On Tuesday, Major League Baseball, following weeks of a will they, wont they that would make Greys Anatomy proud, finally offered up an economic proposal to the Players Association. This marked the culmination of a two-week period where owners, after internally approving a 50-50 revenue split with the players in March, stopped leaking plans/information to the public long enough to send a copy to MLBPA. For now, owners have moved off their 50-50 revenue sharing idea, as well as their proposal for deferrals. Their initial proposal to MLBPA turned out to be one of their newest ideas: a sliding scale salary where higher paid players face higher cuts than lower paid players.

According to Jeff Passan, the sliding scale works like this:

Thats right, folks; the owners produced a plan where higher paid players accept losses just so that the lower paid players do not have to. The owners, worth billions of dollars, created a proposal wherein the richer players pay more into the system than lower paid players. In arguing why the players (not billionaires) should take more of a financial hit, the owners (are billionaires) proposed a system of progressive taxation. If this seems like a cosmic lack of self-awareness, well, thats because it is.

But self-awareness would lead to learning a lesson, something MLB owners have never had a desire to do. Instead, they want to double-down on becoming some version of an evil cartoon caricature where the schemes are always transparent, the goals are always obvious, and the worst-case is always thwarted. If you do not believe me, lets break down the actual financials of this proposal.

I used two data sources (Cots contracts and Spotrac player salaries) to run the numbers through the proposed sliding scale. Both data sources contain projected 2020 salaries, although Cots does not contain any player making below $600,000. Regardless, think of the numbers coming from Spotrac as a closer representation of the truth, while the numbers coming from Cots should serve as a minimum. All told, the numbers themselves are almost unbelievable:

Major League Baseball proposed a system which lowered full player salaries from $4.04 billion to $0.97 billion a truly staggering cut. The sliding scale proposal also represented a substantial cut from prorated salaries, which would go from $2.05 billion to $0.97 billion. Both Cots and Spotrac data describe a scenario where the owners aimed to institute a 50+ percent cut from the prorated salaries agreed to in March:

If it were not so nefarious and blatantly immoral, having this proposal be the culmination of a month-worth of saber rattling might almost be comical. Here we are, amid one of the worst time periods many of us have faced in our lifetimes, and the owners have refused to break character, even if for a minute. Commitment to the bit is one thing, but committing to be a cartoonish caricature of rampant, unchecked capitalism is another.

Consider for a moment the figures MLB presented to MLBPA (released through the Associated Press), where MLB projected to see significant, deep revenue losses. In those figures, the players were projected to receive the full prorated salary, over an 82-game season. You know, the salary both sides agreed to in March. When we aggregate salary cuts (using Spotrac data) and line them up against what each MLB team projected to lose, in terms of EBITDA, one thing is clear the cuts do not actually change much:

The final column here is the scenario where players get paid nothing for an 82-game season. This scenario will not happen, but it serves to reinforce the point. Using MLBs own numbers and taking them at face value (you should not, but bear with me), each team is destined for significant financial losses in an 82-game season. No matter what the additional salary cuts could be 50, 75, or 100 percent no amount is going to help teams turn positive profits in 2020. Put another way, there is nothing the players can give that would make a dent.

Yet, in this case, an analysis of EBITDA losses only works if you do something ill-advised take the owners at face value. As I alluded to before, there is no reason to do that. Excluded from the numbers MLB presented to MLBPA are the many sources of revenue that baseball owners have used baseball funds to cultivate for decades. These investment vehicles help temper financial losses in a half-season, particularly a half-season without fans. They are also entirely inaccessible to the MLBPA.

In truth, this was never a serious offer. It was never an offer that MLB expected MLBPA to accept. It was not even one of those really bad initial offers you get from someone who just googled how to bargain and followed step 1. This offer was part union busting tactic, part PR move a ridiculous concoction where the subtext is truly all that matters.

The part union breaking tactic reveals itself when you consider the spread in salary among MLBPA. At the top, a small group of players make upwards of $25 million. At the bottom, most of the pre-arbitration eligible players make MLB minimum. The idea behind the offer was to force the richer, smaller group of players into a bind where preservation of the deal already in place creates tension within the union itself. The goal was to make the richer players look like they are defending their own salaries at the expense of the players who make much less. In this part, it is the owners who are willing to take losses, but it is the richest players who want no losses.

The part PR move works in the same manner. Players at the top-end of the scale who call the proposal terrible are to be painted as greedy and acting in a self-preserving manner. The fans are now provided with a target for all that disappointment and frustration about a season that never happened. In this part, it is the owners who are willing to take losses, but it is those greedy players (particularly the rich ones) who want no losses.

The goal of this offer was to paint the MLBPA as a roadblock to another season of baseball. To offer up MLBs most well-known and widely loved players as greedy and selfish, unable to play a childs game at a smaller salary. The goal of this proposal was to launch a bad-faith attack on the very reason MLB exists in the first place the players.

Quite obviously, this proposal will fail. And it should. If MLB is going to keep all the profits when things are going great, they should own the losses when things are bad. It is this sticking point that the owners have refused to acknowledge, and it is exactly this sticking point that will ensure MLB wont return in 2020. When considering the proposed additional pay cuts, one thing is clear: the players stand to lose much more than the owners stand to gain.

Shawn Brody is a graduate student and contributor for Beyond the Box Score. You can find him on Twitter @ShawnBrody, where he likes to yell about New York Mets.

View original post here:
MLBs proposal is actually a $1 billion pay cut from prorated salaries - Beyond the Box Score

World Meditation Day 2020: Paloma Gangopadhyay, Celebrity Yoga Instructor and Meditation Expert, has shared beginner's guide to meditation. Read on to know more.

Stress and anxiety are very common these days. Many of us fight with these mental health monsters almost daily. And now, stress has gone beyond roof as we cope up with COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. For the unversed, one of the best ways to deal with them is meditation. As per a study, just a single session of mindful meditation can reverse the physical and psychological toll of stress on the body. Not just stress and anxiety, it can also help to reduce the chances of other health complications including cardiovascular diseases which are related to chronic stress. Speaking of the other Science-backed health benefits, better emotional health, better self-awareness, better sleep, helps to control pain, decreases blood pressure among others.

In an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, Paloma Gangopadhyay, Celebrity Yoga Instructor and Meditation Expert, opened up on the same. She said, "Immerse in your deepest realization of the self. You realise your true purpose of being (existence) when you meditate. Meditation brings out a new perspective in your thoughts. You can think clearly and in the right direction. It brings you clarity of thought and effective action. We look for peace when we have it in us and meditation is that journey to the self that brings back the peace in us and wisdom of understanding. Meditation is your key to understand your true self and the universe around you. It increases your power of concentration and the ability to control your emotions and it can be very useful for temper management and control your mood swings."

If you want to meditate and have no idea about it fret not. Paloma also shared beginner's guide for the Pinkvilla readers.

Beginner's Guide to Meditation:

Meditation is an introspective process. It is an ancient science and philosophy behind self-realization and God-realisation. It is a technique to self-heal and connect the body with the mind and spirit, thus channelizing positivity throughout your being. But the technique requires understanding:

1. Choose a quiet corner of your room, sit down quietly, arms by your side, or on the knees as you are comfortable. If you have a weak spine you can rest against the wall. (Posture preferable is lotus posture or vajrasana).

2. Look intensely in front of you, keep your spine straight, breathing normal and slowly close your eyelids and transport your mind to a distant land, a distant thought or memory in your mind which makes you happy and smile, then slowly channelize your emotions towards that very moment or thought.

3. Take a long inhale and a long exhale. Slowly your mind calms. Various other thoughts may keep coming in your mind. At that moment, just let go. Allow your emotions and feelings to flow. Maintain your stillness, maintain the calm.

4. Keep your shoulder relaxed. Concentrate on your breathing. Inhale and exhale using your nostril but the throat is the passageway of the breathing. Inhaling long, as much air you can take in, and exhale, thus, increasing the lung capacity.

5. Thoughts would keep pouring, just keep breathing and stay still and calm. Keep your eyes closed. Belly rise and fall. Let go of yourself of all the emotions, i.e. happiness, anger, frustration, sorrow, despair, hope.

6. Let the tears roll down. Remember it's your healing and it might bring tears. Thats normal.

x Your comment has been submitted to the moderation queue

Continued here:
World Meditation Day 2020: Check out the step by step beginner's guide to meditation - PINKVILLA

Professional golf at the highest level returns next week with the restart of the PGA Tour season at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. With so much time offroughly three months since the Players Championship was canceled after one roundbecause of the coronavirus pandemic, the worlds top golfers are certain to be eager to resume competing, pursue their livelihoods and feel some sense of normalcy. Eagerness and readiness arent interchangeable, however.

In anticipation of the restart, the question many observers have is a simple one: What kind of golf can we expect to see? Given most players have been practicing at home in recent weeks, the usual aspects of the gamehitting bombs off the tee, striping irons into greens and scraping in nervy three-footersshould be readily embraced and, largely, executed to a familiar high standard.

The primary challenge that awaits, then is more mental than physical. Bobby Jones once said that competitive golf is played mainly on a 5-inch course, the space between your ears, and that certainly hasnt changed. What has changed is the environment in which that competition is conducted. In a post-COVID-19 world, where tournaments will be played with a new set of realities governing them that will take some getting used to, requiring a new way of thinking and an increased level of patience. Some guys will adjust faster than others.

You are using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer. Please upgrade to Internet Explorer 11 or use a different web browser.

Basically, how guys prepare for competition isnt going to change. These guys know how to get ready to play golf, and they know what to do when the gun goes off, Dr. Bob Rotella said. Obviously, things going on in the world have affected their daily lives, and it has affected the rhythm of their season, their practice and so forth, but they cant let that get in the way of their proven methods and mindset. Having said that, human nature dictates that everyone is different.

Inside the ropes, its going to change the least. Playing the game is still playing the game, Dr. Mo Pickens agreed. But whatever the way things were at the last event we played, we arent going to see that coming back, maybe ever. A normal week is going to be different. We will still have the traveling circus, but it is going to be a different circus.

A memo sent to the players last week and obtained by Golf Digest outlined some of the differences that players can expect at Colonial. Those include an initial coronavirus test upon arrival, another on Saturday, daily temperature checks and other safety measures such as grab-and-go meals. A 37-page document the tour released May 12 outlined numerous precautions, including player interactions with caddies and equipment personnel.

There could still be other modifications, too, depending on the site. At least the first four events on the revamped schedule will be conducted without spectators in attendance.

There are three kinds of people in the world, and we are going to see how those three groups handle things early on, said swing instructor Sean Foley, who is equally attuned to the mental side of golf. Some guys are going to struggle, because they cant handle the changes and think everything is a pain in the ass. All they see are the negatives. Theyre the victims, people who perceive themselves as the only ones who are suffering. Then there are the guys who need time to figure things out. They will adjust, but maybe need a week under their belts, maybe more.

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 07: A general view of the driving range at Spyglass Hill Golf Course prior to the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on February 07, 2020 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

And then youll have this group of guys who are going to find the opportunity in this. Guys who are more like Brooksie [Brooks Koepka], who have the virtue of acceptance and say whatever and realize that the paradigm has shifted and adjust to it. They accept the challenge and any potential adversity.

For the players Pickens works with, the point he has expressed is to accept that tournament week is still evolving, and its likely going to continue to do so even after the restart. So what I say to my players is to find a way to put yourself in a setting you might already know, he said. [The situation] could be like junior golf, where you show up, warm up, and go play and there is no one around to watch you. No frills. You might never go in the locker room. It might be like a British Open where you get five or six guys together renting a house, you get a chef, stay in all week, and maybe that isnt a bad thing to do now. But the key is to be ready to change your mindset and be ready to have to make more plans for what you do in your day. The comforts of the tour and travel arent all going to be there.

When it comes to sharpening their games, Pickens, based in Sea Island, Ga., where a number of tour players live, has harped on several messages. He has emphasized to players taking an approach much like their offseason, breaking down statistics and concentrating on perhaps one discipline. He has outlined a program that includes 12 practice sessions over six days with a mandatory day off, and with variations to prevent staleness. He also has encouraged more walking as the restart nears. Its amazing how important that is, both for the fitness aspect and getting back into that competitive rhythm after regularly playing out of a cart, he said.

Rotella goes back to believing that players largely know what they need to do to get ready. His emphasis is all about pitfalls in attitude.

Ive told guys, dont try too hard. Others you have to tell them dont get too caught up or lost in their golf swings, Rotella said. Others you just want them to concentrate on one aspect of their game that they are trying to improve upon as a way to not put pressure on their whole game. For the most part, I should think its their short games. And yet others, they might try to be too perfect because their expectations are pretty high based on so much time working on things. I can see some guys overpreparing or picking their games apart, and they have to fight that.

Then its just a matter of remembering their routines and sticking to them regardless of whatever else is going on in the tournament.

Sergio Garcia warms up on his driving at the practice range of the KLM Open at The International Golf Course on September 12 2019 in Badhoevedorp, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Photo by: Dean Mouhtaropoulos

Or not going on, which, at least for the first month, will be the presence of spectators and their accompanying reaction to shots.

The PGA Tour might not like to hear this, but while players have an awareness of fans and can feel the presence of fans, they are so good at getting lost into their own little worlds that they really dont notice them that much as they play from shot to shot, Rotella said. Would they rather have a gallery watching them so they can show off and be cheered? Yeah. But when they play at home against their buddies, they are going at it and trying hard, and there are no fans. Same thing. I think the adjustment isnt going to be that great. And by the way, its not like no one is paying attention. That TV camera is still there watching.

Some guys do feed off a gallery, Pickens said. I wonder if a guy like Phil Mickelson will enjoy it as much without fans. I can see where some players arent going to be enthused about just playing golf. Other guys dont like the crowds and the fanfare and signing autographs, or interviews, and they will think its phenomenal to just play golf and be done.

The main thing, insists Pickens, is for players to be open to change and enjoy the return to the thing they love to do. Youll want to be a little more self-aware than you were earlier, he said. You need to have a thankful attitude and an accepting attitude, but you have to have an intentional attitude to where you are doing what needs to be done.

In other words, a change of outlook is crucial to success going forward. But so is a commitment to not changing the things that work.

Talk about mind games. And golf is hard enough already.

Im looking forward to the human experiment that is about to unfold in front of us with golf as the laboratory, Foley said. I keep seeing this reference of a return to normalcy, and let me tell you, we arent ever going back to what we view as normal ever again. You can either get stuck in that rut of wanting to go back to the way things were, or you can adapt and move forward. Its going to be fascinating to watch who adapts and figures it all out.

Story continues

More here:
Wait wait GO!: The best advice for players on how to be mentally ready to restart the 2020 PGA Tour season - Yahoo Sports

In the wake of the senseless murder of George Floyd (and countless others), thousands of people across America are taking to the streets in protest. These protests, which are happening in several cities, are the result of the rampant and unchecked police brutality that terrorizes people of color. One such riot took place in Louisville, KY, where protesters vandalized a statue of the citys namesake, Frances King Louis XVI.

Now, his self-proclaimed heir Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, the Duke of Anjou, is weighing in on Twitter to share his thoughts.

Ah yes, in this time of violence and collective anger, will no one think of the statues? The mindbogglingly tone deaf tweet could have only come from a self-styled royal whose lack of self-awareness rivals King Louis XVI himself.

If youre a little rusty on your history, King Louis XVI was the last king of France before the French Revolution. Louis XVI, while an ineffective and ill-suited ruler, did provide support to American colonists in their war for independence against Great Britain (in an effort to stick it to their long-time fellow European enemy.) In the ensuing revolution, Louis and his wife Marie Antoinette were convicted of treason and condemned to death via guillotine. That sort of thing tends to happen when your citizens are starving to death and desperate for equality.

Naturally, Twitter rallied together to tell Louis Alphonse exactly where he could stick his royal objections:

And heres the kicker: that statue of King Louis XVI was a notorious re-gift that bounced around France for decades because no one wanted it!

The statue ends up as an apt metaphor for royalty: stony, self-aggrandizing, and utterly useless. Topple white supremacy and decorative nonsense like this.

(via Twitter, image: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Here is the original post:
Twitter Unites to Roast an Heir of Louis XVI Who Weighed in on Americas Protests - The Mary Sue

Poker players are an interesting bunch.

As rational as they may think they are, they also tend to be quite superstitious.

This can be observed in all things they do to bring luck to their side. (Such as having a lucky charm, for example.)

Somewhere in between fact and superstition, there are things like personology, and pseudosciences in general.

Could they be of any use when playing poker? Or are they a total waste of ones time?

Pseudosciences are practices that havent been found legitimate by the scientific method.

Another way to say this is that theyre bodies of knowledge that havent been objectively verified. Or at least not yet.

Its interesting to observe how some popular forms of pseudoscience were, at one point, taken quite seriously.

The biggest example of this is astrology.

Many people today see it as total nonsense. But its status centuries ago was like that of astronomy today.

The same goes for alchemy. This was a legitimate form of chemistry in many peoples eyes.the

In fact, both practices are still highly regarded by many.

Its just that not everyone who practices astrology or alchemy today is worried about their scientific status. And why would they? So many other things have been called pseudosciences as well.

Theres a page on Wikipedia just for that, by the way. And its quite a surprising list if you ask me.

Sure, astrology and alchemy are there. But so are neuro-linguistic programming, psychoanalysis, and even the technical analysis in finances.

Ironically, one topic that its not on that Wikipedia page is physiognomy.

Although, nowadays, it usually goes by the name of personology.

Physiognomy, in whatever name its called, goes back at least to Ancient Greece.

In a nutshell, this is the belief that ones physical characteristics, especially ones face, say a lot about his/her personality.

According to those who study physiognomy, everything about your face means something.

Seriously, everything: the distance between your eyes, the shape of your nose, the size of your lips, the width of your face

As Ive said, people have studied this over centuries. And its come in and out of fashion countless times.

One of its most famous revivals came in the early 20th century.

Almost a century ago, American judge Edward Vincent Jones observed facial patterns in people charged with certain crimes.

He then set out to systematize his thoughts, eventually calling it personology.

It became quite a big deal, which led him to establish a personology foundation in California.

Today, one of the most prominent teachers of personology is a woman called Naomi Tickle. And shes adamant in saying that this is a science.

According to her, it can help you in countless ways.

One of the most important ones would be finding the right career for you.

Since I myself have never tried it, I dont know how accurate those analyses would be.

But I know of at least 2 things that give this new physiognomy revival at least some credibility.

In recent times, its been suggested that our hormones have an influence on certain physical traits.

Testosterone levels, in particular, seem to be noticeable in a mans whole body.

Those with a more squared jaw, for example, are said to have higher levels of this hormone. And the same would go for those whose ring finger is much larger than the index finger.

Apart from biology, another ally of personologists has been the development of face recognition systems.

The advances in this type of technology are making it easier to find patterns in peoples faces.

Consequently, its making it easier for personologists to test their theories.

But is it enough to make this body of knowledge more credible than others?

Those in the news media know that people are fascinated by the kind of stuff that personologists study.

Anything that has to do with ones personality is going to generate some attention. And this fascination will happen regardless of any type of scientific validation.

This is easier to observe when we take a look at how people react to some other pseudosciences.

One example here is graphology, which is the study of a person according to his/her handwriting.

Another is chiromancy, which is the study of ones hands.

For some, even your sleep position can mean something. (They havent invented a cool name for it yet.) But personology (or physiognomy) has an advantage over all those other studies.

Personologists dont need to ask anyone to write in cursive. (Many schools dont even teach kids how to do it anymore.)

They also dont need to have any prior information about someone.

In other words, it doesnt matter if you dont want to reveal your birthday or your sleep position.

Theyll be able to give their verdict about you just the same.

Ok, so whats the type of information we can get with the study of personology?rea

Basically, anything that has do with ones character.

This is an important distinction for poker pros to have in mind.

We all make guesses about others based on their ethnicity, clothes, gender, age, and so on.

These and other things are all considered types of cold reading. That is, they are broad generalizations based mostly on social constructs.

For example, if you see an older man at your poker table, your first reaction will be to think that hes less aggressive than a younger guy.

If youre up against a Scandinavian, you might think hes loose-aggressive.

When facing a guy from China, youre inclined to think that hes a math whizz.

The study of personology would lead you to make some of those kinds of inferences.

With the exception that, if what Tickle and others say is true, your level of accuracy would be much higher. And potentially quite lucrative, if we are to believe what she says about someones nose. According to her:

You have to really look at that from the side profile.

Ok. And then?

Well, heres an analysis of a particular type of nose:

The Roman-shaped nose is a bossy nose. It likes to be in charge. They are also very aware of costs.

And heres what she says about another, quite different type:

The ski-jump nose is a monetary carefree nose, one that likes to spend all their money without a care about saving for tomorrow.

Does it mean that, at first, itd be easier to bluff someone who has a nose like Tom Cruise?

I have no idea. Because, until now, I always thought those characteristics depended mostly on ones ethnicity.

In any case, theres at least 1 variable we should always bring to our analyses of other players. And itd be wise to at least talk about it before reaching any type of verdict on someone.

Body language is the type of information that depends on your perceptions about someones reactions.

At a poker table, we call those reactions tells.

Some tells can be faked, for sure. And some players are prone to do just that. (Theyre actors, as Mike Caro says.)

But, with practice, you learn to distinguish what reactions are more reliable. And sometimes one single tell you have on someone is enough for you to make a lot of money.

If youre a live poker player, I dont need to say much more about the importance of body language.

So, whats my point in mentioning it in this article?

If you know how to mix your knowledge of body language with cold reading, youll have quite an edge at poker.

The thing is: your cold reading must be based on solid principles. And its up to you to decide if thats the case of personology or any other pseudosciences.

Theres 1 last thing to be said about personology.

Even if it doesnt turn out to be a reliable source of information, its important to notice that its generated stereotypes. And, over thousands of years, people have internalized those stereotypes. (Consciously or not.)

Thats how people become racists, misogynists, and so on. In fact, even those who are the victims of stereotypes internalize them.

After all, they live in the same society as everyone else. So, studying any type of cold reading is an excellent way for you to raise your self-awareness.

Because you start to become aware of things youve been led to believe all your life.

Once you identify a certain pattern, you may feel that same reaction you always did.

The difference is that now youll be able to disidentify from it. As you see, it becomes a matter of choice.

Nelson Mandela once said that if you can be taught how to hate, you can be taught how to love.

In this second case, though, youll have to be your own teacher.

At least until youre able to find one whom you find to be trustworthy.

See the rest here:
How to Read Your Poker Opponents - Poker Tells and Body Language - BestUSCasinos.org

Reading about Brown v. Board of Education over Google Meet. Holding one-on-one Zooms with students struggling with their emotions. Planning lessons on criminal justice reform for the fall both in-person and remote, in case school buildings dont reopen.

Educators across the U.S. already adapting to remote teaching due to the coronavirus pandemic now find themselves facing another challenge: supporting, educating, and engaging students during waves of protest and unrest. The outrage stemming from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other recent police killings of black citizens has led to demonstrations, violent clashes with police, and curfews in numerous cities.

Navigating discussions about race relations, police brutality, and systemic racism can be challenging for teachers even during normal times. But grappling with these topics during a pandemic, when school communities cant learn together in person, is even more difficult.

Students who may have been willing to share fears for their safety in person might not open up over a classwide Zoom. Teachers who previously picked up on students emotions while watching them in hallways now have no window into their frames of mind. Some students may not even have reliable internet access to join live instruction.

Still, many educators know that its during these challenging moments that they are needed the most.

For many schools that serve predominantly black and brown low-income communities, moments like now are why we teach, said Leslie-Bernard Joseph, chief executive officer at Coney Island Preparatory charter schools in Brooklyn.

Chalkbeat spoke with educators across the country about how they are trying to meet the needs of their students, faculty, and parents during this challenging time. Their answers reveal struggle and frustration but also ingenuity and compassion. If youd like to join the conversation, tell us how your school community is handling this moment.

****

As protests continued late into Friday and Saturday nights across the country and the five boroughs, Principal Robert Michelin lesson planned. He and faculty stayed up until midnight both days, planning the next two weeks of school at Gotham Professional Arts Academy: check-ins with students, a town hall, compiling historical texts and video clips about race, and a Day of Action on June 12.

For some reason, George Floyds murder is hitting me really, really hard, Michelin said. And I think part of it is because Ive never been in a position where this has happened and I have almost 200 babies. And its this moment where you have to decide whether or not you want to keep their rose-colored glasses on or you want to share the truth. ... We have to give them something that gives them some power back.

Protests have taken place in all five boroughs of New York City over the past few days, some leading to violent confrontations with police and hundreds of arrests.

Gotham is part of the citys Performance Standards Consortium, a group of more than 30 schools that graduates students based on projects and portfolios. Last week, Michelin held an emergency faculty meeting after a freshman student, during a Zoom class discussion, typed in the chat box, What if gotham presented a zoom call to protest about racism?

On June 12, the school will host a Day of Action on Zoom and invite other consortium schools to attend. Students will spend the next two weeks designing activism projects to share that day, which could include music playlists, art work, or even Zoom-coordinated performance art. The final product will be up to students.

The beauty of this and the value of this is that were still committing to our values as a school, which is, we dont want to tell students how to demonstrate their mastery, he said.

On Monday, teachers will check in on students, some of whom are also processing the trauma of losing relatives to the coronavirus, Michelin said. The school will also host a town hall where staffers will talk about the news and the history of police brutality. Students will break into subgroups to talk about how theyre feeling. And if students feel prepared to watch, the school will show the video of Floyds death.

They need to understand that sometimes its better not to look away so they can actually hold on to the feeling, that raw feeling, so they can turn those feelings into actions, Michelin said, adding the school will offer links to news coverage if students dont want to watch the video.

Michelin is hoping that this helps fill in some of the gaps for students who want to participate in protests but cant.

I think the fear of being out in the streets is really real because theyre not trying to contract the virus, Michelin said.

*****

At Lawndale Community Academy on the west side of Chicago, Michael Bryant teaches middle school math and science but slips in a daily current events lesson. His students often say they dont read or watch the news, but he tells them its important to know whats happening around them and around the world. He wants to get them thinking.

On Monday, Bryant plans to post articles about the looting and destruction that spiraled out of some protests over the weekend and open up the topic for discussion: Do you think this is right?

He guides them through how to have respectful debates, how to identify when articles take different viewpoints, and how to evaluate facts without jumping to conclusions. Hes proud of them for asking questions, such as why former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin wasnt immediately arrested for Floyds death, or why the other officers involved havent faced charges.

Talking about current events also lets Bryant, who is black, open up a bigger dialogue about systemic racism and police brutality with his students, who are all African American. Reading about the coronavirus outbreak, for example, led to conversations about the disproportionate health care issues that African Americans face.

I feel it is my responsibility to inform the students of whats going on and how this education is going to help them better themselves, Bryant said. Education changes a lot of things. Look at the community we live in, health care, jobs. A lot of this stuff is going on because people are frustrated.

****

Last week marked the final week of the school year in Denver. At Manual High School, located in the historic heart of black Denver, those final days of remote learning time revolved around giving students time to make up missed work, with no time to introduce new material.

But that didnt mean that school leaders were not already working on how to incorporate frank discussions about policing, race relations, and racism into classes next fall.

William Anderson, who heads the social studies department, described heavy discussions among the social studies and humanities teachers he works with all of them black men.

Do we teach our students that the police are a terrorizing, occupying force within our communities? Anderson said. Do we teach them about what the police should be? Do we teach them about the origins of the police? Do we urge them to be the police?

That last question provoked a range of thought, he said, from hell no to the idea of graduating an entire class from the police academy to reform the institution from within.

Where we left off was being able to create a space for the conversation, said Anderson, 37.

With so much uncertainty about what school will look like in the fall Denver, like many school districts, is contemplating a mix of in-person and remote learning Anderson said he is urging teachers to avoid dwelling on logistical questions.

This is the time to be dialed into the content we want to teach. Use this time not to worry about whether its remote or not, in class or not Screw all of that. Dont worry about any of that til we are in August.

He said hes confident that teachers can teach these tough issues regardless of what school looks like, in part because remote learning will no longer be new or different after the last two-plus months.

Yes, 100%, these kinds of conversations can take place, he said. Its just going to be slightly different. If anything, it might allow us a broader and bigger opportunity to have these kinds of conversations.

****

Leaders at Coney Island Preparatory charter schools where 74% of students are black and Hispanic and where nearly 83% of students are from low-income families view this as a pivotal teaching moment. The network has an elementary, middle, and high school that together serve about 1,000 students.

This is what were preparing our students for and so we have a responsibility to help our kids process this moment, Joseph said.

The Brooklyn school is first focusing on staff. This week, the school will host several optional group discussions for teachers about the recent turmoil. There are specific discussions planned for educators who are black, Asian, white, and specifically, white women. (White teachers make up 44% of the staff, while 31% are black, 6% are Asian, and nearly 6% are Hispanic, according to data Joseph provided.)

I think theres a desire from leaders of color within our organization to both protect our own mental sanity and our kids, Joseph said. I think there is a desire from white leaders in our organization to do more, personally reflect on whether they are the Amy Coopers of the world, he added, referring to the white woman who gained infamy for calling 911 on a black birdwatcher who asked her to follow Central Park rules and leash her dog.

Leaders at the school are creating lessons focused on recent events for student advisory periods and sent tips to teachers for weaving recent news into their daily lessons. This includes anti-racist guidance for teachers that suggests books and articles to read, television series to watch, and social media sources to follow. Teachers were also sent information how to teach about racism, race, and police violence from the group Teaching Tolerance.

One of the challenges staff will face, he said, is explaining to students how they can safely advocate for change when we know there is a danger and that theyre at risk just by virtue of being black or brown.

The other challenge is tailoring lessons for students in different grades. Talking about systemic racism looks different with their high school students, who have read Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow, versus chatting with second graders, he said.

Our kids know they are entering a world that is deeply unfair, deeply inequitable and the generations before have failed them, he said. While our kids are excited about the opportunities ahead of them to go to college, theyre also deeply skeptical.

******

It didnt take long for Kay Palmer to hear from a worried student. She was logging into Google Meet Thursday morning to teach language arts and math to her fourth grade class in Trenton, N.J., when a student asked, Did you see the news?

Palmer asked her class for time to prepare. She came ready during live instruction on Friday, armed with several articles about Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. She hopes her students would read them and see the power of one person speaking up about injustice and enlisting others to create lasting change.

The conversation ran two and a half hours, covering the Black Lives Matter movement and running into their math lesson. But for Palmer, that was OK.

From a teacher standpoint, the goal is not to teach and say this is how you have to do it, but show this is one way to do something, she said. If I could teach the kids nothing else from this moment, thats what I want.

As a white educator teaching mostly students of color, Palmer was glad her students asked her to talk through the violence they were seeing, particularly during remote learning. But she said the fact that theyve been meeting virtually for several months made the conversations less awkward than they might have been.

I dont know if we could have had that dialogue if we werent seeing each others faces, live over Google, every day for the past weeks, she said. I feel some may be less likely to say something online moving forward than if we were meeting in person, but I want to keep the dialogue open to see what happens.

****

For Sabrina Anfossi Kareem, one-on-one conversations with her students at a Chicago charter school are happening through email, a platform called Remind, and over the phone. But the high school English teacher began that relationship building in person months ago in the classroom.

Students are being honest with me only because we spent time at the beginning of the year going over that I want honesty, to see the students humanity, and then develop that relationship over time, she said, adding she worries about building that closeness if schools start remotely next year.

Kareem reached out to her black students in recent days to ask, How are you holding up? Do you need an ear? And the answer from some was yes but they wanted to talk more than they needed a lecture. Im not talking a lot during these conversations, she said.

Aside from listening to students, Kareem believes she needs to use what she hears to influence change at her school. This includes ensuring administrators know black students dont always feel their concerns are heard, as well as advocating for high-quality anti-bias and anti-racism training.

I dont want to attend another peace circle led by an untrained adult who thinks theyre being restorative when theyre really harming everyone in the room with their lack of self-awareness or ability, she said. There are plenty of quality organizations doing this work. Schools should not be spending out the nose for instructional or testing products while making it up as they go when it comes to [anti-bias and anti-racism] work.

****

Classes are out at Westerville North High School in Ohio, but history teacher John Sands is still thinking about how he and other white teachers should approach educating students about events like Floyds death and its aftermath.

Sands and his students grapple with these tragedies in a contemporary world issues class at his suburban Columbus school, which is predominantly white with a growing black student population. He said he is sensitive to the issues that come from a white teacher tackling these topics in classes with black students. I always tell my kids, Im the white middle-class guy ... that to many of them represents a lot of whats wrong, he said.

In the class, Sands and students discuss identity, read the works of Malcolm X and James Baldwin, then eventually work up to discussing systemic racism and its role in their lives.

Some students choose to open up about experiences from their lives, making racism tangible and personal and not just an abstract concept for classmates. Its much more powerful when it comes from their friends and their classmates, he said.

Sands and English teacher Cat Stathulis are launching the schools first African-American studies program in the fall. He hasnt started considering how hed have these discussions remotely, but his instinct is that discussion board posts wont be enough. I think I would want to be live with everybody, in some format, to have the discussion, he said.

Carrie Melago and Eric Gorski contributed to this report.

Read the original:
Moments like now are why we teach: Educators tackle tough conversations about race and violence this time - Chalkbeat Colorado

Philippine energy developer turned global sustainability banker, but also an island girl who teaches yoga.

Hometown: Manila, Philippines

Fun fact about yourself: I am a certified yoga instructor. I took a short hiatus from work to pursue one of my lifelong dreams of taking an intensive 200-hour yoga teacher training. I teach yoga not because of profit, but because I believe in the benefits that the practice has for the mind and body. I want to help people who need healing both mentally and physically.

I am also a florist. I founded a floral styling and online delivery business back in the Philippines which made a 54% net profit margin in my first year of operations.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of the Philippines Diliman Bachelor of Science in Business Economics

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Energy Development Corporation (EDC), Head of Strategic Planning & Budget

Where did you intern during the summer of 2019? Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) under Structured Finance, Singapore

Where will you be working after graduation? Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) as a Structured Finance Associate for renewable energy & infrastructure investments

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I was selected to lead 10 other MBA peers as Head of the Assistant Facilitators for The NUS MBAs flagship Launch Your Transformation program. The compulsory program was an intensive five-day management communications boot camp for the new intake of MBA candidates. What we made them do was not easy, as we pushed the students out of their comfort zones in a safe and supportive environment.

In my section, I remember one Japanese student who was very quiet and reserved. He really struggled to deliver a short speech in front of an audience as he often forgot his words and felt so nervous. As his facilitator, I asked him to deliver his entire speech again but this time in his native language. Although the majority of the audience did not understand Japanese, his energy level and his presentation delivery changed immediately! He was confident and expressive, and everyone in the room could feel the sudden change in how he communicated. Throughout the week, he worked on his communication skills. We trained him to deliver in English but with the same confidence as he would deliver in his own mother tongue. It was so fulfilling to see my fellow MBAs, whom I mentored, become more confident and outspoken after participating in this five-day boot camp.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? At NORD/LB, I helped to close a 100MW solar portfolio deal (50MW refinancing and 50MW plant to be constructed) in Australia. The transaction is the largest certified green loan by an Australian renewable energy company and its combined portfolio is expected to generate renewable energy sufficient to power ~49,000 homes, or an equivalent of ~225,000 tonnes of C02 per year.

This deal is close to my heart because this was my first finance deal since I took a leap of faith to make a career switch, which also involved a move to Singapore and a change in the industry. I was so accustomed to building energy projects from a developers perspective. This time around, it was very refreshing and insightful to be working from the other side of the fence as a financier. This experience allows me to move closer towards my goal of contributing to sustainability and growing clean energy investments, particularly in developing markets.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Assistant Professor Joel Goh was my professor for Managerial Operations and Analytics. Apart from his impressive credentials, I am amazed by the high energy he brings to every single class. I will always remember the practical and valuable lessons he taught through case studies and his own personal experience. Through him, I stretched my thinking and developed a rigorous framework of approaching a business problem. I can truly say that taking his class alone made my experience at The NUS MBA worthwhile!

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? The annual MBA Olympics is easily my favourite tradition. The Olympics is a great opportunity to come together as one NUS MBA family in friendly sports matches with the other five MBA schools in Singapore. The competitive spirit and camaraderie of the NUS MBA students come alive during this period, as we spend days (and nights!) practising and preparing for the different sporting events in order to maintain our title as the defending champion for three consecutive years! It shows that the NUS MBA students are not only intellectually gifted but well-rounded and athletic too!

Why did you choose this business school? I chose the NUS MBA because I knew this was the place to be if I wanted to advance my career with a particular focus on the fast-growing economies in Asia. Born and raised in the Philippines, I understand the struggles and challenges faced by developing countries. I know in my heart I wanted to serve my country. First, I needed to learn from more progressive economies like Singapore. This beautiful country is a melting pot of diverse cultures with very efficient systems and disciplined society. As we can see with all the developments today, the opportunities in Singapore are endless and The NUS MBA in Asias best business school is a clear pathway for me to tap into the richness of what the Lion City has to offer.

What is your best advice to an applicant hoping to get into your schools MBA program? Understand yourself and your motivations for applying to a B-school. Once you have created a deeper self-awareness, you can now set your intentions and goals. NUS Business School looks beyond academic qualifications or achievements to focus more on your aspirations and your potential. Since The NUS MBA has a great student/faculty ratios with accessible interaction with the faculty, the school carefully handpicks each unique individual based on the diversity he or she can bring to the table. If your authentic self is clearly reflected in your application and manifested during the interview, then your chances of getting in can increase!

What is the biggest myth about your school? Many people perceive the NUS MBA program as heavy on theories as opposed to actual application. The first semester may be more focused on knowledge and hard skills as core modules are introduced to strengthen our fundamentals. However, through club activities and access to the larger communities at NUS, I was exposed to numerous networking and industry learning opportunities. I also had the chance to participate in several case competitions and a global immersion program to London.

By the second semester, I was able to leverage the foundation established in the earlier semester and really dive deep into areas I found most interesting. This was through the myriad of elective modules and the experiential learning component which provided me with additional practical experience. For example, through the MBA Consulting Project, I spent five months guiding a non-profit organisation (NPO) to develop its long-term strategic plan. My consulting team and I conducted intensive research and analysis and presented our findings and recommendations to the NPOs board members.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing youd do differently and why? If I could repeat my MBA experience all over again, I would take the opportunity to immerse myself even more in the extracurricular activities and events the MBA clubs offered. There is never an uneventful weekend throughout the program and before I knew it, the 17 months just flew by so fast! Looking back, I would have attended more industry talks, participated in more interactive workshops, and joined more networking events even if it was not my targeted industry or area of interest. There was so much to learn by just being there.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I admire Shikha Malhotra because of her strong passion and proactive advocacy for gender balance and women empowerment. This is not just among peers but throughout the entire school. She is a natural leader and influencer who has made a strong impact to the school in so many ways, including connecting people together, moderating external panel discussions, and representing the NUS MBA across the globe.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? Growing up, my father was a huge influence in my education and career choices. His extensive experience in clean energy solutions and passion for addressing climate change inspired me to also pursue an energy and sustainability track. My father spent close to two decades in the clean energy industry working in at least 12 Asian markets. He shared with me the challenges and roadblocks he often encountered, as well as creative business approaches to address these issues. He once told me that he was working towards creating a sustainable future which he may not even be a part. This is what inspired me to keep learning, keep solving problems in ways I can, and keep sustaining what we have for future generations.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? First, I want to lead the closing of a large clean energy investment project in Asia. Second, I want to grow my own business venture to support climate and sustainable investments in developing markets, particularly for my home country, the Philippines.

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? I would like to be remembered as a person who helps others, a person who leads by example, and a person who makes things happen.

Hobbies? When Im not on my desk, you can find me practicing yoga on the mat, cooking in the kitchen, or swimming in the sea (as a born and raised island girl on the beautiful beaches of the Philippines).

What made Corinne Mae M. Ablaza such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2020?

Corinne has been an influential and effective student leader in her MBA cohort and has continued to be a well-liked and respected member and contributor of the NUS MBA community. During her MBA candidature, Corinne integrated well into our diverse cohort with students from more than 20 cities, actively contributing to numerous group assignments and case studies and securing good grades.

Corinne also struck a good balance between academics and active participation in the programs experiential learning and extra-curricular school activities. Most notably, she was one of the student leaders responsible for organising numerous student-led initiatives and impact projects. Corinne has been an excellent ambassador of MBAs in general and the NUS MBA in particular. I am confident that she will continue her strong contributions and make the NUS MBA proud of her accomplishments as an alumna.

Associate Professor Nitin Pangarkar Academic Director, The NUS MBA Program National University of Singapore Business School

DONT MISS: THE ENTIRE 2020 MBAS TO WATCH or THE BEST & BRIGHTEST MBAS OF 2020

Here is the original post:
2020 MBAs To Watch: Corinne Mae M. Ablaza, National University of Singapore - Poets&Quants

(1) Science and Christ
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Science_and_Christ.pdf

(2) Appearance Of Man
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Appearance_of_Man.pdf

(3) Christianity and Evolution
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Christianity_and_Evolution.pdf

(4) Let Me Explain
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Let_Me_Explain.pdf

(5) The Phenomenon of Man
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/phenomenon-of-man.pdf

(6) The Future of Man
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Future_of_Man.pdf

(7) Toward the Future
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Toward_the_Future.pdf

(8) Heart of Matter
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Heart_of_Matter.pdf

(9) Letters to Two Friends
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Letters_to_Two_Friends.pdf

(10) The Divine Milieu
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/The_Divine_Milieu.pdf

(11) Writings in Time of War
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Writings_in_Time_of_War.pdf

(12) Letters From A Traveler
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Letters_from_a_Traveller.pdf

(13) Human Energy
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Human_Energy.pdf

(14) Hymn of the Universe
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Hymn_of_the_Universe.pdf

(15) Man's Place in Nature
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Mans_Place_in_Nature.pdf

(16) On Love and Happiness
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/on_love_happiness.pdf

(17) Vision of the Past
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Vision_of_the_Past.pdf

(18) Letters to Lucile Swan
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Letters_to_Lucile_Swan.pdf

(19) Letters to Leontine Zanta
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Letters_to_Leontine_Zanta.pdf

(20) Activation of Energy
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Activation_of_Energy.pdf

(21) The Making of a Mind
https://www.consciousevolution.tv/pdfs/Teilhard_de_Chardin_Pierre_-_The_Making_of_a_Mind.pdf

In the absence of theatres, many film-centric organizations have been finding creative ways to show moviesand, moreover, to get movies seen. In the process, theyre overcoming one of the long-standing woes of moviegoingthe extremely limited and localized release of many of the best films. Its a constant frustration to see great movies playing, say, one week at one New York venue, knowing that theyll then drop into oblivion until, months or even years later, they come out streaming. The BBC has taken a bold step to help: on Thursday, they launched LongShots, an online film festival of seven international documentaries, all available to view for the next month, free of charge (viewers can vote to determine the winner).

Id read an enthusiastic review of one of these films, Sad Song, directed by Louise Narboni, so thats the one I started with. Its an intricate and painful docu-fiction thats as audacious in its concept as it is troubling in its substance. Elodie Fonnard, a classical-music singer (specializing in Baroque repertory), lives in Paris and is providing a temporary home to Ahmad Shinwari, a young man from Afghanistan. He has arrived in France as a refugee, seeking asylum there, and is awaiting an official answer to his application. Narboni films Fonnard and Shinwari in Fonnards comfortable home (a house with a garden) as they re-create, for the camera, real experiences that they shared.

The action is simple, staged by Narboni in spare, largely static compositionsbut its narrated by Elodie, in voice-over, and her perspective on the action is itself a crucial part of the drama. She explains that, following a personal tragedy, she became active with an organization that assists refugees; there, she met Ahmad and decided to work with him, tutoring him in French, acclimating him to life in France, getting him needed medical care, and helping him assemble his dossier to apply for asylum. Ahmad had worked on his familys small farm in Afghanistan but, under threat from the Taliban, fled first to Kabul and then, after an arduous journey on foot, eventually reached France.

Ahmad is also an accomplished musician and poet; he and Elodie bonded through their love of music and lyrics, and their artistic collaborations and mutual admiration is displayed in action. Yet it has no practical or professional outlet; Elodie is busily pursuing her career, preparing for a recital involving a varied repertory (including songs by Duparc and Szymanowski), and Ahmad, while waiting for the French bureaucracy to take up his case, is in a holding pattern, doing household chores, studying with Elodie, and thinking about his family at home. He has long suspected that, during his absence from home, his mother has been concealing from him the death of his sister; when he eventually gets confirmation of this news (which leaves him his mothers sole source of support), it complicates his plans to stay in France. Yet the greatest complication involves the possibility (no spoilers) of a romance between Ahmad and Elodie.

Sad Song is both a straightforward drama and an elaborate reconstruction that reflects, with aesthetic self-awareness, the troubling complexity of its own attempt to tell Ahmads story through the double framework of Elodies personal perspective and Narbonis cinematic one. What the movie presents of Ahmads life is largely based on what he told Elodie, and what, working with him, she carefully pieced together and then translated into French for official presentation in his dossier to apply for asylum. (Their common language is English; they speak French together only rarely, whereas Elodies copious voice-over is in French.) Ahmad acknowledges that his renactment of his life with Elodie at the time of the administrative bottleneck is itself therapeutic. Still, no less than Ahmad is subject to French authority, hes also subject to Elodies gaze, Elodies interpretation, Elodies domestic regimeand to Narbonis cinematic reconstitution of his life by way of Elodies perspective.

Sad Songs subject is subjectivity, the very possibility of presenting Ahmad as a subject who expresses himself, and the fact that every mediating presenceElodie, the French state, and Narboni herselffails in some way to render Ahmads story in his own voice. (Theres even a noteworthy, seemingly unintended pun on the soundtrack, when Elodie hopes that hell find sa voiehis waywhich is a homonym for sa voix, his voice.) The films representation and dramatization of this failure is key to its severe and anguished success; its a story of the camera as an unseeing eye, of vision as a mode of overlooking. It is more than a crucial tale of the dire personal, physical, emotional, and political circumstances that refugees are now facing in their effort to seek safe haven. Its an artistic way of thinking about the very difficulty that outsiders face in even thinking about refugees and in trying to help.

Visit link:
What to Stream: Sad Song, an Audacious French Documentary from the BBCs Online Film Festival - The New Yorker

The #FeedTheNation social campaign helps raise awareness by sharing farmers views on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to reassure the public at large that the farming community is doing the best it can to keep the country going.

Despite being classed as very high risk to coronavirus, 86-year-old Devonshire farmer Alec Burrough, is working every day to keep Britain farming and help #FeedTheNation.

What farmers do today will most likely stay in the publics mind for a generation. However, with farmers humility and self-awareness, they are not describing themselves as heroes but simply declaring their willingness to help in any way they can and be as supportive and welcoming as safely and realistically possible.

Farmers are helping to feed the nation during the coronavirus pandemic by setting up makeshift drive-through shops. Manor Farm Fruits, near Hints, Staffordshire, is growing 22 hectares of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and blackberries, and is offering its first-ever Strawberry Drive-thru.

Key players in agriculture have got behind the #FeedTheNation campaign to back UK farmers working flat out to produce safe, affordable and sustainable food to feed the nation. It has never been more important to show the British public the effort that goes into putting food on their tables.

The campaign is raising public awareness by highlighting the actions farmers are taking to keep the nation going during difficult times.

Response to the campaign has been both surprising and outstanding, but most of all, the comments have been heart-warming.

As part of the #FeedTheNation campaign, Farmers Weekly has created the Farmers Army initiative. The Farmers Army was created in the spirit of the 1941 competition published in Farmers Weeklys Home Section that asked for ideas about how the thousands of women and children evacuated from towns might be brought into a useful relationship with country and farming life.

In the 1940s the Land Army helped win a war through resilience and sheer stubbornness and now 80 years later Farmers Weekly is once again asking the general public to come and help farmers that need domestic seasonal workers to tackle the harvest labour shortage and be able to #FeedTheNation.

Karl Schneider, Editor of Farmers Weekly, said:

Britain's farmers are playing a vital role in this crisis. It falls to all of us to work together to do everything we can to keep our farms - and our nation - going.

Farmers Weekly is now taking the #FeedTheNation campaign a step forward and are asking all media outlets to help and work together to connect farmers that would like to donate part of their harvest with charities such as feeding low income families and our NHS heroes in cities, towns and villages across the UK.

Help with suggestions and contacts of charities all over the UK that would like to get involved and share the good work that farmers and the supply chain are doing to keep the nation fed. Use the hashtag #FeedTheNation and join the conversion on social media.

Read more:
#FeedTheNation campaign showcases the best in British farming - The Pig Site