**** Don't Mess with Shakespeare: Classic English Literature...For Goodness sake, not Everyone is A Snowflake****

What fools these mortals be :

The Globe Theatre in London (FILE PHOTO) © REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 

‘Wait til they see Hamlet!’: Brits mad after Globe Theatre warns of ‘upsetting’ themes in Romeo & Juliet & offers helpline number

RT International | 04:04 GMT, Aug 21, 2021

 

‘Wait til they see Hamlet!’: Brits mad after Globe Theatre warns of ‘upsetting’ themes in Romeo & Juliet & offers helpline number

20 Aug, 2021 12:02 In a bizarre move, labelled “woke” by some, London’s historic Globe Theatre has decided to warn attendees about the potentially “upsetting” themes in Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and provide viewers with the Samaritans number.     Audience members for a new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragic love story, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, at London’s Globe Theatre, are being given the number of a mental health helpline and warned about the potentially disturbing scenes that await them, The Sun reported on Thursday.

“This production contains depictions of suicide, moments of violence and references to drug use. It contains gunshot sound effects and the use of stage blood,” the warning reads. Viewers are told to contact the theatre’s box office team if they have any further concerns.

The performance, yet another interpretation of the 16th century classic in a mock-Tudor venue on the site of the Bard’s historic playhouse, reimagines the story in the context of “current societal struggles,” the Globe told the newspaper. 

“As we've chosen to focus on mental health, and utilise direct techniques that may be affecting to some audience members, we wanted to provide information to those who may need it,” the theatre added, explaining their viewer warning and helpline handout.

However, the Globe’s decision to offer viewer guidance for the 16th century tragedy has provoked a backlash among some Britons. One person took to Twitter to label the move “an amazing act of WOKERY,” suggesting they could retitle the performance as “Wokeo and Juliet.”

Another said the theatre team were “woke fools,” claiming Shakespeare is meant to trigger people, as “it’s a tragedy!”

Others were more concerned about the precedent the Globe was setting. . .

If people are so concerned about the content of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, one person suggested they should watch something lighter like ‘Peppa Pig’ instead. “For goodness sake, do they think everyone is a snowflake,” they asked.

Some others joked, “Wait ’till they get to Hamlet,” another Shakespearian tragedy in which the main protagonist is plagued by his own demons and is visited by a ghost. Nine of the 11 central characters die. 

Although many were clearly triggered by the Globe’s warning, some have taken to social media to praise the performance itself. “A beautiful modern take on the play while retaining its roots,” one person wrote.

If you like this story, share it with a friend!

 

 

Serenity, Psychedelics & Transformation

Introduction: Hard-to-believe this is from Bloomberg's BusinessWeek, but never say never. . .

All-Inclusive Magic Mushroom Retreats Are the New Luxury ‘Trips’

Resorts are starting to wake up to the appeal of mind expansion.

By

Max Berlinger

‎August‎ ‎19‎, ‎2021‎ ‎2‎:‎50

Illustration: Saiman Chow

 

Insert > "Alisa Bigham was looking for a new beginning.

She’d recently left her marriage of 47 years and was trying to understand who she was outside of that union. “I kept having the thought, ‘You just need to go on a retreat and get away from everything,’” she says. “My intention was a reset of who I am, something that could bring me a big transformation.”

Bigham, 64, had read Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind, which chronicles the new research into psychedelics and their medicinal properties. She came away from it interested in exploring those possibilities for herself. . .

New Findings from Charles Schwab: Economic Uncertainty & Tangents

What we have here today:

Breaking| Aug 20, 2021,09:58am EDT|

‘Crisis In Confidence’: Stocks Poised To End Worst Week In Two Months—But Traders Expect Drop Could Only Continue

Topline

"Stocks on Friday started to pare back big losses this week as growing regulatory scrutiny in China added to economic uncertainty in the U.S.— stemming from the delta variant's ongoing spread and political unrest in Afghanistan—and new findings from Charles Schwab show traders expect the recent rise in volatility could only get worse.

Key Facts

Shortly after the market open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 77 points, or 0.2%, bringing losses since last Friday to roughly 1.5% and putting the index on track for its worst weekly showing since inflation fears rocked markets in mid-June. 

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 ticked up about 0.4% to 4,424, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.7%; the indexes are down about 1% each this week.

In a Friday morning email, Rod von Lipsey, a managing director at UBS Private Wealth Management, pointed out investors are grappling with concerns over upticks in Covid-19 cases and a "downward spiral in Afghanistan"—two factors he says are already hurting consumer sentiment and travel during a "historically volatile" month for stocks.

In a report released Friday, Charles Schwab found about 33% of more than 500 active traders surveyed have already changed their trading strategy due to the delta variant, with another 50% saying they may in the future. 

About 59% of respondents said they expected more volatility in the second half of the year, compared to the first half, and 87% said they were concerned of a market setback due to Covid-19's resurgence.

Though stocks like JPMorgan, oil giant Chevron Corp and industrial conglomerate 3M Company headed up market losses Friday morning, von Lipsey believes financials, energy and industrials firms are poised to outperform the market the rest of this year given expectations that U.S. gross domestic product should recover to pre-pandemic levels by the fourth quarter.

Tangent

Investor sentiment also took a hit from tumbling stocks in China, where Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 1.8% Friday to its lowest point since November. "China remains a huge source of global concern," Vital Knowledge Media Founder Adam Crisafulli wrote in a Friday email, adding: "The anxiety is spreading beyond just technology amid signs the government is embarking on a massive regulatory campaign encompassing all major industries." Beijing officials unveiled new antitrust rules this week in an effort to curb "excessive" wealth, and U.S.-listed shares of ecommerce giant Alibaba fell nearly 15% as a result. 

Contra

Despite this week's market uncertainty, a slew of earnings reports this month have pointed to ongoing strength for stocks. "It’s hard to get too gloomy about stocks given how superb corporate earnings are," says Crisafulli, pointing out companies like Foot Locker and Deere & Co. are jumping 13% and 2%, respectively, Friday morning after better-than-expected results. They follow big-box and department-store retailers like Walmart, Target and Macy's in posting blow-out second quarter earnings.

Key Background

After crashing last March, the market posted its quickest recovery in history during the pandemic, but experts have increasingly worried that rapidly spreading variants could once again halt economies. “The impact of the delta variant on growth and inflation is proving to be somewhat larger than we expected,” Goldman Sachs analysts, who earlier this summer said the variant’s economic impact should only be “modest,” wrote in a Thursday morning note to clients. Though they hoped surging prices on new cars, electronics and appliances could moderate this quarter, they now expect the delta variant will likely prolong supply-chain disruptions and lead to higher prices for the rest of the year."

Further Reading

Dow Falls Another 200 Points After Fed Reveals Growing Concerns Over Delta Variant And Inflation (Forbes)

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is a standalone United States federal agency, an operational component under Department of Homeland Security oversight. Its activities are a continuation of the National Protection and Programs Directorate.

--- Wikipedia 

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RECENT NEWS:

Nextgov

CISA Offers Tips to Protect Data in Face of Evolving ...

To prevent attacks, CISA recommends maintaining offline, encrypted backups that are regularly tested, and developing and practicing a cyber ...

1 hour ago

Ongoing effort to fend off the escalating ransomware threat

> CISA's ransomware data breach guidance follows an almost continuous barrage of ransomware attacks targeting the US public and private sectors in recent years.For instance, the networks of Colonial Pipeline, JBS Foods, and Kaseya customers were hit in a string of ransomware attacks within just two months.

> Since December 2019, CISA has issued multiple warnings to private industry partners, starting with info on LockerGoga and MegaCortex targeting worldwide organizations and a ransomware attack against a US natural gas compression facility, part of the critical US infrastructure sector.

> Earlier this month, CISA announced the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) partnership across public and private sectors focused on defending critical infrastructure from ransomware and other cyber threats.

> The federal agency also released a new ransomware self-assessment security audit tool in June to help at-risk organizations understand how well they're equipped to defend against and recover from ransomware attacks targeting their information technology (IT), operational technology (OT), or industrial control system (ICS) assets.

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CISA shares guidance on how to prevent ransomware data breaches

By Sergiu Gatlin August 19, 2021

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released guidance to help government and private sector organizations prevent data breaches resulting from ransomware double extortion schemes.

CISA's fact sheet includes best practices for preventing ransomware attacks and protecting sensitive information from exfiltration attempts.

The federal agency issued these recommendations in response to most ransomware gangs using data stolen from their victims' networks as leverage in ransom negotiations under the threat of publishing the stolen info on dedicated leak sites.

"Ransomware is a serious and increasing threat to all government and private sector organizations, including critical infrastructure organizations," CISA said.

"All organizations are at risk of falling victim to a ransomware incident and are responsible for protecting sensitive and personal data stored on their systems."

How to block ransomware and protect data

CISA encourages organizations to implement recommendations shared in the info sheet published on Wednesday designed to streamline the process of preventing and responding to ransomware-caused data breaches.

Among the advice included to prevent ransomware attacks, CISA says that at-risk orgs should:

• Maintain offline, encrypted backups of data and regularly test backups
• Create, maintain, and exercise a basic cyber incident response plan, resiliency plan, and associated communications plan
• Mitigate internet-facing vulnerabilities and misconfigurations to reduce the attack vector
• Reduce the risk of phishing emails from reaching end users by enabling strong spam filters and implementing user awareness and training programs
• Practice good cyber hygiene (use up-to-date anti-malware solutions and application allowlisting, enable MFA, and limit the number of privileged accounts)

To block ransomware gangs from gaining access to customer or employee sensitive or personal information, CISA recommends:

• Implementing physical security best practices
• Implementing cybersecurity best practices (don't store sensitive data on Internet-exposed devices, encrypt sensitive info at rest and in transit, use firewalls, use network segmentation)
• Ensure your cyber incident response and communications plans include response and notification procedures for
  data breach incidents

Additional info on how to defend against and respond to ransomware attacks is available in the fact sheet and on CISA's recently launched StopRansomware.gov web portal.

 

Meet The Tesla Bot

Never dull that's for sure:

Tesla to build humanoid robots to help owners with ‘dangerous & repetitive tasks’ (PHOTOS)    

RT International | 07:29 GMT, Aug 20, 2021

Elon Musk’s Tesla said it is using technology tested out on self-driving cars to build a humanoid robot designed to assist humans in day-to-day work. The prototype is set to be unveiled next year.     

20 Aug, 2021 07:01

 

> Elon Musk’s Tesla said it is using technology tested out on self-driving cars to build a humanoid robot designed to assist humans in day-to-day work. The prototype is set to be unveiled next year. 

The news was announced on Tesla’s AI Day, which was streamed on the company’s website Thursday night.

The presentation began with a person in a robot suit performing a variety of dances on stage. Musk quickly stepped in to assure everyone that “that was not real.”

He then said that the prototype of a humanoid robot with a similar design, called ‘Tesla Bot’, will be ready sometime next year.

Can't wait to have a dance party with my Tesla bot. 😂 pic.twitter.com/2bj1hde0S0

— Maria Merano (@Writer_01001101) August 20, 2021

The robot will stand at 5’8, have eight cameras and help owners eliminate “dangerous, repetitive and boring tasks,” Musk said, adding that the bot will be friendly and harmless to humans.

“At a mechanical level, at a psychical level, you can run away from it and most likely overpower it. Hopefully, that doesn’t ever happen, but you never know,” the businessman quipped, prompting laugher from the audience. “Essentially, the future of physical work will be a choice.”

> .”

© Tesla inc / YouTube

Musk said Tesla has enough resources and experience in building self-driving cars to unveil a robot that can theoretically be taught to do things like picking up groceries.

> Basically, if you think about what we’re doing right now with cars, Tesla is arguably the world’s biggest robotics company because our cars are like semi-sentient robots on wheels.

The prospect of owning a Tesla Bot was enthusiastically met online, with some predictably bringing up famous AIs from films such as the ‘Terminator’ saga and ‘I, Robot’."

No More Bullshit Happy-Talk 'Aspirational Goals' for The City of Mesa's Climate Action Plan >> Two Cities Are Really Get It Done Now

Here are two reports from two different cities - one a 'college-town' with a new director of sustainability and the other a small town in California

These are small snippets extracted from the original articles that appeared in The Guardian.

Readers of this blog are encouraged to use and access the links for other important real-life details . .

======================================================================

INSERT FROM AN EARLIER POST ON THIS BLOG 13 JUNE 2019

13 June 2019

So Excited Over Real Estate > TALKING NERDY Embedding Sustainability in Real Estate Transactions

"Acquisitions and dispositions present a significant opportunity to create value through investments in energy efficiency, health, and building resilience. Understanding the potential value of a high-performing, sustainable building allows buyers and sellers to better assess and price the deal going in, to underwrite sustainability investments to drive higher returns, to market the value created by these investments to tenants, and to communicate this value to buyers when buying or selling an asset.

The potential value at stake for embedding sustainability is significant, and in some cases can represent a 50 percent–plus increase in asset value over the lifetime of an investment.
This ULI toolkit provides guidelines on how to incorporate the value of sustainability in transactions.
It includes best practices from more than 30 ULI real estate leaders actively involved in real estate transactions."

 

 

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1

America's race to zero emissionsFossil fuels

This town is the first in America to ban new gas stations – is the tide turning?

A movement in California seeks a moratorium on new pumps – and a transformation of the US transportation system

Dominic Rushe

the Guardian

 

A defunct gas station at the southern end of Petaluma, in Sonoma county.

Photograph: Robert Gumpert/The Guardian

". . .Emily Brit and fellow student activists are working to break one big link in the fossil fuel chain that is driving climate change: gas stations. There are two proposed new gas stations in her town she wants scrapped. “We don’t need them,” she said. 

It’s early days but here in California the initiative is taking off and, if it spreads, it could signal one of the biggest changes in transportation since the car displaced the horse and carriage.

In March, Petaluma in Sonoma county became the first city in the US to ban future gas station construction or any new pumps on existing sites. In July Sonoma county’s Regional Climate Protection Authority voted to explore ways to support the nine cities in the county considering bans of their own. A final vote on the resolution is scheduled for September.

It’s the beginning of what could be a seismic shift.

‘We need to turn the page’

The world’s first purpose-built gas station was built in St Louis, Missouri, in 1905 and the growth in car ownership – and gas stations – transformed not just the way Americans travel but the landscape of the country. Now there are an estimated 168,000 stations across the country.

Every gallon of gasoline sold adds 9kg (20lb) of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. In 2019 Americans consumed 142bn gallons of gasoline, producing 1.278bn tonnes (1.4bn tons) of CO₂.

. . .Electric charging presents an existential threat to those gas stations. About 80% of EV charging is done at home, and it currently takes at least 20 minutes to fast charge an EV, far longer than anyone would ever want to spend in a gas station.

Changing how we fuel our vehicles offers a chance to redefine transportation, said Brant Arthur, program manager at Sonoma Clean Power, the region’s eco-conscious utility. He foresees a time when people will charge their vehicles in the office car park using solar or while shopping or – better yet – drop the car altogether for electric bikes or mass transit. “The general function of the gas station is not the problem,” he said. “But we need to turn the page.”

The page is turning in Sonoma. EV sales are so high that the county is struggling to put in enough charging stations to cope.

But it’s not all good news. The long-term shift to electric and a mass closures of gas stations will create toxic “brown sites” across the country. A typical gas station can spill up to 100 gallons of gasoline annually, according to Coltura, an environmental activism group, poisoning groundwater and making repurposing the sites expensive and difficult. As gas stations disappear these poisoned plots will present an environmental problem of monumental proportions.

That will be another problem to deal with but for now, at least in Petaluma, the end of the gas station is getting off to a surprisingly uncontentious start. . .

“We have started a conversation, now how do we leverage this? What can we do next?”

‘It seemed like a no-brainer’

Sonoma’s gas station moratorium owes a lot to local activists Jenny Blaker and Woody Hastings, co-coordinators of Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations (Congas). The pair have helped others across the state, including Bit, to tailor their message, keep their goals realistic and not scare the locals. . ."

READ MORE >

 

2

Green lightEnvironment

The US city that has raised $100m to climate-proof its buildings

Ithaca has turned to private investors to help it decarbonize thousands of residential and commercial buildings

 

Supported by

About this content

M

Thu 19 Aug 2021 08.00 EDT

the Guardian

Last modified on Thu 19 Aug 2021 08.01 EDT

Downtown Ithaca, NY

 "When Fred Schoeps bought a 150-year-old building in downtown Ithaca, New York, a decade ago, he was one of only a handful of building owners dedicated to ending their reliance on fossil fuels and reducing their carbon footprint.

His three-year renovation of the building, comprising three apartments above a skate store, included installing energy-efficient windows and insulation, plus fully electric appliances, heating and cooling systems.

But while that was an achievement on its own, said Schoeps, Ithaca can not address climate change one building at a time. “In order to move the needle, you’ve got to think in terms of a thousand [buildings],” he said.

Luis Aguirre-Torres, Ithaca’s new director of sustainability, is trying to do exactly that. The upstate New York city of 30,000, home to Cornell University and Ithaca College, adopted a Green New Deal in 2019, a big part of which involves decarbonizing thousands of privately owned commercial and residential buildings across the city.

Ithaca’s main climate objective is to eliminate or offset all of its carbon emissions ​​by 2030. The focus on retrofitting buildings – installing electric heating systems, solar panels and battery storage as well as reducing energy use and greening the electric grid – promises to tackle an often-overlooked but significant contributor to climate change: buildings make up nearly 40% of US carbon emissions. . .

Building owners won’t make the transition from fossil-fuel energy all by themselves, said Aguirre-Torres, and state-funded incentive programs are often complex and sluggish.

Solar panels on roof of house in the US. Ithaca’s program would fund upgrades such as solar panels and electric heating systems in residential and commercial buildings. Photograph: Martin Shields/Alamy Stock Photo

So Ithaca is exploring a new solution to fund and motivate building owners to decarbonize: private equity.

Aguirre-Torres has helped Ithaca – which has a total budget of less than $80m – raise $100m by offering investors entry to a large-scale program he pitched as low risk with the potential for lots of cashflow. The goal is to create a lending program providing low- or no-interest loans and quick implementation of sustainable technology. The first batch of building owners could sign up as soon as September . . .

“We’re talking about a people-first approach, rather than just purely environmental,” Aguirre-Torres said. The plan aims to create 1,000 new jobs by 2030, and the city has promised to redirect 50% of the financial benefits of its Green New Deal plan to low-income residents, although there are few specifics on how this will work.

Conversations with investors started earlier this year . . .

Ithaca’s path could be a model for other cities, Elkind said, most of which have not figured out how to decarbonize buildings at scale. But there are a few caveats. The system only works in places with a municipally owned utility that allows for repaying the loans via bill savings. And whether those savings even exist depends on the rates for gas and electricity in a given market – in some cases, the cost of drastically increasing a home’s electricity usage could outweigh any reduction in gas costs.

Ultimately voluntary schemes will never lead to full decarbonization, Elkind said. “We need to move to a mandate, but let’s start with the incentives and the marketing,” he said. California is one state headed in this direction. It recently approved a plan to require solar panels and battery storage in many types of new construction.

In Ithaca, there are still challenges to overcome . . But he sees this new strategy as a critical piece of the city’s plan to address climate change, which he said cannot be accomplished without making sure everyone benefits. Rhodes agrees: “There’s no way we’re going to meet our goals for the climate crisis if we don’t help low-income people”.

 

Tropical Winds Blowing Strong Up The Northeast Coast...Looks Like A Hurricane

Watch the progression >

 

Tropical Storm Henri will make landfall in the northeastern United States

Inland flooding is likely from Henri.

Eric Berger - 8/20/2021, 9:16 AM

 

"After several days of uncertainty and wild swings in forecast models, confidence is increasing in a large tropical system making landfall in the northeastern United States this weekend. In addition to causing surges along the coastline, Henri could bring gusty winds and widespread heavy rainfall from late Saturday through Monday to a region from New Jersey to Maine.

The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center, issued at 11 am ET on Friday, shows Henri holding at sustained winds of 65 mph, just below hurricane strength. However, the wind shear hampering Henri's organization should relax some later today, and as the storm passes over the Gulf Stream, forecasters anticipate Henri will become a Category 1 or 2 hurricane. It may weaken some before landfall, however, as it passes over the cooler waters off the coast of New England.

Official track forecast for TS Henri at 11 am ET Friday.

National Hurricane Center

Over the next 48 hours, the storm should now move more or less due north and will likely make landfall somewhere along Long Island, Connecticut, or Rhode Island on Sunday.

The tweet below, from meteorologist Tomer Burg, shows how a "super-ensemble" forecast incorporating a range of outputs from the premier US and European forecast models has shifted from significant uncertainty on Wednesday evening to a tighter clustering as of Friday morning. This clustering of ensemble model forecasts is one reason confidence is now higher in the track for Henri.

Following last night's upper-air aircraft recon mission that sampled the environment around #Henri, ensemble spread in the forecast track decreased, mostly by eliminating the unlikely far eastern members.

Unfortunately, the west trend in landfall location continues. pic.twitter.com/kslc8PBge2

— Tomer Burg (@burgwx) August 20, 2021

Regardless of its precise landfall location or intensity, Henri will bring substantial impacts to the United States this weekend. These threats include coastal flooding, wind damage, and, perhaps most concerning, inland flooding.

Flooding is likely for two reasons.

First, much of New England has already experienced a wet July, and the region recently received rainfall from the remains of Tropical Storm Fred. Soil moisture across parts of New York and the New England states is at the 90th percentile level or higher.

Second, Henri is forecast to move relatively slowly as it approaches Long Island and the New England coasts this weekend, probably 10 mph or less, prolonging the period of heavier rainfall.

An average of 2 to 6 inches of rain from Henri, with higher isolated totals falling on already soggy ground, could lead to road and stream flooding. The situation will also increase the potential for trees with shallow roots in softer ground to blow down in stronger wind gusts.

Probability of experiencing tropical-storm-force winds from Henri.

National Hurricane Center

Henri is the eighth named storm of the 2021 Atlantic season and continues what has been a fairly busy season. Only two other years since there have been reliable satellite observations, which date back to 1966, have had eight or more named storms formed by the middle of August. These were the incredibly active years of 2005 and 2020.

Fortunately, the next week looks reasonably quiet in the tropics for late August. Although a storm may form in the Central Atlantic, it is highly likely to recurve northward before threatening any land. The next area of interest close to land may come in the western Gulf of Mexico about 10 days from now."