After choosing not to comment on a related leak, Twitter officially revealed that it was testing a way to post much longer tweets. The official Twitter Notes feature teaser showed off something that looked more like an interface for writing blog posts or articles rather than simple 240-character tweets. Coincidentally, the previous leaked version of this feature was called Twitter Article rather than Notes.

Twitter Notes fixes many long-standing issues with tweetstorms and third-party apps or bots. You no longer receive multiple notifications from someone you follow, and you don’t have to go out of the network to view a long post. It also makes it easier to reply and communicate as there would be only one tweet to reply to instead of several in a series.

At the same time, it raises the question of whether it removes the special appeal and unique value of Twitter. Not all users will post long tirades or ramblings, of course, but other social networks have always allowed users to write short posts as well as long ones without having to choose between the two. Either way, Twitter Notes will most likely make Twitter users happy and might give those on other networks more reason to abandon their old homes and jump into the less restricted, but also more chaotic, world of Twitter.

TORONTO — The Yankees were late to play a bad game. It’s baseball. You can’t win them all even though sometimes you feel like you’re so good and hot that you’ll never lose again.

Sunday must have stung. Feeling and looking invincible, the Yankees took a big lead over the Toronto Blue Jays and then ruined the game.

Instead of sweeping the Jays for a 10-game winning streak that would have added to an already huge lead in the American League East, the Yankees spewed a five-point lead and lost 10-9.

Everyone knows the Blue Jays can knock the ball out of the stadium with anyone and that’s how they roared to save the series finale. The Yankees had an 8-3 lead before Lourdes Gourdes Jr., grand slammed in the sixth inning against Miguel Castro to make it a one-run game, then Teoscar Hernandez went deep with two in the seventh against Wandy Peralta to put Toronto ahead. 10-8.

From there, the Yankees clawed back a run in the eighth on a homer hit by Anthony Rizzo, but the Jays held on.

There were nine homers in the game, five from the Yankees and four from Toronto.

The Yankees’ greatest strength this season has let them down in this one. They had a rocky start from Luis Severino, who allowed five runs over five innings, and the bullpen also faltered by allowing five more.

The Blue Jays struck first, taking a 2-0 first-inning lead over Severino, who beat Bo Bichette with one out, then served a two-run homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The Yankees recovered a run in the second on a Gleyber Torres first homer off Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi, then took a 3-2 lead in the third when Joey Gallo worked a first walk and Josh Donaldson hit a two-out , two- running homer.

The Yankees’ lead grew to 6-2 in the fifth when they scored three on reliever Adam Cimber. Adam Judge doubled in a run and Torres made it an afternoon three-RBI with a two-out two-sack that popped the left field wall.

The Blue Jays salvaged a run in the fifth on a solo homer from George Springer to make it a 6-3 game, but the Yanks responded with two in the sixth on back-to-back homers from their No. 8 and No. 9 hitters. , Kyle Higashioka and Marwin González.

Leading 8-3, Severino returned to the mound for sixth with his pitch count in the 90s. A single line and walk later, Boone went to the bullpen, bringing in Miguel Castro. This move did not work. Castro retired the first two batters he faced, but walked the next to charge the bases and Gurriel Jr. cleared them with a grand slam that cut the Yankees’ lead to 8-7.

The lead was gone the next set when Gurriel took Peralta deep with two on board, making it a 10-8 game.

The Yankees have always made it interesting. Rizzo’s homer in the eighth brought them within a run, and then the next two batters hit a field single from Gonzalez and a walk from Jose Trevino, who hit for Gallo.

The Yanks had the runners tied and green lighted on board with the top of their order coming, but Blue Jay closer Jordan Romano came on and ended the threat by pulling LeMahieu out on a right flyball and Judge on a strikeout.

The Yankees threatened again in the ninth against Romano. Giancarlo Stanton walked with one out and Aaron Hicks scored a single with two downs to put runners in the corners. Hicks then stole second base to put the tying and winning runs in scoring position for Rizzo, who grounded himself short to end a 3 hour, 41 minute marathon.

NOTABLE

– Giancarlo Stanton was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, leaving him 1 for 16 with a home run and two RBIs in his last five games.

— Rizzo has seven home runs and 17 RBIs in his last 15 games.

– Higashioka has homered three times in its last four games after having had none in its first 34.

LOOK AHEAD

Monday: Yankees at Rays, 7:10 p.m., YES. RHP Gerrit Cole (6-1, 3.33) vs. LHP Shane McClanahan (7-3, 1.84).

Tuesday: Yankees at Rays, 7:10 p.m., YES. LHP Nestor Cortes (6-2, 1.94) against TBA.

Wednesday: Yankees at Rays, 7:10 p.m., YES. LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-1, 2.72) vs. RHP Shane Baz (0-1, 5.40).

Thank you for counting on us to deliver journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.

Randy Miller can be reached at [email protected].

What happened last year when a study was done to test the impact of emailing older black and Latino patients with the names of their primary care physicians and named senders? A statistically significant increase in vacancy rates among these populations, found a team of researchers.

The article, “Effect of electronic and mail-based outreach to primary care physicians for COVID-19 vaccination of black and Latino older adults: a randomized clinical trial,” involved a study of the impact of such awareness. It was published online on June 17 in Open JAMA Network, by a large team of researchers. The researchers were Tracy A. Lieu, MD, MPH; Eric P. Elkin, MPH; Patricia R. Escobar, MPH; Lucy Finn, MPH; Nicola P. Klein, MD, Ph.D.; Cimone Durojaiye, MPH; Stephanie Prausnitz, MS; Charles P. Quesenberry, Ph.D.; Debora Sawyer, MD; Silvia Teran, MD; Nancy Goler, MD; Stephen M. Parodi, MD; and Yi-Fen Irene Chen, MD

As the authors of the article write, “Vaccination is a crucial tool for controlling COVID-19, which has caused disproportionately high morbidity and mortality among black and Latino people in the United States. Vaccination rates among adults of these racial and ethnic groups were initially lower than those of Asian and white adults, and vaccination uptake among black adults continues to lag.Possible causes for this gap include more difficult access, skepticism about the efficacy or safety of vaccines and mistrust Primary care physicians (PCPs) can potentially play a key role in improving COVID-19 vaccination rates, especially for people black and Latino elderly who are hesitant to get vaccinated because PCPs are reliable sources of information.6,7 However, there is little evidence on the efficacy of PCPs for sensitization for p promote vaccination against COVID-19 in these high-risk groups. We conducted a randomized clinical trial of PCP sensitization for COVID-19 vaccination in older Black and Latino Americans in a socioeconomically diverse population. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of PCP outreach using secure electronic messaging and sending on COVID-19 vaccination among Black and Latino individuals aged 65 years and older and to compare the effects of culturally appropriate and standard PCP messages.

And what did the researchers find? “This 3-arm randomized clinical trial compared secure electronic messaging and email outreach of PCP (culturally appropriate or standard PCP extension) with usual care for Black and Latino people aged 65 and older who had not responded to an earlier non-personalized email and mail outreach for COVID-19 vaccination. The intervention period was March 29 to April 22, 2021, with vaccination results tracked through May 20, 2021. The interventions were developed by The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG), in partnership with Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) , an integrated system serving a diverse 4.5 million members. For this study, we selected service areas with relatively low vaccination rates and high proportions of black and Latino individuals: California’s Central Valley, Fresno, South Sacramento, and San Jose. KPNC members age 65 and older were eligible “to participate in the clinical trial” if they had been sent in advance but had not received a COVID-19 vaccination (in any location in California, inside or outside KP) or had made a vaccination appointment with KP as of March 29, 2021. Previous outreach used emails (or letters when email addresses were not available) from the KP Regional COVID-19 Vaccination Team to invite individuals to book an appointment for a vaccine online or by phone.

Additionally, “participants in the culturally appropriate and standard sensitization groups were followed from their first study sensitization until first vaccination or until 28 days after their last study sensitization. Participants in the usual care group were followed from the date of first study sensitization mailout (March 29, 2021) through first vaccination or up to 28 days after mailout. last sensitization of the study on April 22, 2021 (resulting in a maximum observation period of 52 days). The primary analysis used intention-to-treat allocation and compared vaccination time between each sensitization group with usual care using Cox proportional hazards regression. The models included a fixed effect for study group and adjustment for race, ethnicity, language group, and geographic area.

Ultimately, the researchers write, “This randomized clinical trial found that secure messaging and mail outreach sent on behalf of individuals’ own PCPs led to a significant increase in COVID-19 vaccination rates among older adults. black and Latino women who had not responded earlier, a less personalized approach. If this culturally appropriate PCP outreach were conducted for all unvaccinated Black and Latino American adults ages 65 and older, assuming the same additional vaccination rate of 2.2% was achieved, an additional 23,000 people nationwide could have been vaccinated. This suggests that PCP outreach should not be overlooked as a potentially effective approach for Black and Latino older adults.

The researchers note that our study was unique in that it focused on black and Latino seniors. Very few outreach randomized clinical trials to promote vaccination against COVID-19 have been reported. An earlier trial in a university healthcare system with individuals of all ages and racial and ethnic groups found that texting increased vaccination rates by 1% among those who had not responded to a prior text message. . In comparison, our trial of PCP sensitization using e-mail and postal messages found an increase of up to 2.2% in black and Latino seniors who had not responded to prior sensitization and less personalized.

And here’s something important: the researchers write, “A notable aspect of our study was that email messages and mailings were sent in the name of each individual’s PCP. The increases in COVID-19 vaccination rates we have observed are consistent with surveys and expert opinion suggesting that physicians are key influencers with their patients. Our finding that electronic reminders for COVID-19 vaccination had significant effects aligns with trials of patient portal or text-based reminders for influenza vaccination and other studies of vaccination reminders.

A study of the text messaging program, TEXTMEDS, was successful in informing and supporting heart attack survivors on how to prevent a second heart attack.

The randomized controlled study led by Cardiologist and Academic Director of Westmead Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney’s Westmead Applied Research Centre, Dr Clara Chow, investigated whether texting and telephone support to patients could improve risk factors in high-risk individuals. subsequent cardiovascular events.

The trial was the first of its kind to implement a systematic digital health intervention in around 20 hospitals across urban and rural Australia.

About half of all cardiovascular events occur within the first year after a heart attack or stroke, with 20-40% of these patients being readmitted with a subsequent coronary event within 12 months.

To reduce their risk, people who have had a heart attack are encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle; manage risk factors for heart disease, including blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes; and take the medications prescribed by their doctor.

The TEXTMEDS study aimed to improve patient adherence to medication, lifestyle and behavior change.

Hospital admissions for people who have had a heart attack are usually short, and there may not be enough time to provide information and education to support their recovery and how to prevent another heart attack,” Dr. Chow said.

“Post-hospitalization prevention programs can be helpful, however, even with access to these programs, approximately two-thirds of people do not attend due to various barriers including returning to work, hours of rigid schedule, distance or lack of perceived need.”

Participants received four text messages per week for the first six months, then three messages per week for the next six months.

The digital platform developed by the research team applied algorithms that enable the selection of appropriate and personalized messages to support patients who have recently suffered a heart attack across Australia. The text messages explained things like blood pressure and cholesterol goals, how each of the medications worked, and the importance of taking medication regularly. They also covered health topics such as physical activity, diet, quitting smoking and mental health after a heart attack.

Study participants showed improvements in healthy lifestyle measures after 12 months, with text group participants more likely to have a normal body mass index and more likely to report eating five or more servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit each day.

“Even though this study found no significant impact on medication adherence, TEXTMEDS demonstrates that a simple, inexpensive, and personalized SMS-based program can provide systematic post-hospital discharge education and support people after a heart attack with minimal staff.

Of the 509 patients in the text messaging group who responded to a user feedback survey, 86% agreed that the text messaging program was helpful and 63% agreed that the text messaging program reminded them to take their medications and encouraged them to change their way of life.

58% said their diet had become healthier through texting and 48% said they exercised more regularly through texting.

The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia.

Related

YONKERS, WESTCHESTER, NY – June 14, 2022 – They say work smarter, not harder, and that sentiment could no longer hold true in modern marketing. Every marketer wants to reach as many people as possible in the shortest possible time, which is essential given how fast things are changing today.

As cold calling and emailing existing and potential audiences becomes less effective, texting has become a preferred communication channel for many. Getting your message across via text can be very effective with the right strategy, and many businesses regularly use bulk texting services.

Bulk SMS is a marketing tool that simultaneously sends promotions, alerts or any other type of message to hundreds or thousands of recipients. There are many benefits to mass texting; fortunately, running a successful campaign shouldn’t be difficult.

This brief guide will help you discover the benefits of starting a mass texting campaign and what to avoid.

Pros: Bulk SMS is profitable

One of the best advantages of using a mass texting service is its cost effectiveness as a means of communication. By sending a mass SMS, companies, schools and municipalities can reach many people in a short time.

Contact methods such as snail mail and emails take longer to compose and are less cost effective than text messaging. The same can be said for cold calling, which requires a dedicated team of phone reps if you’re not using an automated dialing system.

Disadvantage: less human connection

There is something to be said for the human connection when it comes to marketing; in many situations, it remains an essential asset. For example, mass texting is a fantastic strategy for reaching multiple people simultaneously, but it can feel robotic if you’re not careful how you craft your message.

A simple solution to this potential problem is to take the time to develop your message and communicate it to your audience with enthusiasm and tact. Use language that sounds human and give your recipient simple instructions to follow in your call to action.

Advantage: quick form for wide reach

Nothing beats mass texting when you need to reach lots of people quickly. Sending a bulk text is easily one of the best communication methods used in marketing campaigns today. Having the ability to have a fast and wide range is extremely important in situations where you need to alert a large population as quickly as possible.

Municipalities often use mass texting services to send emergency broadcasts because almost everyone has a smartphone and immediately checks an SMS. Likewise, if a school needs to reach out to the student population about a closure or event, they can reach out to their entire school in no time.

Disadvantage: people might think it’s spam

We’re no strangers to daily “Scam Likely” calls. With the scale of spam, it’s easy to feel hesitant about alerts from unknown contacts. People tend to be more cautious of content that could be construed as spam and are unlikely to interact with anything they deem dangerous.

There is a simple workaround and ways to avoid sending texts that look like spam. First, communicate who is sending the message and for what purpose. If the recipient knows why they are receiving a message, they will respond more positively. Also be mindful of how often you are mass texting, as communication is off-putting and can alienate voters.

Pros: Bulk texting is super easy

Marketing is a demanding profession that requires being on the lookout for trends and thinking outside the box. Therefore, finding a way to make your job easier is a must and pays off over time. The great thing about mass texting is that it’s easier than you might imagine and a reasonably streamlined process overall.

All you need to do is compose a thoughtful message, select the contacts you want to receive the text from, and select the best time and date to reach them. Bulk texting services and software do the heavy lifting in creating the code, so marketers just hit send when everything is ready.

Set up a mass marketing campaign now

As you have read, setting up a mass marketing campaign has many advantages, and the disadvantages are easily avoidable with little practice and know-how. At this point, any business with a large audience to reach needs a mass texting service.

Learning how to run a mass texting campaign can dramatically improve your reach or help build customer loyalty. Best of all, mass texting software is generally user-friendly, so you shouldn’t feel nervous about learning it.

“That crash on the Northway last weekend was very similar to ours,” said Debbie Rivers, Deanna’s mom. “She was probably coming home and doing nothing wrong and this guy hits her and now she’s gone and he’s walking around. It’s maddening actually.

In that May 28 crash, a New Jersey man was arrested and charged with drunk driving and speeding in a crash that killed a 22-year-old University of Albany student. He now faces charges of manslaughter and aggravated homicide while driving a vehicle. On June 3, mourners gathered at Ballston Spa to bid farewell to crash victim Katryn Fisher on Friday.

Deanna Rivers and her friend Christopher Stewart, both students at Shenendehowa High School, were killed in a drug and alcohol-related crash on the Northway in Saratoga County 10 years ago in December.

The softball tournament gives the high schoolers one last game to end their high school careers while honoring Rivers’ memory. She and Stewart were killed at 17, just months after graduating.

The close-knit softball community that has been such a big part of Deanna Rivers’ life continues to serve as the backbone of an organization that has raised approximately $75,000 over 10 years. This money was distributed to a long list of organizations in the Capital Region, from Joseph’s House, a shelter in Troy where Deanna volunteered for her church, to first responder organizations who worked at the site of the crash and helped save Stewart’s and Rivers’ lives. friends, Bailey Wind and Matt Hardy, who both suffered serious injuries. The foundation has supported Albany’s Westland Hills baseball and softball organization and other community sports programs. The prevention of drunk driving and impaired driving is a permanent mission of the foundation.

“Every organization we donate to, everything we do, has something to do with it,” Debbie Rivers said. “That’s how she was. She was always the child who wanted to help others and give back. It was just his nature.

Shenendehowa Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson will speak at this year’s event.

“Deanna Rivers is the epitome of Shen Pride. Her legacy is an important message for our current and future students at Shen – how she gave back to her community and how she excelled in the classroom and on the softball field – is a story we are proud to share,” Robinson said. . “The Deanna Rivers Foundation has provided our community with connection through sports while awarding scholarships to future leaders, supporting their dreams in memory of Deanna.”

The return of the tournament will be a kind of reunion.

“We ran the tournament flat out and then COVID hit,” Brian Rivers said.

The peak year was 2019. Deanna Rivers softball jersey was number 19 and in 2019 the group gave away $19,000 to the community.

But the pandemic has not stopped their efforts. In 2020, foundation volunteers purchased, packaged, collected and distributed $20,000 worth of food to needy families and overloaded the shelves of the Shenendehowa Helping Hands Food Pantry at Jonesville Methodist Church.

Tournament organizers this year opened the list of softball players who graduated from the classes of 2020 and 2021 and who missed the tournament due to the pandemic.

In the past seven years of hosting the tournament, 72 high schools have been represented.

“Being able to reunite the girls from the past two years who haven’t had the opportunity to play means a lot to us,” said Brian Rivers. Some of these players are friends of their daughter Jenna, who played softball for Shen. Jenna Rivers is also a foundation board member and has just completed her freshman year at Siena College. She plans to get her master’s degree and work as a high school teacher.

The foundation’s board of directors and tournament volunteers, including coaches and referees, have been instrumental in helping the organization achieve its goals. A long list of businesses in the Capital Region donate food and supplies as well as giveaways for the draws.

“So many people have stood by us – and continue to stand by us – over the past 10 years,” Debbie Rivers said. In 2022, in honor of the foundation’s 10th anniversary, an additional $10,000 will be distributed.

PJ Anadio of Herkimer Community College, Mike Brehm of Shaker, Gary Sears of Niskayuna, and travel softball coach Tim O’Gorman served as head coaches throughout the tournament’s eight years. Deanna’s uncle and longtime assistant coach Joe Lanzone joins fellow assistant Lexi Garrison as key volunteers.

Garrison, who is PJ’s assistant coach for the purple team, participated in the 518 Memorial Tournament in 2019 and later played at Herkimer.

“PJ is quite special. Every year, for his team, he only gives his number 19 jersey to someone who replicates what Deanna was. He will choose a player, he will let us know and then we will write him a letter. He also puts on a number 19 banner. PJ and Deanna hit it off and he was trying to recruit her to play Herkimer,” Debbie Rivers said. “I think she brought him into our lives for a reason and he’s been there ever since.”

Shenendehowa softball assistant coach Stephen Decker will lead a children’s clinic with the help of former Shenendehowa softball students. At last count, 55 children were registered.

“I will never forget that night,” Decker said of the accident. “I got the phone call that morning because one of the other kids involved in the accident (Hardy) who I actually had on my JV baseball team at the time. Now, to come full circle and be asked to help is an honor. I worked with Jenna Rivers during my first year working with Shen’s softball program. It will be a nice feature to have all the kids back this year who missed out due to COVID. It will be great to see everyone again.

Liana Bonavita, News10ABC’s soon-to-be-changing athletic director, is the tournament’s emcee.

When the final pitch rolls on Sunday, a champion is determined and a Bonavita-chosen MVP wins a $500 purse. Then the Rivers family will move on to another mission. They will turn their attention to another parole hearing for Dennis Drue, scheduled for July. Drue, 30, formerly of Halfmoon, is serving a 5- to 15-year sentence at the medium-security Collins Correctional Institution in Erie County for the Dec. 1, 2012 crash that killed Rivers and Stewart. In September 2013, Drue pleaded guilty to the 58 charges he faced while admitting he was drunk, speeding and texting when he drove his Volvo sedan into the back of the teenagers’ vehicle, a Ford Explorer.

They plan to create another petition on Change.org and write letters against his release from prison. Around 21,000 people signed the petition while he was on parole in 2020.

Debbie Rivers said she has supported other mothers who have lost children and also speaks in schools about preventing DWI. She recently spoke to students participating in the Anti-DWI Billboard Project at Shenendehowa High School. Prom and graduation seasons are often when school and police officials spend time pleading with teens not to drive while impaired by drugs or alcohol.

“I have met three or four mothers who have lost a child in an accident and we are still in touch. So we help each other get through this together. And I talk to the classes and I just tell my story and you’re just trying to save a life and touch those kids,” Debbie Rivers said.

Just as parents of school shooting victims relive the nightmare every time another mass shooting occurs, victims of DWI-related deaths also find themselves in trouble when other families suffer the same fate.

“People don’t look beyond the accident. You know what I mean? They don’t know what’s going on at every party,” Debbie Rivers said.

“Every birthday,” added Brian Rivers.

Deanna Rivers has always brought out the best in everyone, her parents said. And it is memory that gives them—and its foundation—its strength.

Joyce Bassett’s All In column usually publishes Mondays in the Times Union.

A firearms executive seeking to open on Elton Street in Riverhead wrote a blog for several years in which he espoused views accusing Jews of controlling Congress, posted racist views about black people and launched a campaign to funding for the legal defense of a member of the Proud Boys after the man had been convicted of stabbing another man during a political confrontation.

Anthony Niosi, director of Niosi Firearms Development, which proposed a shooting range, firearms training center and gun store at 680 Elton Street, ran the “SPQR.Today” blog from December 2011 to September 2017.

Niosi in his blog refers to Proud Boys founder and former leader Gavin McInnes, a supporter of violent extremism, as “one of the essential resources for the thinking right”.

Niosi talks about McInnes, whom he describes in the blog post as “an acquaintance”:

“His articulate defense of traditional values ​​and his success in illuminating the fascist tactics the militant left employs to silence conservatives came at a cost,” Niosi wrote.

In a pitch to donate to “Tommy’s Legal Defence” (September 3, 2017), Niosi called out Tommy Christiansen, the Proud Boys member just convicted in the stabbing incident, one of “mostly individuals anonymous caught in the emerging violence of the militant left.

McInnes, co-founder of VICE Media, founded the Proud Boys in the midst of the 2016 presidential election. The Proud Boys describe themselves as “western chauvinists” with an “anti-politically correct” and “anti-white guilt” agenda.

Niosi said in a Thursday night text-messaging interview that he didn’t know McInnes well.

“I only met Gavin once, I guess over six years ago,” Niosi said. “He, his wife, his two daughters and then his infant son visited my house on Dune Rd, WHB. We had been introduced by a mutual friend, and at the time I knew him as someone who had been on Fox TV for several years, basically, if memory serves as a comedic commentator,” Niosi wrote in a text. He called the occasion a “chilling interaction” and said: “I’m not aware of what he’s advocating right now.”

However, he said, “I don’t mean…I’m oblivious to the Proud Boys as part of the zeitgeist.”

In his blog, Niosi called black people “groans about American racism” that “I’ve heard all my life. Barack Obama’s election in 2008 came with ‘a silver lining’ in that “His victory would be to ‘pay for’ the whining…”, he wrote. (“Blue Lives Matter”, July 15, 2016.)

“After a trillion dollars (yes, with a ‘t’) spent on Great Society programs over the past 50 years, the vast majority of black Americans have, fortunately, been given the opportunity to rise to the highest positions. prestigious in our company,” Niosi continued.

“And the dregs then? Activists, dependent multigenerationals, anarchists, nihilists?

“I’m starting to think that skin color is no longer a barrier to getting elected or a multi-million dollar network deal.

“I’m beginning to think the barrier is immersion in ghetto culture, violence, misogyny, rejection of education, and imitation of gang appearance and speech,” Niosi wrote.

He continues, offering advice to “drop the ghetto/gang talk, dress, and attitude” because “America has evolved to the point where the choices of an individual, not the chance of race, will determine his fate. (As written.)

“AnyHowitzer, let’s hope the current situation defuses before self-isolating thugs learn that the locks on our front doors are for their protection, not ours,” he concludes. (As written.)

In a June 29, 2017 article titled “Run…don’t walk,” Niosi addressed the question of whether a person crossing the street “while being approached by a black person” to avoid passing by is racist. Statistics provided by the NYPD show “you shouldn’t cross the street in New York when approached by a black person; they should run,” Niosi wrote, noting that the percentages of those arrested by the NYPD for major violent crimes who are black were disproportionately higher than the percentage of blacks in New York’s population, offering a “logic” that doesn’t does not take other factors into account. , such as the predispositions of arresting officers or the focus on arrests in relation to the crime committed.

Niosi devotes many of his blog posts to discussions of Jews, Israel, and US policy toward Israel and the Middle East. He is an advocate for the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement and calls Zionists and Congress members and the media “Israel’s fifth column”.

He says American Jews have ‘dual loyalties’, meaning they are loyal to Israel as well as the United States

“And not to be outdone, Diaspora Jews have been granted infinite preferential treatment by claiming anti-Semitic threats against their synagogues, schools, businesses, lives and personal property. Almost all of these threats have come to light under false flags with the recent arrest of Mr. Michael Kadar, a Jew with American and Israeli citizenships. (As written.)

Referring to an article by Victor Davis Hanson, Niosi writes: “Jew’s [sic] The problem is that they refuse to assimilate. Paranoid for their safety (even in America, their last best hope), they shun their loyalties and are seen as “internationalists” or “cosmopolitans”. And when bad times inevitably follow good ones; as ‘F-ing Treaters’ with divided loyalties.

Niosi said in a text last night that he had ‘no general opinion on any race or religion’. If RiverheadLOCAL’s request for comment on the views it has published on blacks and Jews “is designed to imply bias,” he said, “I will rely on forty years of working with all the ethnicities and religions, including my current business partner. I will freely admit that a reading of some of my polemics clearly illustrates my opposition to any theocratic governance that upsets the opinion of current liberal and academic thought,” he said. he declares.

“One can oppose the actions of a nation without opposing the individual citizens of that nation,” Niosi said.

Michele Lynch, vice president of the Riverhead Anti-Bias Task Force, said today that Niosi’s blog statements should be a red flag for the town of Riverhead.

“Someone making statements like this on a blog is definitely not someone the city should be doing business with — especially this kind of business,” Lynch said.

“These are racist and anti-Semitic thoughts,” she said.

The name of Niosi’s blog itself is associated with the white supremacist movement.

SPQR is an acronym for the Latin phrase “Senatus Populusque Romanus” meaning “The Roman Senate and People”, which in Roman antiquity was a shorthand way of designating the entire Roman state.

“SPQR” has since been adopted by American white supremacist groups as a symbol of their movement. For example, he appeared on flags at the Unite the Right rally in August 2017.

Niosi said he was unaware that “SPQR” had been adopted as a hate symbol by white supremacist groups.

He said he was a lifelong student of Roman history and pointed out that SPQR is the title of a book by classics professor Mary Beard, which he said he was currently reading.

Fraudulent phone calls have halved since this time last year, according to data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch shows, but other investment fraud – including on social media and SMS – soared over the same period.

The Fraudulent Calls Discount Code was introduced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) in December 2020. It has seen telecom operators block over 549 million fraudulent calls since its inception.

The code was developed by the Communications Alliance, the communications industry’s flagship body, in conjunction with major vendors and had been in the works for several years.

Communications Alliance chief executive James Stanton said: “The code has significantly improved communication and coordination of actions between operators to identify, track and block fraudulent calls.”

“The difficulty is that scammers are incredibly nimble. As soon as they see a blocked avenue, they know very well how to find a new one to exploit. So it’s a constant car chase to try to prevent this activity.

The code’s introduction coincided with a major spike in phone scams during the pandemic, underscoring the need for an industry-wide approach.

Stanton said most vendors had provisions in place to tackle scammers, but consolidating processes and creating legally binding liability provided more effective deterrence.

The code requires telecommunications providers to monitor their networks and identify patterns of fraudulent calls, then block them.

Significantly, it also requires participants to inform other telecommunications companies and the regulator of the identified scam, so that the rest of the industry can be alerted.

Acma’s Fiona Cameron said the code had been effective but the adaptability of the crooks meant the fight was far from over.

“You will always find that the phone is the most used way for scammers to reach potential victims. And that’s largely because scammers choose very easy targets. And if you have a landline phone at home, if you are older and more at home and more available to pick up the phone, the scammers will come to you,” Cameron said.

“In 2020, when we were developing the code, we didn’t want to make the phone such an easy target.”

Data from the ACCC shows Australians lost over $205 million in the first four months of 2022, with the majority of losses stemming from “crypto investment scams” ​​which rose by over 300%. These scams were mostly via text – a method that has seen a 54% increase in scams since last year.

ACCC Vice-Chair Delia Rickard said: “Australians should be wary of anyone asking them to invest or transfer money using cryptocurrency, especially if it involves someone you’ve only met online. Many consumers are unfamiliar with the intricacies of cryptocurrency and this can make them more vulnerable to scams.

A new code that will be implemented this year will try to tackle text messaging in the same way as the telephone code. The project has been finalized by the Communications Alliance and is currently being reviewed by Acma.

“The text code has now been registered with us and we will, over the next few weeks, be working to ensure that all safeguards that we believe are necessary are in the code,” Cameron said. She also confirmed that the new code had been delayed due to privacy concerns with telecom operators accessing text messages to scan them for scams.

NEW YORK – If you don’t know the story of Manny Banuelos, you were probably too young to stay up late enough to see him make his Yankees debut on Friday night anyway.

Now get off my lawn.

If you know Banuelos’ story and weren’t impressed when he stood behind the mound to soak it all up before his first pitch, you should check your pulse. If your heart is beating, in fact, you should pinch your cheek. And if you are somehow in touch with reality, you should be in touch with your emotions.

“That was the coolest part of the night, I think,” said Gerrit Cole, who didn’t do much unless you were planning to take a perfect 6 2/3 innings game in a 13-0 Tigers blowout at Yankee Stadium also pretty cool.

Yeah, Cole flirted with history, and the Yankees treated the basics like a merry-go-round, but it was Banuelos who stole the show, stole the night, and won the Yankees Game Player’s Championship belt in an emotional in camera. Party.

“My dream has come true,” Banuelos said.

In 2011, a 20-year-old Banuelos was the Yankees’ most exciting prospect, a southpaw who seemed destined to lead the rotation in the Bronx for years to come.

In 2015, injuries and inconsistencies forced a 24-year-old Banuelos out of the organization via a trade with the Braves.

Last year, he was a pitcher in Taiwan.

But on Friday night Banuelos, 31, pitched two scoreless innings for the team he loved in Mexico, long after so many people – probably including Banuelos at one point – never thought that he would come back.

Banuelos struck out one and allowed a hit behind Cole’s seven innings.

“It was awesome,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It was emotional in (the clubhouse). Obviously, most of you are aware of his story for being here. He’s just a great guy. To see him achieve this later than expected but never giving up, never losing sight that this was what he wanted to do and where he wanted to do it. Watching people persevere through so many different things is special.

Banuelos joined the organization in the offseason, impressed in spring training, but was cut off at camp at the last minute when he finally looked like he was about to wear pinstripes. But he went to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, persevered, and the Yankees called him up on May 26.

He had to wait until Friday for his debut with the Yankees. It couldn’t have come at a better time. His wife and daughter were in the stands to watch. Wide receiver Jose Trevino, who was a Yankees fan in high school when Banuelos was a hot prospect, delivered a heartfelt message to Banuelos on the mound early in the eighth inning.

“I know the story,” Trevino said. “Everyone should know the story. The trip was long. I know a lot of people dream of playing with the Yankees, and this was one of his. I just went over there and just said to him, ‘Hey, man. Welcome to the house. This is where you’re supposed to be. This is where you are right now. Enjoy it.’ You could tell the emotions were running high, but I think he did a good job.

Trevino added: “Stories like that, those go a long way, not just for guys but for kids all over the world. Maybe you are not where you are supposed to be right now. But, later, that doesn’t mean you can’t come back.

Baneulos has returned. He said he had received the first baseball pitch. He said he would take it home and display it amid baseballs he signed by Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera during his spring training with the Yankees in 2012.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Baneulos said.

And so many Yankees and their fans will remember it for years and years.

Please subscribe to us now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Brendan Kuty can be reached at [email protected].

In 1982, Zach Leigh was one of a handful of kids who helped start the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute.

Forty years later — his 9-year-old handprints still visible in a piece of concrete preserved at a ceremony for the budding institute — almost everything about diabetes has changed.

Leigh, now a digital cartographer, father and husband with a penchant for mountain biking, recalls his hopes four decades ago had a lot to do with the urine strips that were used at the time to track blood levels. blood sugar. Besides being awkward, especially for elementary school kids looking to fit in with their peers, the tapes weren’t particularly accurate. They didn’t change color until the glucose level reached 200 milligrams per deciliter, a point where the situation was already out of control.

“By the time those strips showed something in the urine, you were already hours too late,” Leigh said.

His younger self would be amazed to see where things stand for type 1 diabetes in 2022, he said.

Today, Leigh is enrolled in a clinical trial through Whittier that gives her early access to the latest closed-loop blood glucose monitor, which is equipped with an automatic insulin pump. The device can both detect its blood sugar levels in near real time using a small needle embedded just under the skin and also deliver microdoses of the drug it needs to maintain well-balanced blood sugar levels day and night.

The system can even transmit its data to their smartphone for easy viewing and transmission to their doctor.

Those without diabetes might think it was the convenience of this technology that would impress Leigh’s childhood so much. And he would surely have been impressed. But there is something deeper that only people who have dealt with the disease for decades can truly understand.

For so long, Leigh explained, diabetes was a private matter handled largely behind closed doors. It was difficult for a person with diabetes to recognize another unless they saw testing supplies, insulin syringes or other unmistakable objects.

But wearing an automatic blood glucose meter creates a telltale bump under a person’s shirt near the midsection that others wearing the same device can easily spot.

“It kind of opened up a whole new world of talking to other diabetics because you can see them,” Leigh said. “It’s like a club in some ways. It’s the camaraderie.”

History of Whittier

The Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute, just north of Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, was originally called the Whittier Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology. It is named after the late philanthropist N. Paul Whittier, who contributed $5 million in seed capital to get the organization off the ground.

The institute has carried out its own research throughout its four decades, first operating out of its own building on the Scripps La Jolla campus, then moving to nearby 10140 Campus Point Drive at Health System Headquarters. of Scripps when the expansion caused the destruction of the original structure. .

Whittier has recently come to prominence for his extensive behavioral research into blood sugar control in type 2 diabetics. The institute has received millions in federal grants to document and teach his “promotora” model, which has demonstrated real gains in diabetes control by using peer educators from the Latin American community to help people with the disease live healthier lives through diet and exercise. More recently, efforts have explored the use of digital means, turning to text messaging as a two-way channel to provide real-time advice and encouragement.

The methods have evolved, the drugs too. Dr Athena Philis-Tsimikas, endocrinologist and director of Whittier, said that when she started treating patients 30 years ago, only human insulin and two drugs – metformin and sulfonylureas – were available for the diabetes treatment.

Although both drugs can stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin, they have sometimes overstimulated, leading to weight gain and other side effects.

In the decades that followed, science developed better drugs, often called SGLT2 and GLP-1 inhibitors, that could reduce the amount of glucose taken up by the body or stimulate insulin production. Both are less likely to exceed a balanced blood sugar level and can cause those who take them to lose weight. Taken appropriately, the drugs have been shown to reduce the number of patients who die from diabetes complications.

“When I started my career, there were only three ways to treat diabetes,” Philis-Tsimikas said. “There are now over 14 different classes of drugs available.

“Only the needles have come so far. I’ve heard stories of patients sharpening their own needles and boiling them to sterilize them, and now the needles in the injection pens we use to deliver insulin are so thin you can’t feel them going into the skin.

Although many drugs and technologies are made by companies based outside of San Diego, Whittier has always served as a critical access point for the national clinical trials that brought them to market. At least a dozen trials are regularly available with a team of experts on hand to help customers determine the possible risks and benefits of participation and whether they are eligible to participate.

Paul Whittier’s seed money for the institute that bears his name helped lure Dr Willard VanderLaan – an endocrinologist who was then director of an existing diabetes research center at the Scripps Clinic – to the hospital principal of Scripps in La Jolla. VanderLaan was also the personal physician of Olive Whittier, Paul’s first wife, who died of complications from diabetes in 1976.

Whittier’s philanthropy as chairman of MH Whittier Corp. of South Pasadena accelerated with the sale of Bellridge Oil Co. to Shell Oil in 1979 for the then record sum of $3.65 billion. The family is also known for its partnership with the Rodeo Land and Water Co., which sold and sold Beverly Hills to movie stars.

Much of the money was used to fund the Confidence Foundation, a charity still active today named after the ship that took family ancestor Thomas Whittier from England to New England in 1638 .

The foundation continued to support the organization it helped create. It is now in the fifth year of a $1 million donation to establish the Paul and Lucy Whittier Endowment for Diabetes Education and Research.

Confidence Foundation trustees Arlo Sorensen and Linda Blinkenberg, who both knew Paul Whittier and had worked with the family since the 1960s, said support was occasional rather than ongoing, tied to proposed new initiatives.

Whittier, who died in 1991 at the age of 87, wanted his gifts to be seeds that could grow into trees with roots deep enough to sustain themselves, Blinkenberg said. Thus, the additional donations were intended for new branches rather than supporting the old trunk.

“We’re very proud of what they’ve done with Paul’s gifts,” Blinkenberg said. “They’ve made great strides to be able to grow themselves.”

“It just came as a great example of how to use philanthropy to achieve something bigger than you,” Sorensen said.

The Comprehensive Grants Database maintained by the National Institutes of Health lists more than $30 million in federal research grants awarded to the Whittier Diabetes Institute and Scripps Health for diabetes research.

The list of scientific research includes basic research on fundamental questions which, together with the work of many others in many other places, has progressively improved the lives of diabetics around the world. In 1985, VanderLaan gained support to further explore the role of insulin control by pituitary peptides, a topic explored in more detail by Dr. Andrew Baird in the 1990s.

Others, like Dr. Alberto Hayek, have won international recognition and support for research into the transplantation of islet cells, which are essential for insulin production. ◆

A Cole County judge this week heard arguments about whether staff in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, when it was headed by current US Senator Josh Hawley, used private email accounts to to overturn open state archive laws.

A 2019 lawsuit filed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee alleges Hawley’s office violated the Sunshine Law when it withheld emails between Hawley’s taxpayer-funded staff and its political consultants during the 2018 campaign for the US Senate.

The suit asks the court to impose civil penalties against the attorney general’s office for “knowingly and willfully” violating the Sunshine Act.

On Thursday, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office argued to Cole County Judge Jon Beetem that despite the emails being about public business, they should not be considered public records.

Indeed, the conversations took place using private email accounts and were never stored on government servers.

“There is no dispute that the emails were related to public business,” Jason Lewis, assistant attorney general under Hawley’s successor Eric Schmitt, said Thursday. “But these are not public records. There was no retention here.

The lawsuit stems from a records request the DSCC made in September 2017 for communications between staff in the attorney general’s office and Hawley’s political consultants.

Hawley’s office denied the request in a letter to the DSCC in October 2017, saying the office “searched our records and found no responsive records.”

But a year later, a Kansas City Star investigation found that the communications did exist.

The Star reported in October 2018 that shortly after being sworn in as attorney general, Hawley and his staff began using private email rather than their government accounts to communicate with political consultants outside the US. who would go on to lead Hawley’s U.S. Senate campaign. .

Hawley’s campaign consultants gave direct advice and assignments to his taxpayer-funded staff and led meetings during working hours in the state Supreme Court building, where the official office of the Attorney General.

Among those included in the private email discussions was Daniel Hartman, who was the custodian of records for the attorney general’s office.

Hartman being involved in the conversations is significant, said John Geise, an attorney representing the DSCC.

“The attorney general’s office cannot defeat Sunshine Law requirements by requiring the custodian of records to store certain records on his personal email,” Geise said Thursday.

Geise argued that Hawley hid the records from the DSCC because he didn’t want embarrassing information made public before the election.

The revelation that Hawley and his team were using private email to coordinate with his political consultants sparked accusations that he had illegally used public resources to benefit his Senate campaign.

The Missouri Auditor’s Office concluded in February 2020 that Hawley may have misused state resources. But the audit stopped short of officially saying Hawley broke the law, saying the widespread use of private email and text messaging in the office made a definitive determination impossible.

The attorney general’s office didn’t officially keep the files, Lewis said, until December 2018. That’s when Hartman printed them out and brought them to the office to be scanned for delivery to the office. office of the Missouri Secretary of State, which was investigating the matter.

Beetem raised the retention issue several times with Geise on Thursday, questioning whether emails about public affairs were automatically public records if they were never retained by the office.

It’s similar logic to Beetem’s decision in 2019 in a lawsuit over former Governor Eric Greitens’ use of a self-destructing text messaging app. He ruled in that case that since the texts were automatically deleted, and therefore never preserved, there could not have been a violation of the Sunshine Law.

But Geise said Thursday that Hartman knew, or should have known, that reactive recordings existed. And because of his role in the office as custodian of the records, Geise said, the fact that they were in his possession meant they were kept.

If Beetem sided with the attorney general’s office, Geuse explained, “government agencies would simply forward all communications to private emails to avoid the Sunshine Act.”

Beetem did nothing on Thursday.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a grant-supported media network and donor coalition as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence.

In the original Star Wars movie, released in 1977, Luke Skywalker cleans up his newly acquired droid R2-D2. He accidentally triggers a secret message sent by Princess Leia aboard the ship Tantive IV, revealing a message that launches the film’s second act and – in many ways – the Star Wars franchise as a company:

“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are my only hope.”

It’s a classic line. Perhaps the guideline of a series that contains it. But in 2022, on May 4 everyday, it’s a line that hits differently.

In May 2022, a few weeks before Obi Wan Kenobiis the first on Disney+it might be me deliver this line. Me: A bruised and battered Star Wars fan, watching in dismay as Disney released clunker after clunker into canon.

When I press play on the new series trailerit could be me in hologram form: “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are my only hope.”

And from a weird and meta point of view, it could be disney himself. After a big-budget mixed trilogy and largely unsuccessful spin-off filmschased by mediocre shows like Boba Fett’s Book, Obi-Wan Kenobi looks like a huge bet for Disney. A moment to do or die for a series languishing in the doldrums. A last hope.

Page turners, they weren’t

Don’t get me wrong: Star Wars, for at least a decade, has sort of sucked. During this time, Star Wars took me on a crazy journey that started with anger, then acceptance, but ultimately ended in utter indifference.

I don’t care about Star Wars anymore, and I don’t think I’m alone. I am not invested in its universe, its characters or its success. Star Wars – this legendary tale set a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away – has has lost its mystique.

It stings harder because Disney initially got it to the right. After a well-done (though sure) tribute film in The Force Awakens, Star Wars broke the mold with The Last Jedi; a movie that challenged not just assumptions about Jedi lore and other hokey-pokey bullshit, but notions of nostalgia and fandom itself. In short, he absolutely ruled.

In perhaps the best Star Wars scene ever filmed, Yoda stands before a blazing fire that he started himself. “The sacred texts”, shouts Luke, in agony.

“The page-turners, they weren’t,” Yoda replies.

It was a film that told us to “let the past die, kill it if necessary”. It was everything the Star Wars series needed, and it was amazing.

Of course, everyone got angry. Disney panics. Rise of Skywalker, a cobbled-together spreadsheet of a movie, was the result. It looked, felt, and played like a movie written by a toxic Reddit thread turned sensitive, and it undid all the bold decisions made in The Last Jedi. It was the first nail in the coffin for my own Star Wars fandom, but it wouldn’t be the last.

In the wake of Rise of Skywalker, we’ve seen Star Wars do nothing but flatter audiences desperate to bask in nostalgia. To be clear: we all have to take our share of responsibility. We’ve become a cursed collective that judges the quality of shows like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett based on the quality of their cameos. Did a grotesque CGI Luke Skywalker appear? Good. No Ahsoka Tano or Baby Yoda in this episode? Evil.

It’s completely distorted.

It’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time

Given the lackluster quality of Disney’s recent Star Wars outing, it’s unreasonable to expect Obi-Wan Kenobi to signal drastic change, but I still have a smoldering ember of hope. For several reasons.

Reason 1: The stakes seem high. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a central character in the Star Wars universe, and he’s played by one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Of all the shows streaming on Disney Plus, you feel it’s important they get this one to the right. These stakes might cause Disney to play it safe, but hopefully that translates to higher quality production across the board.

Reason 2: We have a generation of Star Wars fans who yearn for a different type of nostalgia. The final Star Wars trilogy spent a good six hours playing with or against the original trilogy. In 2022, we have a group of thirty-somethings who have grown up alongside the prequel trilogy.

I’m a nostalgia-bait hater in nearly every medium I consume, but I suspect it might be fun to go back to the prequel aesthetic with a new set of collectively aging eyeballs. Prequel-land feels like a different, less rigid, less lived-in Star Wars universe. There is potential here for something unique.

In this regard, Obi-Wan could also act as a kind of bridge. Not a Rogue One-style bridge – a boring movie striving to fill in gaps that never needed filling – but something more expansive and imaginative. Within the narrow confines of the Star Wars universe, there’s room in Obi-Wan’s timeline for something different: new characters, new enemies, new planets. There’s also space to create connective tissue between the trilogies that feels less convoluted. Recent movies and shows have made Star Wars feel rickety and small, held together with superglue and duct tape. Maybe I’m guilty of projecting my own hopes and dreams here, but maybe Obi-Wan Kenobi can make Star Wars feel vast and unknowable again. I do not know. Perhaps.

I will be very disappointed if he continues to paint by numbers. Obi-Wan Kenobi could become yet another Star Wars show bleh, stumbling from one fan service cameo to the next like a rotting zombie in search of brains. That’s almost certainly the most likely outcome here, but we can dare to dream.

Help us, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are our only hope.

Using a website called GIFs.com, users can convert any YouTube video into a GIF that they can share on social and messaging platforms. Here’s how.

Looking at a Youtube video, users may want to convert it to GIF. It could be a scene from their favorite superhero movie, comedy or animated series. Whatever the content of the video, users can make it into a short animated GIF which can be downloaded and sent to other users through messaging platforms. All popular instant messaging apps support GIFs, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, and even Instagram.

When people are connected through digital platforms, sending plain text messages may not be enough. Instead, users prefer to send GIFs to express their emotions or in response to add fun to messaging. While platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram come with a built-in GIF gallery, some users are eager to create their GIFs as they convey the exact message or sentiment they want. After learning how to convert YouTube videos to GIF, users will be able to create many GIFs.

Related: How to Share YouTube Videos on Snapchat

If anyone wants to explore the available GIFs, there are several websites like Giphy, where users can choose from thousands of options. Upon opening the website, you will notice GIFs organized into categories including trending, artists, entertainment, sports, and more. Users can upload a video from their computer and convert it to GIF as well. However, those who want to create GIFs from videos available on YouTube should skip this method. Instead, they should explore a website called GIFs.com.

Turn YouTube videos into GIFs

To create GIFs from YouTube video, users need to open the video on a computer through a web browser like Chrome or any other web browser. Once the video is open, go to the address bar, double click on the URL you want to modify and add “gif” before “youtube”. So if the video’s original URL looks like “https://www.youtube.com/example1”, after adding the word, it should look like ‘https://www.gifyoutube.com/example1.’ After changing the URL, hit enter and wait for the webpage to load. The user should be redirected to GIFs.com, where they will see the YouTube video on the right side and a bunch of editing options on the left side.

Users select the part of the video to convert to GIF on the editor. Next, drag either end of the chosen part highlighted in blue to adjust the length of the GIF. At this point, users can add captions and images, blur the video, and crop it to the desired format. When users have created the GIF, they should click on the “Create GIF” button on the top right corner of the screen. The website will ask them to fill in a few fields, such as GIF title and tags. Additionally, users can also mark their GIFs as private or public. Enter the required information and click “Next”. It might not be as simple as using the recently launched YouTube Green Screen feature, but it’s worth it.

On the screen that opens, users can copy a link to the GIF and download it in four different formats: small GIF, original GIF, Facebook GIF, and original MP4. Although users can experiment with all four formats, downloading the Facebook GIF should work for most scenarios. Select the format and click download. Now users can share the GIF they created from a Youtube video on social and messaging platforms.

Next: What is YouTube’s “most replayed” feature and where can you find it?

Source: GIFs.com

90 Day Fiancé: David shocks by wearing Annie’s pants after weight loss

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) – According to the Rock Island-Milan School District, on May 11, a sixth grade substitute teacher was escorted from the Rock Island Center for Math and Science following multiple allegations that he had been sexually inappropriate with young girls in his class.

Two of the girls’ parents told TV6 they felt the school had not acted quickly enough to protect their children.

It all started with an SMS that no mother wants to receive.

“At 2:08 p.m. I got a text from my daughter Jasmine saying ‘Mom, tell me why a substitute teacher was staring at my boobs licking her lips,'” said Sarah Kruise, mother of Jasmine Gillen , who was in sixth grade. in the substitute teacher’s class.

Gillen says that at recess around noon, she saw two of her classmates crying and telling the principal that they had been touched inappropriately by the substitute.

She says at that time a sub came out of the school to line up the class and go back inside.

When the students lined up, Gillen said she had a strange interaction with the substitute.

“I was like, ‘how’s your day?’ and he gets a little too close,” Gillen said, “and I look around, ‘you see that, don’t you?’ and out of nowhere he’s like, have you been to florida? and i look around confused, then look down at my shirt.

Gillen says she wore a T-shirt with the word Florida written across the chest. “I’m like ‘no’ and I just look at his eyes on my breasts,” she said.

Gillen says she made an official statement at school about what happened with a few of her classmates.

A mother who asked to remain anonymous said her daughter had experienced a similar situation the day before.

The woman said her daughter told her what happened after the teacher was escorted off campus the next day.

“[My daughter] dropped her pencil sharpener on the floor and bent down to pick it up,” said the woman, who then said her daughter noticed the teacher getting excited, “he hurt her comfortable and asked to be moved to sit elsewhere. I’m not comfortable that they just let the guy go.

According to Gillen, the teacher was able to bring the class back into the room to teach for a little while after the allegations were released at recess. He was then escorted out by the principal.

TV6 asked the school about this specific allegation and the school did not respond.

“My problem is they turn around and let this man take them back to the classroom,” Kruise said, “they were in the classroom 30 minutes before the principal came in to get him off the charges.”

According to the parents, the school did not inform them of the allegations until later in the afternoon. “If it wasn’t for my daughter who texted me at 2 p.m., I wouldn’t have heard about it until 3:30 p.m.,” Kruise said, adding, “we got a robocall at 3:30 p.m. saying that for the sixth year bodies that allegations have been brought to their attention.

In an email to TV6, district spokeswoman Holly Sparkman said the principal sent a robocall to sixth-grade families on the evening of the alleged incidents. Sparkman said the principal also interviewed many students during the afternoon and “worked on putting supports in place to ensure students felt physically and emotionally safe.”

A parent, however, said he was not informed of the incident because his daughter, who attends the same school, is not in sixth grade.

“He’s still a staff member,” said Stacey Charleton, mother of a fifth and third at the school, “he’s an adult and he could have taken advantage of any of our children , so as parents, we all should have been informed.”

Kruise mostly says she feels worried that the school called DCFS instead of the police.

“I don’t feel safe sending my child to a school knowing a procedure in a lifetime of calling DCFS first,” Kruise said.

TV6 contacted the school district about their contact with DCFS. They said the state of Illinois requires teachers to report suspected minor misconduct to DCFS. DCFS then communicates with local police, the district says.

The Rock Island-Milan School District says the situation is currently under police investigation and the school followed proper protocol.

The substitute teacher has not been officially charged, so TV6 will not name him for the moment.

According to the district’s employment website, the teacher has worked for the district since 2018.

Here is the full statement the Rock Island-Milan School District gave to TV6 via email:

“On Wednesday, May 11, Principal Amy Nitzel received concerns from students regarding inappropriate and unprofessional behavior by a temporary/substitute individual at the Center for Math & Science.

The principal immediately removed the person from the school campus, then took statements from students and worked to put supports in place to ensure students felt physically and emotionally safe.

Because RIMSD #41 staff are mandated by the State of Illinois to report to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) when they have reasonable grounds to believe that a child ( minor) may be abused or neglected, the information has been reported to DCFS for investigation.

The school district is fully cooperating with the Rock Island Police Department and the Department of Child and Family Services in the investigation. The replacement/individual has been removed from the School District’s list and will no longer be used by RIMSD #41.

The safety and well-being of students is the top priority of RIMSD #41. Once Principal Nitzel learned of the students’ complaints, she acted quickly in the situation to remove the substitute from the school, take student statements, and communicate with parents and staff about the situation this after -noon there.

Given the sensitive nature of the complaints, every effort was made to ensure that the emotional well-being of students was considered and that parents were aware of the event.

Copyright 2022 KWQC. All rights reserved.

Cybercriminals never stop and are always on the lookout for new ways to defraud people, or rehash old ones that have worked in the past. Today, Spain’s National Cybersecurity Institute warns of a new attempt at ‘smishing’, where criminals send text messages (SMS) claiming to be from Bankinter or BBVA banks. The Institute says similar messages may also appear to come from other banks.

Smishing is similar to “phishing”: criminals attempt to obtain personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers, bank details and other sensitive and confidential information which they will use to commit a fraud or theft.

It is not the first time that they have used the name of Bankinter and BBVA, but on this occasion the experts have identified different messages. These messages normally indicate that an unusual access has been detected on your online banking account, or that your card has been blocked, and they ask you to click on a link to fix the problem.

The links lead to a website that looks like the bank’s, but once the customer enters their login credentials, criminals can access and use their account. They also have all the personal and bank details of the person concerned.

What to do

The Cybersecurity Institute advises that anyone who receives such an SMS should ignore or delete it, and never click on the link or download an app.

If someone clicks on the link and inserts their bank account access details, it is best to immediately change the online banking password and contact the bank to let them know what happened. past. Also take a screenshot of all messages and save emails etc. as evidence when you report the problem.

To avoid falling victim to these scams:

• Never open links in text messages from unknown users; delete messages immediately.

• Never reply to an SMS of this type.

• Be very careful when opening links or downloading attachments from emails, messaging apps and social networks, even known contacts.

• Make sure your operating system and applications are always up to date.

• Check the website URL. If there is no security certificate or it does not coincide with the website, never provide personal or banking information.

• If in doubt, contact the company or service directly for verification, or report it to the police or the Cybersecurity Helpline.

Even as top US health officials say it’s time America learned to live with the coronavirus, a chorus of leading researchers say faulty messages about booster shots have left millions elderly in grave danger.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 3 Americans age 65 and older who have completed their first round of vaccinations have yet to receive a first booster. The figures have appalled researchers, who note that this age group continues to be most at risk of serious illness and death from covid-19.

People 65 and older account for about 75% of covid deaths in the United States. And some risk remains, even for older people who have completed an initial two-dose series of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or received a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Among the elderly who died of covid in January, 31% had completed a first round of vaccination but had not been boosted, according to a KFF analysis of CDC data.

Failure to further stimulate this group has resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of lives, said Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. “The recall program was botched from day one,” Topol said. “This is one of the most significant issues of the American pandemic, and it has been mishandled.”

“If the CDC said, ‘It could save your life,'” he added, “that would help a lot.”

Although the initial one- or two-dose vaccination schedule is effective in preventing hospitalization and death, immunity wanes over time. Boosters, which renew that protection, are especially important for older adults now that covid cases are rising again, more transmissible omicron subvariants are proliferating and Americans are ditching their masks, Topol said.

Some seniors, who were prioritized for the first vaccination in January 2021, are now more than a year away from their last vaccination. Adding to the confusion: The CDC defines “fully vaccinated” as people who have completed an initial one- or two-dose course, even though an initial booster is considered crucial for extending covid immunity.

Numerous studies have confirmed that the first booster shot is an essential weapon against covid. A study of older veterans published in April found that those who received a third dose of an mRNA vaccine were up to 79% less likely to die from covid than those who received only two injections.

A central question for scientists advocating for recalls is why rates have stagnated among people age 65 and older. Surveys have shown that politics and misinformation play a role in vaccine hesitancy in the general population, but this is not the case among the elderly, who have the highest initial vaccination rate of all age groups. More than 90% of older Americans had completed a one- or two-dose first course by May 8.

In contrast, 69% of older Americans vaccinated received their first booster.

Overall, less than half of eligible Americans of all ages have received a booster.

The gap for the elderly is likely due to changes in how the federal government distributed vaccines, said David Grabowski, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. Although the Biden administration coordinated the delivery of vaccines to nursing homes, football stadiums and other targeted locations early last year, the federal government has played a much less central role in delivering vaccines. reminders, Grabowski noted.

Today, nursing homes are largely responsible for increasing their residents, relying on the pharmacies they traditionally hire to administer flu shots, Grabowski said. And outside of nursing homes, people usually have to find their own boosters, either at clinics, local pharmacies or primary care providers.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, former CDC director, said that in theory shifting responsibility for ongoing covid vaccination from government-sponsored clinics to individual providers might seem logical, given the privatized design of health care. in the USA. In reality, Frieden said, that approach doesn’t work because “our primary health care system is anemic and deadly” and not set up to easily take on a public health mission.

Most health care providers don’t have the technology to safely track patients who have been vaccinated and schedule follow-up shots, Frieden said. There are also no financial incentives for doctors to vaccinate and boost their patients.

Even before the pandemic, 28% of Americans had no regular source of medical care.

Grabowski said nursing homes in particular needed more support. Although less than 1% of Americans live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, they account for more than 20% of covid deaths. He would like the Biden administration to resume coordinating booster delivery to nursing homes through mass vaccination efforts. “I would like these centralized clinics to come back so residents and staff would be strengthened at the same time,” Grabowski said. “It seems like a no-brainer to me.”

The Biden administration has touted its ongoing efforts to vaccinate the elderly. For example, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent quality improvement teams to advise nursing homes with low immunization rates. The Medicare program sent letters to all 63 million beneficiaries encouraging them to get reminders and sent millions of emails and text reminders.

Yet many health advocates agree the country has lost the momentum it had in the early months of the covid vaccination campaign.

“There doesn’t seem to be the urgency we’ve seen with the first knocks,” said Lori Smetanka, executive director of National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, an advocacy group.

Some researchers attributed the slowdown to initial disagreement among health officials over the value of recalls, followed by a staggered rollout. The boosters were approved in stages for different age groups, without the fanfare that usually accompanies a single major policy change. The CDC recommended booster shots for people with weakened immune systems in August; then for the elderly in October; for all adults in November; and for children 12 years and older in January.

Also, although vaccine ads seemed to be everywhere a year ago, government agencies have been less vocal in encouraging recalls. “I felt like we were all hit in the head originally and all roads led to vaccines,” Grabowski said. “Now you have to find your own way.”

For many seniors, the barriers that can make private health care difficult to access in non-pandemic times also exist for recalls. For example, many seniors prefer to come in for a shot, walk-in, or book appointments over the phone, even as pharmacies increasingly shift to online-only scheduling that requires customers to navigate a multi-level system. Some seniors also lack ready transportation, a sometimes daunting obstacle in rural areas where health clinics can be 20 to 30 miles apart.

“If people have to take two buses or miss work or take care of family, people are less likely to get vaccinated,” Smetanka said.

Dr. LaTasha Perkins, a family physician in Washington, DC, said she worked hard to persuade her family in Mississippi to get vaccinated. Her grandmother agreed to get her first shot in the fall, just as the CDC approved boosters for all adults.

“We finally got to a place where we were asking people to get their shots twice and then we were like, ‘Oh, by the way, you need a third one,'” Perkins said. shocking to a lot of communities. They were like, ‘You convinced me to join, and now you’re saying two knocks isn’t enough.’

While national leadership is important, Perkins said, local relationships can be more powerful. Perkins lectured on vaccines at his church. Congregants are more likely to trust her medical advice, she said, because she is a member of the tithe they see every Sunday.

Some communities have been more successful in overcoming resistance than others. Minnesota has increased 83% of vaccinated residents age 65 and older, a larger share than any other state, according to the CDC.

Dakota County in Minnesota has increased a greater percentage of vaccinated people age 65 and older than any other US county with at least 50,000 seniors, according to a KHN analysis of CDC data.

Christine Lees, an epidemiologist and public health supervisor for Dakota County, said her department hired an agency to provide reminders to residents and staff at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The health department holds vaccination clinics at noon and some evenings to accommodate workers.

The department tapped into money from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES, to purchase a mobile vaccination clinic to bring boosters to neighborhoods and parks in mobile homes. “We raced it all last summer, and we started it again,” Lees said. “We went to food shelters and libraries. We were going out at least once a week to keep those numbers high.

Community health workers paved the way for vaccination clinics by visiting residents ahead of time and answering questions, Lees said.

Dakota County also used funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to provide $50 incentives to people receiving early and booster shots, Lees said. The incentives “were really important for people who might have to pay a little extra to get to a vaccination site,” Lees said.

Topol at Scripps said it’s not too late for federal leaders to look at what’s working — and not — and reinvigorate the stimulus effort.

“It will be difficult to restart now. But an aggressive and all-out campaign for the elderly – whatever the cost – is certainly indicated,” Topol said. “These people are the sitting ducks.”

Phillip Reese, assistant professor of journalism at California State University-Sacramento, contributed to this report.