text:
Decriminalization vs. Legalization
As Maryland is poised to become the next state to decriminalize marijuana, MD Delegate Keiffer Jackson Mitchell and LEAP Executive Director Neill Franklin debate whether it can end the racial disparity in drug-related arrests.
Jessica Desvarieux ,
JESSICA DESVARIEUX, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux in Baltimore.
This week, the Maryland Senate voted 34 to eight to decriminalize marijuana. It will soon be the law here in Maryland after Governor Martin O'Malley said he'll sign the bill, which would impose only civil fines, rather than criminal offenses, on those caught with less than ten grams of marijuana.
But what else is in the bill? There'll be fines for multiple offenses. A second violation would carry a $250 fine, and a third offense would have a $500 fine. Also, a violator who is younger than 21 would have to appear in court.
Maryland will be joining 24 other states that have either decriminalized marijuana or legalized it.
Now joining us in-studio to unpack how this will affect everyday citizens are our two guests.
Neill Franklin is the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, otherwise known as LEAP. He's worked in law enforcement for more than 30 years and witnessed the war on drugs firsthand.
Also joining us is Keiffer Jackson Mitchell. He's a member of the Maryland House of delegates for the 44th District in Baltimore City, and he voted for the bill decriminalizing marijuana in the state of Maryland.
Thank you both, gentlemen, for joining us.
KEIFFER J. MITCHELL, DELEGATE, MARYLAND HOUSE OF DELEGATES: Thank you.
NEILL FRANKLIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LEAP: Thanks for having me.
DESVARIEUX: Okay. So let's just jump right into this. Keiffer, I'm actually going to start off with you—actually, you know, let's first start off with Neill, because I know at the end of the day we all recognize that the war on drugs is not working. And we are seeing—I want to pull up this chart—how it affects disproportionately African Americans. So you can see in these two charts there's twice as many blacks going to jail as whites for marijuana possession despite usage levels being about the same.
Neill, I know that you're critical a bout the bill because you guys are pushing, really, for legalization. But isn't this a step in the right direction? Oh, absolutely it's as step in the right direction. Obviously, I would prefer to legalize it, tax and regulate.
And the reason I think it's better for us to keep looking forward to tax and regulate is because even though we're not going to be criminally charging people for possession of ten grams or less of marijuana, what happens when they can't afford the $100 fine? Okay? Certain people will be able to afford the fine, but our poor communities will not. Folks in our poorer communities will not. And I believe it then becomes—a bench warrant may be issued, or if they don't show up in court, then we're back into the criminal realm. So in that sense it's still problematic.
And in decriminalization, as what this bill is about, still does nothing to get our marijuana dealers off of our street corners. Okay? It's still, you know, thousands if not millions of dollars going into the hands of criminal gangs and organizations, and ultimately ending up in the pockets of the cartel. And, again, marijuana across this country, really, around the globe, is roughly 60 percent of all the profits being made in the entire illicit drug trade. So, again, moving to a place of legalization, you know, tax, and regulation will bring that money away from criminal organizations, out of the pockets of criminal gangs, and into the pockets of our citizens and our state coffers.
DESVARIEUX: Keiffer, I wanted you to—get your response, address that first point that Neill made about us actually just getting back to where we started, people not being able to afford these fines.
MITCHELL: Right. Right. Well, we—you know, the bill, I think, is—it's a step in the right direction as it relates to criminal—in terms of the civil penalties. You know, you have the escalating fine of $100 to $250, and $500 on a third offense.
The fact remains that, you know, marijuana is still illegal in the state of Maryland. And to show that it is still illegal, you have these penalties. You know. I don't think if we had lowered the fine or anything like that, I don't think it would send much of a message that it is still a illegal narcotic in the state of Maryland and other states. So, you know, I think the $100 fine is right, and I actually think that the $250 and $500 fine is also right, with all due respect, a step in the right direction.
As—I always call him Colonel in everything, 'cause that was his title—as Colonel Franklin has said, that, you know, it's not going to get the drug dealers off the corners, things like that. But I always remind people from the study, Maryland spends about $106 million just on enforcing marijuana policy or arrest or prosecution. So you take that $106 million. Now you can start using that money to really go after the enforcement of the larger dealers. So I think that's a step in the right direction.
DESVARIEUX: Neill, I see you nodding your head, but—.
FRANKLIN: I'm nodding my head about the money that we're currently spending, you know, with criminalization. And, you know, the time and energy that our police department is wasting on this.
I might disagree a little bit with that, what—the savings going back into law enforcement, you know, to work on other, you know, drug dealers and whatever. I think, personally, I would like to see that money go to education and treatment and go into our school systems. And I know you won't mind [incompr.] maybe part of it can go there because he's a teacher, he's an educator. So I think that we need to continue to pull the police out of the drug-management business and put more of our resources into health and education.
And I think that the police should focus more, use the time that they're going to have now, to focus more on violent crime, to focus more on robberies and rapes and crimes against our children, domestic violence. We know we have a problem in Baltimore with both domestic violence investigations and rape investigations, and I think we could focus more on that.
DESVARIEUX: Okay. So—. Oh, sure. Please.
MITCHELL: Real quick, on the fine piece before we leave that, the $100, $250, and the $500. That money also is going to be going toward drug education and drug treatment. So, you know, that money is not just going into the general fund just to sit in the general fund, but it is supposed to go toward drug treatment.
DESVARIEUX: So we know where you two stand. But let's bring in the American public's opinion. So there was a recent New York Times-CBS poll that found that the majority of Americans actually support legalization. So, Keiffer, shouldn't the legislation that's put in place be reflective of that? Shouldn't we be pushing for legalization, then?
MITCHELL: Oh, I am one of the minority. I should be counted as a minority in that New York Times-CBS poll. I am not there yet as it relates to legalization. I still believe that marijuana is a gateway drug. I would like to see more studies about the legalization of marijuana.
So far, right now Colorado and Washington are legalized. I think it's still too early to find out what are not just the whole ramifications of that, but also, you know, what are the unintended consequences of legalization that they are seeing in Washington and Colorado, and also remind people that it wasn't their legislators that voted for it; it was a referendum by the public at the polls. So, you know, those are the things that took place as it relates to legalization.
DESVARIEUX: Okay. Neill, what's your take on that?
MITCHELL: Well, obviously, the polling that we're talking about continues to move in the direction of more support nationally from our citizens, more support for legalization. Every year, the percentages go up.
I think I have an advantage over most people in looking at this because I've been in law enforcement for a number of years, worked, you know, on the front lines of the war on drugs. But that's not where it ends. I've also been on [incompr.] I've also cochaired committees dealing with—from a health perspective, dealing with treatment and education in Harford County. I did that for a number of years. I've traveled around the country. I've traveled around the globe. I've got this—I've had the opportunity to literally see this from a mountaintop perspective, you know, looking down around the entire landscape on this drug-management issue. And so I see it differently.
I see that the current illicit marketplace is the gateway. It is the environment that is the gateway, not a particular substance or drug, but the environment that we have of drug dealers acting on our corners hiring kids to sell drugs, marijuana and other drugs, recruiting them from our schools, bringing them out onto the street corners, to sell drugs in schools to other children. We've created an environment with policies of prohibition that puts more drugs into the hands of our young people than any other scheme we could possibly imagine. This is the worst. And we realized that back during the times of alcohol prohibition. That's why alcohol prohibition only lasted 13 years instead of four decades.
DESVARIEUX: So you obviously don't agree with that, Keiffer.
MITCHELL: Well, like I say, it's still too soon. I mean, we're dealing with marijuana, but you also—.
And I agree that the war on drugs has not worked and the amount of resources we have. You know, there's no question about that. I also believe that the war on drugs has created this racial disparity in terms of who gets locked up and who doesn't and where the enforcement is taking place.
But on the other hand, I also believe that, you know, with marijuana, in terms of what I've read and what I've learned, is that marijuana is a gateway drug. And then where do we stop, in terms of the legalization? You know, you have heroin. [incompr.] a district in West Baltimore where I come into contact with heroin addicts all the time. You can just go a few blocks over here to Lexington Market, in that area, and look at the number of methadone clinics that are in that area and look at the number of people who are hanging around getting their methadone for the day but who are out there, who still want that hit or something like that.
I think there needs to be a combination: instead of just the enforcement, the educational piece, you start off young, you get into the schools.
We've lost—. I am a Democrat, alright? I'm a big-time Democrat. But, you know, when Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan were talking about the war on drugs, they started going into the schools, giving kids the education, and you had the "just say no" type campaign. I still believe that you have to get and spend your resources and time in the schools to get them while they're young.
And also there are some other programs that are put in place in terms of jobs. You know, kids I talk to who are dealing drugs and that sort of nature, you know, they want jobs. But they're not—if they can make a lot of money standing on a street corner instead of flipping burgers somewhere, they're going to look at taking care of their families and making that money. But you have to get them other resources out there for that.
DESVARIEUX: So, Keiffer, if I'm understanding you correctly, do you think legalization would just lead to just more usage and therefore—?
MITCHELL: That's what I—I believe it would lead to—I think it would send a wrong message, and I do believe that it will lead to more usage.
DESVARIEUX: Okay. Neill, do you have any—to counter that?
FRANKLIN: Well, we are really at the same place for the most part of this. Putting our resources into education and treatment first in front of law enforcement and criminalization, yeah, that's where we should be and that's where we're not at the moment.
The other side of that coin as it relates to those wonderful programs in our schools, you know, educating our kids, the other side of that coin is the family. You see, once the family unit is actually more effective in keeping kids away from using drugs and doing things that will harm them. There's more legal things out there that will harm our kids than those that are illegal.
But our policies of prohibition have destroyed, for instance, the black family, the mass incarceration and the disparity issues. You know, when you have so many—according to the NAACP, one in nine black children have a parent or parents in the criminal justice system. For white children it's one in 54. Okay?
Now, when you have families, when you send someone to prison, you send the entire family to prison. And we know when you send someone to prison they do not return to us a better person. For the most part, they're going to return to us and our communities in worse shape than what they were when they went in in how they treat people, because when you go in, you have 24 hours to decide whether you're going to be the prey or predator while you're in prison. Most people return to us as predators, because they are not correctional facilities. In addition to that, when they do return to us, very difficult to get a job because now they're strapped with a criminal record. Okay? That frustration, many of them can't even live with their families if their families are living in public housing, because they're a convicted drug felon. You know, that does nothing for our communities. That does nothing for the children who live in those households in working to keep them from using drugs or becoming involved in the drug trade.
I think it has to be some of both. I think it has to be, obviously, putting our money and resources into education and treatment. And then, on the other side of that coin, we have to eliminate the illicit trade. We have to take the money out of that business so people will feel comfortable working at and feel good about working at places like McDonald's and Walmart and some of the other places.
DESVARIEUX: And the way you take the money out is by legalizing it.
FRANKLIN: That's the only way to take the money out.
DESVARIEUX: Okay. Alright. Let's move on a little bit. And I want to get your take on just why do we not know enough about—. I want to speak specifically about legalization in Colorado, 'cause I know you were there, Keiffer. Can you just describe a little bit about what you witnessed? And I'll get your response to—.
MITCHELL: Last year, I was there for a conference, and I walked around downtown Denver in the tourist area. And I guess they call it LoDo. And the smell of marijuana was inescapable. You could smell it as a tourist. Now, I don't know if they've done anything to rectify that or to, you know, curb it, but it jumped out at you. You know, it is one thing when it's cigarette smoke. You know, people know what cigarette smoke is. But when I was out there in the tourist area, it was out there. I don't think they're allowed to smoke in restaurants or bars and cafes at all. But you—you know, I saw people smoking marijuana sitting on a bench at a bus stop or walking down a street smoking.
And, you know, I grew up in an area where I don't do drugs, don't do it, and it was out there, and it made for an unpleasant experience for me as a tourist walking around Denver.
And this past November of last year, the mayor of Denver was in Washington, D.C., and I talked to him and I told him about my experience, and he said that, you know, when the referendum came to light and it was implemented, there were some unintended consequences that kind of left holes along what local jurisdictions can do in terms of a time and place about marijuana and where they can smoke it, and then the dealing. They still have to work out the kinks.
So, in other words, what I thought that he was saying was that it kind of put the cart before the horse, so to speak, to say this is what we need to do. So I think locally there needs to be some things put in place to allow—you know, if they were going to smoke marijuana, but, you know, not all of us need to be around it.
DESVARIEUX: Yeah, these are some legitimate concerns. You have people who are saying, you know, if you legalize it, then, you know, these unintended consequences are going to be arising.
Neill, how do you deal with that?
FRANKLIN: And I agree. And that not only will change; it is changing there, because, first of all, this is something new. for most people. Okay? And, you know, a lot of that is just celebration. You know, oh, wow, we have the freedom to do what we want to do. But that is changing as the local jurisdictions put, you know, policies in place, you know, so the people will be writing people tickets. You're smoking on a park bench? Here's your $50 ticket or whatever that fine is going to be. But I think it goes even beyond that. It goes to the place of what we did with tobacco products.
So it's a social thing. You know, it's people—also people at the bus stop bench saying, you know, hey, put out the joint until you get home, okay? You know, I don't want to smell it. I understand, you know, it's legal now, but no. You know. And that's what we've done with tobacco products. You know, people actually feel like outcasts who smoke tobacco products today. And it will be the same socially. We will apply that pressure to people who are smoking marijuana so you won't have that environment. You know, like, today, when you go outside and you're out and about, I very seldom smell cigarette smoke. I can't remember the last time I had. This is new with marijuana, and it'll change, just like we've done with tobacco.
And, also, with tobacco what we've done over the past couple of decades, the most—one of the most, if not the most addictive drugs known to man, nicotine, reduced consumption by about 40 percent. We've sent no one to prison. We don't have any shoot-outs in our streets. And our kids aren't coming out of school to sell it on street corners, because it's regulated and controlled. But social pressure and regulations in place locally have reduced our tobacco consumption.
DESVARIEUX: Alright. Neill Franklin, executive director of LEAP, and Keiffer Jackson Mitchell, thank you both for joining us.
MITCHELL: Thank you.
FRANKLIN: Thanks.
DESVARIEUX: And, of course, you can follow us on Twitter @therealnews, and you can send me comments, questions @Jessica_Reports.
Thank you so much for joining us on The Real News Network.
Jessica Desvarieux
Government Allows Health Plans That Ripped Off Medicare to Pocket Overcharges
Audits, investigations and whistleblower lawsuits allege that the overcharges cost taxpayers billions per year.
Fred Schulte ,
KaiserHealthNews
Chevron More Than Doubled Its Profits Last Year as Gas Prices Squeezed Wallets
The profits report comes just two days after Chevron announced it's tripling its stock buyback budget to $75 billion.
National Guard Wants to Expand Its Training Site to Twice the Size of Chicago
The proposed expansion would allow for increased use and testing of new technologies, particularly electronic warfare.
Joe Garofalo ,
LeftVoice
The US Finally Removes a Major Barrier to Opioid Addiction Treatment
Advocates say deregulating buprenorphine is a long overdue step toward ending the overdose crisis.
Mike Ludwig ,
Pentagon's Report on China Doesn't Say a Word About Threat of Climate Crisis
It's time the U.S. and China move toward collaborative efforts aimed at reducing our mutual climate vulnerabilities.
Michael T. Klare ,
White House Refuses to Shield Endangered Right Whales From Lethal Vessel Strikes
North Atlantic right whales are facing "an extinction-level emergency," said one campaigner.
Kenny Stancil ,
Greta Thunberg's Arrest Demonstrates Why Energy Charter Treaty Must Be Abolished
The treaty allows fossil fuel companies to sue governments for taking action to combat climate change.
Theresa Kofler &
Niels Jongerius ,
Report Shows "Vicious Cycle" Between Pesticide Dependence and Climate Crisis
The report suggests combating the dangerous effects of pesticides through sustainable farming.
Shannon Kelleher ,
TheNewLede
White Communities More Likely to Receive Funds to Fix Aging Water Infrastructure
A new report blames systemic racism and disinvestment for the rise in inequities in water infrastructure.
Maria Ines Zamudio ,
TheCenterforPublicIntegrity


text:
'We're livid!' Trade union urges Plaid Cymru to apologise over 'crass' and 'ill-informed' party political broadcast
Unison has urged Leanne Wood to apologise to NHS staff for the 'gross offence' caused by the broadcast, which aired last week on television
Mark SmithHealth Correspondent
Plaid Cymru's party political broadcast was criticised by Unison for being 'crass' and 'ill-informed
Want to keep up to date on Welsh politics?
Sign up and get political news sent straight to your inbox
A trade union which represents thousands of health workers says it is "livid" at Plaid Cymru for their "ill-informed" party political broadcast.
Unison Cymru Wales has urged Leanne Wood to apologise to NHS staff for the "gross offence" caused by the broadcast, which aired last week on television.
The two-and-a-half minute long segment was set in a run-down workingmen's club with a sign reading "The Labour Party" on the front door.
Wales 'lagging behind' in health
It goes on to criticise Wales' 16 years of Labour rule which Plaid claims has left the country lagging behind every other nation in the UK when it comes to health, education and the economy.
Unison took particular exception to a comedian in the broadcast who told a "Knock knock" joke with the punch line "the ambulance you called for...50 minutes ago."
Read more: Three reasons why senior Plaid figures are so opposed to a coalition with Welsh Labour next year
Head of health at Unison Dawn Bowden claims the joke had no basis on fact and was offensive to ambulance staff.
'We are livid'
In a letter to Leanne Wood, Mrs Bowden states: "Ambulance workers across Wales are livid that Plaid Cymru decided to dismiss their professionalism and public service ethos in such a crass and ill-informed way in last week's party political broadcast.
"You and your party owe it to Unison healthcare workers to apologise for the gross offence caused.
"To have a drunk, 70s style comedian in your broadcast pedalling a lame "Knock, knock" joke that ambulances take a blanket 50 minutes to arrive, has no basis in fact and rubbishes the hard work of our members.
Plaid Cymru's party political broadcast was criticised by Unison for being 'crass' and 'ill-informed'
"In your attempts to talk down the Wales NHS in your game of hurly-burly with the Welsh Government, you are hurting public sector workers who give everything to their community.
"The median response time for an ambulance in August this year – the latest month for which figures are available – was six minutes 45 seconds; the mean response time, nine minutes; a startling difference from the figure in your 'joke'."
Outcome-based targets
Unison is currently supporting a new patient outcome-based targets for ambulances in Wales which will focus more on clinical need rather than timed targets.
The Welsh Ambulance Service will shortly be finishing its first month of piloting the new measures , the figures of which will be released in November.
Dawn Bowden, Unison Cymru Wales head of health
Summing up, Dawn Bowden added she would like to meet with Leanne Wood to discuss the broadcast, and the work of the ambulance service, in more detail.
She added: "In the development of your health policies, please do not denigrate our hard-working members for whom public service is a badge of honour.
"I would like to meet with you to discuss this further."
'We are on the side of ambulance staff'
In response, trade union representative and Plaid Cymru Assembly candidate , Cerith Griffiths said the film made a "very important point" about the Labour Welsh government's underinvestment in the ambulance service and how they fail to take this problem seriously.
Cerith Griffiths
He said: "Not only is the film not critical of NHS staff – it explicity refers to the excellence of health professionals.
"Ambulance staff tell Plaid Cymru they are under more and more pressure and want our help to call for action from this Labour Government.
"Plaid Cymru has repeated time and time again that it is on the side of the Welsh ambulance workforce and the NHS staff.
"Those I speak to on a regular basis tell me they are having to cope with increased pressures and over-stretched resources.
"That is why Plaid Cymru has listened to NHS workers and pledged to invest more money in our health service and to recruit more staff.
""When active Labour members use a trade union platform to attack Plaid Cymru, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, but what's important is that Plaid Cymru will always work closely with unions and their members to seek fair play for our public services."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Healing pet therapy , a pet healing service developed by Karen, employs the CranioSacral (CST) Therapy for Small Animals method. It has subtle yet has profound healing effects. Karen has many satisfied "clients" so call today! Reasonably priced with house call available. Multiple pet discount offered. References are available. Her clients' are more than happy to tell you how happy they are! For more information, please continue to read.
https://animalwellnessmagazine.com by Rachel Jones DVM She wrote about the benefits of CST for you pet.
Karen received her training in CST Therapy for Small Animals by Dr. Sandra J. Howlett DC, CST-D Certified Veterinary Chiropractor, EFLC. Dr. Sandra designed the program and teaches it through the Upledger Institute.
CST for Small Animals involves a very gentle and subtle application of CranioSacral Therapy, very similar to the "human" version of CST. The therapy allows the animal to "reset" the central nervous system and promotes self regulation. In other words, it helps facilitate the animal to heal itself. It is not a form of chiropractic adjustment nor does it involve medications, herbs, remedies, or homeopathy. The session with your loving pet may take about 15 minutes. The pet will feel relaxed during the session and may be more "chilled out" afterwards. Those are the descriptive words used by Karen's furry pets' owners.
Your beloved pet(s) may sit, stand or lay down during the session. Even invalid pets will benefit! She has treated a temporarily paralyzed dog.
Karen has had wonderful success employing this method on dogs, cats, rabbits, and even a goat. Please call for prices. Multiple pet discount.
If your pet has arthritis, hip issues (does not treat hip dysplasia), ear problems, limping, etc. call today! Don't wait. Your pet wants CST for Small Animals. Your pet will thank you!
Call Karen today at 314-649-PET1, or send her an email at healingpettherapy@gmail.com to schedule a healing session for your Pet.
When your pet feels better, you feel better!
It does not replace veterinary care and you agree to not discontinue any veterinary care.
Happy goat after its CST session.


Green MSP John Finnie said he thought "only the major cities" would consider imposing the charge, which could result in commuters pay around £400 per year for driving to work.
But Mr Finnie's attempts to reassure those living in the more far-flung areas of Scotland were described as "missing the point" by the tax's critics.
Mr Finnie pointed out that Nottingham, where motorists are charged £415 for parking at work, was the only place to have introduced the tax so far.
"Given that the power has been available to authorities in England and Wales for many years and only one authority – Nottingham – has chosen to use it, I think it is highly likely that only the major cities would consider it," he said.
The parking tax has been backed by the Scottish Government as part of the SNP's deal with the Greens to get Finance Secretary Derek Mackay's budget through parliament.
Mr Finnie, who has long argued that local authorities should have the power to impose the charge, has said he will take responsibility for amending the Transport (Scotland) Bill to create the tax.
Already the proposal has seen a fierce backlash, with the Scottish Conservatives arguing it will penalise hard working employees. The Tories have also argued that it will hit rural commuters who have no option other than to drive to work in major cities such as Aberdeen.
Last night North East MSP Peter Chapman said: "John Finnie is fundamentally missing the point. It is commuters in places like Aberdeenshire that will most affected by this ill-thought tax – not those who live in cities. It is incredibly short-sighted to say this only applies in urban areas.
The Conservatives also argued that if the tax were to be passed on to employees, it would be subject to VAT.
If councils impose the charge, it could take the cost to almost £500 for each taxpayer who chooses to drive to work.
Mr Finnie went on to defend his plan, arguing that it will improve the environment as well as the health of those exposed to pollution.
"Properly applied such a scheme reduces the likelihood of people taking their vehicle into the city centre," he said.


text:
import { ConfigPlugin } from '@expo/config-plugins';
export declare function modifyJavaMainActivity(content: string): string;
declare const _default: ConfigPlugin<unknown>;
export default _default;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: setInterval - wait longer on first element for each loop I have an image slideshow that I am doing using setInterval. I would like it to hold for 5s on the first item, and then 1s on the additional items each time it loops. Here's what I tried:

let current = 0,
    delay = 5000;

const slides = document.querySelectorAll('.slide');
setInterval(function() {
    for (var i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) {
        slides[i].style.opacity = 0;
    }
    current = (current != slides.length - 1) ? current + 1 : 0;
    console.log(current);
    if (current === 0) {
        delay = 5000;
    } else {
        delay = 1000;
    }
    slides[current].style.opacity = 1;
}, delay);
.slider {
  width:300px;
  height:150px;
}
  .slider img {
    position: absolute;
    transition: opacity .5s ease-in;
  }
    .slider img + img {
      opacity:0;
    }

This does not seem to work, I'm guessing because once the setInterval delay has been set, it cannot be changed. So how would I go about making it so that the first image shows for 5s, the next 3 show for 1s and then back to 5s on the first image?

A: You can not change the interval by that way. It repeatedly calls a function or executes a code snippet, with a fixed time delay between each call. Updating the interval you have to clear and create new one with new delay time as the example below. But I think you might have to try to use the setTimeOut instead.
let current = 0,
delay = 5000, nIntervId = null;

const slides = document.querySelectorAll('.slide');

changeTheSlideItem = function(){
     for (var i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) {
        slides[i].style.opacity = 0;
    }
    current = (current != slides.length - 1) ? current + 1 : 0;
    console.log(current);
    if (current === 0) {
        delay = 5000;
    } else {
        delay = 1000;
    }
    slides[current].style.opacity = 1;
    if(nIntervId){
      clearInterval(nIntervId);
    }
    nIntervId = setInterval(changeTheSlideItem, delay);
}

nIntervId = setInterval(changeTheSlideItem, delay);

A: You can use setTimeOut for that. I keep almost of your code so that you can understand.

let current = 0,
    delay = 5000;

const slides = document.querySelectorAll('.slide');
function showNextSlide() {
  for (var i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) {
      slides[i].style.opacity = 0;
  }

  slides[current].style.opacity = 1;
  if (current === 0) {
    delay = 5000;
  } else {
    delay = 1000;
  }

  current = (current != slides.length - 1) ? current + 1 : 0;
  setTimeout(showNextSlide, delay);
}

showNextSlide();
.slider {
  width:300px;
  height:150px;
}
  .slider img {
    position: absolute;
    transition: opacity .5s ease-in;
  }
    .slider img + img {
      opacity:0;
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In Today's Fast-Paced World, How You Reach Your Customers Matter.
We give unique online advertising and targeting capabilities that are not available in offline advertising. Our job is to make your job easy with turnkey audience extension & audience management solutions.
Target Actual Physical Retail Locations.
Reach Your Audience While They Are On The Move.
Audience Management, Retargeting The Smart Way.
Direct Ads To People Based On Their Interests.
Leverage Social & Mobile Advertising Platforms.
This gives you the top products and targeting capability available, driving a higher return on investment. Our direct relationships with the top exchanges and providers give higher end targeting capabilities and lower cost our clients.
Nittany Digital utilizes a full suite of cutting-edge targeting tools to ensure that our clients are in front of the right audiences at the right time. It's our mission to keep our clients ahead of their competition.
The foundation of audience management, retargeting converts shoppers into buyers.
Identify new audiences with a display advertising campaigns to drive new traffic.
A unique opportunity for advertisers to reach their audience while they are on the move.
Turn online browsing into online buying. Get in front of people searching for products you sell.
Pre-Roll, OTT & Out-Stream Video. Premium publishers to deliver to large audiences.
Display Programs For New Audience Development.
[Read more...] about Display Programs For New Audience Development.


text:
Home/Gaming/PC Games/
How to Get an S Ranking in League of Legends
By Kevin Arrows July 13, 2021
League of Legends is a competitive game where everyone needs to contribute greatly in order to make their team come out on top. The level of effort each player needs to showcase in each match is what makes League of Legends and other MOBA titles stand out from the crowd. For example, in first-person shooters, there are many rounds and getting killed once or losing around is not so significant. Additionally, one bad or AFK player can cause you to lose a match in LoL but not necessarily in some other game. Everyone still wants to be the best and that is why you are awarded a rank after each game. Let's see how that works!
League of Legends Grades
After each match, you will receive a grade similar to the ones you get in school for your performance, ranging from D- to S+. There are many different factors that can affect the grade you receive since Riot probably won't release full details about their grading system in order to prevent players from forcing their score. Your performance depends on your choice of hero, the role you play with it and then your overall performance is compared to the performance of other people in your region with a similar choice of the champion and the role.
You receive a grade after each match ranging from D- to S+
It's important to know that your performance does not solely rely on your kill-to-death ratio or even the number of CP points you managed to earn but it's a rather complex algorithm that takes everything you did during the match into account. For example, players who choose support heroes don't need to have a lot of kills at all but they need to do their role well according to their champion.
What Does It Take to Get An S Grade?
There are still several different factors you need to keep an eye on if you want to receive an S rank in League of Legends and you will notice that they are not based solely on your kills and deaths.
First of all, your CS or Creep Score is very important and that is why you should always farm and last hit creeps in order to earn gold.
Kill-to-death ratio is also very important since you can also get a lot of kills with a large number of deaths which doesn't really prove that you played the game well. Earning a lot of kills with as few deaths as possible is the goal. Players who play support can also contribute with assists which Riot started counting as kills recently.
Other factors include chasing objectives such as drake, turrets, etc. Additionally, you should use wards quite often and you should deal a lot of damage. Stealing a lot of kills in order to improve your kill-to-death ratio definitely won't earn you an S rating.
Receiving an S+ grade is difficult but satisfying
One thing you can affect in order to receive a good grade is how other people play with that champion in that certain role which means you will have to be in the top percentage with this combination in your respective region.
PUBG's Ranking System is Flawed - Here's Why
How to Get Blue Essence on LOL 'League of Legends'
Fix: League of Legends won't Open
How to Fix High Ping in League of Legends?


Interested in speaking up about issues? Think you would like to be more of an advocate in your community? Or maybe you need some fresh ideas and time to practice. We will start with a scenario and then build from there. You will have time to identify: what is important to you, how to find assets and allies, and practice with two quick and easy templates to use for written or spoken advocacy.


Stunning Malvi & Co. blue and yellow tartan dress with contrast white Peter Pan collar that features matching tartan binding around edge. Beautiful hand smocked detail on bodice. Short puffed sleeves and sash that ties in a pretty bow at the back. Fastens at the back with gorgeous mother of pearl buttons.


text:
'Ocean's 8': Here Are All 23 Cameos, From Anna Wintour to Dakota Fanning (Photos)
See who graced the red carpet of the Met Gala, from fashion models to actors (spoilers ahead)
Beatrice Verhoeven | June 7, 2018 @ 2:07 PM	Last Updated: June 7, 2018 @ 2:46 PM
"Ocean's 8" takes place during fashion's biggest night, the Met Gala, so of course, there are a ton of A-list cameos to ogle at. Spoiler alert: Do not read on if you don't want to know who appears in "Ocean's 8."
Gigi Hadid The model was a guest at the Met Gala in the film.
Sophia Richie Richie also made an appearance on the red carpet of the Met Gala in "Ocean's 8."
Anna Wintour Of course, Vogue's editor-in-chief is featured in the movie that takes place at the biggest, most exclusive fashion event of the year.
Reuben Tishkoff Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), from the original "Ocean's" films, makes a brief cameo in the movie.
The Amazing Yen The Amazing Yen (played by Qin Shaobo) from the original "Ocean's" movies also makes an important cameo. Once again, he is brought in for his flexibility.
Banksy In one scene, Banksy makes an appearance. Well, sort of -- he defaces a painting in the art gallery and leaves his signature on it.
Serena Williams Serena Williams also appears on the red carpet of the Met Gala in the film.
Alexander Wang The fashion designer sits at the chairman's dinner near Anne Hathaway's character in "Ocean's 8."
Kelly Rohrbach The "Baywatch" actress is swarmed by photographers on the red carpet of the Met Gala.
Common Common also appears at the Met Gala in the film.
Heidi Klum Heidi Klum has a little more face time in the movie, having a hilarious conversation with Sandra Bullock in German.
Katie Holmes Anne Hathaway's character sits next to Katie Holmes at the Met Gala.
Olivia Munn Olivia Munn also appears on the red carpet in "Ocean's 8."
Zac Posen The designer was sitting at the table with Anne Hathaway's character at the Met Gala.
Derek Blasberg The journalist was sitting at the table with Anne Hathaway's character at the Met Gala.
Aerin Lauder The creative director of Estée Lauder was sitting at the table with Anne Hathaway's character at the Met Gala.
Emma Stone (on Vogue cover) Ok, we're cheating a little bit here -- Emma Stone's Vogue cover appeared for a split second in the movie.
George Clooney (in picture frame) Everyone wondered whether Clooney would make an appearance in the film, and he did -- but just in a picture frame.
TheWrap
Dakota Fanning Dakota Fanning plays a famous person who meets with Helena Bonham Carter's character in the film.
Marlo Thomas Marlo Thomas, Dana Ivey, Mary Louise Wilson and Elizabeth Ashley played the four women who helped distribute the broken-up pieces of the Toussaint after the heist.
Dana Ivey Marlo Thomas, Dana Ivey, Mary Louise Wilson and Elizabeth Ashley played the four women who helped distribute the broken-up pieces of the Toussaint after the heist.
Mary Louise Wilson Marlo Thomas, Dana Ivey, Mary Louise Wilson and Elizabeth Ashley played the four women who helped distribute the broken-up pieces of the Toussaint after the heist.
Elizabeth Ashley Marlo Thomas, Dana Ivey, Mary Louise Wilson and Elizabeth Ashley played the four women who helped distribute the broken-up pieces of the Toussaint after the heist.


text:
Stupid Patent of the Month: GPS Tracking, or Something
By Vera Ranieri
GPS technology has been around for a while. Wikipedia puts the start of development at 1973. But it wasn't until the 1990s that it became available for consumer use. And even then, it took some time before the government removed restrictions on accuracy that it had on its use by civilians. (The government had added an intentional error to the signal that made GPS variably inaccurate up to 50 meters.)
With the loosening of restrictions on GPS came furious development in consumer applications—and a flurry of patents.
Which brings us to this month's Stupid Patent of the Month. The dubious honor goes to U.S. Patent No. 6,442,485, "Method and apparatus for an automatic vehicle location, collision notification, and synthetic voice," filed in 1999. The "Background of the Invention" talks about a need for an automatic voice systems that could speak for a driver involved in a collision and transmit location details to 911. For example, the patent says that "[i]t would be desirable to have an automatic vehicle location and collision notification system that would ascertain if a vehicular collision had occurred and communicate directly with an emergency facility."
But after this background, the patent devolves into a wilderness of made-up words and technobabble. The patent includes fabricated phrases such as "Location Comparator-Indicator Module" and "Automatic Speed Controlled Location Detection Module." (Google searches of these phrases turns up nothing other than results related to the patent.) Reading the patent to try to figure out what it means becomes an exercise in cross-referencing and guesswork. Even worse, key terms in the claims (this is the part of the patent that is supposed to clearly explain what that patent covers) don't even appear in the description of the purported invention. This means that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to understand what the claims mean and to guess how a court might interpret them.
This sort of made-up gobbledygook is likely what has allowed NovelPoint Tracking LLP, the owner of this month's Stupid Patent, to sue over 90 companies for infringement. The latest round of lawsuits, filed on March 27, 2015, includes companies such as Subway (the sandwich artists, not a company related to transportation), McDonald's, and Burger King.
And what do these fast food franchises have to do with vehicle location, collisions, and synthetic voices? With respect to Subway, NovelPoint claims that Subway's Windows phone mobile application infringes NovelPoint's patent.
Here's the description of Subway's app from Microsoft's website:
Don't know where to find a local Subway? We're here to help. This app will display a list of local Subway locations along with the ability to get directions and let your friends know where to meet you.
We don't know what, exactly, NovelPoint thinks it owns, but it looks like it is accusing Subway of infringing because it has an app that shows a map with directions. And given the incomprehensibility of its patent, it can get away with this, at least enough to secure a quick settlement and get out before a court rules that no, in fact, it doesn't own a map with directions.
And indeed that is what appears to have happened. Of the almost 100 cases NovelPoint has filed, exactly none of the cases has had a decision on the merits of NovelPoint's claims. From what we can see, all of the cases have settled very quickly, most likely for small nuisance sums.
Patent owners shouldn't be able to get away with this. Patents should be clear and understandable. If new words are used, they should be defined. And if words already exist in the relevant art, they should be used. NovelPoint's patent is a great example of how using fake terms can be used to obfuscate what the patent actually claims, and then used to claim infringement by something no one would have considered the patent owner to have invented. We have laws that should prevent this sort of gaming. The Patent Office and courts need to start actually enforcing them.
novelpoint_v_subway.pdf
Patent Trolls
Stupid Patent of the Month
Deeplinks Blog by Joe Mullin | January 1, 2023
Seeing Patent Trolls Clearly: 2022 in Review
The internet can be a powerful tool for communicating, collaborating, and finding community. But lawsuits and threats from patent trolls have been an obstacle to the dream of a free and open internet. That's why EFF has been fighting back against them for more than 15 years. Patent trolls...
Deeplinks Blog by Rachael Lamkin, Joe Mullin | December 8, 2022
VICTORY! Judge's Critical Investigation of Patent Troll Companies Can Move Forward
In recent months, Delaware-based U.S. District Court Judge Colm Connolly started an inquiry into some patent trolling companies that have filed dozens of lawsuits in his court. Last month, lawyers for the patent troll companies appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, seeking to shut...
Deeplinks Blog by Joe Mullin | December 2, 2022
This Judge's Investigation Of Patent Trolls Must Be Allowed to Move Forward
If you get sued, you should be able to figure out who sued you. Remarkably, though, people and companies who are accused of patent infringement in federal court often have no idea who is truly behind the lawsuit. Patent trolls, companies whose main business is extorting others over patents, often...
Deeplinks Blog by Joe Mullin | August 18, 2022
New Bill Would Bring Back Terrible Software and Genetic Patents
A recently introduced patent bill would authorize patents on abstract ideas just for including computer jargon, and would even legalize the patenting of human genes. EFF wants you to take action against this bill.
Deeplinks Blog by Joe Mullin | May 27, 2022
Patent Troll Uses Ridiculous "People Finder" Patent to Sue Small Dating Companies
Finding people near you with shared interests, and talking to them, has a very long history in human culture. We're social animals. We need to find other people close to us to work together with, play games with, and build relationships and families with. Modern online social networks are built...
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Google
EFF and the the Public Interest Patent Law Institute are seeking to unseal a host of court records documenting a patent dispute between Google and Uniloc, a prolific patent litigant.Secrecy pervades the entire record in Uniloc v. Google. When Google filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the parties...
Deeplinks Blog by Josh Richman | April 12, 2022
Podcast Episode: Making Hope, with Adam Savage
The joy of tinkering, making, and sharing is part of the human condition. In modern times, this creative freedom too often is stifled by secrecy as a means of monetization - from non-compete laws to quashing people's right to repair the products they've already paid for.Adam Savage—the maker extraordinaire best...
Fighting For A More Open, Balanced Patent System: 2021 in Review
At EFF, we've always stood up for the freedom to tinker and innovate. Unfortunately, our patent system doesn't promote those freedoms. In some areas, like software, it's causing much more harm than good. And the system is rife with patent trolls: companies that are focused on licensing and litigating patents,...
Livestreamed Hearing Monday: EFF Urges Appeals Court to Allow Public Access to Documents in Patent Troll Litigation
WASHINGTON, D.C.— On Monday, December 6, at 10 am ET, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), standing up for public access to courts and transparency in patent litigation, will urge a panel of judges to unseal documents that a notorious patent troll is trying to hide. At a federal appeals court...


text:
Nouveau Russe (novyj russkij - новый русский en cyrillique russe) est un terme désignant en Russie, les membres de la nouvelle classe sociale de personnalités du monde des  affaires, le nouveau riche, qui s'est constituée depuis la chute de l'URSS.

Articles connexes
 Oligarchie russe

Culture russe

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (CAPI), is a high-speed processor expansion bus standard for use in large data center computers, initially designed to be layered on top of PCI Express, for directly connecting central processing units (CPUs) to external accelerators like graphics processing units (GPUs), ASICs, FPGAs or fast storage. It offers low latency, high speed, direct memory access connectivity between devices of different instruction set architectures.

History
The performance scaling traditionally associated with Moore's Law—dating back to 1965—began to taper off around 2004, as both Intel's Prescott architecture and IBM's Cell processor pushed toward a 4 GHz operating frequency.  Here both projects ran into a thermal scaling wall, whereby heat extraction problems associated with further increases in operating frequency largely outweighed gains from shorter cycle times.

Over the decade that followed, few commercial CPU products exceeded 4 GHz, with the majority of performance improvements now coming from incrementally improved microarchitectures, better systems integration, and higher compute density—this largely in the form of packing a larger numbers of independent cores onto the same die, often at the expense of peak operating frequency (Intel's 24-core Xeon E7-8890 from June 2016 has a base operating frequency of just 2.2 GHz, so as to operate within the constraints of a single-socket 165 W power consumption and cooling budget).

Where large performance gains have been realized, it was often associated with increasingly specialized compute units, such as GPU units added to the processor die, or external GPU- or FPGA-based accelerators. In many applications, accelerators struggle with limitations of the interconnect's performance (bandwidth and latency) or with limitations due to the interconnect's architecture (such as lacking memory coherence). Especially in the datacenter, improving the interconnect became paramount in moving toward a heterogeneous architecture in which hardware becomes increasingly tailored to specific compute workloads.

CAPI was developed to enable computers to more easily and efficiently attach specialized accelerators. Memory intensive and computation intensive works like matrix multiplications for deep neural networks can be offloaded into CAPI-supported platforms. It was designed by IBM for use in its POWER8 based systems which came to market in 2014. At the same time, IBM and several other companies founded the OpenPOWER Foundation to build an ecosystem around Power based technologies, including CAPI. In October 2016 several OpenPOWER partners formed the OpenCAPI Consortium together with GPU and CPU designer AMD and systems designers Dell EMC and Hewlett Packard Enterprise to spread the technology beyond the scope of OpenPOWER and IBM.

On August 1, 2022, OpenCAPI specifications and assets were transferred to the Compute Express Link (CXL) Consortium.

Implementation

CAPI

CAPI is implemented as a functional unit inside the CPU, called the Coherent Accelerator Processor Proxy (CAPP) with a corresponding unit on the accelerator called the Power Service Layer (PSL). The CAPP and PSL units acts like a cache directory so the attached device and the CPU can share the same coherent memory space, and the accelerator becomes an Accelerator Function Unit (AFU), a peer to other functional units integrated in the CPU.

Since the CPU and AFU share the same memory space, low latency and high speeds can be achieved since the CPU doesn't have to do memory translations and memory shuffling between the CPU's main memory and the accelerator's memory spaces. An application can make use of the accelerator without specific device drivers as everything is enabled by a general CAPI kernel extension in the host operating system. The CPU and PSL can read and write directly to each other's memories and registers, as demanded by the application.

CAPI
CAPI is layered on top of PCIe Gen 3, using 16 PCIe lanes, and is an additional functionality for the PCIe slots on CAPI enabled systems. Usually there are designated CAPI enabled PCIe slots on such machines. Since there is only one CAPP per POWER8 processor the number of possible CAPI units are determined by the number of POWER8 processors, regardless of how many PCIe slots there are. In certain POWER8 systems, IBM makes use of dual chip modules, thus doubling the CAPI capacity per processor socket.

Traditional transactions between a PCIe device and a CPU can take around 20,000 operations, whereas a CAPI attached device will only use around 500, significantly reducing latency, and effectively increasing bandwidth due to decreased operations overhead.

The total bandwidth of a CAPI port is determined by the underlying PCIe 3.0 x16 technology, peaking at ca 16 GB/s, bidirectional.

CAPI 2
CAPI-2 is an incremental evolution of the technology introduced with IBM POWER9 processor. It runs on top of PCIe Gen 4 that effectively doubles the performance to 32 GB/s. It also introduces some new features like support for DMA and Atomics from the accelerator.

OpenCAPI

The technology behind OpenCAPI is governed by the OpenCAPI Consortium, founded in October 2016 by AMD, Google, IBM, Mellanox and Micron together with partners Nvidia, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dell EMC and Xilinx.

OpenCAPI 3
OpenCAPI, formerly New CAPI or CAPI 3.0, is not layered on top of PCIe and will therefore not use PCIe slots. In IBM's CPU POWER9 it will use the Bluelink 25G I/O facility that it shares with NVLink 2.0, peaking at 50 GB/s. OpenCAPI doesn't need the PSL unit (required for CAPI 1 and 2) in the accelerator, as it's not layered on top of PCIe but uses its own transaction protocol.

OpenCAPI 4
Planned for future chip after the General Availability of POWER9.

OMI
OpenCAPI Memory Interface (OMI) is a serial attached RAM technology based on OpenCAPI, providing low latency, high bandwidth connection for main memory. OMI uses a controller chip on the memory modules that allows for technology agnostic approach to what is used on the modules, be it DDR4, DDR5, HBM or storage class non-volatile RAM. An OMI based CPU can therefore change RAM type by changing the memory modules.

A serial connection uses less floorspace for the interface on the CPU die therefore potentially allowing more of them compared to using common DDR memory.

OMI is implemented in IBM's Power10 CPU, which has 8 OMI memory controllers on-chip, allowing for 4 TB RAM and 410 GB/s memory bandwidth per processor. These DDIMMs (Differential Dynamic Memory Module) includes a OMI controller and memory buffer, and can address individual memory chips for fault tolerance and redundancy purposes.

Microchip Technology manufactures the OMI controller on the DDIMMs. Their SMC 1000 OpenCAPI memory is described as "the next progression in the market adopting serial attached memory."

See also
Legacy
 PCI Express (PCIe)
 NVLink
 Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI)
 RapidIO
 HyperTransport
Contemporary
 Compute Express Link (CXL)
 Gen-Z
 CCIX

References

External links
 OpenCAPI Consortium
 Open Memory Interface (OMI)

Peripheral Component Interconnect
Serial buses
Motherboard expansion slot


"Une fée dans la boite" (A fairy in the box) is a family business based in Brittany (France) who put beauty and magic in every event they decorate. They do birthday parties, exhibitions and mostly weddings.
I'm managing all their communication : visual identity, print and web supports. When I'm in France, I follow them on events to photograph their projects.


text:
L.A. and Long Beach mayors sign pact setting zero-emissions goals for ports
The mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach signed an agreement Monday directing the nation's largest port complex to reduce air pollution by moving toward zero-emissions trucks and yard equipment.
By Tony BarbozaStaff Writer
The mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach signed an agreement Monday directing the nation's largest port complex to reduce air pollution by moving toward zero-emission trucks and yard equipment.
The two-page declaration signed by L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia says the ports "shall advance clean technologies and other efforts to move toward the goal of zero emissions" and establishes targets for zero-emission cargo-handling equipment by 2030 and zero-emission trucks by 2035.
Though the city-owned ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have made great strides reducing emissions under their joint 2006 Clean Air Action Plan, they remain the largest single source of smog-forming pollution in Southern California. Diesel pollution from thousands of trucks, cargo ships, locomotives and other freight-hauling vehicles serving the complex continues to harm the health of people in surrounding communities.
SAN PEDRO, CA, JUNE 12, 2017: A tug boat cruises past one of the Evergreen container ships in The Port Of Los Angeles June 12, 2017. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia signed a joint declaration for clean air goals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach during a ceremony at Berth 84 in San Pedro with parents of local asthma patients, environmental activists and local politicians present (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times ).
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The mayors' agreement largely reiterates targets proposed in an updated pollution-reduction plan under development by the ports. But it moves ahead a process that had faced delays and uncertainty in recent months as environmentalists pushed for stricter measures and industry voiced concerns about shouldering the cost.
The document signed Monday commits the ports to approving a new plan by November.
"Some folks have questioned our commitment," Garcetti said at a news conference at the port complex before signing the agreement. "We're here to put it down on paper."
Some folks have questioned our commitment. We're here to put it down on paper.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, right, and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia announce the signing of a joint declaration for clean air goals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Garcetti acknowledged that achieving zero-emissions targets won't be easy, calling it "brave new territory."
There will be setbacks, he conceded, because science and technology advances may not keep pace with the agreement's ambitions. "But if we don't keep pushing, if we don't have those goals we'll never get there."
The agreement also directs the ports to:
Develop a pilot program to test 50 to 100 zero-emission trucks to stimulate market demand and production by manufacturers
Further reduce pollution from docked cargo ships through testing and development of emissions control systems
Expand technology advancement programs to support emissions reductions in the goods movement industry
Establish a green ports initiative with other West Coast seaports to advance similar goals.
Environmentalists applauded the mayors' action as a meaningful commitment that would help spur the technology advancements needed to clean the air and improve residents' health.
Harmful emissions from the ports' largely diesel-fueled operations worsen smog across the region and pose unacceptable health risks, according to air quality regulators, afflicting harbor-area communities with higher asthma rates and the region's highest cancer risk from air pollution.
Nidia Erceg, deputy policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air, said the agreement was "the first attempt at having enforceable and quantifiable milestones to convert to zero-emissions yard equipment. That's been missing from this plan."
Goods movement industry groups voiced concerns about the economic consequences that moving to costlier, cleaner vehicles. The ports are a major economic engine, with trade passing through them supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs across Southern California.
"It's pretty aggressive and we need to make sure there are commercially available and viable technologies before we set hard deadlines," said Weston LaBar, executive director of the Harbor Trucking Assn.
Sylvia Betancourt, project manager for the Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma, said "we get it that there are huge costs. But children's health is at stake and that should be the bottom line."
Garcetti urged environmentalists and industry to get behind the new clean-air plan, which he said would bring health benefits and boost the economy by fueling demand for clean-energy jobs.
Garcetti also portrayed the move as a response to the Trump administration's rolling back of air quality rules and other environmental protections, including the recent decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord.
"Washington may not care about clean air or think that environmental justice for people who live near our ports is anything to be concerned about, but you can be damn sure that we do," Garcetti said.
Giant cranes stand ready in the Port of Los Angeles to load and unload container vessels.
The announcement comes as state and local air quality regulators move to further clamp down on pollution from ports and other freight-handling operations.
Under a smog-cleanup plan approved in March, the California Air Resources Board must draft regulations to achieve "up to 100%" zero-emission cargo handling equipment by 2030. State and local air regulators are also studying "indirect source" rules that would target emissions from freight hubs including ports, railyards, warehouses and distribution centers.
The move also follows a series of revelations that the Port of Los Angeles failed to impose air quality improvement measures the city agreed to years ago, including mandates that massive cargo ships shut down their engines and plug into shore-based electricity while docked to reduce harmful diesel emissions. The problems occurred at the China Shipping and TraPac terminals, which together handled about one-third of the containers moving through the port.
Garcetti said the port has learned from these failings.
The mayors held their waterfront news conference before a cluster of invited guests that included industry leaders, local officials, environmentalists and groups representing people who live near the ports and have experienced health problems.
Garcetti acknowledged that one reason for publicizing the ports' latest environmental commitments is to hold himself and other officials accountable for living up to them in front of the people who will suffer if the goals aren't achieved.
"I think people always wonder whether vague political promises will actually be enshrined in real actions," he said.
tony.barboza@latimes.com
@tonybarboza
Tony Barboza
Tony Barboza is a reporter who covers air quality and the environment with a focus on Southern California. He has been on staff at the Los Angeles Times since 2006, is a graduate of Pomona College and completed a Ted Scripps Fellowship in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado. News tips? Send messages or documents privately using the Signal smartphone app: (213) 421-1511.


text:
Kristin Ohlson
Stalking the DivineContemplating Faith with the Poor Clares
August 2003 | Kristin Ohlson
Books Inc.
In Stalking the Divine, a Cleveland woman attends Christmas Mass at an old city church seeking holiday cheer and comfort in the trappings of a faith she abandoned more than 30 years ago. Instead, she finds a tiny threadbare congregation and a nearly forgotten group of aging, cloistered, contemplative nuns with a mission to pray day and night for the sorrows of the world. Thus begins a three-year dialogue between the nuns and Kristin Ohlson, who struggles to understand how these women gave up the world--and continue to do so joyfully--for their faith. Ultimately, Ohlson finds that talking to the nuns becomes a way of opening herself up to the possibility of the sacred--which is, in its way, an answered prayer.
The Story Behind the Book
My writing life has always cleaved roughly in two: for the most part, I've been interested in writing (and reading) long fiction and short nonfiction. Writing the short nonfiction pieces was my way to learn about the world—whether I was struggling to understand how scientists fuse the genetic material from lightening bugs with that of zebrafish and create a little Frankenfish that glows in the presence of water toxins…or learning about the special sorrows that women coming out of prison face…or grappling with astrophysics' most daunting questions about the lifespan of matter—my world became larger with each article. But I never was willing to give myself over to a long piece of nonfiction—in other words, a book—because I wasn't willing to stick with one topic for more than a few months.
Then I stumbled upon St. Paul Shrine here in Cleveland and the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration and everything changed. I had been raised Catholic, but bolted from faith as a teenager and was a scornful atheist during my twenties and thirties. By the time I was into my forties, I began to yearn for faith: I wanted a steadying hope after my 22-year marriage had ended, after a new one had begun, after my children had the audacity to grow up and my parents the audacity to grow old, after I had sensed that whatever I thought I knew of the world wasn't enough. During most of my life I had considered faith a kind of sickness, something that softened the brain and allowed the soothing delusion of divine power. Now I wanted faith, but I wasn't sure if I hadn't inoculated myself against it for good.
I continued going to Mass at St. Paul Shrine, huddling in the shadows at the back of the church and peering curiously at the faithful—then realized I wanted to write about the nuns. People who like to write generally do so because it gives them a way to explore and understand things, whether these things are out in the world, buried in the vault of their own memory, or have sprung unbidden from their imagination. In my case, I hoped that writing about the nuns might help me construct a framework for trying to make sense of their faith and, perhaps, learn to build some kind of faith of my own. So Stalking comprises two stories: mine and theirs.
When I told one of my oldest and dearest friends that I was writing a book about the Poor Clares, he threw up his hands in exasperation at my seemingly hopeless attraction to failure and snapped, "Who's going to want to read about a bunch of old women who don't have sex?" Despite reactions like that, I had an idea that there were other people like me— people whose lives had a secular sheen but who yearned for something else, who wondered if there was a divine pulse behind it all.
I suppose writing a book, any book, changes you--you think about things and think about them and carry them around in your head for weeks. They carve new shapes in your mind. I seem to have emerged from writing this book with a new appreciation for stillness. As I sat in the Poor Clares' big old monastery week after week, I grew to like the sounds of its silence all around me. I felt their tremendous striving in the silence and also their waiting—a form of striving, of holding themselves back from anything that might distract them from God. I was one of those distractions, and they put up with me graciously. And then it ended, when each had answered my questions about prayer and commitment and a life of faith, and, perhaps, when I had discovered the limitations of the questions.
Theia/Hyperion, (272p) ISBN-10: 1401300251; ISBN-13: 978-1401300258
© 1998-2020 Kristin Ohlson | Contact | Home


"Act" means the WIC Vendor Management Act [410 ILCS 255].
"Administrative Law Judge" means any person appointed by the Secretary to preside at an Administrative Hearing.
"Applicant" means the individual, partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated association, limited liability company, or corporation applying to be a WIC Retail Vendor.
"Application" means the application forms and other required materials submitted by a Business Entity to notify the Department that the Business Entity desires to become a WIC Retail Vendor.
"Approved Source" means a wholesaler, retailer or manufacturer of infant formula listed by the Department as an approved purchase point for infant formula.
"Authorization" means the approval of an Applicant who has met the WIC Vendor criteria and possesses a properly executed, valid WIC Vendor Contract as a WIC Retail Vendor.
"Business Entity" means the retail business which an Applicant or authorized WIC Vendor operates at a particular Vendor Site.
"Corporate Officer" means the identity of the officer of a Corporation as set forth in its Articles of Incorporation as filed with the Secretary of State wherein such entity is incorporated.
"CSFP" means the Commodity Supplemental Food Program which is a Federal food assistance program through which the Department or its Representative provide U.S. Government commodities to low-income women, infants and children and eligible elderly.
"Department Estimated Cost" means estimated prices based on indicators including wholesale prices for WIC foods and the self reported Vendor prices on the Vendor Retail Price Survey, which are averaged and weighted by Store Type and Region.
"Department Representative" or "Representative of the Department" means an employee or authorized agent of the Department.
"Education Visit/Visit" means a survey of an applicant/Vendor site where the monitor and the designated store representative review the criteria for authorization as a retail WIC Vendor.
"Expired Food" means WIC approved infant formula available to WIC Participants on a store shelf which exceeds the stamped date printed on the food item labeled as "use before " date, printed on the item.
"Fifty Percent Vendor" means any vendor that makes more than half of its Food Stamp eligible sales from the transaction of WIC food instruments.
"Fine" means an amount of money imposed as a penalty.
"Food Instrument" or "FI" means a negotiable voucher issued by a Local Agency that specifies the quantity, size and type of authorized foods available to a WIC Participant within a designated time period, which can subsequently be taken to a Vendor in exchange for the specified quantities of food.
"Food Stamp Eligible Sales" means revenue from food that may legally be purchased with the Food Stamp Link Card.
"Food Voucher" means Food Instrument.
"Grocery Store" means a fixed and permanent retail store whose primary business is the sale of food.
"IAPA" means the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act [5 ILCS 100].
"Illinois WIC Retail Food Delivery System" means the system in which Participants obtain WIC foods by submitting a Food Voucher to a WIC Retail Vendor.
"Invalid Vendor" is a rejection label which means a Food Instrument deposited or mailed by a Vendor which has been encoded and rejected by the Department's contract bank for the following reasons: the Food Instrument has not been stamped with the Vendor Number, the Vendor Number is unauthorized, unreadable, not in the space indicated, or a counterfeit Vendor Stamp is used. Typed or handwritten numbers shall not be accepted.
"Limited Liability Company" means a company organized and existing under the Limited Liability Company Act [805 ILCS 180].
"Local Agency" means a public or private, non-profit health or human services agency which provides health services, either directly or through contract, in accordance with the USDA WIC Regulations, the Act, or this Part.
"Minimum Supply of WIC Foods" means the Department published list of the minimum required quantities, sizes, and types of WIC Foods which must be maintained in stock at all times by a Vendor.
"Participant" means authorized pregnant women, breast feeding women, postpartum women, infants or children who are receiving supplemental foods or Food Instruments under the WIC Program.
"Participant Access" means the determination by the Department as to the availability of authorized Vendors within a geographic area.
"Participant/Vendor Ratio" means the total number of WIC Participants redeeming Food Instruments through WIC Retail Vendors in a given region divided by the total number of WIC Retail Vendors in the same region.
"Pharmacy" means any store, shop, department, or other place, at a fixed and permanent location, having the capability to dispense and sell or offer for sale at retail value by a licensed pharmacist drugs, medicines, poisons, and liquid foods, prescribed for an individual by dentists, veterinarians, and physicians licensed to practice medicine in all its branches.
"Posted Shelf Price" means the displayed price of WIC Foods charged to the general public, identifying the price of the specific WIC Food item including any sales price or discounts. When no price is posted, the Posted Shelf Price shall be deemed to be the average price for a particular food item based on the Retail Vendor Price Survey for stores of like size and location.
"Probation" means a period of time during which the Vendor will be under increased scrutiny by the Department.
"Proxy" means a person who is authorized by the Local Agency and the WIC Participant to accept and/or redeem Food Instruments on a participant's behalf.
"Retail Vendor Price Survey" means the current prices, reported to the Department, by a Vendor or a Department Representative, as charges for WIC Foods.
"Secretary" means the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services or designee.
"Store Type" means the classification of WIC Retail Vendors by the number of active customer check-out lanes/cash registers. One or two lanes is a type 1 Vendor Site. Three or four lanes is a type 2 Vendor Site. Five to seven lanes is type 3 Vendor Site. Eight or more lanes is a type 4 Vendor Site. A Pharmacy is a type 5 Vendor Site and a WIC Food Center is a type 6 Vendor Site.
"USDA WIC Regulations" means the Regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Service, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (7 CFR 246 (1999)).
"Vendor" or "WIC Retail Vendor" means the individual, partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated association, limited liability company, or corporation authorized by the Department to accept Food Instruments and to provide supplemental food to WIC Participants, Proxies of WIC Participants or Department Representatives.
"Vendor Number" means the number assigned to an authorized Vendor by the Department for validating Food Instruments.
"Vendor Site" means a fixed and permanent location, operating as a Business Entity, listed in the WIC Vendor Application, which has been authorized by the Department for purposes of delivery of WIC Foods to WIC Participants or the Proxy of a WIC Participant.
"Vendor Stamp" means the stamp provided to a Vendor by the Department for validating Food Instruments.
"Violation" means an infringement of Federal or State rules or statutes or local laws.
"WIC Food Centers" are WIC food distribution sites through which the Department or its Representative provide the direct distribution of WIC foods.
"WIC Food List" means the published list of the State of Illinois authorized WIC Foods.
"WIC Foods" means those competitively priced foods which have been placed on the WIC Food List, which have been determined by the Department to be nutritionally qualified for the WIC Program in the State of Illinois.
"WIC Participant Identification Card" means the card issued by a Local Agency to a Participant for purposes of the WIC Program.
"WIC Retail Vendor Contract or WIC Vendor Agreement" means an agreement signed by the WIC Retail Vendor and the Department for the provision of WIC Foods to Participants, the Proxies of WIC Participants or Department Representatives. A valid WIC Retail Vendor Contract is binding only between the Department and the officer, partner or sole proprietor who originally signed the Vendor Application. It authorizes the contractor to operate as a WIC Vendor.