Synthetic polymers, primarily plastics, are used to make a host of items, from paint to plastic bottles to sunglasses and DVDs. Imagine what could be created with a plastic that can be made to shimmy, and even crawl. Now a new polymer has been developed that actually walks like a caterpillar as it reacts to light. VOA’s Deborah Block tells us about it.
…
Month: August 2017
Neo-Nazi Site Moves to Google After GoDaddy Dumps It
Neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer moved its domain registration to Google after hosting firm GoDaddy said it would sever ties with the site that promoted Saturday’s deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
A “whois” search of Internet domains on Monday listed Alphabet’s Google as registrar for The Daily Stormer, a white supremacist website associated with the alt-right movement.
Representatives with Google could not immediately be reached for comment.
GoDaddy disclosed on Sunday via Twitter that it had given The Daily Stormer 24 hours to move its domain to another provider, saying it had violated the company’s terms of service.”
GoDaddy has previously come under sharp criticism for hosting The Daily Stormer and other sites that spread hate.
The company decided to boot the on Sunday out of fear that it could be used to incite further violence after the events in Charlottesville, including the death of Heather Heyer, who was fatally struck by a car allegedly driven by a man with white nationalist views.
“With the violence that occurred over the weekend, the company believed this site could incite additional violence,” said the person who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
The hosting company’s rules of conduct ban using its services in a manner that “promotes, encourages or engages in terrorism, violence against people, animals or property.”
Daily Storm publisher Andrew Anglin could not immediately be reached for comment on GoDaddy’s ban.
Scottsdale, Arizona-based GoDaddy, is one of the largest U.S. Internet services firms with some 6,000 employees.
…
Decades After His Death, Elvis Is The King for Impersonators
Four decades since his death, Elvis Presley still reigns as The King — for impersonators.
Few artists inspire people all over the world to dress up and perform passionately on stage like Presley. Impersonators from different generations and various countries paid tribute to their idol recently at a gathering in the Philippines. The Elvis Presley Friendship Club, Philippines International, is one of over 400 official fan clubs around the world honoring Presley on the 40th anniversary of his Aug. 16, 1977, death.
What was it about Elvis that inspires tribute artists around the globe to perform in his name after all this time? Those at the gathering in Manila speak about their motivations:
WHY DOES ELVIS RESONATE FOR YOU ALL THESE YEARS LATER?
Filipino Jun Espinosa, 44, business consultant:
“Everything for Elvis, that’s the only motivation. And for the fans. Up to now I’m having this in my thought and in my mind that maybe without Elvis in me, I could not have survived certain points of my life. … Maybe as long as I can shake, as long as I can do this, and as long as people will love Elvis, it will be there.”
Ramon Jacinto, 72, musician, TV host and founder of Philippine rock `n’ roll radio station DZRJ:
“He crossed over black music roots to you know, to all nationalities. Even the Beatles were influenced by Elvis. Everybody was influenced. He was the real example of an out-of-the-box showman. And he wiggled, he had a different style of singing from the time of Frank Sinatra. … He opened the door to carefree rock `n’ roll and the attitude.”
HOW DO YOU TAILOR YOUR ELVIS ACT FOR YOUR OWN CULTURE AND AUDIENCE?
Filipina Anjeanette Japor, 22, singer:
“I still incorporate my style, like, pop and something that’s modern. Definitely my songs, the arrangements are different from the original Elvis songs so that people, no matter what age you are, can still enjoy my music.”
Douglas Masuda of Japan, 73, retired lawyer:
“Well, I don’t really tailor anything. Just sing it the way you feel it. If you feel it, the audience feels it. It’s real simple. You’ve got to feel it. Because I don’t look like Elvis, I don’t really sound like Elvis, but when I sing, you feel it, you feel Elvis coming out.”
WHY IS ELVIS STILL RELEVANT 40 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH?
Filipino Bam Angping, 21, college student:
“It’s really the fans. Michael Jackson was a big, big star. But they don’t have that kind of community, like, they celebrate every year impersonations. It’s really the fans that caused Elvis to live this long. He was great at his time. But if it were not for the fans, probably he would be, you know, like, `Yeah I remember him. But not really.”‘
Eddie Lombardo of Italy:
“So we try to keep the name of Elvis alive. …. we’re not trying to duplicate Elvis because nobody can “be” Elvis. There’s only one Elvis, you know? And what we’re trying to (do is) bring the memory of Elvis back to people, that’s basically what we’re doing.”
Japor:
“In the music industry, the songs of Elvis remain a classic. Like Bruno Mars, he has a lot of rock `n’ roll songs. Most of them originated from the legends, one of which is Elvis. So I think his songs still have a great impact to the music we have nowadays. There are a lot of songs actually that were sung by Elvis that are being covered right now. And that gives a modern twist to the song. So because of that, Elvis continues to live with the music.”
…
Chinese Newspaper Warns Trump Risks ‘Trade War’
A Chinese state newspaper warned Monday that President Donald Trump “could trigger a trade war” if he goes ahead with plans to launch an investigation into whether China is stealing U.S. technology.
In a commentary by a researcher at a Commerce Ministry think tank, the China Daily said Trump’s possible decision to launch an investigation, which an official says he will announce Monday, could “intensify tensions,” especially over intellectual property.
The official told reporters Saturday the president would order his trade office to look into whether to launch an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 of possible Chinese theft of U.S. technology and intellectual property.
The Chinese government has yet to comment on the announcement.
A decision to use the Trade Act to rebalance trade with China “could trigger a trade war,” said the commentary under the name of researcher Mei Xinyu of the ministry’s International Trade and Economic Cooperation Institute.
“And the inquiry the U.S. administration has ordered into China’s trade policies, if carried out, could intensify tensions, especially on intellectual property rights.”
The commentary gave no indication of how Beijing might respond but Chinese law gives regulators broad discretion over what foreign companies can do in China.
If an investigation begins, Washington could seek remedies either through the World Trade Organization or outside of it.
Previous U.S. actions directed at China under the 1974 law had little effect, said the China Daily. It noted China has grown to become the biggest exporter and has the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves.
“The use of Section 301 by the U.S. will not have much impact on China’s progress toward stronger economic development and a better future,” said the newspaper.
…
Egyptian Artist Creates Portraits Out of Burnt Tobacco
In a small studio littered with empty cigarette packets in Egypt’s second city, Alexandria, Abdelrahman al-Habrouk sits hunched over a sheet of paper making portraits with tobacco.
The cigarettes fuel his art; he breaks them in half, painstakingly traces out monochrome images of celebrities or animals with the fine flakes of tobacco, then sprinkles his creations with gunpowder and sets them on fire.
The resulting scorch-marks on the white paper form the portrait.
Habrouk, now 23, started using unusual materials to make images a couple of years ago, experimenting with coffee, salt and sand before settling on the tobacco technique because it is more durable.
“The idea is that I’m trying to make the art live longer,” he told Reuters.
“I wanted to make something good out of something that is considered harmful,” he added.
First American Woman to Conquer K2 Tells VOA Her Story
No American woman climber had sumitted the world’s second largest mountain called, K2, in Pakistan until July 28, 2017 when 52-year old former banker Vanessa O’Brian led a team of 12 mountaineers to the top of what is known as “the savage mountain” and one the world’s most dangerous peaks. She described her adventurous trip to VOA’s Ayaz Gul upon her return to Islamabad this week from the northern town of Skardu.
…
Researchers Listening to Bees for Sounds of Trouble
Science has been searching for a definitive reason why domesticated honeybee colonies continue to suddenly die off. But Colony Collapse disorder, as it is called, is still somewhat of a mystery. To try and get some answers, a university is using high-tech monitoring tools to listen in on the bees’ conversations for clues to their health. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
…
Are Immigrants Driving the Motor City?
Beside rows of rusting shipping containers, a decorative wrought iron fence surrounds Taquería Mi Pueblo, one of the first family-run Mexican restaurants in southwest Detroit, Michigan.
Its owner, Jalisco-native José de Jesús López, surveys the trees he planted and his ornamental roosters.
“Everything was abandoned, a dump over there,” he said, walking down Dix Street. When he first arrived as an undocumented immigrant in 1981, López recalls a drug-addict-infested lot and overrun lawn.
“Mexicantown,” as the area is affectionately and marketably called today, is one of Metro Detroit’s most vibrant dining scenes for locals and tourists — and a model for other immigrant neighborhoods.
Landing destination
Like López, many foreigners stumbled upon Detroit, viewing the city as an economically viable “second landing destination” — friendly to immigrants, but with cheaper housing and commercial space than traditional immigrant hubs like New York and San Francisco.
Through the 2008 recession and recovery, native-born residents fled. But immigrants kept coming, starting new businesses, hiring local residents and making their neighborhoods a safer place for children.
A June study by Global Detroit and New American Economy reveals that the city’s immigrant population grew by 12.1 percent between 2010 and 2014, at a time when the city’s overall population declined by 4.2 percent. Though the four-year increase in immigrants amounts to merely 4,137 individuals, the study claims the effects have been widely felt.
Watch: Beleaguered Detroit Relying on Immigrants to Revitalize City
“Immigrants are leading in the city’s recovery,” said Steve Tobocman, director of Global Detroit, “particularly in its neighborhoods like Mexicantown, in Banglatown, where new residents are moving in and helping to stabilize working-class communities by fixing up homes, opening up businesses, and creating more consumers.”
Depopulation, Tobocman adds, remains Detroit’s biggest challenge moving forward, while immigrants are “our best hope to rebuilding,” especially on the neighborhood level.
No ‘magic bullet’
According to Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA) and Fiscal Policy Institute, more than one-third of Detroit-area “Main Street” business owners were immigrants as of 2013.
But data measuring their economic contributions can be misleading, says Stanley Renshon, CUNY professor of political science.
“Any economic activity is grabbed by economists as positive,” Renshon told VOA. “Yes, you increase the overall financial numbers of the country, but the people who benefit most from that are the immigrants themselves, and that’s fine. We want them to prosper, but don’t tell me that what you’re doing is saving the country or the city or the town.”
Detroit’s ongoing struggles, including a long history of political corruption and one of the highest murder rates in the country, can’t be solved by new immigrants, he added.
Hurting American workers?
Last week, White House senior adviser for policy Stephen Miller announced the administration’s support for an immigration bill that would cut legal immigration by half.
Their premise that less-skilled immigrants take away work opportunities from native-born Americans is an “America first” message intended to resonate with President Donald Trump’s base in depressed rust belt towns like Detroit.
“How is it fair, or right or proper that if, say, you open up a new business in Detroit, that the unemployed workers of Detroit are going to have to compete against an endless flow of unskilled workers for the exact same jobs?” asked Miller during a White House press briefing Aug. 2.
Global Detroit’s Tobocman says Trump’s proposed policies won’t produce any new jobs and may cost the Michigan economy hundreds of millions of dollars.
“[Trump’s actions would choke] off a critical supply of talent, of investment, and of global connections that are critical to the future of Michigan, to us being a mobility capital for the world,” Tobocman said.
Detroit suffered an unemployment rate of 28.4 percent during the great recession, but had rebounded to 7.8 percent in June.
Banglatown
Following the likes of Mexicantown, Metro Detroit’s second-most populous foreign-born community, from Bangladesh, hopes to follow suit and create a cultural tourist destination of its own: Banglatown.
“You will hardly find any vacant spot right now,” said Ehsan Taqbeem, founder of Bangladeshi-American Public Affairs Committee (BAPAC), driving his Jeep Grand Cherokee past South Asian restaurants, fabric and fish shops in Detroit and neighboring Hamtramck.
“The value of the homes have gone up since [the recession], businesses have been thriving, and traffic has gone up tremendously,” he said.
Unlike Mexicantown, Banglatown is a concept still in its early stages. There are no traditional rickshaws carrying tourists down Conant Avenue — at least not yet.
But Taqbeem, who runs an automotive retrofitting service, along with other local business owners, sees the benefit of being a branded community in a global-minded city.
Mahabub Chowdhury, part-owner of Aladdin Sweets & Cafe, found success in nourishing his neighborhood and patrons, a majority of whom are non-Bangladeshis. One regular customer, whom he describes as a nice “American white person,” calls him directly.
“Sometimes his car is broken, and he calls us, ‘Can you pick me up from my house?’ And we go to his house and bring him to our restaurant,” Chowdhury said.
‘Believing in Detroit’
In Mexicantown, Lopez’s eyes well as he recalls his early days on a Jalisco ranch, before finding eventual success in Detroit.
“My main dream was to be able to buy a truck for my dad,” Lopez said. “I worked all my life, and when I had the money, I didn’t have my father anymore.”
Now an American citizen, López, a father of four, says he accomplished the American Dream by creating something that will outlive him and provide for the community long after he has passed.
What Detroit still needs, he said, is more people to call it home.
“That’s happening little by little,” Lopez said. “The greatest changes won’t happen overnight.”
“They happen slowly, and that’s part of believing in oneself, believing in Detroit,” he said.
Star Tau Ceti Has Two Planets in Habitable Zone
Scientists from U.S. and Britain have found four planets, slightly larger than Earth, orbiting a star visible with a naked eye.
Using a technique so sensitive that it can measure tiny changes in the light emitted by stars, scientists at University of California Santa Cruz and the University of Hertfordshire detected the planets orbiting the star Tau Ceti, which is 12 light-years from Earth. Two of the planets orbit in the so-called habitable zone, meaning the surface water could possibly exist.
The changes in light are caused by gravitational pull of the planets orbiting the star.
Tau Ceti, in the south of the constellation Cetus, emits light spectrum similar to our sun but is about 25 percent smaller.
The two planets in its habitable zone are larger than Earth, but frequent bombardment by asteroids and comets from the star’s massive debris ring make them improbable candidates to sustain life.
Observations were done from the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.
…
Solar Energy ‘Flower’ Harvests Clean Energy
Some countries depend heavily on fossil fuels for power, including the Philippines. But now a kind of solar energy “flower” is among the clean power alternatives there. The Smartflower can produce 40 percent more energy than a traditional rooftop solar design. VOA’s Deborah Block tells us more about it.
…
Citizen Journalists Wage Online War Against ISIS
City of Ghosts is a new documentary that follows an underground group of citizen journalists from IS occupied Raqqa, Syria, risking their lives and using social media to expose the atrocities of the militants against civilians.
The goal of the group, called Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, is to broadcast information online about IS atrocities in Raqqa, Syria.
Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists awarded the group its International Press Freedom Award. In an interview with Voice of America, Abdul Aziz al-Hamza said that Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), was created to protest the activities of the Assad regime. Later, the group expanded its activities to include IS, when Islamic State turned Raqqa into its makeshift capital.
Waging war on the internet
Al-Hamza says his group is waging an online war against IS propaganda.
“ISIS prevented all media organizations to go over there to cover what’s going on, and we ended up watching propaganda coming from our city. All of us have families, relatives, friends, so we decided that we needed to do something for them. The problem with ISIS is the ideology,” he said.
“Defeating ISIS as a group is not going to solve the problem,” he added. “We are fighting against ISIS ideology because it’s not just in Raqqa, Syria, and Iraq. We’ve seen ISIS in Europe, in the U.S., in Asia, so the main goal is to work against this ideology.”
Al-Hamza said his organization has drawn the attention of international media and has lifted the veil of isolation for the besieged civilians in Raqqa; it has also roused the wrath of IS.
In his film City of Ghosts, Matthew Heineman, follows the underground group and its activities from safe houses in Turkey and Germany, posting videos, pictures and other news about IS-besieged Raqqa they receive from counterparts in Raqqa. He also looks into their private lives, as husbands, sons and friends, and also as refugees.
“It became an immigrant story,” Heineman said. “It became a story of rising nationalism in Europe. It became a story of trauma and the cumulative effects of trauma. So, it became much more that I thought it originally would be.”
Exposing the ‘crumbling’ ISIS regime
AL-Hamza says the goal of RBSS is to expose the crumbling IS regime in Raqqa.
“Everything is getting expensive in the city,” he said. “People are missing medical equipment, there are only three or four pharmacies working, only one hospital working. There is almost no electricity, the water is coming for three or four hours daily.”
Watch: Citizen Journalists Wage Online War on ISIS
RBSS online resistance has galvanized Raqqa’s civilians, he said.
Many people internationally have the idea that most people living in Raqqa or IS territories support the group. But, for example, in Raqqa less than 1 percent of the people joined IS, which means that most people are against IS, he said.
“Most decided to stay civilians and not join ISIS despite the perks that if you joined ISIS you get salaries in dollars, cars for free, oil for free, they would get women, power, whatever they want,” he said. Today, he added, “there are thousands of people providing us with news, and what is happening in IS occupied territories.”
Al-Hamza was not trained to be a journalist. Before the Syrian revolution, he was studying biochemistry. Others like him were studying to be doctors or lawyers.
“When the Syrian revolution started, I didn’t think I would end up in this situation or here talking with you,” he said. “But it was that kind of duty that all of us had to do, and we’ve decided that we will not stop. So, we’ve lost family members, friends, relatives doing this work,” he said.
As for their newfound publicity through Heineman’s documentary City of Ghosts, al-Hamza said “it was important to show our faces, because especially when we started, many people started to say that we are a government group or a government organization, we wanted people to know that we are local. We are from the city.”
How will end? “Either we will win or they will kill all of us,” he said.
…
Citizen Journalists Wage Online War on ISIS
A new documentary follows an underground group of citizen journalists from ISIS occupied Raqqa Syria, risking their lives to expose the atrocities of the militants against civilians on social media. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Matthew Heineman as well as Abdul-Aziz al-Hamza, the co-founder of the group called “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.”
…
Beleaguered Detroit Relying on Immigrants to Revitalize City
Detroit, Michigan, knows hardship and recovery. One of the hardest hit areas in the country during the Great Recession, the Midwestern Rust Belt city has since found an ingredient to its economic revitalization through empowerment of its immigrant communities. But not everyone is convinced that the solution is viable or helps anyone beyond the immigrants themselves. Ramon Taylor has more.
…
Perseid Meteor Shower Provides Opening Act for Solar Eclipse
The Perseid meteor shower peaks every year about this time as the Earth passes debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet, but this year the annual shower will come about a week before a total solar eclipse.
The meteor shower, which occurs each year in July or August, will see hundreds of meteors pass through the sky in an event that will be visible around the world.
Experts expect the shower to peak overnight Saturday into Sunday, though the Perseids could be a bit harder to see this year with the moon nearly full. Typical rates are about 80 meteors per hour – last year, 2016, the rate was 150-200 meteors per hour.
The shower occurs when the Earth travels through the tail of dust and ice left behind as the Swift-Tuttle comet orbits the sun. The actual meteors are usually no bigger than a grain of sand, but when they hit the Earth’s atmosphere traveling at speeds upwards of 60 kilometers per second, they burn up in a mesmerizing color show of white, orange and green hues.
The Perseids are named after the Perseus constellation, as that is where they appear to originate from in the northeastern night sky.
While the Perseids likely will draw large crowds of spectators around the world, those based in the United States will have the chance to see an even bigger astronomical event next week when the U.S. will witness the first total solar eclipse across the country in almost 100 years.
During the eclipse on August 21, the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun, completely blocking the face of the sun and darkening skies all the way from Oregon on the West Coast to South Carolina on the East Coast.
While total solar eclipses happen somewhere on Earth almost every year, they mostly occur in remote locations or over the ocean, where few if any people actually witness them. The last time a total eclipse happened over the contiguous U.S. was in 1979.
…
Got Text Neck? Try Pilates
Pilates is a fitness regimen that has been around for nearly 100 years, using controlled movements to build strength and improve flexibility. Now, a pilates class in New York City is taking on a 21st century malady specific to our digital culture and obsession with texting. VOA’s Tina Trinh went to the Gramercy Pilates NYC studio to check out their “Pilates for Text Neck” class.
…
Electric Car Worry: Where Can You Charge It?
Around the world, support is growing for electric cars. Automakers are delivering more electric models with longer range and lower prices, such as the Chevrolet Bolt and the Tesla Model 3. China has set aggressive targets for electric vehicle sales to curb pollution; some European countries aim to be all-electric by 2040 or sooner.
Those lofty ambitions face numerous challenges, including one practical consideration for consumers: If they buy electric cars, where will they charge them?
The distribution of public charging stations is wildly uneven around the globe. Places with lots of support from governments or utilities, like China, the Netherlands and California, have thousands of public charging outlets. Buyers of Tesla’s luxury models have access to a company-funded Supercharger network.
Charging stations scarce
But in many places, public charging remains scarce. That’s a problem for people who need to drive further than the 200 miles or so that most electric cars can travel. It’s also a barrier for the millions of people who don’t have a garage to plug in their cars overnight.
“Do we have what we need? The answer at the moment is, ‘No,’” said Graham Evans, an analyst with IHS Markit.
Take Norway, which has publicly funded charging and generous incentives for electric car buyers. Architect Nils Henningstad drives past 20 to 30 charging stations each day on his 22-mile (35-kilometer) commute to Oslo. He works for the city and can charge his Nissan Leaf at work; his fiancee charges her Tesla SUV at home or at one of the world’s largest Tesla Supercharger stations, 20 miles away.
It’s a very different landscape in New Berlin, Wisconsin, where Jeff Solie relies on the charging system he rigged up in his garage to charge two Tesla sedans and a Volt. Solie and his wife don’t have chargers at their offices, and the nearest Tesla Superchargers are 45 miles (72 kilometers) away.
“If I can’t charge at home, there’s no way for me to have electric cars as my primary source of transportation,” said Solie, who works for the media company E.W. Scripps.
Small percentage of electric vehicles
The uneven distribution of chargers worries many potential electric vehicle owners. It’s one reason electric vehicles make up less than 1 percent of cars on the road.
“Humans worst-case their purchases of automobiles. You have to prove to the consumer that they can drive across the country, even though they probably won’t,” said Pasquale Romano, the CEO of ChargePoint, one of the largest charging station providers in North America and Europe.
Romano says there’s no exact ratio of the number of chargers needed per car. But he says workplaces should have one charger for every 2.5 electric cars and retail stores need one for every 20 electric cars. Highways need one every 50 to 75 miles, he says. That suggests a lot of gaps still need to be filled.
Filling the charging gap
Automakers and governments are pushing to fill them. The number of publicly available, global charging spots grew 72 percent to more than 322,000 last year, the International Energy Agency said. Navigant Research expects that to grow to more than 2.2 million by 2026; more than one-third of those will be in China.
Tesla Inc., which figured out years ago that people wouldn’t buy its cars without roadside charging, is doubling its global network of Supercharger stations to 10,000 this year. BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen and Ford are building 400 fast-charging stations in Europe. Volkswagen is building hundreds of stations across the U.S. as part of its settlement for selling polluting diesel engines. Even oil-rich Dubai, which just got its first Tesla showroom, has more than 50 locations to charge electric cars.
But there are pitfalls. There are different types of charging stations, and no one knows the exact mix drivers will eventually need. A grocery store might spend $5,000 for an AC charge point, which provides a car with 5 to 15 miles of range in 30 minutes. But once most cars get 200 or 300 miles per charge, slow chargers are less necessary. Electric cars with longer range need fast-charging DC chargers along highways, but DC chargers cost $35,000 or more.
That uncertainty makes it difficult to make money setting up chargers, says Lisa Jerram, an associate director with Navigant Research. For at least the next three to five years, she says, deep-pocketed automakers, governments and utilities will be primarily responsible for building charging infrastructure.
There’s also the question of who will meet the needs of apartment dwellers. San Francisco, Shanghai and Vancouver, Canada, are now requiring new homes and apartment buildings to be wired for EV charging.
But without government support, plans for charging stations can falter. In Michigan, a utility’s $15 million plan to install 800 public charging stations was scrapped in April after state officials and ChargePoint objected.
Solie, the electric car owner in Wisconsin, likes Europe’s approach: Governments should set bold targets for electric car sales and let the private sector meet the need.
“If the U.S. were to send up a flare that policy was going to change … investments would become very attractive,” he said.
…
Let It Be, Mongolians Say of Their Monument to Beatles
A statue of the Beatles in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar could be at risk in an alleged land grab, protesters say, as rapid development turns a city once famed for wide open spaces into a cluttered metropolis.
Residents are protesting plans to build commercial properties in an area known as Beatles Square, where a bronze bas-relief monument to the “Fab Four” commemorates the former Soviet satellite’s transition to democracy in 1990.
“For a long time there were stories about construction on the land, but nobody wanted to believe it,” said Tsoggerel Uyanga, a community organizer and senior partner at research group MAD Investment Solutions.
Rock and Roll Communist Revolution
The monument, erected in 2008 with donations from politicians, businessmen and artists, marks the site where Mongolians gathered to talk about banned Western pop music and soon became a quirky tourist attraction.
The music of the Beatles, Abba, and other Western pop groups helped launch the “Rock and Roll Communist Revolution” that inspired a generation to fight for Mongolian democracy 30 years ago.
The protests began after an Aug. 2 announcement that construction work would start, with residents calling the project a “land grab” and expressing fears the Beatles statue could be moved or even demolished.
Authorities have defended the development as part of a “car-free street” project to build an underground shopping complex complete with street gardens.
A lawyer for Mongolia’s National Construction Association said there were no plans to remove the Beatles statue, however.
“By implementing the project, there are a great deal of advantages, such as increasing jobs and reducing traffic congestion,” said D. Uuganbayar, the lawyer.
Congestion, pollution grow
Congestion and pollution have grown in the capital as its population has doubled over the last two decades, with thousands of impoverished herders flocking to settle in makeshift residential areas.
The strain on Ulaanbaatar’s infrastructure has forced the city to rethink its planning of urban spaces, and drawn criticism for the sale of public land to wealthy buyers.
Investors have failed in the past to deliver on promises to protect public spaces affected by development, Uyanga said, pointing to the Bogd Khan conservation area where the World Bank had raised concerns about overdevelopment.
“It became a black market for land authorities during the early democratic years,” said Uyanga.
…
Pilates Class Takes On ‘Text Neck’ Syndrome
In the sports world, repetitive movements and muscle overuse eventually lead to strain and injury.
The consequences of staring down at our phones day in and day out? Text neck. It’s the poor posture that results from your bent head adding tension to your neck and spine.
One Pilates class in New York City — “Pilates for Text Necks” — is tackling this 21st century malady.
“The more and more that people are texting and being on their computers,” said Kimberly Fielding, creator of the class and director of teacher training at Gramercy Pilates NYC. “They’re suffering later on.”
Watch: Got Text Neck? Try Pilates
Havoc for the body
The problem, as she sees it, is that anything that changes the curve of the neck can create havoc for the rest of the body.
“Instead of the cervical spine going inward, the curve can be a little bit different, and it causes nerve pain and herniation and different muscle tension headaches, different things that really can reduce quality of life,” she said.
Fielding created the class after noticing more and more of her clients coming in with forward head posture, wherein the head and neck tended to be stretched forward instead of properly aligned over the spine.
The class uses different exercises to release tension in the neck, shoulders and upper body, while strengthening back and neck muscles.
“It’s a little uncomfortable, but it’s because those muscles a lot times are so weak from being overstretched and being in this other position,” Fielding said.
Start with breathing
The class works with the whole body, incorporating chin tucks, neck stretches and upper and lower body strengthening exercises. Breathing and posture awareness are essential components.
Fielding recommends aiming for a “360-degree expansion” of your ribcage, getting your breath to move up and down your torso, back, middle and front, by breathing in through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.
“The easiest thing that someone can do is to start to breathe, to try to release some of those muscles that are in our back and in our neck,” she said.
Outside of the Pilates studio, there are everyday fixes. Chin tucks (tucking your chin down and back to make a double chin) are one. The action helps bring your neck in alignment with your spine. Fielding recommends doing 10 chin tucks at a time, holding each for 5 seconds.
Then there’s the not-so-cool solution: Holding your phone at eye level like an actor onstage giving Julius Caesar’s “Friends, Romans, countrymen” speech.
“I have a feeling that more and more people are going to be doing this, because we have to save our spine, right?” she said.
‘I have a neck now’
Students report positive results.
“I feel a big difference,” said Yasmin Venable. “I used to carry a lot of tension, especially in my upper arms and have like this, ugh feeling and now I feel like, I have a neck now.”
Skeptics may have their doubts, but texting isn’t going away anytime soon. Not to mention video games, laptops and computers, where text neck positions are often assumed.
With some corrective action, the aches and pains associated with these digital-age habits no longer have to be a pain in the neck.
…
Judge in Groping Case Tosses DJ’s Suit Against Taylor Swift
A judge on Friday threw out a Denver radio host’s case against Taylor Swift in a trial that delved into their dueling lawsuits over whether he groped her during a backstage meet-and-greet and whether she and her team ruined his career.
U.S. District Judge William Martinez determined that the pop star could not be held liable because David Mueller failed to prove that she personally set out to have him fired after the 2013 photo op before a concert. His identical allegations against Swift’s mother and her radio liaison will go to jurors for a verdict.
Mueller denies groping Swift and sued the singer, her mother, Andrea Swift, and their radio handler, Frank Bell, seeking up to $3 million as compensation for his ruined career.
The singer-songwriter said in her countersuit that she wanted a symbolic $1 and the chance to stand up for other women.
With jurors outside the courtroom Friday, attorneys on both sides argued over whether Mueller had presented enough evidence to send his full case to the jury. Those statements and the judge’s questions focused on whether Swift herself had done anything to get Mueller fired.
It comes after days of testimony from the singer and others. Swift spent an hour on the witness stand Thursday defiantly recounting what she called a “despicable and horrifying and shocking” encounter.
“He stayed attached to my bare ass-cheek as I lurched away from him,” Swift testified.
“It was a definite grab. A very long grab,” she added in her testimony.
Swift’s testy exchange with Mueller’s attorney occasionally elicited chuckles — even from the six-woman, two-man jury. She got a laugh when she said Dent saw Mueller “lift my skirt” but someone would have had to have been underneath her to see the actual groping — “and we didn’t have anyone positioned there.”
Swift testified that after the photo was taken, she tried to get as far away Mueller as she could. She said she told him and his girlfriend, who was also in the photo, “thank you for coming” in a monotone voice before they left.
She also said she was stunned and did not say anything to Mueller or halt the event after he left because she did not want to disappoint several dozen people waiting in line for photos with her.
In the image, shown to jurors during opening statements but not publicly released, Mueller’s hand is behind Swift, just below her waist. Mueller’s then-girlfriend, Shannon Melcher, is on the other side of Swift. All three are smiling.
Melcher testified Friday that she saw nothing happen during the brief encounter and that she and Mueller were rudely confronted and escorted out of the arena that evening. Melcher said Mueller was devastated by the accusation.
She said she and Mueller started out as co-workers at country station KYGO-FM and became romantically involved in February 2013, a few months before the concert. They drifted apart late in 2013, but Melcher says they remained friends.
…
US Stocks Post Gains Friday After Several Down Days
U.S. stock market indexes posted gains in Friday’s trading, a change in direction after several down days amid tensions between President Donald Trump and North Korea.
In New York, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average each advanced about one-tenth of a percentage point, while the Nasdaq composite index rose almost eight-tenths of a percentage point. Earlier, stocks in Paris and London were off 1 percent, while Hong Kong stocks fell 2 percent and Korean shares slid nearly as much.
Global stock prices had been falling for several days, losing nearly $1 trillion in value during angry exchanges between the U.S. and North Korea, which continued Friday.
Investors have reason for concern, according to Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist of IHS Markit. He said the economic consequences of even a conventional conflict would most likely be “horrific” and “devastate” the South Korean economy, hurting that nation’s trading partners, particularly Japan.
In an email exchange with VOA, Biswas called the possibility that North Korea could actually use nuclear weapons a “nightmare but still low probability scenario” and noted there had been prior incidents of rising tensions on the peninsula.
A similar view came from Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, who wrote, “All parties, including the North Koreans, have substantial incentives to once again cut a deal rather than fight. Based on past crises, there will be a great deal of theater, only to end in some kind of deal.”
He wrote that military action was “unlikely” in the short term, suggesting “worry is overdone at the moment.” But he wrote that military action “is actually very possible in the medium term.”
McMillan wrote that such a conflict could have “dramatic and substantial” impact on many economies because South Korea “is a major trading and manufacturing hub.” That means “disruption there would break supply chains around the world” and might last “for months or years.”
He wrote that rising uncertainty would prompt money to move out of stocks and into less risky investments, which would drive down stock market prices: “Clearly, there are real reasons to try to avoid a war.”
…