There are many ways to organize posts on Reddit, but none that reveal the most despised content to ever grace the site. Cornell student Horace He has sought to change that with his site notreddit.top. The site takes data from Reddit itself and finds the posts that have been downvoted to oblivion.
You obviously need to strap down the luggage you put on the roof of your car, but as this crash test footage from Switzerland’s Dynamic Test Center shows, you might also want to strap down the bags in the back of your station wagon. In an impact, pieces of luggage becomes flying missiles targeted at the vehicle’s passengers.
While supplies last, Amazon’s taking an extra 20% off over 20 popular PC gaming accessories with promo code PAXWEST20, including gear from Razer, Corsair, SteelSeries, and others.
We have all seen the folks who talk to their dogs like they are humans, not that anything is wrong with that. Each time I see someone talking to their dog, I always wonder if the dog actually understands what they are saying. A new study published in the September 2 issue of Science shows that dogs do in fact … Continue reading
The Asus announcements at IFA 2016 continue with the debut of the company’s latest flagship tablet, the ZenPad 3S 10. With a simple, clean design, the latest ZenPad features a 9.7-inch touchscreen display (2048 x 1536) and its chassis comes from a single piece of aluminum. It’s easy to see a resemblance with the iPad Air 2, but the ZenPad … Continue reading
The latest Gorilla Glass variant out of Corning’s offices was specifically designed for wearables, which tend to be more exposed to damage than phones. Corning describes Gorilla Glass SR+ as a whole new composite that’s different from previous versio…
Today on In Case You Missed It: Nova Innovation is installing the world’s first tidal power generators along the coast of Scotland, which are able to produce 100 kilowatts of power each. The UK Carbon Trust estimates the tidal energy market will…
Our AmeriCorps VISTA members are asked to serve their communities under conditions of hardship, receiving a poverty-level living allowance in return for their one year commitment of service. For many of our members, their year of service is the first time they experience personal poverty. Yet there are those among our ranks who are all too familiar with the sacrifices and hardships faced by those who live without access to resources and employment options.
One such individual is Aaron Bigler Lefebvre, an AmeriCorps VISTA member serving with NeighborWorks of Western Pennsylvania. Aaron shares with us in his own words, how his AmeriCorps VISTA experience has provided him with both professional as well as personal development. Aaron’s story, like so many of our members, inspires me to continue the work in ensuring that all Americans are aware of the opportunity to serve their communities through AmeriCorps and specifically, the AmeriCorps VISTA program.
When attending Pre-Service Orientation, members in the AmeriCorps VISTA program learn about poverty. They learn about situational poverty, about generational poverty, about urban and rural poverty, and so forth. During this training, some facilitators ask their groups to form a circle to discuss what poverty means to them. They’re asked: what does poverty look like to you?
The answers would no doubt surprise you, and would undoubtedly provoke the conscience to consider unknown situations. As a new AmeriCorps VISTA member, when I was asked the question of what poverty looks like, the realization arrived that it was the situation in which I’d been living, though it might not look like the poverty you’re picturing.
I have a low-vision blindness disability that I developed at the age of 19. I’m a white, middle-class male. A Boy Scout who has always done well in school. Well enough even to earn two English degrees while adapting to the newly acquired low-vision disability.
After graduating from Rutgers University in Camden with an MFA in Creative Writing, I began a job search. I had many interviews, yet none yielded an offer. Some, I was unqualified for, while others, I was more than qualified for. On occasion, I was dismissed because I had to disclose my disability. Yes, it’s illegal, but you know what? They gave me the run-around anyway. Why? Because like with many people who experience poverty on one level or another, I didn’t have the resources to do anything about it.
I began looking for simpler work so that I could pay my bills, but I realized that wasn’t an easier task because many jobs that require low skill-sets require good vision capabilities. Imagine for a moment, what it might be like to count money without sight, to mop a dirty floor without sight, to operate a ride-sharing service without sight. The jobs that many take for granted and even turn their nose up toward can be entirely out of reach for persons with certain disabilities. The same can be said for persons with certain features in their history like felonies, substance abuse, or simply not having or being able to maintain a valid driver’s license. These are common factors that lead to exclusion, which leads to poverty, and it’s a cycle that remains unbroken. Time and time again, I heard the words “no” and “disability.” I eventually started to believe that I was unable, that I really couldn’t do, and that it didn’t matter how much education I had because no one seemed to believe that I had the ability to do the work I thought I could do.
With all of these forces working against me, I began thinking of other options, which ultimately lead to the AmeriCorps VISTA program. I had friends who served in the AmeriCorps KEYS program who suggested I explore opportunities with AmeriCorps. There, I could gain valuable professional experience without fear of rejection based on discrimination, and I would help others in that community gain their own footing as well.
NeighborWorks Western Pennsylvania was looking for an AmeriCorps VISTA member to evaluate and redevelop their program delivery model by holding internal interviews, creating client-facing surveys, developing new education and training materials, and implementing a client triage system that would improve the capacity for ensuring client success.
I applied, interviewed, accepted an offer, and went off to Pre-Service Orientation the week before starting my VISTA assignment. At the orientation, I trained for a full year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA member who would help combat the many faces of poverty that threaten to degrade society and remove many from opportunity. And no one told me it was something I couldn’t do.
Now in the final stages of my VISTA project, after working with staff members, attending training sessions and conferences, developing training manuals, workshop materials, client triage protocols, procedures, surveys, outreach materials, and gaining the trust and appreciation of NeighborWorks Western Pennsylvania staff, I can say this: I am able; I can do; I have done; and I will do more.
In the face of an impoverished lifestyle of living on nothing but Social Security disability and SNAP benefits, I’ve shown myself and the world that the word “disability” is a word often reserved for nothing better than demotivating a differently abled individual. Through AmeriCorps VISTA, I learned that individuals living with disabilities bring fresh perspectives, new ideas, new culture, and new levels of awareness. All of those aid in improving the perspectives of others and the missions of organizations.
As both an impoverished individual and an AmeriCorps VISTA member working to reduce the effects of poverty in my community, the VISTA program is indispensable to those without opportunity who need a chance to show what they’re capable of. Inclusion is a mainstay of the program, and that was made clear to me by my supervisor–a VISTA alumna–when she offered me the VISTA role at NeighborWorks Western Pennsylvania. By including all comers without disparaging or turning them away, by including one person who has been accustomed to exclusion, one may spread the values of self-reliance and self-sustainability. The VISTA program has energized my confidence and reaffirmed my belief that I can be an independent, self-reliable, self-sustainable, productive member of society. Without the AmeriCorps VISTA program, I may never have found the opportunity I needed to show myself and others that I have the potential for making a difference that can change the community.
-Aaron Bigler Lefebvre AmeriCorps VISTA Member, NeighborWorks of Western PA 2015-2016
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he was ready to discuss any issues with Barack Obama when they meet in Laos next week, but added that the U.S. president must listen to him first before bringing up the question of human rights.
Washington has expressed concern about a surge in drug-related killings since Duterte became president two months ago promising to wipe out narcotics in the Southeast Asian nation.
Asked if he would be willing to discuss human rights at his meeting with Obama on the sidelines of an East Asia summit on Sept. 6, Duterte told reporters: “Depends to what degree.
“They must understand the problem first before we talk about human rights. I would insist, listen to me: this is what the problem is, then we can talk.”
In a statement, the foreign ministry said the meeting would be an opportunity for the president to “communicate his advocacy to improve the peace and order situation in the country, especially toward eradicating the scourge of illicit drugs”.
Police data released on Tuesday showed that the number of drug-related killings since Duterte took office now stands at around 2,000, nearly half of them in police operations and the rest in shootings by unidentified gunmen.
Duterte has been unapologetic over unleashing the police on drug users and dealers and has responded robustly to criticism from the United Nations and other countries over his campaign.
Recently he lashed out at Washington’s ambassador to the Philippines, branding him a “gay son of a whore”.
The White House said on Monday that Obama would raise concerns about some of Duterte’s recent statements when the two meet.
However, it said there were also important security issues for the two closely allied countries to discuss, particularly tension over navigation in the South China Sea. China has been incensed by a ruling against its claims in the South China Sea by an international court, a case initiated by Manila.
The two leaders were expected to discuss ways to strengthen the security alliance after Manila allowed the U.S. military to rotate its forces in five local air and army bases, foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose said.
Duterte said he would also hold talks with China, which will be represented at the Laos meeting by Premier Li Keqiang. Media reports said he would also meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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Six teenagers in a town east of London have been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of killing a Polish man in a suspected hate crime, British police said on Wednesday.
Police have reported a jump in hate crime in Britain after the country voted to leave the European Union in June, following a campaign that critics said stoked xenophobia and racism.
The 40-year-old man, named in local media reports as factory worker Arek Jozwik, suffered head injuries in a street attack in Harlow on Saturday and died in hospital on Monday evening, Essex Police said.
A second man, 43, was also attacked and suffered suspected fractures to his hands and bruising to his stomach. He has since been discharged from hospital.
Five boys aged 15 and one aged 16 were arrested on suspicion of murder, police said. One line of investigation was that the attack was a hate crime, they said.
The group has been released on bail until Oct. 7 pending further inquiries.
Poland’s ambassador in London said in June he was “shocked and deeply concerned” about the reports of a rise in xenophobic abuse against the Polish community in Britain, which is estimated to number 850,000.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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