 Forbes | 4 Health And 'Health' Foods You May Be Buying In 2017 Forbes Yum? Raw milk has been gaining in popularity in recent years, and some states have been trying to make it easier for consumers to buy, despite a lot of debate about its health benefits. Will 2017 be the Year of Raw Milk? (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty). |
Saturday, December 31, 2016
4 Health And 'Health' Foods You May Be Buying In 2017 - Forbes
Is Donald Trump's Paleopopulism A Mortal Threat To The Left's 'Calamity Jane' Politics? - Forbes
Forbes | Is Donald Trump's Paleopopulism A Mortal Threat To The Left's 'Calamity Jane' Politics? Forbes The most vocal of the left's political elites, still navigating Kübler-Ross's stages of grief, ties itself in knots trying to lay tactical blame for Hillary Clinton's loss. That's “denial, anger, and bargaining.” More pragmatic figures on the left are ... |
Ini Dia Fakta dan Data Bencana Sepanjang 2016 di Indonesia
Tahun 2016 segera berlalu. Tahun baru 2017 akan disongsong. Banyak harapan, juga resolusi baru di tahun anyar. Semua ingin kebaikan. Semua ingin kesuksesan. Semua ingin kedamaian.
Namun jangan lupakan jejak di tahun ini. Apa yang terjadi di tahun sebelumnya, jadikan ia sebagai refleksi. Sebagai bahan renungan. Sebagai bahan pelajaran. Sebagai tempat menimba ilmu, agar di tahun anyar apa yang buruk dan gagal tak terulang.
Kamis, 29 Desember 2016, Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) mengeluarkan catatan akhir tahunnya tentang fakta dan data bencana yang terjadi sepanjang tahun 2016 di Indonesia.
Dalam catatan akhir tahunnya BNPB jiga menyorot soal pentingnya pengarusutamaan budaya sadar bencana. Menurut BNPB pengetahuan masyarakat mengenai bencana mulai tumbuh pascabencana tsunami Aceh 2004 lalu. Dan meningkat signifikan.
Namun BNPB juga menyayangkan pengetahuan tersebut belum menjadi sebuah sikap dan perilaku. Jadi, secara umum budaya sadar bencana di masyarakat masih rendah.
Masyarakat masih sering mengabaikan aspek risiko bencana dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Contohnya masih sangat minim kontruksi rumah tahan gempa yang dibangun masyarakat maupun swasta.
BNPB mencontohkan saat terjadi gempa, korban berjatuhan dan dampak ekonominya besar. Misalnya gempa dengan kekuatan 6,5 skala richter di Pidie Jaya sebenarnya termasuk gempa menengah. Tapi korbannya mencapai 103 jiwa meninggal, ratusan orang luka dan lebih dari 11 ribu rumah rusak. Belum lagi kerugian ekonomi yang mencapai Rp 2,94 trilyun. Bandingkan dengan gempa 7,8 skala richter dengan epicentrum di darat di New Zealand. Gempa di sana hanya menimbulkan korban 2 jiwa meninggal dunia.
Menurut BNPB, itu karena pemerintah dan masyarakat New Zealand sangat taat terhadap building code bangunan tahan gempa. Jadi yang sekarang diperlukan adalah mewujudkan budaya sadar bencana. Hal ini sangat penting, mengingat jutaan masyarakat Indonesia terpapar potensi bahaya yang berujung bencana.
Bencana juga secara langsung telah menurunkan kualitas hidup masyarakat. Pada tahun ini saja berbagai bencana telah menyebabkan sekitar 3,05 juta warga mengungsi dan 69.287 rumah rusak. Dari jumlah kejadian bencana tahun ini, 92 persen didominasi bencana hidrometeorologi seperti banjir, longsor, dan puting beliung.
Efek dari situasi ini juga dapat memicu peningkatan angka kemiskinan. Dan faktanya sebagian besar bencana menimpa masyarakat miskin karena banyak melanda daerah-daerah rawan. Akibatnya jumlah angka keluarga miskin meningkat. Karena musibah tersebut mereka gagal panen, kehilangan aset produksi dan terganggunya kehidupan sehari-hari.
Fakta lainnya berdasarkan beberapa penelitian di daerah langganan bencana, menunjukkan bahwa keluarga miskin yang jadi korban, kehidupannya lebih sengsara pasca kejadian. Maka dapat dibayangkan apa yang dialami masyarakat di sekitar Sungai Bengawan Solo yang rata-rata 5 kali banjir setiap tahun atau di Sampang 15 kali setiap tahun.
Tapi, walau bencana banyak mendera, BNPB meminta masyarakat harus tetap optimis dalam penanggulangan bencana tahun depan. Yang penting kesiapsiagaan harus tetap menjadi prioritas masyarakat dalam kehidupan sehari-hari.
Pada 2017 kemungkinan bencana yang harus diwaspadai adalah bencana hidrometeorologi. Potensinya akan meningkat terutama pada bulan Januari hingga April, kemudian November dan Desember. Antara Juni hingga Oktober juga berpotensi terjadi kebakaran hutan dan lahan serta kekeringan. Hal lain yang harus diwaspadai sepanjang tahun selalu ada potensi gempa bumi, tsunami dan erupsi gunung api.
Sementara terkait dengan kebakaran hutan dan lahan atau karhulta, tahun depan diprediksikan sebaran lebih kecil dibandingkan 2016. Tapi kewaspadaan pada wilayah-wilayah yang berpotensi ancaman karhulta seperti di wilayah Riau, Jambi, Sumatera Selatan, dan beberapa di Kalimantan harus tetap dilakukan.
The most popular AJC Political Insider posts of 2016 - Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)
Gov. Nathan Deal said he would veto the “religious liberty” legislation on Monday. Bob Andres/AJC Photo
Your Political Insiders pay attention to what our dear readers click on to try to provide you the latest on Georgia and national politics.
Sure, the breaking news and the exclusives and the scoops do well. So did just about anything to do with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. And this year – by far our most clicked-year ever – there was no shortage of jaw-dropping news.
But many of our most popular items didn’t touch on the presidential race. And some were, well, downright odd.
So with the end of 2016 approaching, we’re taking a look back at the most-read posts. Here they are in descending order:
10: A Georgia Tech fraternity fight spills into the state Capitol. The Phi Delta Theta fraternity is no “Animal House.” And Tech President Bud Peterson is no Dean Wormer. Nonetheless, it is safe to say that arguments over frat-house behavior and student justice rarely spill over into the holy confines of the state Capitol. But that’s what’s happening. And the fraternity may be winning.
This Galloway column exposed one of the more interesting behind-the-scenes fights at the statehouse in 2016.
9. A bill to restrict the wearing of Muslim burqa and veil in Georgia. House Bill 3, authored by state Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, would bar women from wearing a burqa and veil when posing for the photo on their Georgia drivers’ license. The bill would also subject female Muslim garb to the state’s anti-masking statute – which originally was aimed at the Ku Klux Klan.
The lede item in that day’s Morning Jolt quickly earned international attention, prompted Republican leaders to disavow the bill and led Spencer to abandon it.
8. Nathan Deal reinforces order banning gas price gouging after pipeline spill. Gov. Nathan Deal signed an executive order Monday preventing gas stations from significantly hiking fuel prices after a pipeline spill in Alabama led to long lines and dry pumps across north Georgia, echoing an existing state law that already bans price gouging.
Gas shortages + price hikes + frustrated drivers + emergency order = loads of reader interest.
Hillary Clinton hugs Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in February 2016. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM
7. Hillary Clinton moves Friday event from Georgia State to City Hall. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is moving her Friday event in Atlanta from Georgia State University to a smaller and more tightly controlled venue at City Hall.
We’re still not sure why this last-minute change on the eve of Clinton’s sole election-year visit to Georgia prompted so much interest, but it might have to something to do with a Drudge Report headline.
6. Vincent Fort flips from Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders. State Sen. Vincent Fort, the No. 2 Democrat in the Georgia Senate, flipped his endorsement on Tuesday from Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders. He instantly becomes one of the Vermont senator’s top surrogates in the South, where his campaign has picked up support from only a handful of black elected officials.
One of the most polarizing figures in Georgia politics, Fort is now trying to ride the Bernie wave in a race for Atlanta mayor.
5. Nathan Deal makes a forceful, biblical case against Georgia’s ‘religious liberty’ bill. Amid a growing outcry from powerful corporations over Georgia’s “religious liberty” proposal, Gov. Nathan Deal issued his strongest warning yet to lawmakers who are debating controversial legislation seen as a conservative answer to the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling.
This was the moment Deal telegraphed his veto of the “religious liberty” legislation.
Donald Trump and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich share the stage during a campaign rally in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
4. Newt Gingrich: White Americans ‘don’t understand being black in America’ As the political world waits to see if the former Georgia congressman and U.S. House speaker gets tapped to be Donald Trump’s running mate, Newt Gingrich teamed up with his former Crossfire partner Van Jones to discuss this week’s shootings in Dallas, Baton Rouge and Minnesota. His comments were remarkable.
Gingrich emerged as one of Trump’s most reliable surrogates during the campaign – and continuing source of reader interest.
3. Medical marijuana is now legal in Georgia. Gov. Nathan Deal signed legislation Thursday that legalizes medical marijuana in Georgia, though tremendous hurdles remain for patients who want to get the drug.
This breaking news story – from 2015! – continues to drive reader interest. Thank you, Google.
2. AJC poll: Hillary Clinton has slim lead over Donald Trump in Georgia: Democrat Hillary Clinton has built a slim lead over Donald Trump in Georgia after one of the worst weeks of the Republican’s campaign, and the Libertarian presidential ticket cracked double-digits, according to a new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll.
The AJC’s August poll was the first to show Clinton within striking distance of Trump in Georgia – and sparked gobs of debate.
1. BREAKING: Nathan Deal vetoes Georgia’s ‘religious liberty’ bill. Gov. Nathan Deal on Monday vetoed the “religious liberty” bill that triggered a wave of criticism from gay rights groups and business leaders and presented him with one of the most consequential challenges he’s faced since his election to Georgia’s top office.
By far the most-read Insider story of the year, Deal’s veto continues to shape his final years in office.
Dear readers, it’s been a helluva 2016. We hope you and your families enjoy the New Year.
Where you should place your bets on British politics in 2017 - Business Insider
LONDON — After such an unpredictable and shocking year in British
politics it may seem foolish to bet any money on what will happen
in 2017.
However, it is precisely this unpredictability, which means that
there are so many tempting odds available at the bookies ahead of
next year.
With this in mind, we have set out the most attractive odds being
offered on British politics as we head into 2017 and what
has all the ingredients to be another eventful year in British
politics.
All odds are taken from Ladbrokes
and correct at the time of writing.
Copeland by-election
The first big electoral test of 2017 will be the
Copeland by-election, called after Labour's Jamie Reed stood
down.
So far bookies make the Tories narrow favourites on 5/6 ahead of
Labour on 5/4. However, with no published polls and the
by-election date not yet even set, neither of these odds look
terribly attractive. You could place a bet on UKIP winning at
10/1 but this seems like a long-shot too far. The party received
just 15% of the vote in Copeland at the 2015 general election and
they have not done particularly well in other by-elections since
the EU referendum. It’s also telling that new leader Paul Nuttall
has ruled himself out of the running for this seat.
More attractive odds can be found in predicting the vote share
for individual parties. The 4/1 odds that UKIP receives fewer
than 10% of votes look fairly attractive as do the 10/1 odds
that Labour gets between 20%-30%. While neither outcome currently
looks likely, they are probably more likely than these odds
suggest.
Until we get a by-election poll, these are the best value bets on
offer.
Best odds:
- UKIP receives less than 10% of the vote — 4/1
- Labour receives between 20%-30% of the vote — 10/1
Jeremy Corbyn
Plenty of money has been lost by people betting against Jeremy
Corbyn in recent years. The Labour leader has proven to be
surprisingly resilient despite huge internal unrest and polling
figures which suggest his party are heading for electoral
disaster.
However, there are still a few attractive bets available on
Corbyn’s future, both for critics and supporters of the Labour
leader.
One particularly attractive bet is that Labour will show a lead
in at least one GB-wide opinion poll this year. Ladbrokes are
currently offering 5/1 that this will happen. While the party is
currently averaging a double-digit polling deficit behind the
Tories, this is actually a better value bet than the headline
poll numbers suggest. For starters, there is a huge variation in
Tory leads found by different polling organisations. While some
suggest the Tories could be anything up to 16 points ahead, a
recent
Opinium poll put their lead as low as seven points. With a
hugely turbulent political year ahead there is every reason to
suspect that this lead will shrink significantly. With most polls
having a margin of error of between 2-3% it would only take one
poor sample by one pollster for Labour to record a small lead.
For those feeling less bullish about Labour’s chances, there is
also good value to be had in betting on the date of Jeremy
Corbyn’s departure. Ladbrokes currently have 2020 and beyond as
the favourite date for his departure. However, there are already
indications that Corbyn could be planning a much earlier exit.
There is lots of talk in Labour circles of a succession being
planned for 2019, with Ladbrokes offering 8/1 that this will take
place. This seems like an attractive bet, but if you don’t fancy
tying up your money for that long then the 5/1 odds that he will
go in 2018 also looks like good value.
Best odds:
- Labour will lead the Tories in at least one poll in 2017 —
5/1
- Corbyn will depart as Labour leader in 2018 — 5/1
Kitwood/Getty
Next Labour leader
Good odds can also be found on betting on who will replace
Corbyn. Keir Starmer looks overvalued as the current favourite on
8/1. A far more likely successor is the joint second favourite
Clive Lewis on 10/1. Lewis has strong appeal among the many new
young members who have joined since Jeremy Corbyn became leader
and he is quickly gathering support among some moderate members
and MPs who see him as the most unifying figure with the best
chance of succeeding Corbyn.
However, those looking for better value bets should look further
afield at some of the up and coming female Labour MPs. In
particular, Angela Rayner (16/1) Lisa Nandy (20/1) and Emily
Thornberry (20/1) look like good value bets. But if you’re
looking for really good value then you could do much worse than
take the 66/1 currently being offered on the shadow chief
secretary to the treasury Rebecca Long-Bailey. Although
relatively little known at the moment, Long-Bailey is close to
the current leadership and a smart operator. If Labour is looking
for their first ever permanent female leader then Long-Bailey
looks like an excellent bet.
Best odds:
- Clive Lewis to be next Labour leader — 10/1
- Rebecca Long-Bailey to be next Labour leader — 66/1
Rebecca Long-Bailey is valued at 66/1 to be next Labour
leader.
Leon Neal /
Getty
Exit of the Brexiteers?
There are some really attractive are the odds on which
Conservative Cabinet minister will be the first to leave.
Even in politically normal times, Cabinet resignations are
relatively frequent and these are by no means normal times. The
three Brexit ministers, Liam Fox, Boris Johnson and David Davis,
are the current favourites to leave on 5/1, 6/1 and 8/1
respectively. Any one of these would make an attractive bet.
However, you may be more tempted by one of the less well-known
ministers. The Home Secretary Amber Rudd looks particularly good
value at 20/1. Before Theresa May, the Home Office was
traditionally a graveyard for ministers and Rudd already ran into
trouble this year with her conference announcement about making
companies ‘name and shame’ foreign workers. Rudd isn’t the only
minister who looks precarious. Priti Patel (16/1) and the
notoriously gaffe-prone Chris Grayling have also run into
difficulties in recent months. With May already proving herself
to be a ruthless operator, the chances of at least one cabinet
minister being forced to fall on their sword over the coming year
looks strong.
Best odds:
- Boris Johnson to be the first cabinet minister to leave — 6/1
- Amber Rudd to be the first cabinet minister to leave — 20/1
Images
Snap election
Bookies still make 2020 or later the most likely date of the next
election. However, there appears to be plenty of people betting
on a snap election next year, with odds now down to just 6/4.
While there are good reasons to believe Theresa May will be
forced to call an election next year, better value can be found
in betting that it will be held in either 2018 or 2019, both
currently at 16/1. The latter of these two bets looks like the
best bet as it would mean that the election would take place
after the boundary changes have gone through in 2018. With the
end of the Article 50 process also due for 2019, this would
also allow the prime minister to use victory in the general
election as an effective endorsement for whatever Brexit deal she
manages to secure.
Best odds:
- A snap election to be called in 2019 — 16/1
You can compare odds with other betting companies on
comparison sites such as oddschecker.com.
Shifting focus to white voters divides Democrats - The Boston Globe
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s White House victory, fueled in part by nativist rhetoric, has exposed schisms over race in the Democratic Party, as minority lawmakers worry that the party will abandon its diverse constituency in the hunt to win back working-class whites.
Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the former head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and activists who work with both groups cautioned in interviews against turning away from the coalition that helped President Obama win two terms.
“By focusing in on, primarily, the white middle and working class, and by taking for granted the black working class or the black underclass, the party will add an arm and lose a body,” said Representative Bobby Rush, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus from Chicago. “The black vote is the foundation of the Democratic Party and we won’t be taken for granted.”
The Democrats’ internal debate over identity politics, and how much to prioritize issues of race, has been fueled by some prominent congressional Democrats who called on the party to develop a retooled, economics-first message specifically targeting white working-class voters — the group some analysts deemed responsible for Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.
“[Clinton] should have won this election by 10 percentage points,”
Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont who challenged Clinton in the Democratic primary, said after the general election. “The question is: Why is it that millions of white working-class people who voted for Obama turned their backs on the Democratic Party?”
The data back up Sanders’ point. Compared to Obama in 2012, Clinton fared significantly worse among white voters in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan — and lost all four states.
In the latter two states, Clinton received only 42 percent and 36 percent of the white vote, respectively, compared to Obama’s 48 percent and 44 percent in 2012.
Vice President Joe Biden, whose working-class roots in Scranton, Pa., are a core part of his political identity, has said he believes the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party have not “shown enough respect” for disaffected whites.
Representative Tim Ryan, a Democrat from Ohio, mounted an unsuccessful bid against Nancy Pelosi of California as House minority leader in part, he said, because the party had been overtaken by “coastal elites” who place an outsized priority on social and cultural issues. Another vocal congressional Democrat, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, went further, denouncing the party’s recent focus on issues of race and identity.
“We had a pure social, cultural agenda this election cycle,” Schrader said. “It’s time for us to get back to [economics].”
Susan Walsh/Associated Press
Representative Tim Ryan, a Democrat from Ohio, walked back to vote in the House Democratic Caucus elections on Capitol Hill on Nov. 30.
Prominent Democrats said a balance needs to be struck. Clinton also underperformed Obama among young people, nonwhites, and college-educated voters, so Democrats must also maintain their efforts to pursue those groups.
Furthermore, analysts have said, the country’s demographics are changing in the Democrats’ favor — as it becomes more diverse, such states as Georgia, Arizona, and even Texas may come within reach.
“I don’t want to overcorrect here,” said Representative Linda Sanchez, a California congresswoman and the former head of the Hispanic caucus. “I don’t think we need to lose one part of our base to appease another. The Democratic message appeals across the ethnic and racial divides.”
Issues of identity like race, gender, and sexuality are ultimately intertwined with the economy, and not acknowledging that could threaten to make the party vulnerable to widespread voter apathy among nonwhites, according to Carol Anderson, a professor who specializes in African-American studies and history at Emory University.
“The problem with this argument is that those who want to get rid of identity politics seem to only be interested in getting them to stop talking about black people or immigrants,” Anderson said. “African-Americans had never had the luxury of looking for perfection among politicians. But what African-Americans are looking for is someone who ‘gets it’ . . . and to craft an economic solution that ignores the way race and racism has played is not a solution.”
Anderson also challenged the party to ask a more fundamental question.
“For those saying we need to eschew identity politics but also saying we need to speak to white working-class voters — do they not have identity?” she asked.
In a sense, the professor and some of the lawmakers are reacting to the open debate among Democrats about the direction of their party.
Sanders, for one, who did not return a request to comment, has repeatedly said he does not want the Democratic Party to abandon minority communities. Ryan, who led the charge against Pelosi, has said he favors a message that answers the call of struggling Americans and that would speak to all races or creeds.
But some lawmakers, such as the fiery Rush, are determined to pressure party leaders for a continued focus on people of color.
“If I see my party not considering, even more intensely than they’ve done in the past, the economic, social, and political climate of the people I represent, the people I’ve been fighting for all my life, then I’m going to raise hell,” Rush said.
One example of the direction Democrats could turn is Representative Keith Ellison, who is seeking to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Ellison is a Midwestern liberal with strong support among unions and the middle class. He is also black and a Muslim.
If he is selected, it could signal that the party intends to merge its message of diversity with one of economic progress.
Ellison’s chief challenger, Tom Perez, the secretary of labor, is also a liberal with a diverse background.
“Going into the midterms and 2020, a compelling message would be one that brings the country together,” said Cornell William Brooks, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “[It would] acknowledge the racial challenges that we face but charts a common future in which everyone is included. And everyone is included in terms of our economic stake in the future.”
In interviews, lawmakers rejected drastic changes to the party’s focus.
Sanchez, who was recently promoted to the House Democratic Leadership team, acknowledged that Democrats can sometimes overemphasize diversity, especially in explicit ways that can make others feel excluded.
It’s about threading a needle, she said, and recognizing the audience.
“If I go into a union hall in Pennsylvania, I may not talk about immigration. But if I go to a union hall in New Mexico or Texas, I may talk about immigration,” Sanchez said. “You have to focus on the most important message to the audience.”
Robin Kelly, a Democratic lawmaker from suburban Illinois, advocated for a similar subtlety.
“I think that we can talk about economics, and that we can do it under a big tent,” Kelly said.
When she was introduced as a new member of the House Democratic Leadership team, Sanchez chose not to speak about her roots as a child of Mexican immigrants and instead identified herself as a working mother, empathetic to the common person in difficult economic times.
Her choice was intentional.
“Diversity should speak for itself,” she said.
Astead W. Herndon can be reached at astead.herndon@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @AsteadWH.
Trump Said to Weigh Aide Conway's Husband for Top Legal Job - Bloomberg
President-elect Donald Trump is considering George Conway, a long-time corporate lawyer and the husband of senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, to be U.S. solicitor general, the government’s top appellate lawyer, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Conway, who’s spent more than two decades as a partner at New York corporate legal powerhouse Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, has made a career representing high-profile clients from the National Football League to tobacco maker Philip Morris, according to his biography on the firm’s website. He wasn’t directly involved in Trump’s presidential campaign, which was managed by his wife.
George Conway didn’t immediately respond to a telephone and e-mail message seeking comment.
Conway is a 1987 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was editor of the Yale Law Journal. According to his biography he was a law clerk to federal appeals court Judge Ralph K. Winter Jr.
He had a minor role in the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton, the husband of Trump’s election opponent, Hillary Clinton. According to an October profile of Kellyanne Conway in the New Yorker, George Conway wrote a Supreme Court brief in the case involving Paula Jones’s sexual harassment suit against Clinton. That opened the path to Clinton’s impeachment on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was acquitted by the Senate.
The solicitor general reports to the attorney general and the post is subject to Senate confirmation.
Conway would represent an unusual choice for solicitor general. His law firm biography lists only one Supreme Court case he has argued -- a 2010 dispute involving the overseas reach of federal securities law. People who have held the post previously have generally had extensive Supreme Court experience, or, like former Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan, served in a prominent academic position.
Conway’s appointment also would raise questions about the level of White House involvement with the solicitor general’s office given his wife’s position in a Trump administration. Although solicitors general ultimately answer to the president, they traditionally make most of their decisions independently of the White House.
Broward clearing mental health court cases - Sun Sentinel
Broward County judge Ari Porth remembers Katherine Nelson — and mentally ill people like her who have been trapped in the court system for years.
Nelson snatched a woman's purse on a county bus in 2009 but dropped it moments later. A 20-year-old college student at the time, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, but her case languished in felony mental health court for six years.
"She was a perfect example of someone who was constantly reset who had really no chance at restorability, and we were just spinning our wheels and frustrating all parties involved," Porth said. "We're seeing less instances like that."
After years of backlogs, the Broward court system has begun doing more to help mentally ill people. A program that diverts people from the felony mental health court is full and may expand, and the court has a more manageable caseload, according to the judges who oversee it.
The changes follow a Sun Sentinel investigation last January revealing that the average person in felony mental health court spent more than three years awaiting justice, compared with six months for those in regular court.
Some languished in jail for months because no treatment beds were available.
Started in 2003, the felony mental health court was supposed to be a way to help people prepare for trial and get treatment. But the system became packed with 1,200 cases, and prosecutors for years refused to let go of even minor, nonviolent cases involving mentally ill people too sick to face their charges.
Prosecutors today are more willing to dismiss cases, Porth said, a change he attributes to the extra scrutiny from the Sun Sentinel investigation.
He said the findings are constantly on his mind.
"It's lingering as a reminder as to where we're supposed to be headed," said Porth, one of two judges assigned to the felony mental health division.
The other judge, Mark Speiser, said he also sees positive changes.
"Yes, I see changes to the best," he said.
The Clerk of Courts Office said it could not immediately determine how many cases are pending in the felony mental health court, but Porth estimated his caseload has fallen 10 percent to 15 percent.
That means more people like Katherine Nelson have been able to move on with their lives.
When arrested, Nelson said voices told her to grab the woman's purse on the bus. She dropped it when the bus driver confronted her.
For years, she was considered mentally incompetent and attended more than 200 competency-restoration classes, said her father, Clovis Nelson. But her case remained active until prosecutors dismissed the robbery charge in November 2015, after the Sun Sentinel questioned them about the case.
Today, Nelson, now 28, has a job and is managing her medication and symptoms of her mental illness, Clovis said.
"She's doing great," he said.
The mental health court has made strides through a diversion program run by the Broward Regional Health Planning Council and modeled after one in Miami-Dade County.
The program was set up to reduce the number of mentally ill people in courtrooms and jails.
As of Thursday, 61 people were admitted to the program. The majority of people accepted have cases that were filed in 2016, according to records reviewed by the Sun Sentinel.
To be accepted, a person has to be evaluated by psychologist Dr. Michael Collins, be diagnosed with a severe mental illness and be approved by the State Attorney's Office. The treatment process, which includes group and individual therapy and medication management, is broken into two phases.
No one has completed the program, but several people may be eligible to finish by mid-February, Collins said. Once they finish, their charges will be dropped and they will be linked to mental health services in the community.
The psychologist said he would like to expand the approximately $300,000 program to admit more people. Funding for the pilot program began in November 2015 and was enough for 60 slots.
"We still have individuals who have been approved by the state but are waiting to be evaluated," Collins said. "The referrals aren't going away and we're at 60."
More than 380 cases were referred as of Dec. 29, records show. The majority of the remaining cases were denied while others were pending approval.
Assistant State Attorney Peter Holden, who is in charge of the felony trial unit, said he believes the diversion program is working. His office receives monthly reports on participants, which helps the office evaluate how it is progressing, he said.
"We're all for it," Holden said. "We want to get the people that need the help to get the help."
Chief Assistant Public Defender Owen McNamee said he is cautiously optimistic about the diversion program and the changes to the mental health court in the past year. He said communication with the State Attorney's Office also has improved.
"I'm hopeful that the diversion continues to grow and mental health court continues to shrink and that people will continue to get a chance to get attention without going to the criminal justice system at all," he said.
shobbs@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4520 or Twitter @bystephenhobbs
Week In Politics: Israel, Russia And The Race For DNC Chair - NPR
NPR'S Robert Siegel speaks with our regular political commentator David Brooks of The New York Times, and Jamelle Bouie, chief political correspondent for Slate magazine, about U.S.-Russia ties, Israel and contenders for the DNC chair.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
And we're going to stick with the subject of U.S.-Russia relations and how they relate to domestic politics with our Friday political observers - in Washington, columnist David Brooks of The New York Times.
Good to see you.
DAVID BROOKS, BYLINE: Good to see you.
SIEGEL: And sitting in for E.J. Dionne in Charlottesville, Va., Jamelle Bouie, chief political correspondent for Slate magazine.
Jamelle, it's good to have you with us.
JAMELLE BOUIE: Thank you for having me.
SIEGEL: Donald Trump tweeted about Vladimir Putin not expelling Americans. Today, his tweet says, (reading) great move on delay by V. Putin - I always knew he was very smart.
David, Donald Trump isn't the only Putin fan in Washington, but he's sure at odds not just with President Obama but with many Republicans and Democrats in Congress. How do you see all this playing out?
BROOKS: It's a sad day when Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are taking the moral high ground against us. I actually think this bromance is headed for a big old crash. Right now, we - we're struck by their similarities. There's apparent mutual admiration for each other. But they're too macho, aggressive, expansionist, egomaniacal schoolyard bullies (laughter).
And I think once the administration - the Trump administration - gets into office, the inevitable conflict between the U.S. and Russia which has been developing for years and years will continue. And the very things that make them like each other right now will make them extremely aggressive against each other in the future as it gets personal, as it gets macho. And it's going to be a little scary I think.
SIEGEL: Jamelle, your take on Putin and Trump.
BOUIE: No, I don't disagree with David. I mean it's worth saying that Trump would not be the first U.S. president to try to attempt to repair a relationship with Russia. George W. Bush attempted this during his presidency. Obama famously or infamously, depending on where you stand, tried to reset relations with Vladimir Putin in Russia. And so Trump seems to be carrying on in his footsteps.
But the difference, of course - and David alluded to this - is, well, these previous presidents, when that did not work out, were able to adopt sort of a reasoned approach to how they're going to face Putin's Russia. Donald Trump does not seem to have that ability to react to a setback with - calmly, I'll say. And so that does leave this sort of worrying risk.
How will Donald Trump react if Putin moves to do something that violates the terms of an agreement they had, if Putin does something that flies in the face of what Trump views as U.S. interests? How will he react to this? How will he respond? And will we see some kind of mutual escalation of tension due to the fact that, as David said, we have two men on both sides who are very macho and aggressive?
SIEGEL: Well, David, what about the tension between Donald Trump and, say, Senator McCain or other people on Capitol Hill who are going to investigate the hacking? Is that collusion going to happen before the one between Trump and Putin?
BROOKS: You know, all of this is - I think is going to be one of the tails of the Trump administration. I think Trump does - well, we'll see. I don't really know what the administration will be like. But in this - so far, he has - exists in the realm of discussion and online media. Senators exist a lot in that world but sometimes in the world of actual action.
And I think senators like McCain and Lindsey Graham and a lot of the Democrats are very hawkish on Russia and are going to want to take some actual action against Russia. And whether the Trump administration will actually actively thwart them I think is unlikely. I think a lot of policymaking is likely to shift to the Hill, as Trump occupies a media world.
SIEGEL: Jamelle, should Democrats push against Trump's pro-Putin positions and question the legitimacy of his presidency?
BOUIE: Should they - can - if a...
SIEGEL: Should they remind us all the time of the Russian hacking and say that somehow...
BOUIE: Ah, yes.
SIEGEL: ...That tainted his victory?
BOUIE: Well, I think Democrats and, you know, frankly Republicans who are concerned by it as well should continue to talk about the Russian hacking and continue to search for evidence and do investigations because regardless of sort of where - how it ends up in terms partisan politics, it is just a very troubling thing that happened to American politics.
I think that Democrats, on that same token, should continue to speak about how - you know, in my view at least - how troubling it is that Trump doesn't just seem to want to improve relationships with Vladimir Putin but seems to actively praise him as an example of a good leader - this despite the fact that in Putin's Russia, journalists are murdered. Political opponents are jailed and murdered - that Putin kind of reigns over an authoritarian state.
And having a U.S. president praise a leader like that I think should be considered very worrisome and should be something the Democrats and, again, Republicans who care about this should point out again and again and again because it is, I think, not acceptable in terms of mainstream political discourse.
SIEGEL: Well, it's not every week that we have a drama featuring a president and a president-elect making headlines over foreign policy differences. But this week, it actually happened twice over two different countries - Russia, as we've just been saying, but also Israel.
Following the U.S. abstention on the U.N. resolution critical of Israeli settlements on the West Bank of the Jordan River, Secretary of State John Kerry made a speech about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOHN KERRY: They have a choice. They can choose to live together in one state, or they can separate into two states. But here is a fundamental reality. If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or Democratic. It cannot be both. And it won't ever really be at peace.
SIEGEL: David Brooks, Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to Israel disparages the idea of a two-state solution as a territorial compromise with the Palestinians. Can you imagine Trump's administration just dropping Washington's support of that aim?
BROOKS: Yeah, absolutely. I think American policy toward Israel has gone into sudden polarization. The Trump policy, as you said, is almost to encourage the settlements and to possibly drop the possibility of a two-state solution, which everybody has accepted until now. The Obama administration has gone off to the other end, which is to focus primarily on the settlements.
Now, the settlements are an obstacle to peace, but they might be the sixth or seventh most important obstacle to peace, the primary one being the legitimate fear of an ISIS in the West Bank, the existence of Hamas, which is in Gaza, which doesn't recognize the state of Israel.
And this week's actions by the president and by John Kerry to put the settlements first is just an attempt to distort what's happened in the Middle East over the last 30 years in order to put the onus of the blame on Israel, which I think is equally extreme.
SIEGEL: Jamelle, it wasn't just Republicans who criticized Kerry and Obama for this. Chuck Schumer, soon to be the highest-ranking Senate Democrat, was critical, too. Is there really any political will in Washington to press for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians?
BOUIE: None that I perceive. And one thing that I think is worth noting here is how within the Democratic Party, politics in Israel have become more polarized. The left-wing, the Democratic Party - it does very much have a focus on the settlements and sees the treatment of Palestinians and the treatment of the Palestinian communities as a paramount issue here.
And you know, given that the two-state solution status quo in Washington seems to be falling apart, I do think that within the Democratic Party, you may see more and more politicians begin to move towards this more left position in part because where the energy is in the Democratic Party is with the left. And if that left decides to make this one of their litmus-test issues, then I think politicians will begin to move accordingly.
BROOKS: I agree with the analysis of the Democratic Party. I think to take this, quote, "left position" is to be at war with history. I mean Netanyahu did freeze the settlements, and the Palestinians still didn't come to the table.
The settlements that are out in the further-flung settlements - it's - there's a relatively small number of people - 20,000 Jews among 2.7 million Arabs. It's clear those settlements will have to go when the two-state solution happens. But they are not the big thing preventing a peace settlement. To fixate them is - seems to be just myopic and bizarre.
SIEGEL: You say when it happens as though it's inevitable.
BROOKS: Sooner or later, there's going to be peace - maybe not in our lifetime but someday (laughter).
SIEGEL: Now, there's a thought.
(LAUGHTER)
SIEGEL: David Brooks of The New York Times, Jamelle Bouie of Slate - thanks to both of you, and happy New Year.
BROOKS: Same to you.
BOUIE: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF ONRA SONG, "MS. HO")
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5 Peristiwa Penting yang Terjadi di Tanggal 31 Desember
Dari semua jajaran tanggal yang ada, 31 Desember mungkin bisa dikatakan sebagai salah satu hari paling unik. Alasannya apalagi kalau bukan karena posisinya sebagai pemungkas atau pengakhir. Makanya, tidak terlalu mengherankan kalau hari ini jadi yang paling ditunggu serta dirayakan besar-besaran bahkan oleh semua orang di berbagai belahan dunia.
31 Desember sendiri sebenarnya spesial bukan hanya karena posisinya sebagai penghujung, tetapi juga lantaran jadi tanggal di mana banyak peristiwa penting terjadi. Ya, mungkin tak banyak yang tahu kalau di 31 Desember ini dulunya pernah terjadi berbagai macam kejadian fenomenal. Bahkan beberapa peristiwa penting yang berhubungan dengan Indonesia juga terjadi di tanggal ini.
Masih soal si tanggal paling buncit, berikut adalah beberapa kejadian yang pernah terjadi di 31 Desember.
1. 31 Desember VOC Gulung Tikar
Bagi Indonesia tanggal 31 Desember bisa dibilang adalah hari yang besar. Salah satu alasannya karena di tanggal itu, terjadi kemunduran luar biasa yang dialami oleh VOC yang keberadaannya sangat merongrong Indonesia. Di tanggal 31 Desember tahun 1799, VOC si perusahaan dagang Belanda itu bangkrut alias gulung tikar.
2. Tanggal Diputarnya Film Pertama Indonesia
Bagi para sineas Indonesia yang bukan abal-abal dan tahu sejarah, tanggal 31 Desember adalah hari besar untuk mereka. Alasan utamanya adalah karena di tanggal ini film pertama yang diproduksi di Indonesia ditayangkan perdana. Film ini berjudul Loetoeng Kasaroeng, dirilis tahun 1926.
3. Beatles Resmi Bubar
Di satu sisi 31 Desember jadi hari yang paling ditunggu, tapi di sisi lain tanggal itu justru merupakan momen yang tak ingin diingat, terutama oleh para penggemar musik. Alasannya, pada tanggal tersebut ada peristiwa besar yang sungguh mengguncang jagat musik dunia. Di tanggal itu, The Beatles, grup musik kesukaan dunia, resmi bubar. Peristiwa itu terjadi di tahun 1970.
4. Uni Soviet yang Agung Bubar
Ketika orang-orang di seluruh dunia berbahagia dengan datangnya 31 Desember, masyarakat Rusia yang fanatik nasionalis justru membenci hari itu. Alasannya adalah karena di tanggal tersebut Uni Soviet yang agung akhirnya dibubarkan. Ini adalah kejadian besar yang mungkin tak pernah diduga bakal datang.
5. Edison Pertama Kali Mendemonstrasikan Lampunya di Muka Umum
Tanggal 31 Desember tahun 1879 mungkin jadi momen paling menggembirakan bagi orang-orang Menlo Park, New Jersey, Amerika. Bukan hanya karena tanggal itu bakal terjadi pergantian tahun, namun di waktu tersebut mereka mendapati kejadian luar biasa yang benar-benar mengubah hidup. Di tanggal itu, untuk pertama kalinya Thomas Alva Edison mendemonstrasikan lampu buatannya.
Lantaran 31 Desember adalah hari penting, maka tak ada salahnya kita memperlakukan tanggal ini dengan agak berbeda. Tidak melulu dengan pesta-pesta, tapi juga mengkaji lebih dalam tentang peristiwa-peristiwa apa yang terjadi di tanggal itu. Tujuannya selain untuk mendapatkan informasi, juga agar kita bisa mengambil pelajaran dari setiap kejadian yang ada.
Subaru's BRZ STI Sport concept gets a more aggressive look for Tokyo debut - Digital Trends
The Subaru BRZ was designed to be a lightweight, nimble sports car in the vein of the Mazda MX-5 Miata, but since its launch in 2012, enthusiasts have clamored for more power to go with the BRZ’s quick reflexes.
At first glance, the Subaru BRZ STI Sport concept debuting at the Tokyo Auto Salon seems like it could deliver. It bears the name of Subaru’s STI performance division after all. But the concept will likely focus more on cosmetic upgrades, and it’s unclear if it will translate into a production model that will be sold in the United States.
The BRZ STI Sport concept gets a new body kit with a more aggressive front bumper, special 18-inch alloy wheels, and a Bordeaux Red interior. That’s all Subaru has to say about the car for now, although some mechanical upgrades may be lurking behind the styling changes.
More: A new Subaru WRX STI is at least four years away
If the BRZ STI Sport really is just a styling exercise, though, it may disappoint fans. They’ve been hoping for Subaru to squeeze more power out of the BRZ’s 2.0-liter boxer-four engine, which currently produces 205 horsepower and 156 pound-feet of torque. Because while the BRZ is very entertaining to drive, it isn’t exactly fast. That doesn’t seem to be an issue for the similarly sized, similarly priced Mazda Miata, but expectations for the Subaru are apparently different.
Subaru has teased the idea of a more powerful BRZ. It unveiled an STI Performance Concept based on the car at the 2015 New York Auto Show, complete with wild exterior styling and a racing engine. The automaker has also said that it plans to expand the STI brand in the U.S. The WRX STI is currently the only model to wear that badge here.
But that expansion will likely be limited to special trim packages like the recent BRZ Series.Yellow and Series.HyperBlue, rather than full-on performance models. The BRZ STI Sport concept could very well preview the next one of these special editions. Fans may have to keep dreaming of a more muscular version of Subaru’s little sports car.
Untukmu yang Tak Pernah Berani Berkata Cinta
Pernahkah kau memandang seseorang, memperhatikannya melakukan hal sederhana, lalu kau tersenyum karena merasa ia begitu ‘indah’?
Ia tidak pernah menyadari bahwa kau memperhatikannya, dan hal yang justru teramat menyenangkan adalah ia sama sekali tidak sadar bahwa ia sedang diperhatikan. Ia benar-benar menjadi dirinya sendiri pada saat itu.
Dan bukankah itu yang kau cintai darinya? Ketika ia benar-benar menjadi dirinya sendiri.
Kau lakukan hal ini berulangkali hampir setiap hari. Mungkin ada seseorang yang kau sukai di kampus, di kantor, atau di sebuah toko langgananmu. Betapa menyenangkannya memperhatikan segalanya tentang dia, TANPA IA TAHU.
Sebagian lagi menyebutmu ‘Secret Admirer’ atau pemuja rahasia.
Tapi kau sendiri tidak tahu bagaimana caramu menyebut dirimu sendiri. Kau hanya tahu, jika kau tidak bertemu dengannya, tidak memperhatikannya, dan tidak menanti-nantinya sehari saja, hidupmu seolah-olah tiada berarti.
Dan ia tidak pernah tahu…
Kau memastikan pada alam semesta bahwa ia tidak pernah tahu.
Kau mungkin akan berpura-pura bertanya hal tolol padanya, hanya agar ia mengetahui keberadaanmu di dunianya. Tapi kau memastikan dengan sepasti-pastinya bahwa ia tidak pernah tahu bahwa kau memperhatikannya…
Menyukainya….
Entah kenapa kau menikmatinya. Menikmati ketidaktahuannya akan perasaanmu, sembari berharap ada kemungkinan ia mengerti akan perasaanmu.
Aneh.
Tetapi hal ini yang membuatmu bertahan hidup, bukan?
Bertahan dari membosankannya jam-jam kuliah, atau beratnya pekerjaan di kantor.
Kau seolah-olah memiliki tujuan hidup.
Tujuan hidup paling tolol yang pernah ada.
“Suatu hari ia akan mengerti perasaanku, dan kami akan bersama-sama selamanya”
Padahal kau tahu ia bukanlah dukun yang dapat membaca pikiran. Ia bukanlah pula detektif yang dapat membaca pattern dan pola-pola. Ia bukan pula handphone yang dapat menangkap sinyal, atau Enigma Machine yang dapat memecahkan kode.
Ia manusia biasa.
Manusia biasa yang sedikit bodoh (tapi menggemaskan), menurutmu.
Tapi kau terus berharap. Karena harapan itu indah. Karena harapanlah yang membuat umat manusia terus hidup sampai saat ini.
Kau tidak mengerti mengapa kau terus menantinya, padahal kau tahu ia sudah memiliki kekasih. Atau ia mungkin menyukai seseorang yang typenya jauh berbeda denganmu.
“Sebelum janur kuning melengkung” kalo kata orang.
Tapi sambil meneteskan sedikit air mata, kau justru tersenyum dan berkata, “Sampai malaikat Isrofil meniup sangkakala”
Dan teman-temanmu tertawa.
Seluruh dunia seolah tertawa.
Heran.
Mengapa seluruh dunia mengetahui bahwa kau mencintainya, tetapi justru si “dia” adalah satu-satunya orang yang tidak mengerti?
Entahlah.
Mungkin karena sejak awal kau memastikan kepada semesta bahwa ia tidak boleh mengetahui perasaanmu.
Tapi mengapa pula kau berharap ia tahu dengan sendirinya?
Penantian itu begitu panjang sehingga seolah-olah dunia berputar tanpa kau berada di dalamnya. Kuliah selesai, ia atau kau pun kembali ke kampung halaman masing-masing. Atau ia pindah kerja ke tempat lain.
Kau tak pernah menemukan kesempatan untuk memberitahukan perasaanmu kepadanya.
Tahu kah kau begitu banyak cinta terbuang percuma di dunia ini hanya karena ketidakmampuan seseorang untuk maju dan berkata, “Aku suka padamu”?
Tahu kah kau begitu banyak kepedihan, begitu banyak air mata tertumpahkan, dan begitu banyak kesedihan yang menyelimuti umat manusia hanya karena ketidakmampuan manusia mengucapkan sepenggal kata itu?
Apapun yang terjadi, kau harus mengucapkannya.
Kau akan ditertawakan. Kau akan dibenci. Kau akan ditinggalkan olehnya. Itulah resikonya.
Tetapi kau telah menanggung rindu dan perasaan begitu lama. Jika seseorang rela menanggung perasaan itu di dalam hati dengan begitu lama, yang telah menyerap seluruh nafas kehidupannya, menjarah seluruh jiwa raganya, lalu penderitaan apa pula yang tak sanggup dideritanya?
Ditertawakan?
Dibenci?
Ditinggalkan?
Semua adalah perkara yang terlalu sederhana dibandingkan dengan rahasia perasaan yang kau pendam dan membusuk selama ini.
Apapun yang terjadi, hanya akan menguatkan. Membuat jiwamu terasah dan batinmu terasuh.
Kau tak akan pernah menduga kenyataan.
Begitu banyak orang yang saling mencintai namun tak pernah berani mengatakannya. Kau tak akan pernah tahu perasaannya. Sebelum kau maju dan mengatakannya.
Hari ini. Detik ini. Kumpulkan segala kekuatanmu. Biarkan saja rasa takut menghantuimu. Toh kau tak akan mati.
Majulah, dan berkata “Aku suka padamu”
Karena tak ada penderitaan yang lebih dalam selain saling mencintai namun tak pernah saling mengetahui.
The sport of keeping us together -- football - ESPN
By Keah Brown | Dec 30, 2016
Special to espnW.com
Courtesy of Keah Brown
Sports, in their comfort and familiarity, have been a driving force in my family. My cousins ran track, played football and basketball. At one point, our family's last name "Brown" was synonymous with sports achievements, writes Keah Brown.
In December, espnW's weekly essay series will focus on family.
One of my earliest family memories finds me in a light blue house, sitting on a couch -- my legs pressed together, feet planted on the ground as I scarf down the food on the styrofoam plate in front of me. A plate full of all the fixings -- macaroni and cheese, cornbread, greens and meatloaf the way only my grandmother made it, with lots of flavor and care.
There is a football game on in the background.
My twin sister, Leah, my cousin and my grandmother are watching. My aunts and mother are too, but not with the same level of intensity. I don't remember who is playing, but my family members all have a team they are rooting for and sometimes those teams differ depending on the game in front of them. When the game is over we go back to eating before we find another or are too full to do anything, but close our eyes and let lazy smiles cross our faces.
Before my grandmother passed in 2009, my family and I spent the weekend just like this: At her house watching the Jets or the Browns or a Syracuse game.
My grandmother, a big Syracuse fan and a long-suffering Browns fan, took to changing the channel in frustration when it was clear that the teams we were rooting for would eventually lose. I say "we" because I always rooted for the teams she did because I believed that she always knew best. We sat in that house laughing, eating and being together unaware of what we would one day lose.
So when we lost her, we lost a bit of ourselves, and we lost watching the game together as a family.
Sports, in their comfort and familiarity, have been a driving force in my family. My cousins ran track and played football and basketball. At one point, our family's last name "Brown" was synonymous with sports achievements. My mother, aunts and uncles played various sports when they were in school, and they excelled. When I was in high school, I spent many gym periods walking past the names of my uncles Mikey and Scottie behind glass as record holders in their specific track and field events.
Five years after my grandmother died, my Uncle Scottie, her son, died from a rare form of cancer. A sports fan just like my grandmother, he attended almost every single one of my cousin Jeremy's football games. He was my cousin's biggest fan. He took such pride in watching the nieces and nephews he helped raise play their respective sports. My grandmother loved watching us thrive in sports, too. She couldn't make it out to the games but she was always willing to hear a play-by-play, always proud and encouraging us no matter the outcome. When the games were won or lost, we'd find ourselves back on my grandmother's green couch, a plate of food in our lap, and rooting for a football team.
Even though we no longer have my grandmother and Uncle Scottie on Earth with us, I feel them when we get together to watch my cousin Jeremy play football. He moves with the skill and precision that only passion can teach you, and it feels as though they are moving through him as he scores a touchdown.
We've lost a lot over the years, but when we come together we manage to find and keep laughter, joy, the ability to have a good time during a bad one, and the will to keep going even when we are hurting. Whether we are releasing balloons on the anniversary of my grandmother's death or throwing a party on what would have been my Uncle Scottie's 50th birthday, with music, a plate of food and the game.
We will keep each other the way the game kept us.
Keah Brown's work has appeared in Lenny Letter, Catapult, The Establishment and Femsplain, among other publications. She loves TV, good music and cheesecake. Follow her @Keah_Maria
Where you live can have a lot to say about your health - Washington Post
By many measures, Hawaii is one of the healthiest states in the union. Yet only Mississippi has a higher rate of flu or pneumonia deaths than the Aloha State.
West Virginia, usually among the bottom dwellers in state health rankings, is in the middle of the pack for deaths related to Alzheimer’s disease.
Similarly, relatively unhealthy Arkansas has a low rate of drug overdose deaths while Connecticut, which ranks near the top in overall health, has one of the country’s highest rates of death linked to drug use.
Health disparities based on race, income and gender tend to draw more notice, but variations related to where people live are prompting public health officials to use the information to craft more-targeted policies. As the data becomes more precise, experts believe interventions to combat geographic disparities will become more effective.
Location and health
The increasing interest comes amid a growing recognition that people’s health depends as much on factors related to location — such as recreational opportunities, transportation, crime and unemployment — as it does on what takes place in doctor’s offices or hospitals.
“In many ways, your Zip code is more important than your genetic code when it comes to health,” said Jay Butler, Alaska’s chief medical officer and its director of public health.
The truth of that observation is evident in a single comparison from a recent report from the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Urban Institute: On average, a newborn in Mississippi will live to age 75. One born in Hawaii will make it beyond 81.
The VCU center and the Urban Institute recently released the first of nine reports examining the states according to 39 health outcomes, including heart disease mortality, cancer mortality and suicide. The project also seeks to correlate those outcomes with 123 social and economic factors such as government spending, proficiency in reading and rates of incarceration. (The report doesn’t offer explanations for the correlations.)
For example, the report finds a strong correlation between lower spending on public transportation and higher instances of car accidents, and between adult obesity and deaths related to pneumonia. It also links a shortage of primary-care services to higher rates of deaths related to diabetes, heart disease, stroke and pneumonia and to shorter life expectancy.
Others have also compared geographic locations by various health measures. For example, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute does health rankings of counties in every state. A collaboration between the University of Southern California and PolicyLink, a nonprofit focused on issues of equity, compared the health of 150 metropolitan areas using several indicators, including rates of asthma, diabetes and obesity.
Even smaller geographic comparisons are coming. Later this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation plan to unveil health data from the country’s largest 500 cities broken down by census tract or neighborhood. The goal, according to the CDC, is to help cities and local health departments “better understand the geographic distribution of health-related variables” to “help them plan public health interventions.”
In many places, health interventions based on geographic data are already happening. Steve Woolf, director of the VCU center, said that in many states, tobacco control policies and cigarette taxes “are the direct result of health-disparities information related to smoking.” Woolf also noted that traffic fatalities have informed state decisions on motorcycle helmets, car-seat restraints and speed limits.
Maryland tackled diabetes in the southern part of the state by linking more patients to primary-care doctors, and it improved behavioral health on the Eastern Shore by creating mental health crisis services, said Joshua Sharfstein, who led the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from 2011 to 2014.
Local and state health officials also have made changes to help reduce childhood asthma, including coordinating communication between school-based nurses and primary-care practices and enabling students to administer their own inhalers rather than relying on school nurses. Sharfstein said statewide efforts also lowered Maryland’s relatively high infant mortality rate. The state improved access to health care for expectant mothers and launched educational campaigns to teach parents about safe sleeping practices for newborns.
“Knowing how you compare to other states is very helpful,” said Sharfstein, a physician who is now an associate dean at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
In Colorado, public health officials several years ago discovered that high blood pressure was much more prevalent in the two sparsely populated frontier counties of Las Animas and Huerfano. The statewide rate was 26 percent, compared with 38 and 39 percent in the two counties.
Kelly Means, clinical quality improvement manager in the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment, said that finding led to a program to identify residents in the two counties who had high blood pressure but were not getting treatment and to refer them to primary-care doctors. The state also encouraged those doctors to direct hypertensive patients to community programs that encouraged healthy eating, exercise and smoking cessation.
Means said that the program has linked 75 previously undiagnosed residents to primary care and 82 already identified patients to activities to reduce hypertension. One participating primary-care practice reported that the number of patients who have their blood pressure under control has increased by 20 percent.
In Alaska, Butler said, geographic health data led to targeted antismoking and suicide prevention programs in northern and western parts of the state, where the rates of lung cancer and suicide are particularly high.
In Connecticut, the data indicated a high rate of asthma-related hospitalizations in the city of Waterbury, said Mehul Dalal, the chronic-disease director in the state Department of Public Health. That finding prompted the state to help Waterbury develop a home inspection program in which health workers identify environmental conditions that can trigger asthma and advise residents on how to remove them.
States act
Kalamazoo, Mich., now sends nurses into homes to combat the city’s high rate of infant mortality. Philadelphia, alarmed over its high obesity numbers, this year enacted a soda tax. In Utah, the health department recently began promoting gun safety in response to the state’s high suicide rate.
But health-policy analysts, even those who do geographic analyses, caution that geographic data isn’t perfect. Laudan Aron, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who helped produce the report with the VCU center, said that problems in data collection, such as poor reporting practices by medical providers, can skew the numbers. That’s why comparative findings should be viewed only as a first step to more investigation, she said.
And some findings, while interesting, may not point the way to action that can make a difference. The VCU-Urban Institute report, for instance, ranks states by their rates of mortality associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Washington ranks last in that category, but there is probably nothing the state can do about it. “Unfortunately, at this point, there are no evidence-based practices we know of that reduce the rate of Alzheimer’s,” Woolf said.
If nothing else, policymakers say, such comparisons prompt discussions across borders to learn best practices in addressing particular health problems. And as Maryland’s Sharfstein said, in health policy, a little competitive rivalry between geographic areas can only benefit patients.