The term "threadbare" can evoke opposing images: that of careworn clothing, worn down to the last stitch by income-conscious clientele and, opposing that, of distressed threads, broken in and sold at exorbitant prices to fashion-forward consumers of considerable means.

Eugenes Threadbare Press, however, presents a third model: that of proprietors hawking self-awareness while printing on apparel, disclosing the potential environmental and human impact of the clothing that they vend.

For 10 years, founder Amy Baker has maintained Threadbare as a tiny business with a big voice calling for positive change in a massive industry. It has, in turn, allowed Threadbare to provide customers with another option in creating screen-printed textiles.

We are a small organization doing lots of small things to be sustainable, Baker said.

This includes using less water, composting waste and making sure that employees drink from reasonable mugs. The largest influence they can have is, of course, in the process of creating screen-printed apparel.

Environmental consequences

The T-shirt. A wonderful sign board that declares beliefs, lack of belief, intentions, perspective and where loyalties lie. The T-shirt can motivate marathon training, bring pride to community thespians and drive political campaigns. But even the utilitarian cool of the simple white tee carries a massive environmental impact.

The World Wildlife Foundation says that it takes about 2,700 liters of water to produce enough cotton for one T-shirt, enough to fill more than 30 bathtubs. And, according to the nonprofit guide sustainyourstyle.org, the apparel industry accounts for 20 percent of the worlds industrial water pollution. Sustainyourstyle.org also cites that textile manufacturing is responsible for 10 percent of global carbon emissions.

In response, Threadbare seeks to source its cotton tees from domestic sustainable sources. Bella + Canvas, for example, manufactures its shirts in California, using one-seventh of the usual required amount of water, in part because of the states stringent water regulations.

Why not use an alternative to cotton then? In fact, most of the industry doesnt.

Waterfootprint.org states that in 2017, only about a quarter of textiles were made from cotton. Nearly 60 percent came from fully synthetic, petroleum-based polyester. Ecocult.com, however, notes that polyester production is a carbon-intensive non-renewable resource that consumes more than 70 billion barrels of oil annually. Polyester fabric is not biodegradable and will persist in the ecosystem even as it breaks down. In fact, The Guardian found that synthetic garments could be the biggest source of microplastic pollution in the worlds waterways.

That's why Threadbare uses cotton to produce almost all of its T-shirts.

'It doesnt smell like a print shop'

Today, Threadbares clients include local breweries, arts and culture organizations and nonprofits. They can print on T-shirts, caps, bandanas and even backpacks.

Baker began the business when she wanted to learn about screen printing as a hobby.

And I had friends with businesses looking for screen-printed T-shirts for their companies and projects, Baker said. All Oregon Art Supply had were water-based inks, so thats what I got in the first place.

With water-based inks, pigments mix with water and stick to fabric as the water dissolves. The alternative, PVC-based plastisol inks, bind better and attach to polyester and blended fabrics, while water-based inks only work with cotton. These PVC-based plastisol inks, though, have the potential to leak microplastics into water systems, so Threadbare doesnt use them.

As opposed to water-based inks, solvents dissolve as plastisol inks bind to fabric, creating an awful smell and toxic environment for screen printers.

This is something production manager Brit Howard said people notice immediately upon entering Threadbare.

People are always surprised that it doesnt smell like a print shop in here, Howard said.

Threadbare wont use plastisol and therefore doesnt use polyester clothing, which eliminates quite a few potential clients. It's a compromise the shop is willing to take.

You cant drink it (water-based ink), but its a better alternative even if its not 100% non-toxic, Baker said. If everybody in the supply chain does their part, it can get a little bit better along the way.

The biggest environmental hazards for screen printers are the toxic glues and aerosol adhesives that attach textiles to print pallets. These adhesives have the potential to soak into screen printers skins and to poison lungs in addition to the atmosphere.

That's why Threadbare chose Ryonet of Vancouver, Washington, to supply its inks and adhesives as well as its screen line soybean-based cleaning agent as an alternative to potentially toxic industrial cleaning agents.

Ryonets Project 376 not only aims to improve the application of water-based inks, but also seeks to eliminate noxious adhesives and glues and the corrosive solvents often used to clean screens and printing plates. Eradicating noxious fumes from the work environment provides Threadbare employees a better place to work.

I also dont get headaches because we arent using solvents and putting that awful stuff down the drain," Howard said.

Keeping the customer at the forefront

One of the areas largest screen printing firms, Eugene Silkscreen Inc., was founded in 1985 but keeps up with industry trends.

Theres been a lot of change and a lot of improvement in the industry, President Bryan Cunningham said. Shoot, in 1986 there was still lead in the ink.

Being a local industry leader means catering to Eugene Silkscreens diverse customers needs. According to Cunningham, nobody is looking for cotton anymore, thanks to the soft, giving feel of tri-blend (cotton, rayon and polyester) and polyester fabrics.

Weve got shirts that are polyester and they feel great, but we can't print on them with (water-based inks), Cunningham said.

Eugene Silkscreen is cognizant of the materials used in its shop. It uses a variation of adhesives depending on the garment and printers preference. This includes some non-aerosol options like sticky paper and a nontoxic paste that adheres to the printing pallet. This applies to cleaners as well, with the firm using a citrus-based cleaner to clean most of its inks.

The unfortunate thing is that the prices on this have tripled in the last couple of years, Cunningham said. It still works better than all of the other products I have found and is better for the environment.

Ultimately it comes down to whether the client is willing to pay more.

I've had a client that says, I want 100% U.S., and then we source it and they go, I don't pay that, Cunningham said. Theyre putting their money where their mouth is.

Active awareness is the key

Threadbares philosophy is that it may lose options (and customers) but gain the ability to reduce its environmental impact while educating its clients.

Theres not enough clear information for consumers out there, Baker said. I am very aware of all of the greenwashing (a company presenting itself as environmentally friendly to improve its image). There needs to be more truthfulness around this industry.

In order to promote this candor, Baker sits on the board of the Specialized Graphic Industry Association, a trade organization that gathers the worlds print shop owners for once-a-month conference calls and yearly education conferences to inform each other and, in turn, the public on industry options.

People are very resistant to change, but being open to everything is how we grow, Baker said. Its good that were a company trying to do this, but there needs to be a massive change. Big shifts have to happen at the industry level.

Contact reporter Matthew Denis at mdenis@registerguard.com or 541-338-2265 and follow him on Instagram @CAFE_541. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

Go here to see the original:
CAFE 541: For Eugene screen printer Threadbare Press, its all about sustainability and reducing environmental impact - The Register-Guard

No, we did not collectively hallucinate this

Okay yes, weve all seen the Imagine video. Well those of us on Twitter have, and yes its stupid and everyone knows its stupid and were already into the phase of celebrity Imagine video memes. But hey ho, it has been really fun to laugh at Gal Gadot et als total lack of self-awareness because its nice to laugh about something.

If you havent seen it, all you need to know is that it features about 25 celebs, including Amy Adams, Natalie Portman, Pedro Pascal, Kristen Wiig, Jamie Dornan, Will Ferrell and Jimmy Fallon, singing John Lennons Imagine and its just as tone-deaf as you could well imagine. Buh-dum-tss.

The good news is that we now have memes about it, and as we all know memes are the one true commodity that will see us through the next three months of quarantine, so sit back, relax, and enjoy laughing at celebrities being stupid.

1) THEY SENT ME THE WRONG SONG

2) GET THEM ONTIKTOK FOR GODS SAKE

3) THE BREAKING IS A NICE TOUCH

4) PLS DONT MAKE ME

5) VINE REFERENCES ARE THE TONIC WE NEED

6) WHY DONT THEY JUST SELF-ISOLATE IN THEIR MANSIONS

7) SELF-AWARENESS? I DONT KNOW HER

8) YES THE DERRY GIRLS ARE JUST IT

9) THANK CHRIST HE WASNT TBH

10) AWKS

11) IS THIS SATIRE?

12) TRUER WORDS WEER NEVER SPOKEN

13) SAME TBH

14) IM ON MY WAY!!

15) THIS IS *THE* TAKE

16) THANK U FOR UR WISE WORDS HUN X

17) JOB DONE!

18) NOW IT SOUNDS EVEN MORE OUT OF TUNE

19) YOUVE MADE IT FAR ENOUGH IN FOR A SAILOR MOON MEME

20) GRILLIONS OF DOLLARS

21) AT LEAST SOMEONE IS APOLOGISING

Here are 24 savage memes responding to Vanessa Hudgens coronavirus video

The expandemic: How coronavirus is making your ex slide into the DMs

Theres a quarantine version of Love Is Blind happening on Instagram right now

Visit link:
Celebrity Imagine video memes: 21 of the best reaction's to Gal Gadot et al - The Tab

The term happiness curriculum has been in the news in the recent past,and almost everyone in Delhi is familiar with it. The First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS), Melania Trump, during her maiden visit to India, attended a happiness class at a government school in Delhi and interacted with its teachers and students. While the FLOTUS and other guests were watching a cultural performance happening on the stage, a little boy in the audience started dancing and won their admiration. Witnessing the jolly kids impromptu dance, Mrs. Trump too smiled at the student, applauded and expressed her joy. It was an incident of joy in action.

The Aam Aadmi Party governments Happiness Curriculum scheme launched in 1,030 Delhi government schools in 2018, has been hailed as a major school education reform in the country. The scheme that targets students from kindergarten to class VIII is seen as a shift from exam-and-marks-oriented education to holistic education with the focus on cognition, literacy, numeracy, values, and learner well-being.

Is learning a joyful experience for learners in India? Do children really learn what they need to, in order to lead a happy life? What are the factors that affect effective learning and act as hurdles for joyful learning? Does our education system prepare students for life or for exams and career? These questions arise when we think of happiness curriculum and happy schooling.

Why happiness curriculum?

The World Happiness Report 2019, published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which ranks countries on citizens well-being, ranked India 140 out of 156 countries. Finland topped the list for the second year in a row whereas India slipped from 133rd position in 2018 to 140th position in 2019. This gloomy picture makes us raise questions: Why are Indians not happy? Is there any link between our education system and our happiness quotient?

The purpose of education is to prepare students to lead a joyful and purposeful life. To translate this vision into action, the system should have sound curriculum and educators. The moral responsibility of such educators is to produce happy individuals who find joy in what they learn and meaning in what they do. The purpose of such curriculum is to help students develop self-awareness, boost confidence, improve mental wellness, build character, and instil values in them in order to enable them to encounter problems boldly and face challenges confidently. To achieve this goal, moral/value education, self-awareness exercises, mental health activities, and social awareness programmes should be given more importance and incorporated into the curriculum. This should be done on a regular basis at the primary and secondary levels of education.

Education for happiness should be one of the aims of primary and secondary education. Learners who are happy will be able to develop a positive attitude towards life. One of the reasons given for Finlands high level of happiness is the countrys high-quality education system which aims at improving learners well-being. Finns guided by the slogan there is no bad weather, only bad clothes, learn to do the right thing at a young age.

There are various factors that kill learners happiness and make them behave like machines. One of the factors is the hidden agenda of our education system: education for exams and career. In the book Creative Schools, Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica (2015) stress the need for shifting away from exam-factory education to developing creativity among students. According to the authors, the eight core competencies (8Cs) that education should develop in students are: creativity, curiosity, criticism, communication, collaboration, compassion, composure and citizenship. The UNESCO Happy School Framework (2014-2015) also highlights the need for recognising values and competencies that contribute to enhancing happiness. In this context, it is good to look at two models of happiness curriculum: Delhi and Finland.

Delhi model

The Delhi governments Happiness Curriculum was designed with an attempt to find answers to the question What makes a good life?

Forty teachers were chosen and trained in co-existential thought which is based on understanding spiritual, intellectual, behavioural and material aspects of life. Dream a Dream, an NGO, trained the teachers to become educators so that they can nurture empathy and develop their creative and critical thinking skills. The teachers were encouraged to undergo a paradigm shift and apply empathy-based pedagogy and a life skills approach in the classroom. These teachers, who later became mentors, were involved in designing the happiness curriculum that focused on addressing learners emotional and mental needs and developing their self-awareness, creativity, critical thinking and a few other life skills.

Finland model

Is happiness a skill? Can it be taught? The answer to these questions can be found in the motto of the Happiness School of Finland: Finnish happiness is a skill and it can be taught. The Finnish education system encourages learner autonomy and creativity. It does not pressurise students by giving them meaningless homework and unproductive tests. Teachers too enjoy autonomy. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Finnish teachers are happier than teachers in other countries. In Finland, it is not easy to be certified as teachers. Only those who have the aptitude for teaching and teaching skills are certified to become teachers. Teachers in Finland are highly respected and trusted. They enjoy a great deal of autonomy to plan lessons and run classes. Granting autonomy to teachers results in producing happier teachers who, in turn, play a vital role in producing happier students.

Sue Palmer, literacy specialist and author of Toxic Childhood, in an interview to CNN says, My admiration for the Finns is for their education in general and the trust they put in teachers... She also attributes Finlands success in education to the later starting age. In Finland, no parent expects their children to be reading and writing formally until they are seven.

Governments and educators

Education should enable the all-round development of individuals. It is possible only if joyful education is promoted and joyful environment is created in educational institutions.

Happiness curriculum is based on the belief that the emotional well-being of learners is linked to their successful life. It is a major shift from teacher-centredness to learner-centredness, teaching to learning, textbook-based learning to experiential learning, unhealthy competition to happy collaboration, teacher domination to learner participation, rote learning to activity-based learning. Happiness curriculum can enhance learner motivation and result in positive learning outcomes. It is high time our governments introduced happiness curriculum in schools.

The writer is an academic, columnist and freelance writer. rayanal@yahoo.co.uk

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Happy classes - The Hindu

Shortly before Marcus Smart was told he had tested positive for the coronavirus, social media was jammed with footage of young twentysomethings on the beaches of Florida and Georgia, adding a whole new, dark meaning to spring break.

The Celtics guard was alarmed, knowing he was asymptomatic and had no idea who might have spread it to him, or where he might have passed it on. His first thought was about reaching youth.

Smart quickly posted a video announcement of his situation on Twitter Thursday night as a kind of oral finger wag at those who didnt take the growing pandemic seriously.

His big deal, No. 1 priority, was to get to younger kids to realize this was serious and quit congregating, said Kenny Boren, Smarts high school coach and the director of his youth basketball camps. He kind immediately thought he wanted to use it as a platform to bring self-awareness to people.

Marcus biggest gift is when hes around kids, he said. Not ironic when he got it was that his first thoughts were that we had to get people on board with this, teenagers and 20-year-olds, we have to get them to understand the severity of how they can be spreaders of this kind of thing and how it can affect them.

It obviously hasnt affected Marcus he has no symptoms but thats not fair to other people it could affect who have lower immune systems. Theres no way to know where this is going. It could affect people of younger ages if it gets going bad.

Smart, who quarantined himself immediately after getting tested on the morning of March 15, is in typically good spirits where his own health is concerned.

Its Marcus, so hes pretty even-keeled, said Boren. His highs arent too high and his lows arent too low, so hes just going about his business at home, playing video games, video chatting with friends. The great thing he did, and the rest of the Celtics who were on that road trip, is that they landed and self-quarantined right away. That was a very smart move.

Then they got tested Sunday morning, he said. Luckily when they landed he self-quarantined. He could have started his day count when they landed, but just for extra safety he started it from the time he was tested. Just for added security, its 14 days, but hes added blanket security into it.

Smarts confidence is bolstered by a relatively new life as a practicing vegan. He has a personal chef, and has gradually weaned himself off all animal products.

One hundred percent thats going to help him, said Boren. Thats the story everyone has to know, is that what to eat, what you put into your body is critical for fighting off bacteria and infections.

I was there at his last weigh-in, and he was 219 Saturday a couple of weeks ago, so hes been in the greatest shape of his life, and a lot of that has to do with his diet, he said. Hes really studied the whole vegan route. He wouldnt classify himself as 100 percent switched over, but hes been making that transition. Hes got me interested in it, Im not going to lie. Hes told me some things that have kind of changed what Ive been doing.

The least of Smarts concerns appears to be the source of his illness. The Celtics were originally tested due to the proximity of their March 6 game to the announcement that Jazz center Rudy Gobert (followed by teammate Donovan Mitchell) had tested positive for coronavirus.

But as Detroit, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and the L.A. Lakers have all made announcements concerning infected players and staff members, its become clear to Smart that the virus is so wide-spread, its also impossible to pinpoint.

Theres no possible way for him to know. You can assume it may have been the Utah Jazz, but I think he realizes theres no possible way for any of us to know who you contracted it from, said Boren. You could be up all day wondering about that. But the reality is this is such a crazy situation.

Thats the reason he wanted to self-announce because this is so crazy. You have no clue how you contract something like this, he said. Turning this into a vehicle is exactly what he loves to do how hes used this whole thing. He was very quick in saying he wanted to put out the video. He wanted this to be a platform, and thats been his whole focus.

See more here:
Marcus Smart wants his illness to educate others - Boston Herald

What does the term ghost in the machine mean to you?

Kudos to those of you who came up with well, clearly, its the Polices best album. I dont disagree.But theres a deeper meaning to the phrase thats more relevantand less spookysoundingto todays technology-driven society.

Minds are freed up when menial tasks are automated.

Ghostin the machine was coined by a British philosopher Gilbert Ryle as a way to describeFrench philosopher RenDescartesmind-body dualismthe idea that the mind is imbued with consciousness and self-awareness, while the body exists separately, disconnected fromthe mind. Essentially,thatthe mind handles consciousactionwhile the bodytakes care ofsubconsciousaction.

What, you might ask, does this have to do withAI andcustomer service?Everything. Because AIisrapidlybecoming thebodyof customer servicethe always-on function that takes care of mindless tasks we humans would prefer not to think about.

AIisthe ghost in the machine. Andmy theory isthat theghost in the machine is the key toliberatingall of usfrom the tyranny of Industrial Age mechanisms and mindsets.

Yeah. I went there.But hear me out.

Vivala AIrvolution!

Teddy Roosevelt once said, Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

Work. Worth. Doing.

Is fixing the same persistent customer service problem over and over,ad nauseum,work worth doing? I would argue that it isnt.Yet this is the work model established in the Industrial Agedo one thing. Do it over and over and over again. It is the soul-crushing mechanization of humanity.

And thats where the ghost in the machine comes in.

AIacts as thesubconsciousthe ghost in the machine, taking care ofbusinessautomatically, without thinking. Humansrepresentthe mindthe vibrant, self-aware, conscious self.And AIwill freecustomer service agentsfrom the mundane, repetitive, mechanized model of workingtheylive with today.

Far from automating human jobs away,AIwill actually restore humanity to theworkwedo.

Focus on the whyleave the whatandhow toAI

Modern machine learning is excellent at understanding the what of a situation through data recognition. Its alsokeenly capable at understanding the howhow to win at chess, how tofindthe fastest routeto a destination.

WhereAI fails isin understandingcause and effectthe why of a situation. AI cant discern context or nuance in the way a human being can. And when your work involves interacting with humans in the way customer service does,the ability to navigatethose subtle cues and undertones of interaction is everything.

When we offloadthe what and the how to AI, we take the final step in the deindustrialization of customer service, liberating our agents to focus only on the why.And by doing so, wereplacethe monotony of the contact center withthe lively,vibrantworkofsolving high-value, highly humanproblemswork worth doing.

Introducing Agent Affinity

So, the ghost in the machine is a friendly ghost, shielding agents from the repetitive and mundane so they can focus on the work thatonly humans can do.

Happily, the offloading of the what and how to the realms of machine learning is already underway.In fact, at ServiceNow we just introduced Agent Affinity, a new feature of ourNow Platform Orlando release.

Agent Affinity allows work to be assigned to agents with established relationships or identified expertise. Now customer service can assign work items by an agents work history, related task, or account team best suited for that work. Eventually, it will be possible for a customer to be automatically routed to an agent already familiar with their issue.Talk about a great human-to-human customer service experience.

In thisage of perpetual newness, embracing AI and machine learning is the only option we have if we want to keep up with the unbelievable velocity of change.Thats whyServiceNow is already laser focused on buildingdigitalcustomer workflows that break down silos and create instant satisfaction.Explore our Customer Service Management solutionto see how you can drive loyalty by connecting with your customers in a more joyful, human way.

See original here:
AI Will Free Us From The Tyranny Of Monotony - Forbes

Updated: 7:52p.m.

Three members of the Sixers organization have tested positive for the coronavirus, the team announced Thursday.

The team released the following statement:

The Philadelphia 76ers, in consultation with medical experts and the NBA, received the recommendation that certain individuals from the organization, including players, coaches and specific basketball operations support staff, be tested for COVID-19. The tests were secured and processed privately.

Threeindividuals have received positive test results for COVID-19. All other tests results are currently negative. We have reported this information to state and local health authorities as required.

Pursuant to CDC guidelines, the individuals are in self-isolation and will be monitored closely by medical professionals.

The health of our players, staff, fans and community is paramount, and we continue to be guided by medical experts at this time.

We extend our gratitude and appreciation to the public health and medical communities for their tireless efforts during these challenging times, as well as to our fans and partners for their support.

A team official told NBC Sports Philadelphia last Thursday that players, coaches and select support staff had been advised to start a temporary self-quarantine.

NBA team facilities will reportedly be closed to players and stuff beginning Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic, while players wont be allowed to travel outside of North America.

In addition to the three members of the Sixers organization, the Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert andDonovan Mitchell, the Pistons' Christian Wood, Kevin Durant and three other Nets players, the Celtics' Marcus Smart,and a member of the Nuggets organization have tested positive for the coronavirus. Two Lakers players have also tested positive,according toShams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

The 2019-20 regular season was suspended last Wednesday night minutes after the Sixers win over the Pistons at Wells Fargo Center.

We have great leadership in the NBA, GM Elton Brand Brand said at the time. Its important that the fans, players, coaching staff, our staff here at the Sixers remain healthy. Were doing everything we can. We believe in the leadership of the league.

Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.

Were all probably going to remember where we were and what we were doing last Wednesday night, when the NBA season stopped minutes after the Sixers beat the Pistons at Wells Fargo Center.

Center Kyle OQuinn shared his experience in a piece in The Players Tribune, recalling how he received the news that the 2019-20 regular season was suspended.

We hadjustfinished playing when the decision came down, OQuinn writes. "This coronavirus is a little more serious than we thought, someone on our staff said as we walked off the court. Well give you a call later tonight and let you know the details. When guys started showering, the p.r. people and [Elton Brand] came in and [were] like, Uhh, we have an update now. The seasons cancelled.

While the season isnt cancelled, OQuinn, his teammates and fans have nobasketball to keep them occupied because of the coronavirus pandemic. Three members of the Sixers organization have tested positive for the coronavirus, the team announced Thursday. In the NBA, the Utah Jazzs Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, the Pistons Christian Wood, the Celtics Marcus Smart, Kevin Durant and three other Nets players, and a member of the Nuggets organization have also tested positive.

OQuinn explained that hes been directed to stay in Philadelphia for the time being.

Just for the safety of my family, I stayed with the team, he writes. The team said theyll direct us on the moves we can make as they know more. So I wish I could run home to my family, but I cant.

As the league waits and determines what might be next, OQuinn said hes become a professional YouTube watcher. Hes been watching some of his own highlightsincluding when his 15-seeded Norfolk State team upset No. 2 Missouri in the 2012 NCAA Tournament cooking, doing yoga and reading. OQuinn has asked himself what hed do if basketball was permanently taken away.

Its a new level of self-awareness, he writes.

Hes also thought about what things might look like if the season does resume, as well as how hed feel if it doesnt.

Were we forming a championship team, or would we have fallen short?Thats the biggest cliff-hanger for me if the season doesnt come back and theres a chance Ill never know. It felt like we had really turned a corner and were getting everyone back healthy. Damn. Maybe its better not to think about it. But Ihaveto think about it because that was our goal in the preseason, right?

OQuinn ends the piece with a message separate from basketball.

At the end of the day, none of that matters anymore, he writes. It starts with one person at a time. Talk to your kids, and let them know the importance of hygiene. Just take care of one person at a time, one household at a time, and hopefully, well get through this together.

Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.

The Allen Iverson Experience was captivating regardless of the medium live on television, in the newspaper the next morning, hearing from teachers about the West Coast game that went past your bed time.

But it was best in person, no question.

I was there on Feb. 12, 2005, when Iverson scored a career-high 60 points in a Sixers win over the Magic. The victory improved them to 25-26 in a season that would ultimately end with a first-round loss to the Pistons, but those are the kind of boring details you have to look up years later.

It was all about Iverson, as it tended to be during those years. I remember, as a 10-year-old kid,trying to do the math throughout the night of how many points he was on pace for. As Iverson kept flying down the floor with the baggy shorts of that era flapping around his knees, bouncing off big bodies and knocking down free throws, I had to keep recalibrating.

The subplots and opposing players and emotions from when I was around that age have stuck with me. During the 2002-03 playoffs, I was fascinated by the Hornets gargantuan Robert Tractor Traylor and the Pistons lanky Tayshaun Prince. I watched Ben Wallace take free throws hours before tip-off and attempted to decipher how an All-Star could be so poor at one part of the game.

The Sixers lost Game 6 of their second-round series against the Pistons in overtime in that 2002-03 season. Iverson couldnt get a shot off at the end of regulation, Chauncey Billups was clutch in OT, and I got a good-natured speech from a random fan as we walked out of the arena. He said what I'd just witnessed being so close, building hope, failing at the decisive moment was what I should expect as a Philly sports fan.

I dont remember the exact words, but the gist of it was memorable. It felt like Id shown a willingness to suffer and deserved the truth, and that was oddly comforting believe me, the guy was actually very kind. I was hooked on the idea of being thereas much as I could, whatever the circumstances.

Heading into that 2005 game vs. the Magic, I wondered how Jameer Nelson would fare against Iverson. This was Nelsons second game back in Philadelphia after four decorated years at St. Joes, and though I understood he was a rookie and a bench player Orlando started Steve Francis, who scored 32 points I was excited about the minutes when Iverson and Nelson would match up.

With all due respect to Nelson, who finished with 10 points and eight assists, he ended the night as just another guy who tried very hard to stop Iverson and couldnt.

Consulting the box score and highlights now, I could give you more detailed analysis. Only six of Iversons 60 points came from three-point territory. A 23-year-old Kyle Korver made the Sixers only two other threes and was establishing himself as an elite specialist and draft-night steal. Korver, Andre Iguodala and Dwight Howard are the only players from that game still currently active in the NBA.

Sixers head coach Jim OBrien used just three bench players Willie Green (now an assistant coach with the Suns), Aaron McKie (Temple head coach) and Marc Jackson (NBC Sports Philadelphia analyst). Its interesting to see how much the NBA has changed in 15 years, and to track the paths of everyone who was part of the game.

Thats all secondary, though. There was a single-mindedness to the whole night that was thrilling, and its the thing Im least likely to forget. Everyone staring up at the big screen after a free throw to track Iversons pointtotal, everyone wanting him to have the ball in his hands and knowing he would, everyone grateful they were there and unconcerned with the game, the season and life outside of sports.

Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.

Here is the original post:
3 members of Sixers organization test positive for coronavirus - NBC Sports Philadelphia

In what might be considered a golden age of content, the true crime genre stands out as one that is consistently captivating audiences in every dark corner of the cultural landscape.

A harrowing, vivid story like Dirty John, can go from the pages of a newspaper, to a podcast, to a scripted dramatic TV series. It seems like there is a new look at the Ted Bundy story every six months. And dozens of podcasts, with names like Serial, Crime Junkie and True Crime Garage pepper the top-rated lists.

With so much to choose from, we asked critics, editors and audio producers at The New York Times to give their all-time favorites.

When somebody first recommended The Adversary to me, I recoiled. The story of how a French doctor named Jean-Claude Romand murdered his wife, their two young children and his parents sounded like something I never wanted to hear of, much less consider at length. But like all of Emmanuel Carrres books, this one loops in on itself and is fueled by a relentless self-awareness. He illuminates his awful subject matter with a kind of stunned lucidity, peeling back layer upon layer of Romands deceptions without trying to make him sound more intriguing or less self-pitying than he is. Writing a book like this is like navigating a thicket made entirely of trip wires, but whenever you fear that Carrre might get voyeuristic, or indulgent, or pretentious or maudlin, he surprises you.

I like true crime documentaries best when theyre about more than the crimes, and boy, was that true of the six-hour Netflix series Wild Wild Country. Yes, the story of the clash between the followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the locals of the rural Oregon area where the Rajneeshees built a settlement had guns, poison and attempted assassination. But it was also a remarkable character study of a culture clash between insiders and outsiders, and between very different conceptions of community and liberty.

One of the books I most admire in the genre is Robert Kolkers Lost Girls (the basis for the new movie starring Amy Ryan). Its a case that has baffled investigators for almost a decade: the discovery of the bodies of five slain women in a secluded oceanfront community in Long Island. All of them were sex workers, and many of their disappearances had been treated cavalierly by police. Kolker recreates the lives of these women, and their families in all their richness and struggle with meticulous research, sensitivity and deep humanity.

When I was growing up in Minnesota in the 1980s and 90s, a boy close to my age named Jacob Wetterling went missing in a nearby town. That story became major national news that changed the conversation on stranger danger.

Its a pretty sensational and titillating story, so when the podcast In the Dark started to cover it, there was the strong chance that the show would do what others did: dramatize the worst moments of these peoples life for entertainment. But then I listened to it, and I immediately realized that, instead of voyeurism, this team of amazing reporters was asking important questions of the people in power, and helping us understand the systems that keep those people from accountability.

While a lot of true crime focuses on the tragedy and victimhood, In the Dark punches up. In the first season, it questions why sheriffs have little accountability, and how to understand a clearance rate and good police work. In the second, the team did staggering reporting over nearly a year and asked important questions about the authority and bias of a district attorney. That reporting led to a decision by the United States Supreme Court, and changed a community.

I love a book called People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up, by Richard Lloyd Parry, a foreign correspondent who lived in Japan for many years. His examination of the disappearance and murder of a young English woman a British Airways flight attendant-turned-hostess is a deep, detailed dive into Japanese culture as well as an absolutely harrowing true crime story.

The 1970s might be the golden age of Hollywood true crime movies, and its hard to pick just one. Or maybe its easy, since one of the decades best movies deals with what might be its most consequential crime: the Watergate break-in. So even though some pedants might argue that its really a newspaper picture, Ill insist on All the Presidents Men.

With The Executioners Song, Norman Mailer seemed to cram all of America into this sprawling book about the life and death of the murderer Gary Gilmore. He became internationally famous after he demanded that the state of Utah, where he killed two people, put him to death. The book, which won a Pulitzer Prize, is awesome in its sweep, power and (for Mailer) plain-spoken humanity.

I tend to say Im allergic to true crime podcasts despite their ubiquity and my love of the medium because they so often center on violence against women. And while I can proudly rattle off a laundry list of true crime podcasts that have nothing to do with murder (Drilled, Odd Ball and The Dropout are at top of mind), I find it telling that the only true crime podcast I recommend without caveat to all listeners is Bear Brook from New Hampshire Public Radio. Yes, the subject is lethal violence against women. Yet this locally made show unfolds in a tender way that doesnt come across as objectifying, and manages to build the twists and turns in a way that doesnt feel exploitative. I usually fatigue of true crime podcasts after two episodes, but I couldnt turn this one off until I had binged it all.

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True Crime Favorites From New York Times Critics and Staff - The New York Times

Theres no sports on right now, which means you can devote much of your TV watching time to the home renovating splendors of HGTV. While HGTV shows all pretty much have the same premise someone renovates a home or someone buys a home they are not all created equal. Some are far, far superior and others force you to actually turn off the TV and pick up a damn book.

Before we really get into which ones are good and which ones will fill you with rage for the entire human race, a few notes on the rankings. One, yes, Im aware none of these shows are totally truthful, but that doesnt really factor into the rankings. What matters is the semblance of veracity, not what is actually real. Two, the rankings are a mixed bag of home improvement shows and home buying shows, even though theyre totally different viewing experiences. Lastly, shows are judged on a mix of how engaging the hosts are, the quality of the design work (where applicable) and the likeability of the home owners/buyers.

With that in mind, heres a ranking of HGTVs most popular shows, from Fixer Upper to House Hunters International.

Premise: Tarek and Christina flip homes in southern California Grade: F + Theres something gross about watching people pick apart foreclosed homes in Southern California and then flip them to make a personal monetary killing. Flip or Flop has always been too stressful for me to enjoy and focuses too much on the real estate market to be a real escape. Plus, the chemistry between Christina and Tarek always felt forced, even before their divorce. Now its just a grating experience in watching two people who barely tolerate each other try to salvage their business.

Premise: People look for tiny homes Grade: D+ This is the HGTV version of having a friend suddenly announce, Oh, by the way, Im vegan now.

One of the worst, most aggravating HGTV shows to air, only because of how unlikable the home buyers are. Most of these tiny homes are little marvels of design, but every single episode has at least one person saying, Umm, it feels a little tight in here, which immediately leads to me wanting to throw something at the TV.

The real issue with the Tiny House shows is not just that the buyers come off as insufferably smug, as if giving up square footage makes them morally superior, but that the show lacks enough self-awareness to realize that low-income families all over America have lived in tiny houses forever, simply by necessity.

Premise: Chip and Joanna Gains renovate homes in Waco, Texas Grade: D+ It pains me to give Fixer Upper an F, but Ive turned on the show and turned badly. I, like everyone else, used to love Chip and Jo. But theyve hit peak fame, and nothing makes people more insufferable than seeing their faces all over your local Target. The homes that Chip and Jo have done are undeniably beautiful, everything shiplapped to rustic, farmhouse perfection, but, now, the ubiquity of that perfection is suffocating.

When it first aired, Fixer Upper was a bit of fresh air in the HGTV landscape. Chip and Jo were undeniably charming on camera, and their obvious chemistry is what launched them to Martha Stewart levels of stardom. The entire thing has grown far, far too big, and their cultural influence is far above what it should be.

HGTV is no longer making new episodes of Fixer Upper, but even watching the old ones leaves a sour taste in my mouth now. Everything is too perfect for Chip and Jo. Their marriage is constantly perfect, their kids are always adorable, the farm house is always bathed in a golden glow, their neighbors are always friendly and never racist! It is pure artifice, from top to bottom, but trussed up to look working class and real.

Premise: Fixing up rundown historic buildings in Michigan and Minnesota Grade: C+ Sometimes I think Nicole Curtis cares too much about saving old windows. Just let it go, girl.

Premise: Mother and daughter rehab old houses Grade: C Every single new HGTV show has the same formula with a few slight variations. Its always some kind of family duo, fixing up some junker that probably shouldve just been torn down. The formula has different success rates, depending on the chemistry of the family members and Good Bones is among the better ones. The hosts are charming and personable, but the premise of whether or not someone is actually going to buy the house feels incredibly stilted. Ive never once watched an episode where they didnt actually buy the house! Design wise, its better than One of a Kind, but nowhere near as good as Property Brothers or Home Town.

Premise: Finding the perfect beach home Grade: B Dreaming about living at the beach is a favorite hobby of mine, until I remember that most ocean front properties will be underwater in a couple of decades because climate change is real. Also, the bargain portion of this title is misleading. Most of these people are paying over $300K for spaces without an ocean front view. The appeal of this show, of course, is mentally tallying up for your income and seeing if you, too, could afford to just ditch your home and job and live in a cramped condo that overlooks a parking lot.

Premise: Jonathan and Drew buy and fix up a home Grade: A There are a few Property Brothers shows now, and Jonathan and Drew have also become personalities in their own rights but have somehow managed to avoid falling into the overexposure trap like Chip and Joanna Gains. There are a lot of spin-offs, but Property Brothers: Forever Home seems to be the newest iteration. This is the exact right amount of charming host to flustered couple ratio for an HGTV show. Jonathan and Drew are capable, smart and, most importantly handsome and charming. Plus, the interiors that Jonathan (or is it Drew?) executes are always stunning.

Premise:Perspective home buyers search for the perfect house Grade: A The OG of HGTV shows, and it cant be beat. What other show invites you into the lives of domestic couples and practically begs you to rip apart their relationships? You can always tell how long a marriage is going to last by how a couple handles home shopping together. House Hunters isnt just a great HGTV show, it is one of the best and longest running reality TV shows ever. Every episode isnt just a peak into someones life but also a chance to pass judgement on all the life choices that lead them to this very particular moment. They have how many kinds? They want a pool? In upstate New York? Their budget is how much?! Of course theyre home schooling their kids! Plus, if you live in a big city where youve been priced out of the real estate market, its always nice to see you can get a single-family, three bedroom, two bath ranch somewhere in middle America for way less than your monthly rent.

Premise: People move overseas and shop for homes Grade: A+ House Hunters International is pinnacle TV viewing and hands-down the best HGTV show. The perfect mix of fabulous real estate agents (looking at you lady in Paris and dude in England), enough scenic beauty to indulge wanderlust, and compelling, but sometimes enraging home buyers. Not only can you get a glimpse of the rental market in foreign countries, but you can also sit back and judge every single American moving to Europe and complaining about how small everything is. Truly, its a gift.

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HGTV shows graded and ranked, from 'Fixer Upper' to 'House Hunters International' - For The Win

Puri: In support to the Prime Ministers Janta Curfew request to be observed on 22nd March, 2020, International Sand Artist & Sand Animator Shri Manas Kumar Sahoo has created a sand animated video.

Corona Virus has been declared a pandemic and has been spreading rapidly day by day. Inorder to stop this deadly pandemic to spread further many awareness messages are being made viral. The only way to do so is Self Awareness and Self Realisation about the consequences of being affected by the Virus. One of these initiatives include the Janta Curfew which our beloved Prime Minister has requested to observe on 22nd March,2020 from morning 7 am to 9pm in the night. So let us get united and avoid going out for a day which can help stop the virus to spread & protect ourselves. Shri Manas extends his full support to this Janta Curfew through his Sand Animation and is trying his best to create awareness among people. Shri Manas requests one & all including the people from other countries as well to support this as far as possible for its success. In his Sand Animated clip he has depicted how the busiest roads & the much crowded tourist places & monuments have been seen abandoned nowadays because of this pandemic. He has given a very important message in it. The message says Support Janta Curfew, Save Self.. To create this it took him 3 long hrs.

Shri Manas on behalf of our Prime Minister requests all to extend their full support for this initiative and make it a grand success. Stay Home, Stay Healthy.

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Illustrious sand artist Manas Sahoo makes a sand animation urging people to support PM Modi's call by staying home during #JantaCurfew on March 22 -...

It turns out millennials are the worst generation after all. By now, we should all be well aware that social distancing is crucial if we wish to end the coronavirus pandemic anytime soon. Many of us have responded accordingly if not already forced to close by state mandate, bars, restaurants, and other employers have determined nipping the virus in the bud outweighs the financial cost of shutting down their businesses. Events and shows have been canceled around the world, and most schools are closed through the semester. No one is thrilled about it, but there is one group that seems to be handling the disruptions to their lives with less decorum than others: millennials.

May as well enjoy it before everything gets shut down, one spring breaker told Fox News on Tuesday. Thousands of young people in Florida continued to party this week, ignoring social distancing guidelines and warnings from public health experts. If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, Im not gonna let it stop me from partying, one spring breaker from Ohio told Reuters. Were just out here having a good time. Whatever happens, happens.

A company called Student Travel Services, specializing in helping students party over spring break, posted a photo on Instagram of a packed booze cruise on Tuesday with the caption, Our last booze cruise was yesterday. The Blackbeards Revenge Cruise took such good care of our travelers, no one had to walk the plank! LOL, right?

Those who have decided to follow directions to self-isolate are acting as though they are going through some kind of personal crisis. If you are healthy, have a steady income, and are not a parent, Im afraid I have very little sympathy for the fact you have to stay home for a few weeks. I mean, really. You will live.

Nonetheless, just two days in, I witnessed numerous posts online from people complaining of having symptoms of cabin fever. You guys know thats not a legit condition, right? You would think that we could escape the narcissism for a moment during such challenging times, but instead were seeing endless whining and overdramatic posts about the how hard it is to stay home, on top of the fact that numerous young people are simply refusing to stay away from large crowds and social gatherings.

Unfortunately, the reactions of the twenty- and thirty-somethings were not particularly shocking. The most fragile generations have managed to turn a global health and economic crisis into an opportunity for online attention-seeking. Millennials have talked ad nauseum about their mental and emotional fragility, as if somehow thats more important than the thousands of deaths due to coronavirus. One Facebook user complained that statements like our forefathers were asked to go to war, we are asked to stay on the couch feel like an attack to those with mental illnesses or other difficulties that exacerbate the problems we will all have with self-isolation, adding that self-isolation could be a dangerous situation for these people. On Tuesday, less than 24 hours after Vancouver (where I live) went mostly into lockdown, I saw people complaining online about agitation and depression due to social distancing. Im sorry, but did you think this was going to be fun? Stopping life as we know it is hard on everyone, but were all practicing social distancing because its the right thing to do.

31-year-old actress Vanessa Hudgens complained about Coachella shutting down on Instagram, griping, Till July sounds like a bunch of bullshit. Im sorry, but like, its a virus, I get it. I respect it. But at the same time, like, even if everybody gets it, like, yeah, people are gonna die. Which is terrible, but like, inevitable?

Another young woman tweeted:

Do you know what really sucks? I turn 30 in a week. For the first time in my life I was going to have a great birthdaya big birthday is one thing you cant have another time. A wedding? You can reschedule. A gig? Theyll put it back six months. A trip? You can visit that place another time. I turn 30 once, and after having rubbish birthdays for a long time instead this one was going to be good now everything is closed, people are socially distancing, I cant go out for a drink or food or to the cinema, or even cook myself a nice meal. My offices are closed and everyone has to work from home indefinitely so I dont even get to see people. At all.

Coachella! Birthday parties! Cabin fever! Its almost as though the most self-proclaimed oppressed generation of all time has never experienced any kind of hardship whatsoever.

Meanwhile, the hashtag, #BoomerRemover trended online. Thats right: the fact that older people are more vulnerable to dying from coronavirus was turned into a joke by the young and healthy.

The cruelty and lack of self-awareness was astounding. Even worse was the hypocrisy.

Millennials have long demanded that older generations listen to the youth, claiming it is the olds who destroyed the planet and ruined their futures and then failed to take the proper actions to change the tide. Yet now, in a time of urgency, the same youth who attempted to ok, boomer their elders into irrelevancy are ignoring potentially life-saving measures because they are personally inconvenient.

Because the younger generations are unlikely to die from coronavirus, the prospect of staying at home and losing out on fun or income is seen as a punishment rather than a duty. On some level, I get it. When I was in my twenties, I had trouble being alone too. Tis the plight of the insecure, idle mind. I am a highly social person and am not happy about having to cancel events and plans, but I understand its something I need to do in order to contribute to ensuring this pandemic is as short lived as possible. Its not going to be easy for any of us certainly it will be inconvenient but we are doing it because we are able to think beyond ourselves and our selfish desires or preferences. Many people are losing their businesses and livelihoods due to this pandemic others are losing their lives. I do not wish to hear about your canceled birthday party or your cabin fever as though it is a serious matter.

By now, we should all be aware that we can kill this thing if we all collectively isolate for a few weeks. If you arent sick, you can still go outside and walk your dog. You can still pick up take out. You can run to the store for essentials. You just cant go to festivals, hang out at the bar, throw a birthday party, or go to the gym. You will have to cancel your vacation. Its not the end of the world yet. But we need to make some sacrifices. And, for once, whether or not this makes you feel depressed and agitated really doesnt matter. OK, kids?

Meghan Murphy is a writer in Vancouver, BC. Her website is Feminist Current.

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Millennials will be the death of us - The Spectator USA