless environment got increasingly worse, traditional systems’ accuracy dipped dramatically while the new soft information-based system held steady.

“When the tough gets tougher, our system keeps localization accurate,” says Moe Win, a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS), and head of the Wireless Information and Network Sciences Laboratory. “In harsh wireless environments, you have reflections and echoes that make it far more difficult to get accurate location information. Places like the Stata Center [on the MIT campus] are particularly challenging, because there are surfaces reflecting signals everywhere. Our soft information method is particularly robust in such harsh wireless environments.”

Joining Win on the paper are: Andrea Conti of the University of Ferrara; Santiago Mazuelas of BCAM; Stefania Bartoletti of the University of Ferrara; and William C. Lindsey of the University of Southern California.

Capturing “soft information”

In network localization, nodes are generally referred to as anchors or agents. Anchors are nodes with known positions, such as GPS satellites or wireless base stations. Agents are nodes that have unknown positions — such as autonomous cars, smartphones, or wearables.

To localize, agents can use anchors as reference points, or they can share information with other agents to orient themselves. That involves transmitting wireless signals, which arrive at the receiver carrying positional information. The power, angle, and time-of-arrival of the received waveform, for instance, correlate to the distance and orientation between nodes.

Traditional localization methods extract one feature of the signal to estimate a single value for, say, the distance or angle between two nodes. Localization accuracy relies entirely on the accuracy of those inflexible (or “hard”) values, and accuracy has been shown to decrease drastically as environments get harsher.

Say a node transmits a signal to another node that’s 10 meters away in a building with many reflective surfaces. The signal may bounce around and reach the receiving node at a time corresponding to 13 meters away. Traditional methods would likely assign that incorrect distance as a value.

For the new work, the researchers decided to try using soft information for localization. The method leverages many signal features and contextual information to create a probability distribution of all possible distances, angles, and other metrics. “It’s called ‘soft information’ because we don’t make any hard choices about the values,” Conti says.

The system takes many sample measurements of signal features, including its power, angle, and time of flight. Contextual data come from external sources, such as digital maps and models that capture and predict how the node moves.

Back to the previous example: Based on the initial measurement of the signal’s time of arrival, the system still assigns a high probability that the nodes are 13 meters apart. But it assigns a small possibility that they’re 10 meters apart, based on some delay or power loss of the signal. As the system fuses all other information from surrounding nodes, it updates the likelihood for each possible value. For instance, it could ping a map and see that the room’s layout shows it’s highly unlikely both nodes are 13 meters apart. Combining all the updated information, it decides the node is far more likely to be in the position that is 10 meters away.

“In the end, keeping that low-probability value matters,” Win says. “Instead of giving a definite value, I’m telling you I’m really confident that you’re 13 meters away, but there’s a smaller possibility you’re also closer. This gives additional information that benefits significantly in determining the positions of the nodes.”

Reducing complexity

Extracting many features from signals, however, leads to data with large dimensions that can be too complex and inefficient for the system. To improve efficiency, the researchers reduced all signal data into a reduced-dimension and easily computable space.

To do so, they identified aspects of the received waveforms that are the most and least useful for pinpointing location based on “principal component analysis,” a technique that keeps the most useful aspects in multidimensional datasets and discards the rest, creating a dataset with reduced dimensions. If received waveforms contain 100 sample measurements each, the technique might reduce that number to, say, eight.

A final innovation was using machine-learning techniques to learn a statistical model describing possible positions from measurements and contextual data. That model runs in the background to measure how that signal-bouncing may affect measurements, helping to further refine the system’s accuracy.

The researchers are now designing ways to use less computation power to work with resource-strapped nodes that can’t transmit or compute all necessary information. They’re also working on bringing the system to “device-free” localization, where some of the nodes can’t or won’t share information. This will use information about how the signals are backscattered off these nodes, so other nodes know they exist and where they are located.

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Nigeria and South Africa: When two African giants meet

Nigeria's president visits continental rival South Africa weeks after condemning attacks on foreigners there.

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Portland woman kicked out restaurant for making whites uncomfortable files lawsuit

A Portland woman says she and her family were kicked out of a local restaurant because they are Black, a claim she made in a racial discrimination lawsuit against the establishment.

—Lynched Black Barbie found at Chicago high school sparks probe, soul searching—

Krystal Menefee filed the suit last week against Thatcher’s Restaurant and Lounge in Portland, Ore., charging that a bartender told them their business was not welcome, as white customers glared on, OregonLive reports.

Menefee said she has frequented the establishment with white co-workers, danced on tables and had a good time at the restaurant without an issue, but it was a completely different story when she arrived at the door with her family of about seven on on Aug. 23, writes the news outlet.

She explains that after a memorial service for an uncle, she and family members stopped at Thatcher’s to eat and drink, but the bartender had a problem when they played music on the jukebox.

Menefee said the bartender turned off the music and told them to “knock it off.” The bartender said the music made other people feel uncomfortable.

“We asked this couple nearby if we were bothering them, and they said, ‘no,’ ” Menefee said.  Menefee said the bartender turned the music back on, then off again.

“She says, ‘You’re not welcome here. You need to leave,’” Menefee said.

Menefee said she and her family left as all white customers stared them down.

She explained when she visited with white people before, this never occurred.

“We drink, laugh, joke, we’re being loud,” Menefee said. “We’ve been there dancing on tables, had impromptu karaoke sessions — nothing. Then I’m in there with my black family and it’s ‘Get out.’”

Menefee says in the suit she was “shocked, embarrassed and racially profiled.”

Menefee’s attorney, Michael Fuller, said she posted her story on Facebook where others shared similar experiences.

“It’s usually really easy for big companies to come up with a pretext,” he said. “I’d say what we have found that it’s a failure to supervise — often companies have policies but aren’t implementing them.”

Menefee said while she’s not seeking financial compensation, she thinks it’s necessary to file a suit to show that this behavior is not ok.

—Jordan Peele inks MAJOR 5-year deal with Universal Pictures—

“I feel like people are very comfortable with treating black people like this,” Menefee said. “I want them to know it’s not OK — we’re here, we’re visible. Don’t negate us.”

“I think it’s so normalized — people become desensitized to being treated badly,” Menefee said. “Someone will follow you at the store, or people will put your money down on the counter but put it into someone else’s hand.”

Menefee said she hopes the business works to treat all customers fairly.

“If the practices change, and more people of color feel welcome there,” she said. “But at this point, no. I don’t want to be treated like that again.”

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Diversity Expert Talks About Getting More Blacks Working In Golf

Pro golfer might be the only career that comes to mind when most people think of the PGA. But as a member organization, the PGA of America is responsible for recruiting, training, educating, and deploying all 29,000 people who have chosen careers in the business of golf.

The PGA is working hard to make sure that workforce mirrors America in terms of diversity. That’s why it has partnered with Black Enterprise for the video podcast series On The Tee, to “grow the game and drive greater inclusion across golf” by showcasing “the successes of people from diverse backgrounds working and playing in the industry.”

In the second episode, PGA’s Chief People Officer Sandy Cross sits down with diversity expert Porter Braswell. Braswell is the co-founder and CEO of Jopwell, the leading career advancement platform for black, Latinx, and Native American students and professionals. Jopwell is a strategic partner of the PGA, helping the organization achieve its aim of diversifying the workforce in the golf industry.

“We are so excited about this partnership, specifically because when we set out on this mission to build Jopwell, the goal was to expose our community to the breadth of opportunities that are available,” Braswell says. “And when I think about the PGA and the game of golf, historically, there have been challenges that have prevented certain communities from having access.”

Braswell and Cross discuss some of the many different ways Jopwell and the PGA are approaching their goal holistically and authentically. Representation is a large part of diversity and inclusion. So their first initiative was the Jopwell PGA Collection, a gallery of images which lets diverse audiences literally see themselves within the game of golf.

The aim is to get more blacks working in golf by “allowing the community to understand that they are welcomed,” says Braswell, “and that there are ample opportunities for them within the golf industry.”

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Oprah Winfrey Relaunches Book Club on Apple TV

Oprah Winfrey’s book club is back in action. The billionaire talk show host and entrepreneur has partnered with Apple for a new exclusive Apple TV+ series, called Oprah’s Book Club, premiering November 1. Winfrey’s first book selection is The Water Dancer (One World, $28.00) by award-winning reporter and essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates.

The book, which was officially released on Amazon on September 24, tells the story of a young boy born into bondage on a plantation and the mysterious power he discovers. It is the first novel written by Coates, author of the bestselling non-fiction books We Were Eight Years in Power and Between the World and Me, which won the National Book Award in 2015.

Coates revealed that he spent 10 years researching and writing The Water Dancer. “I actually started writing this before I started writing my second book, Between the World and Me, before I wrote ‘The Case for Reparations,’” he said during a recent appearance on CBS This Morning.

“The world’s been waiting for this novel and Ta-Nehisi Coates certainly didn’t need me to choose the novel to give it attention, but it is one of the best books I’ve ever read in my entire life,” said Winfrey on the show. “Right up there in the top five.”

Winfrey launched the first version of her book club in 1996. “My goal was to partner with Apple and have a wide bandwidth so we can create a community of readers around the world,” Winfrey said. “I am most excited for people all the world to start reading this and go to @oprahsbookclub and have discussion about it. When you start reading it, you’re going to want to talk to somebody.”

According to a press release, Winfrey will interview the authors of her book club selections at various locations. Apple TV+ subscribers will also get the opportunity to watch an interview between Winfrey and Coates next month on the streaming service.

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States Should Monitor Methane to Meet Climate Goals

Opinion: A new plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico using satellites and big data sets a standard that other states should follow.

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Prince Harry slams British tabloid, as Meghan Markle launches lawsuit

Meghan Markle and husband Prince Harry filed a lawsuit against British tabloid The Daily Mail, after editors printed a letter she wrote to her father Thomas Markle.

–-Meghan Markle’s mother Doria Ragland runs 5K for a suicide prevention charity-

In a blistering letter, Prince Harry on Tuesday condemned the tabloid for participating in behavior that “destroys lives,” The Washington Post reports.

The Duchess of Sussex initiated the legal filing in London’s High Court against the newspaper, accusing the publication of “unlawfully” publishing her private letter that was written to her dad after her wedding and published Feb. 10.

Harry condemned The Daily Mail, charging that its editors are creating an environment that is putting his wife at the same risk and possible fate as his mother who was relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi and died in a fatal car crash in 1997.

Harry said Meghan had become “one of the latest victims” of the publication, which “wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences.”

Prince Harry said his “deepest fear is history repeating itself.”

“I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

Harry described the Daily Mail’s actions as “bullying” and a “ruthless campaign.”

“There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behavior, because it destroys people and destroys lives. Put simply, it is bullying, which scares and silences people. We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level. We won’t and can’t believe in a world where there is no accountability for this,” he said.

Harry and Meghan contend that publishing the letter “unlawfully in an intentionally destructive manner to manipulate you, the reader, and further the divisive agenda of the media group in question.”

“In addition to their unlawful publication of this private document, they purposely misled you by strategically omitting select paragraphs, specific sentences, and even singular words to mask the lies they had perpetuated for over a year,” Harry said.

Harry said there is a “human cost to this relentless propaganda, specifically when it is knowingly false and malicious, and though we have continued to put on a brave face — as so many of you can relate to — I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been.”

Harry and Meghan have been touring southern Africa despite the bombshell lawsuit they are continuing their days of engagement.

–Jessye Norman, international opera star, dead at 74–

And the “positive” news coverage on their tour, he said, highlights the “double standards of this specific press pack that has vilified her almost daily for the past nine months; they have been able to create lie after lie at her expense simply because she has not been visible while on maternity leave.”

“She is the same woman she was a year ago on our wedding day, just as she is the same woman you’ve seen on this Africa tour,” he said.

He slammed the media saying for “select media this is a game, and one that we have been unwilling to play from the start. I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long.”

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Even the AI Behind Deepfakes Can’t Save Us From Being Duped

Google and Facebook are releasing troves of deepfakes to teach algorithms how to detect them. But the human eye will be needed for a long time.

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Tesla’s ‘Smart Summon’ Will Fetch Your Car—Sometimes

Tesla introduced a feature that allows drivers to call the car to come to them. What could go wrong?

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Ethiopian 18th Century crown to return home from Netherlands

Former refugee Sirak Asfaw found it in a suitcase and has protected the crown for the past 21 years.

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Football's Concussion Crisis Is Awash With Pseudoscience

Products that offer a "seatbelt" or "bubble wrap" for the brain claim to reduce head trauma. If only the laws of physics worked that way.

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Blind Spots in AI Just Might Help Protect Your Privacy

Researchers have found a potential silver lining in so-called adversarial examples, using it to shield sensitive data from snoops.

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Leishmaniasis: Tropical skin disease afflicts Kenyan communities

Tropical skin disease Leishmaniasis leaves scars and brings stigma for Kenyan communities affected.

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Liverpool's Joel Matip to miss Champions League visit of Red Bull Salzburg

Liverpool defender Joel Matip will miss Wednesday's Champions League match with Red Bull Salzburg after being injured at Sheffield United.

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At least 25 killed in Mali militant attack

The government says at least 25 soldiers were killed and about 60 more are missing after the attack.

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Abraham & Tomori: Nigeria coach Rohr cool on England duo

Gernot Rohr says Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori currently have no wish to discuss switching their international allegiance despite the Chelsea duo being eligible to play for Nigeria.

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REPORTS: Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner SPLIT after 2 years of dating

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Cherie Johnson will reprise ‘Punky Brewster’ role for upcoming sequel

It looks like there’s another blast from the past on the way and this time it’s coming in the form of a Punky Brewster sequel.

According to Deadline, Cherie Johnson, who played the character of the same name in the original Punky Brewster series (1984-1988), is set to reprise the role in the sequel. The original show’s star, Soleil Moon Frye is also set to return as Punky Brewster. The sequel already has a pilot order at Peacock, NBCU’s upcoming streaming platform set to launch in April 2020.

Deadline reports:

On the multicamera/hybrid continuation of the 80s sitcom about a bright young girl raised by a foster dad, Punky (Frye) is now a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track when she meets a young girl who reminds her a lot of her younger self.

Johnson will once again play Cherie, best friend of Punky (Frye) since they were kids. In fact, they’re more like sisters. To Punky’s kids, she’s Aunt Cherie. Her life-long friendship with Punky inspired her to become a social worker, helping orphaned kids.

Produced by UCP and Universal Television, Punky Brewster is written and executive produced by Steve and Jim Armogida. Frye will also serve as executive producer along with Duclon and Jimmy Fox of Main Event Media, an All3Media America company. Jonathan Judge is directing the pilot.

OPINION: Leave ‘New Jack City’ out of your crappy remake machine, Hollywood

I loved watching Punky Brewster as a kid, but the idea of a sequel showing Punky as a struggling single mom sounds like a complete waste of time.

Thoughts?

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Here’s why Kamala Harris wants Twitter to suspend Donald Trump’s account

Kamala Harris wants Donald Trump to be penalized for his latest tweets and she’s calling on the company’s co-founder to take action.

The California Senator called on Twitter CEO and co-founder, Jack Dorsey to “do something about” Trump’s tweet on Tuesday, where he called the impeachment inquiry a “coup.”

Top 5 winning moments from Sen. Kamala Harris during her first 2020 Democratic Debate

As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2019

….People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2019

“As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!” he posted.

A coup is defined a “sudden, violent, illegal seizure of government.”

Trump has been on a Twitter rampage ever since news of the impeachment inquiry broke. On Sunday, he suggested that the country would erupt in a civil war if he is impeached.

Trumps warns there will be a civil war if he’s impeached, is he right?

“If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal,” Trump tweeted, quoting Pastor Robert Jeffress, who made the comment during an appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend.

On Monday, Harris said Trump’s Twitter account should be suspended.

Look let's be honest, @realDonaldTrump's Twitter account should be suspended.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 1, 2019

 

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Jordan Peele inks MAJOR 5-year deal with Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures today announced that the studio has entered into a five-year exclusive production partnership with Monkeypaw Productions, led by producer, director and Oscar-winning writer Jordan Peele.

“It would not have been possible to make Get Out and Us without the endless trust and support we received from Donna Langley and the team at Universal.  Their willingness to take risks and their commitment to original content makes them the perfect collaborative partner for Monkeypaw.  I couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead,” Jordan Peele said in a statement on Tuesday.

Peele’s first two films from Monkeypaw and Universal, which he produced, directed and wrote, 2017’s Get Out and 2019’s Us, became commercial and critical smash hits, with Get Out still holding the record as the highest-grossing movie ever for a feature debut from a writer/director with an original screenplay.

Power to the People: Jordan Peele says he won’t be casting white dudes as a lead in future movies

Get Out earned Peele the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay along with nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (for Daniel Kaluuya).  Peele’s sophomore film Us debuted earlier this year to record-breaking results, including the highest-grossing opening ever for an original horror film; the highest-grossing opening ever for an R-rated film; and the highest-grossing opening for a live-action original since 2009’s Avatar.

“Jordan has established himself as a premier voice and original storyteller with global appeal.  He is leading a new generation of filmmakers that have found a way to tap into the cultural zeitgeist with groundbreaking content that resonates with audiences of all backgrounds,” said Donna Langley, Chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. “We also share an important goal with Monkeypaw when it comes to increasing representation on-screen in the characters that are portrayed, the stories that are told, and the people who tell them.”

Under the new exclusive deal, Universal is developing Peele’s next two films which he will direct, write, and produce.  Peele and Monkeypaw, headed by President Win Rosenfeld, will also produce original films under their banner, championing filmmakers with a focus on high-level content that transcends genre.  Monkeypaw produced Spike Lee’s feature BlacKkKlansman in 2018,  The film received six Oscar nods, winning Lee his first-ever Academy Award.

‘Us’ puts the genius of Jordan Peele and Lupita Nyong’o on full display

Monkeypaw is currently in production on Candyman, written by Peele and Rosenfeld, and directed by rising filmmaker Nia DaCosta (Little Woods).  Universal Pictures will distribute Candyman globally with the North American release date slated for June 12, 2020.

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Erica Mena and Safaree Samuels expecting first child together

It looks like Erica Mena and Safaree Samuels have been hiding a pretty big secret.

The Love & Hip Hop stars who are set to wed on October 7 revealed they are expecting their first child together on Tuesday.

The pair shared the good news with a photo shoot showing off Mena’s growing baby bump on social media and by the looks of her, she’s well on her way to welcoming a new bundle of joy.

Erica Mena has one son from a previous relationship and this will be baby No.1 for Safaree Samuels.

Erica Mena appeared on Love & Hip Hop NY for years before jumping on to Love & Hip Hp Atlanta.  Samuels joined Love & Hip Hop Hollywood shortly after his split from longtime love, Nicki Minaj. 

‘Love & Hip Hop’ star Erica Mena and boyfriend BUSTED near Atlanta

Fans have watched Erica Mena navigate some pretty toxic relationships over the years, including a drama-filled romance with former Love & Hip Hop costar, Cyn Santana and Bow Wow.

Just last year, she and her former boyfriend, Clifford Dixon were arrested after reportedly arguing so loudly it prompted someone to call the police. While witnesses reported hearing someone get slapped, there was no evidence of physical harm on either person, but witnesses also alleged Dixon kicked in a locked door to get to Mena. He was arrested for criminal trespass because the incident went down at Mena’s home and she was charged with possession of marijuana after cops found weed and THC wax in her kitchen.

SO MESSY: Safaree Samuels claims Nicki Minaj cut him with a knife

According to reports, Mena and Samuels plan to film their upcoming nuptials for Vh1.

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An interdisciplinary approach to accelerating human-machine collaboration

David Mindell has spent his career defying traditional distinctions between disciplines. His work has explored the ways humans interact with machines, drive innovation, and maintain societal well-being as technology transforms our economy.

And, Mindell says, he couldn’t have done it anywhere but MIT. He joined MIT’s faculty 23 years ago after completing his PhD in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, and he currently holds a dual appointment in engineering and humanities as the Frances and David Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and professor of aeronautics and astronautics.

Mindell’s experience combining fields of study has shaped his ideas about the relationship between humans and machines. Those ideas are what led him to found Humatics — a startup named from the merger of “human” and “robotics.”

Humatics is trying to change the way humans work alongside machines, by enabling location tracking and navigation indoors, underground, and in other areas where technologies like GPS are limited. It accomplishes this by using radio frequencies to track things at the millimeter scale — unlocking what Mindell calls microlocation technology.

The company’s solution is already being used in places like shipping ports and factories, where humans work alongside cranes, industrial tools, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and other machines. These businesses often lack consistent location data for their machines and are forced to adopt inflexible routes for their mobile robots.

“One of the holy grails is to have humans and robots share the same space and collaborate, and we’re enabling mobile robots to work in human environments safely and on a large scale,” Mindell says. “Safety is a critical first form of collaboration, but beyond that, we’re just beginning to learn how to work [in settings] where robots and people are exquisitely aware of where they are.”

A company decades in the making

MIT has a long history of transcending research fields to improve our understanding of the world. Take, for example, Norbert Wiener, who served on MIT’s faculty in the Department of Mathematics between 1919 and his death in 1964.

Wiener is credited with formalizing the field of cybernetics, which is an approach to understanding feedback systems he defined as “the scientific study of control and communication in the animal and the machine." Cybernetics can be applied to mechanical, biological, cognitive, and social systems, among others, and it sparked a frenzy of interdisciplinary study and scientific collaboration.

In 2002, Mindell wrote a book exploring the history of cybernetics before Wiener and its emergence at the intersection of a range of disciplines during World War II. It is one of several books Mindell has written that deal with interdisciplinary responses to complex problems, particularly in extreme environments like lunar landings and the deep sea.

The interdisciplinary perspective Mindell forged at MIT has helped him identify the limitations of technology that prevent machines and humans from working together seamlessly.

One particular shortcoming that Mindell has thought about for years is the lack of precise location data in places like warehouses, subway systems, and shipping ports.

“In five years, we’ll look back at 2019 and say, ‘I can’t believe we didn’t know where anything was,’” Mindell says. “We’ve got so much data floating around, but the link between the actual physical world we all inhabit and move around in and the digital world that’s exploding is really still very poor.”

In 2014, Mindell partnered with Humatics co-founder Gary Cohen, who has worked as an intellectual property strategist for biotech companies in the Kendall Square area, to solve the problem.

In the beginning of 2015, Mindell collaborated with Lincoln Laboratory alumnus and radar expert Greg Charvat; the two built a prototype navigation system and started the company two weeks later. Charvat became Humatics’ CTO and first employee.

“It was clear there was about to be this huge flowering of robotics and autonomous systems and AI, and I thought the things we learned in extreme environments, notably under sea and in aviation, had an enormous amount of application to industrial environments,” Mindell says. “The company is about bringing insights from years of experience with remote and autonomous systems in extreme environments into transit, logistics, e-commerce, and manufacturing.”

Bringing microlocation to industry

Factories, ports, and other locations where GPS data is unworkable or insufficient adopt a variety of solutions to meet their tracking and navigation needs. But each workaround has its drawbacks.

RFID and Bluetooth technologies, for instance, can track assets but have short ranges and are expensive to deploy across large areas.

Cameras and sensing methods like LIDAR can be used to help machines see their environment, but they struggle with things like rain and different lighting conditions. Floor tape embedded with wires or magnets is also often used to guide machines through fixed routes, but it isn’t well-suited for today’s increasingly dynamic warehouses and production lines.

Humatics has focused on making the capabilities of its microlocation location system as easy to leverage as possible. The location and tracking data it collects can be integrated into whatever warehouse management system or “internet of things” (IoT) platforms customers are already using.

Its radio frequency beacons have a range of up to 500 meters and, when installed as part of a constellation, can pinpoint three dimensional locations to within 2 centimeters, creating a virtual grid of the surrounding environment.

The beacons can be combined with an onboard navigation hub that helps mobile robots move around dynamic environments. Humatics’ system also gathers location data from multiple points at once, monitoring the speed of a forklift, helping a crane operator place a shipping crate, and guiding a robot around obstacles simultaneously.

The data Humatics collects don’t just help customers improve their processes; they can also transform the way workers and machines share space and work together. Indeed, with a new chip just emerging from its labs, Mindell says Humatics is moving industries such as manufacturing and logistics into “the world of ubiquitous, millimeter-accurate positioning.”

It’s all possible because of the company’s holistic approach to the age-old problem of human-machine interaction.

“Humatics is an example of what can happen when we think about technology in a unique, broader context,” Mindell says. “It’s an example of what MIT can accomplish when it pays serious attention to these two ways [from humanities and engineering] of looking at the world.”

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A new act for opera

In November 1953, the Nationaltheater in Mannheim, Germany, staged a new opera, the composer Boris Blacher’s “Abstrakte Oper Nr. 1,” which had debuted just months previously. As it ran, music fans were treated to both a performance and a raging controversy about the work, which one critic called “a monstrosity of musical progress,” and another termed “a stillbirth.”

Some of this vitriol stemmed from Blacher’s experimental composition, which had jazz and pop sensibilities, few words in the libretto (but some nonsense syllables), and no traditional storyline. The controversy was heightened by the Mannheim production, which projected images of postwar ruins and other related tropes onto the backdrop.

“The staging was very political,” says MIT music scholar Emily Richmond Pollock, author of a new book about postwar German opera. “Putting these very concrete images behind [the stage], that people had just lived through, produced a very uncomfortable feeling.”

It wasn’t just critics who were dubious: One audience member wrote to the Mannheim morning newspaper to say that Blacher’s “cacophonous concoction is actually approaching absolute zero and is not even original in doing so.”

In short, “Abstrakte Oper Nr. 1” hardly fit its genre’s traditions. Blacher’s work was introduced soon after the supposed “Zero Hour” in German society — the years after World War Two ended in 1945. Germany had instigated the deadliest war in history, and the country was supposed to be building itself entirely anew on political, civic, and cultural fronts. But the reaction to “Abstrakte Oper Nr. 1” shows the limits of that concept; Germans also craved continuity.

“There is this mythology of the Zero Hour, that Germans had to start all over again,” says Pollock, an associate professor in MIT’s Music and Theater Arts Section.

Pollock’s new book, “Opera after the Zero Hour,” just published by Oxford University Press, explores these tensions in rich detail. In the work, Pollock closely scrutinizes five postwar German operas while examining the varied reactions they produced. Rather than participating in a total cultural teardown, she concludes, many Germans were attempting to construct a useable past and build a future connected to it.   

“Opera in general is a conservative art form,” Pollock says. “It has often been identified very closely with whomever is in power.” For that reason, she adds, “Opera is a really good place to examine why tradition was a problem [after 1945], and how different artists chose to approach that problem.”

The politics of cultural nationalism

Rebuilding Germany after 1945 was a monumental task, even beyond creating a new political state. A significant part of Germany lay in rubble; for that matter, most large opera houses had been bombed.

Nonetheless, opera soon bloomed again in Germany. There were 170 new operas staged in Germany from 1945 to 1965. Operationally, as Pollock notes in the book, this inevitably meant including former Nazis in the opera business — efforts at “denazification” of society, she thinks, were of limited effectiveness. Substantively, meanwhile, the genre’s sense of tradition set audience expectations that could be difficult to alter.

“There’s a lot of investment in opera, but it’s not [usually] going to be avant-garde,” Pollock says, noting there were “hundreds of years of opera tradition pressing down” on composers, as well as “a bourgeois restored German culture that doesn’t want to do anything too radical.” However, she notes, after 1945, “There are a lot of traditions of music-making as part of the culture of being German that feel newly problematic [to socially-aware observers].”

Thus a substantial portion of those 170 new operas — besides “Abstrakte Oper Nr. 1” — contained distinctive blends of innovation and tradition. Consider Carl Orff’s “Oedipus der Tyrann,” a 1958 work of musical innovation with a traditional theme. Orff was one of Germany’s best-known composers (he wrote “Carmina Burana” in 1937) and had professional room to experiment. “Oedipus der Tyrann” strips away operatic musical form, with scant melody or symphonic expression, though Pollock’s close reading of the score shows some remaining links to mainstream operatic tradition. But the subject of the opera is classical: Orff uses the German poet Friedrich Holderlin’s 1804 translation of Sophocles’ “Oedipus” as his content. As Pollock notes, in 1958, this could be a problematic theme.

“When Germans claim special ownership of Greek culture, they’re saying they’re better than other countries — it’s cultural nationalism,” Pollock observes. “So what does it mean that a German composer is taking Greek tropes and reinterpreting them for a postwar context? Only recently, [there had been] events like the Berlin Olympics, where the Third Reich was specifically mobilizing an identification between Germans and the Greeks.”  

In this case, Pollock says, “I think Orff was not able to think clearly about the potential political implications of what he was doing. He would have thought of music as largely apolitical. We can now look back more critically and see the continuities there.” Even if Orff’s subject matter was not intentionally political, though, it was certainly not an expression of a cultural “Zero Hour,” either.

Opera is the key

“Opera after the Zero Hour” continually illustrates how complex music creation can be. In the composer Bernd Alois Zimmerman’s 1960s opera “Die Soldaten,” Pollock notes a variety of influences, chiefly Richard Wagner’s idea of the “totalizing work of art” and the composer Alban Berg’s musical idioms — but without Wagner’s nationalistic impulses.

Even as it details the nuances of specific operas, Pollock’s book is also part of a larger dialogue about which types of music are most worth studying. If operas had limited overlap with the most radical forms of musical composition of the time, then opera’s popularity, as well as the intriguing forms of innovation and experiment that did occur within the form, make it a vital area of study, in Pollock’s view.

“History is always very selective,” Pollock says. “A canon of postwar music will include a very narrow slice of pieces that did really cool, new stuff, that no one had ever heard before.” But focusing on such self-consciously radical music only yields a limited understanding of the age and its cultural tastes, Pollock adds, because “there is a lot of music written for the opera house that people who loved music, and loved opera, were invested in.”

Other music scholars say “Opera after the Zero Hour” is a significant contribution to its field. Brigid Cohen, an associate professor of music at New York University, has stated that the book makes “a powerful case for taking seriously long-neglected operatic works that speak to a vexed cultural history still relevant in the present.”

Pollock, for her part, writes in the book that, given all the nuances and tensions and wrinkles in the evolution of the art form, “opera is the key” to understanding the relationship between postwar German composers and the country’s newly fraught cultural tradition, in a fully complicated and historical mode.

“If you look at [cultural] conservatism as interesting, you find a lot of interesting things,” Pollock says. “And if you assume things that are less innovative are less interesting, then you’re ignoring a lot of things that people cared about.”

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WATCH: Beyonce’s dad, Matthew Knowles reveals he has breast cancer

Matthew Knowles is fighting breast cancer.

The man who’s best known for the years he spent managing his superstar daughters Beyonce and Solange announced the news during a sit-down interview with Michael Strahan for Good Morning America that will air Wednesday.

A short teaser was released on Twitter on Tuesday and in it, we see Bey’s father opening up to Strahan about his diagnosis.

Mathew Knowles says Beyoncé wouldn’t be as successful if she was a dark skin Black woman

“How was it to tell your family about the diagnosis?” Strahan asks Knowles in the snippet.

TOMORROW ON @GMA: @MathewKnowles, the father of @Beyonce and @solangeknowles, sits down one-on-one with @michaelstrahan and reveals his fight with breast cancer. See the EXCLUSIVE interview only on GMA tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Gmojh40ARb

— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 1, 2019

So far, information about the diagnosis is scarce, but we’re sure more details will come out during the exclusive interview.

October is breast cancer awareness month, and most people tend to believe the disease only affects women. Knowles’ case is a reminder that the disease also affects men, particularly older men.

 Beyonce’s daddy Mathew Knowles is producing a Destiny’s Child musical

Back in April, Matthew Knowles announced plans to produce a musical about Destiny’s Child. 

“I want to pull back the curtain,” Knowles said in a statement posted on his website. “I feel it’s time to give the world an opportunity to hear, see and feel the victories and failures that I’ve had as a husband, father and manager who risked everything in pursuit of fulfilling dreams – those of mine and others.”

According to Knowles, the production is being developed for Broadway and London’s West End and is slated to premiere in 2020 in Houston, TX.

Check out the official description:

Survivor: The Destiny’s Child Musical will start its roller coaster tale at the point of humble beginnings and travel through a captivating storyline addressing the layers of evolution – good and bad – that Knowles faced during his pioneering climb into the music industry. Ultimately, the story shares the message that building a dream takes sacrifice, even at the cost of everything and everyone you love.”

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The last legal sex workers in Tunisia

Many state-regulated brothels have closed amid pressure from women's rights and religious opponents.

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Verbal autopsies used in push to better track global deaths

By CHRISTINA LARSON and MIKE STOBBE Associated Press
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — One afternoon last month, a young woman with a tablet computer sat next to Alphonsine Umurerwa on the living room couch, asking questions, listening carefully.

She learned that the woman’s 23-year-old daughter, Sandrine Umwungeri, had been very sick for about a year, gradually becoming so weak she stopped leaving their tin-roofed home in a hilly section of Rwanda’s capital city. The family thought she had malaria.
Medicines from a local pharmacy didn’t help. In March, she died.

The interviewer asked: When did Sandrine begin to feel weak? Did she have a fever? Did her skin take on a yellow hue? Each typed answer determined the next question to pose, like following a phone tree.

This was a “verbal autopsy” — an interview in which a trained health worker asks a close relative or caretaker about a recently deceased person. Increasingly, health officials are using these tools and their computer algorithms to learn more about the global course of human disease.

About 50 countries have attempted verbal autopsy projects, and the list is growing. On Tuesday, Bloomberg Philanthropies — a major funder of international health data initiatives — announced it will devote another $120 million over the next four years to continue projects in 20 previously funded countries, and add five more.

That includes money for verbal autopsies, as well as cancer registries and other programs intended to help developing countries gather accurate data about the health of their citizens.

“With more and better data on causes of death, more countries can save more lives,” said Michael Bloomberg, the philanthropy’s founder, in a statement.

The work is badly needed, experts say.

An estimated 60 million people in the world will die this year, and half will have no death certificates or other record describing what killed them. Most of these will be in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa and parts of Asia.

That means the common understanding of overall disease and mortality trends in the developing world often relies upon broad estimates and guesswork. So do the decisions many countries make about which health problems to prioritize and tackle.

“The scale of the problem is really quite staggering,” said Lucia D’Ambruoso, a University of Aberdeen researcher who has studied verbal autopsies. “There’s a moral imperative, as well as analytical one, to be able to shine a light on those otherwise invisible deaths.”
To be sure, knowing what’s killing people can be tricky even in developed countries.

For example, though the United States requires doctors to sign death certificates, recent studies suggest some doctors put down certain conditions as a default, which is one reason why some experts believe heart disease has been over-reported as a cause of death in the U.S.

But it’s far more problematic to collect accurate data in countries where only a fraction of deaths occur in hospitals, or with doctors present.

In Rwanda, only an estimated 20% of deaths occur in hospitals, and there is just one licensed doctor for every 8,000 people, according to data from the Rwanda Medical and Dental Council.

The current verbal autopsy campaign was pioneered more than 50 years ago, in small physician-led research projects in Africa and Asia.

One milestone study was conducted in India. In the late 1990s, trained interviewers — not doctors — went into the homes of people who had recently died. They asked close relatives about the symptoms and events that preceded a loved one’s death. Small teams of physicians later used the interviews to determine the cause of death.

The Million Death Study, as it was called, suggested that India had far more malaria and smoking-related deaths than the World Health Organization had estimated, but only a quarter of the HIV deaths that WHO expected.

Clearly, verbal autopsies have drawbacks. They rely on grief-stricken people to clearly recall clinical details. And the validity of results may vary depending on who’s answering the questions, what questions are asked, and how responses are interpreted.

Some health advocates — including the philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates — have pushed for other methods like minimally invasive tissue sampling, a technique in which fine needles are inserted into a dead person’s body, gathering samples from different organs for rapid analysis.

But such sampling has limitations, too. It requires specially trained technicians, and samples have to be taken and shipped for analysis within 24 hours after a person’s death.
Verbal autopsies “are much better to do that than do nothing, which is the only alternative” in some countries, said Peter Byass, a researcher at Sweden’s Umea University who is an expert on verbal autopsies.

The New York-based organization Vital Strategies began working with the Rwandan government in 2015 to develop a verbal autopsy program, using Bloomberg and other funding.

The project trained government health workers — who already provide health and hospice care in homes — to conduct the verbal autopsies.

About 2,700 verbal autopsies have been done in nine small pockets of the country. That’s not enough to provide a good look at national death trends, but the government is planning to scale up the work in coming years to achieve a nationally representative sample.
At first, neighbors sometimes perceived the verbal autopsies as intrusive. But over time, most people have come to accept them.

“When we explain to them why we do this, in the end they will understand and answer our questions,” said Janvier Ngabonziza, who conducts the interviews in a rural area called Rwamagana.

The verbal autopsy of Sandrine Umwungeri was conducted by Leonie Mfitumukiza, who had met her mother through her job as a community health worker. After allowing several months for the family to rest and grieve, she had come to ask about Sandrine’s illness.
Respectfully, and pausing often to offer comfort and consolation, Mfitumukiza followed the standardized set of questions about Sandrine’s symptoms. The information she gathered will be run through a computer algorithm to assign a cause of death.

The solemnity was broken when a family friend walked into the home carrying a giggling 2-year-old girl. It was Blessing, Sandrine’s daughter, now being raised by her grandmother.
Afterward, Mfitumukiza said she believes Sandrine died of type 1 diabetes, not malaria. But she noted her job that day was to gather information, not to draw any conclusion.
___
Mike Stobbe reported from New York.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Troy Van Voorhis named head of the Department of Chemistry

Troy Van Voorhis, the Robert T. Haslam and Bradley Dewey Professor of Chemistry, has been named head of the Department of Chemistry, effective Oct. 1.

“I am delighted that Troy Van Voorhis will lead the chemistry department,” says Michael Sipser, dean of the MIT School of Science and the Donner Professor of Mathematics. “Troy has been a core member of the department, known for his outstanding research in physical chemistry as well as for his contributions to education and the department’s climate. I look forward to working with Troy on Science Council.”

Van Voorhis has served as associate head of chemistry since 2015, working with then-department head Timothy Jamison and, most recently, with Professor Stephen Buchwald, who has served as interim department head since July 2019.

In addition to his service to the department, Van Voorhis recently co-chaired the Working Group on Curricula and Degrees for the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. He has also contributed to discussions on opportunities for the School of Science in the college. 

Van Voorhis says, “I look forward to working with the department in my new role and will continue to support the growth of our chemistry community’s research, education, and outreach programs.”

“Troy is an excellent choice to head up chemistry and provide leadership for the members of our department. He has a strong record of scientific accomplishment and devotion to education and to MIT students,” says Buchwald, the Camille Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry.

“I am grateful to Steve for his service to the department as interim head. I thank Mei Hong for chairing the search committee, as well as the committee members for their efforts,” says Sipser. “I am deeply indebted to Tim Jamison for his outstanding leadership during the previous four years. Tim, who has recently become associate provost, leaves the Department of Chemistry in excellent shape.”

Van Voorhis’ research lies at the nexus of chemistry and computation, and his work has impact on renewable energy and quantum computing. His lab is focused on developing new methods that provide an accurate description of electron dynamics in molecules and materials. Over the years, his research has led to advances in light emitting diodes, solar cells, and other devices and technologies crucial to addressing 21st-century energy concerns.   

Van Voorhis received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics from Rice University and his PhD in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 2001. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University, he joined the faculty of MIT in 2003 and was promoted to professor of chemistry in 2012.

He has received many honors and awards, including being named an Alfred P. Sloan research fellow, a fellow of the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award. He has also received the MIT School of Science’s award for excellence in graduate teaching.

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The Latest: Buttigieg says he raised $19.1M in 3rd quarter

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 2020 presidential candidates’ third-quarter fundraising (all times local):

6:15 a.m.
Pete Buttigieg (BOO’-tuh-juhj) says he raised $19.1 million for his presidential campaign during the third fundraising quarter of the year.

Though not as large of a sum as the field-leading $24.8 million he raised last quarter, the figures released by the South Bend, Indiana, mayor on Tuesday demonstrate that he will have resources heading into the final months before the Iowa Caucuses in February.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also released his total for the quarter and reported raising $25.3 million.

The numbers don’t have to be reported to the Federal Election Commission until Oct. 15.
Buttigieg has raised more than $51 million since entering the race as a longshot contender last winter.
___
6 a.m.
Bernie Sanders says he raised $25.3 million in the third fundraising quarter from 1.4 million donors while also bolstering his presidential war chest with an additional $2.6 million transferred from other campaign accounts.
The Vermont senator says he’s now collected $61.5 million from 3.3 million individual donors since launching his White House bid in February, making his average contribution $19.
Sanders says 99.9% of his donors have yet to reach contribution maximums and can give more.
Sanders’ campaign says September was his top fundraising month of 2020 and that Monday, the final day of the three-month quarter, was his presidential campaign’s second-best overall fundraising day.
Sanders’ total exceeds the $24.8 million South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg collected last quarter to lead the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential field.
___
12:30 a.m.
Democratic presidential candidates were pleading for campaign cash in the waning days and hours of the third quarter of fundraising.
With Iowa’s caucuses looming in February, a sense of urgency is growing among the candidates as the primary contest turns into a fierce battle for a limited pool of cash. That money could make the difference between staying in the race and heading for the exits.
Those who continue to muddle along in the lower tier of candidates will face challenges paying for advertising to amplify their message. They’re also likely to struggle to reach fundraising thresholds set by the Democratic National Committee to qualify for future debates.
Top-tier candidates like Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are expected to be among the leaders in the money-raising field.

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Everything You Need to Enjoy One Tech-Free Day a Week

If you're going to ditch your phone for a technology shabbat (and you totally should), you'll need a few bits of gear that date back to the disco era.

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Netflix, Save Yourself and Give Me Something Random to Watch

I want off the Netflix carousel. Please give me an "I Feel Lucky" button for entertainment.

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The Timeless Futurism of Jeanette Winterson's 'Frankissstein'

The author's latest novel reanimates Mary Shelley's classic for a world where life and identity have all new meanings.

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Never too late: Rapper Too $hort is first time dad at age 53

Rapper Too $hort is a father for the first time at the age of 53, according to TMZ.

—Stacey Dash released from jail after domestic dispute with husband—

The “Blow the Whistle” rapper and girlfriend Sue Ivy had a daughter Yani Shaw  in December. It’s news to us after the two kept their baby girl’s birth on the low.

My boi Too Short had his 1st baby at 53, real legendary Mack shit there…

— GORDO AZUL (@NCStateofMind) September 30, 2019

Now the new poppa is planning to let us in on life as a father in a new documentary with Ray J and his manager, David Weintraub, about raising little girls in Hollywood.

There’s no word if Too Short will be one and done when it comes to having another baby, but we know it’s all about babies for Ray J and Princess Love who are expecting their second child next year.

The couple made the announcement via a series of family photos showing off Love’s growing baby bump, PEOPLE reports. Both shared the images on Sunday to their individual Instagram pages, noting that their baby is due January 2020. They are already parents to 15-month-old daughter Melody Love.

“Somebody’s gonna be a big sis 👶🏽🍼 New addition arriving Jan 2020 @melodylovenorwood @rayj#2under2 #Blessed,” Princess shared on her own Instagram account.

Love’s announcement featured photos of Melody rocking a t-shirt that read, “big sis.”

Ray J and Princess Love tied the knot in August 2016 after four years of dating. They welcomed their daughter two years later in May 2018.

After revealing his wife’s first pregnancy back in 2017, Ray J explained on The Real that they had been trying to grow their family.

—Is Dwayne Johnson returning to his wrestling roots?—

“It was special, because we was tryin’ for a while,” he said at the time. “It’s not as easy as people think. Some people go on tour and get everybody pregnant. But for me, it was love and we took our time.”

Back in March, Ray J told Us Weekly that he was already thinking about baby number two.

We can’t wait to see what this documentary entails.

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Stacey Dash released from jail after domestic dispute with husband

Clueless actress Stacey Dash has been released from jail after she was arrested and accused of assaulting her husband Jeffrey Marty.

—Stacey Dash ARRESTED for domestic violence against husband, claims self-defense—

On Sunday, Dash was arrested by Florida police and seen on body camera footage handcuffed by authorities for a domestic violence call involving a physical altercation with Marty, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office told PEOPLE.

Dash, however, is reportedly the one who initiated the 911 call to report abuse but police allegedly didn’t see any marks on her face and body at first look. Since they saw marks on Marty they arrested Dash instead, because she “pushed him and slapped his face,” which left “red scratch marks” on his left arm TMZ first reported.

“Stacey actually called the police because she was attacked by her husband. He choked her and she was defending herself,” said her manager, Sean P. Jackson. “When the police arrived, they couldn’t see any physical marks on her, but they did see them on him.”

Jackson said his client was acting in self-defense.

Dash was released on $500 bail and according to a statement released by Dash, she said she “had a marital dispute in their Tampa, FL suburb.”

“No charges were pressed by her husband, however, Deputies arrested Ms. Dash peacefully, as a formality,” the statement read. “Ms. Dash’s husband appeared in court today, September 30th, on her behalf and Ms. Dash was released from the Land O’ Lakes detention facility. No further legal action is pending.”

The statement also tried to clear up earlier reports that they said were inaccurate.

“The marital dispute, while personal and unfortunate, has since been blown out of proportion. An earlier report on TMZ.com said her manager told TMZ that she was attacked by her husband — both the sources relationship to Ms. Dash and the events of the evening were misrepresented.”

—REPORTS: R. Kelly wants OUT of jail because its unfairly strict—

It continues: “Ms. Dash is a domestic abuse survivor from a previous relationship and has championed for other abuse victims to speak up,” the statement added. “The untruthfulness being reported saddens Ms. Dash and her family — no further comments will be made and we ask that Ms. Dash and her family’s privacy will be respected.”

Although Dash’s lawyer says she’s a victim, the internet was not as supportive once they heard Dash got arrested.

#FunFact Stacey Dash trump loving ass used to sit on Twitter yelling how Hillary needs to be locked up… we’ll get who got locked up? Here’s a hint: it wasn’t Hillary 😂😂 #StaceyDash pic.twitter.com/4vnJctSVWa

— Proud Bahamian 🇧🇸 (@ISLANDCHULA28) September 30, 2019

#staceydash arrested for domestic violence against her husband…
But..but..she’s a Christian maga warrior. 🤣
Maybe she should have raised her voice and not used to big stick to hit someone? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/3nFl9cH34o

— Sabrina Zombie (@NumbZombieMom) September 30, 2019

Life comes at you fast. 😏#StaceyDash @JoyVBehar pic.twitter.com/gBgK1AR6Gk

— 🌲🌲 Andy from Oregon 🌲🌲 (@AndrewFmOregon) September 30, 2019

Stacey Dash is best known for her role in Clueless but caused quite a stir as a very vocal supporter of Donald Trump. She landed a gig as a correspondent for Fox News before being ousted and had a short-lived plan to run for Congress in 2018.

The post Stacey Dash released from jail after domestic dispute with husband appeared first on theGrio.

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Study: Better sleep habits lead to better college grades

Two MIT professors have found a strong relationship between students’ grades and how much sleep they’re getting. What time students go to bed and the consistency of their sleep habits also make a big difference. And no, getting a good night’s sleep just before a big test is not good enough — it takes several nights in a row of good sleep to make a difference.

Those are among the conclusions from an experiment in which 100 students in an MIT engineering class were given Fitbits, the popular wrist-worn devices that track a person’s activity 24/7, in exchange for the researchers’ access to a semester’s worth of their activity data. The findings — some unsurprising, but some quite unexpected — are reported today in the journal Science of Learning in a paper by MIT postdoc Kana Okano, professors Jeffrey Grossman and John Gabrieli, and two others.

One of the surprises was that individuals who went to bed after some particular threshold time — for these students, that tended to be 2 a.m., but it varied from one person to another — tended to perform less well on their tests no matter how much total sleep they ended up getting.

The study didn’t start out as research on sleep at all. Instead, Grossman was trying to find a correlation between physical exercise and the academic performance of students in his class 3.091 (Introduction to Solid-State Chemistry). In addition to having 100 of the students wear Fitbits for the semester, he also enrolled about one-fourth of them in an intense fitness class in MIT’s Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation, with the help of assistant professors Carrie Moore and Matthew Breen, who created the class specifically for this study. The thinking was that there might be measurable differences in test performance between the two groups.

There wasn’t. Those without the fitness classes performed just as well as those who did take them. “What we found at the end of the day was zero correlation with fitness, which I must say was disappointing since I believed, and still believe, there is a tremendous positive impact of exercise on cognitive performance,” Grossman says.

He speculates that the intervals between the fitness program and the classes may have been too long to show an effect. But meanwhile, in the vast amount of data collected during the semester, some other correlations did become obvious. While the devices weren’t explicitly monitoring sleep, the Fitbit program’s proprietary algorithms did detect periods of sleep and changes in sleep quality, primarily based on lack of activity.

These correlations were not at all subtle, Grossman says. There was essentially a straight-line relationship between the average amount of sleep a student got and their grades on the 11 quizzes, three midterms, and final exam, with the grades ranging from A’s to C’s. “There’s lots of scatter, it’s a noisy plot, but it’s a straight line,” he says. The fact that there was a correlation between sleep and performance wasn’t surprising, but the extent of it was, he says. Of course, this correlation can’t absolutely prove that sleep was the determining factor in the students’ performance, as opposed to some other influence that might have affected both sleep and grades. But the results are a strong indication, Grossman says, that sleep “really, really matters.”

“Of course, we knew already that more sleep would be beneficial to classroom performance, from a number of previous studies that relied on subjective measures like self-report surveys,” Grossman says. “But in this study the benefits of sleep are correlated to performance in the context of a real-life college course, and driven by large amounts of objective data collection.”

The study also revealed no improvement in scores for those who made sure to get a good night’s sleep right before a big test. According to the data, “the night before doesn’t matter,” Grossman says. “We've heard the phrase ‘Get a good night’s sleep, you've got a big day tomorrow.’ It turns out this does not correlate at all with test performance. Instead, it’s the sleep you get during the days when learning is happening that matter most.”

Another surprising finding is that there appears to be a certain cutoff for bedtimes, such that going to bed later results in poorer performance, even if the total amount of sleep is the same. “When you go to bed matters,” Grossman says. “If you get a certain amount of sleep  — let’s say seven hours — no matter when you get that sleep, as long as it’s before certain times, say you go to bed at 10, or at 12, or at 1, your performance is the same. But if you go to bed after 2, your performance starts to go down even if you get the same seven hours. So, quantity isn’t everything.”

Quality of sleep also mattered, not just quantity. For example, those who got relatively consistent amounts of sleep each night did better than those who had greater variations from one night to the next, even if they ended up with the same average amount.

This research also helped to provide an explanation for something that Grossman says he had noticed and wondered about for years, which is that on average, the women in his class have consistently gotten better grades than the men. Now, he has a possible answer: The data show that the differences in quantity and quality of sleep can fully account for the differences in grades. “If we correct for sleep, men and women do the same in class. So sleep could be the explanation for the gender difference in our class,” he says.

More research will be needed to understand the reasons why women tend to have better sleep habits than men. “There are so many factors out there that it could be,” Grossman says. “I can envision a lot of exciting follow-on studies to try to understand this result more deeply.”

“The results of this study are very gratifying to me as a sleep researcher, but are terrifying to me as a parent,” says Robert Stickgold, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Sleep and Cognition at Harvard Medical School, who was not connected with this study. He adds, “The overall course grades for students averaging six and a half hours of sleep were down 50 percent from other students who averaged just one hour more sleep. Similarly, those who had just a half-hour more night-to-night variation in their total sleep time had grades that dropped 45 percent below others with less variation. This is huge!”

Stickgold says “a full quarter of the variation in grades was explained by these sleep parameters (including bedtime). All students need to not only be aware of these results, but to understand their implication for success in college. I can’t help but believe the same is true for high school students.” But he adds one caution: “That said, correlation is not the same as causation. While I have no doubt that less and more variable sleep will hurt a student’s grades, it’s also possible that doing poorly in classes leads to less and more variable sleep, not the other way around, or that some third factor, such as ADHD, could independently lead to poorer grades and poorer sleep.”

The team also included technical assistant Jakub Kaezmarzyk and Harvard Business School researcher Neha Dave. The study was supported by MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Lubin Fund, and the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative.

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