Daily Archives: June 2, 2021

GREENBRIER COUNTY, W.Va. Superheroes often build on tragedy and adversity to drive them to become avengers against evil and saviors of the world.

According to DC Comics, an 8-year-old Bruce Wayne witnessed the death of his millionaire parents at the hands of a villainous robber. This induced a young Wayne to gather skills, fine-tune his body and create a vehicle equipped for the future role of the crime fighter known as Batman.

The Greenbrier Valley has its own Batman equipped with a Batmobile who uses his troubled past as a vehicle to teach children four noble principles: 1) never give up; 2) always do the right thing; 3) help other people; and 4) never be a bully. Points that have the potential to turn youngsters into superheroes in their own right, especially in todays environment consisting of an epidemic proportion of teen suicide attempts, rampant drug use, bullying and other damaging factors.

Recently, Batman spoke to 8th graders at Eastern Greenbrier Middle School aiming to change their mindsets and challenge them to be better humans heading into high school.

Removing his classic mask with hood and bat-shaped ears to speak as himself, John Buckland, he asked the students to take a self-inventory, What kind of 8th graders have you been?

Buckland shared his grueling past enduring physical, emotional and sexual abuse, which lead him to addictions, failed relationships, violent crimes and incarceration in a maximum-security prison.

The inspiration of the idea [for Heroes-4-Higher] came to fruition after my return home from Iraq as a firefighter with the Department of Defense, Buckland explains. Upon returning home it seemed the news was saturated with stories of youth in crisis. I was determined to help make a difference in all of the troubles that our youth face in their lives. Issues of bullying, drugs, broken homes, abuse of all types plague our children. These issues are very personal to me, as I was a victim of many of these issues myself growing up.

Following two suicide attempts, he is still alive to carry the message, Its not about the mistakes, its what you do with that mistake.

Mistakes, Buckland shared with EGMS students, concerning armed robberies, when he put a gun to teenagers heads and took their money, during which the bullied became the bully. He became a tough guy, mean as a snake.

Buckland described mistakes made in relationships when I used girls to feel better about myself.

And he told of the time when the mother of his young son ran down the street with the one-year-old boy and flagged down a car to get in with two strangers, in an attempt to escape Bucklands fury.

How scared must she have been of me to get into a car with strange men? he asked the 8th graders.

It was because of these struggles that the hero characters, especially Batman, along with extensive therapy and support, gave me the inspiration I needed to overcome and then reach out to help others through their pain, Buckland explained. I learned through Batman to turn my pain into personal empowerment and use that to help others overcome their own pain.

Buckland requested the EGMS students begin owning their mistakes by apologizing to those hurt by their actions, inactions, words, or social media posts.

Citing the extraordinarily high number of youth suicide attempts, Buckland told the West Virginia Daily News that suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth today.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention breaks those figures down as suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24 and for college-age youth and ages 12-18.

CDC further explains that More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined.

Each day in our nation, there are an average of over 3,703 attempts by young people grades 9-12. If these percentages are additionally applied to grades 7 and 8, the numbers would be higher.

If youths struggles werent already dire, the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted additional strain on youngsters.

According to the CDC, Adolescents aged 12-17 years accounted for the highest proportion of mental health-related [emergency department] ED visits in both 2019 and 2020, followed by children aged 5-11 years. Many mental disorders commence in childhood, and mental health concerns in these age groups might be exacerbated by stress related to the pandemic and abrupt disruptions to daily life associated with mitigation efforts, including anxiety about illness, social isolation, and interrupted connectedness to school.

More information can be derived through, the Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System, a survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that includes national, state, and local school-based representative samples of 9th- through 12th-grade students. The purpose is to monitor priority health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth in the United States.

Heroes-4-Higher is an organization that began on September 4, 2012. The name is based on the principle that it teaches four points to take the children, the real heroes, to a higher level. The mission of H4H is to inspire children to be the hero. The outreach is active in drug rehab facilities, youth behavioral health programs, foster care systems and grief counseling, churches, schools, college empowerment events, entire community events, the city mission, domestic violence shelters and programs, and anywhere else people need hope. More information can be found at John Buckland Heroes4higher (get-card.com).

For those experiencing suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) or use the online Lifeline Crisis Chat at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Both are free and confidential and the person will be connected to a skilled, trained counselor in their area.

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Batman empowers youth to become 'Superheroes' | West Virginia | timeswv.com - Times-West Virginian

Nature is healing, and sounding flash as hell: Sigrid is back with a new self-empowerment anthem that absolutely slaps, and all it takes to appreciate it it to fire it up below and take a loving look in the Mirror. The Norwegian alt-pop maestro returned yesterday (May 27) with a disco-thump of a single built for both the summer festival circuit and those personal times spent alone in your room brushing off any of the doubt and despair the world tries to hurl your way. Mirror is a personal track that speaks to the universal appeal of loving yourself I love who I see / Looking at me / In the mirror and were very much here for it.

Sigrid used the down time during the pandemic to craft the next batch of songs that would follow up her breakout 2019 album Sucker Punch, and Mirror with longtime collaborator Emily Warren, songwriter Caroline Ailin (Dua Lipa, Julia Michaels), and producer Sly (Jonas Brothers, Dua Lipa) is the first to bask under her pop sunshine. The track comes with a colorful directed by Femke Huurdeman and produced CANADA by that finds Sigrid exploding back to vibrancy, a declaration of self-love in the aftermath of a relationship.

We wanted to explore how conflicting it can feel to have different sides of yourself competing against each other, and not working together, Sigrid says. And as I cant stand still whilst singing, theres a lot of dancing, running, driving you can tell I had a great time on the shoot.

Adds Huurdeman: It can be quite liberating to reinvent yourself after getting out of a relationship. This journey of finding your core, coming to terms with who you are and radiating this from oneself is at the heart of the concept of the video. For me, its always important to showcase a three-dimensional image of a character. We built together on a language of movements, and different moods for each scene, all rooted in Sigrids own style of performing. She can be empowering, humorous, sensitive, playful, captivating and bold, and thats something I think you can feel throughout the video.

Crank it.

***

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Sigrid fell in love with the person in the 'Mirror' and that person is you - Vanyaland

TORONTO, June 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, TransUnion released the findings of its Q1 2021 TransUnion Industry Insights Report , which showed a sharp decline in balances across most products as higher consumer liquidity, reduced spending and lender accommodations enabled Canadian credit consumers to navigate the ongoing public health and economic crises. While the Canadian economy is improving, the credit market has been slow to recover as consumers are seeking fewer credit products and maintaining conservative borrowing behaviours. Nevertheless, the Canadian credit market shows signs of good health and consumer confidence is at its highest level in more than a year, according to TransUnion’s most recent Consumer Pulse survey , which suggests an improved outlook for new credit activity in the latter half of 2021 and beyond.

As the economy slowly recovers, we are witnessing consumers deleveraging in the Canadian credit market, with the exception of mortgages,” said Matt Fabian, director of financial services research and consulting at TransUnion. Despite increased consumer confidence and liquidity, the decline in consumer balances and originations could pose problems for lenders that are not prepared for the changing consumer behaviours, which could result in a higher proportion of risky balances. Lenders should consider actively seeking to replenish their portfolios with new balances and originations to maintain a manageable delinquency rate.”

Consumers show signs of deleveraging unsecured credit

In Q1 2021, use of credit remained slow across all products except for mortgages. Existing borrowers focused on paying down balances, while balance growth on newly originated products remained stagnant compared to prior periods. While the overall number of credit-active consumers remained essentially flat down by 0.47% year-over-year (YoY) consumers seem to be taking advantage of higher income and savings from enhanced government benefits and reduced spending to deleverage 1 .

The average non-mortgage consumer balance declined by 2.9% YoY to $28,900 in the first quarter of 2021. Unlike unsecured lending products, the average consumer mortgage balance increased by 5.7% to $112,000. This strong mortgage activity appears to have been buoyed by attractive interest rates and high real estate demand. Continued strong mortgage originations generated over $170 billion in mortgage balances in Q4 2020 a 43% increase from prior year. While delinquencies remain low, this recent growth bears watching in future quarters.

Consumer liquidity has increased as Canadian consumers have elevated their savings rate to an all-time high 28% of disposable income 2 . The decrease in non-mortgage balances could be attributed to this higher consumer liquidity, as well as appeared reduced spending and accommodation programs that have enabled consumers to pay down revolving balances on credit cards and lines of credit. In Q1 2021, the average revolving balance per consumer decreased by 7.3% YoY, with credit cards down by 16.5% YoY. The total number of accounts with one or more credit cards also decreased in Q1 2021 by 5.2%.

Originations slowed down across all credit products and risk tiers, except for mortgages

In Q4 2020, the Canadian credit market saw significant declines in origination volume YoY, suggesting that consumers have adequate liquidity and do not feel the need to engage in the credit market. New originations dropped across all products, except for mortgages, on an annual basis.

Bankcards experienced the sharpest decline in originations with a 31.4% reduction YoY. Other products suffered double-digit drops in originations, including personal loans (-27.1%), lines of credit (-18.3%), and auto finance (-8.8%).

Meanwhile, mortgage originations continued to grow in Q4 2020 increasing 25.8% YoY, likely fueled by record-low interest rates and increased demand for refinancing. Because of intense real estate activity, home prices surged by 31.6% in March on an annual basis, with home sales up 76.2%. This growth is expected to continue through the second quarter of 2021, before tapering off due to lower demand.

Origination Volumes

The decrease in originations occurred across the risk spectrum, though it was most pronounced in below-prime consumers 3 . Origination volumes for below-prime consumers fell 27% from the prior year, while prime and better originations were down by 12%.

According to TransUnion’s most recent Consumer Pulse survey , more than 30% of consumers who classified their credit as good to poor out of a potential range of excellent to poor considered applying for credit but ultimately did not. When asked about the reason for not applying, 29% reported they did not think they would meet income or employment conditions and 23% thought their credit history would be inadequate.

Higher-risk consumer originations were down across all product categories, signalling that lenders may not be expanding their risk appetite to pre-COVID levels or engaging these consumers. Subprime consumers saw a decline in originations across credit cards (-26.7%), auto loans (-33.6%), LOCs (16.9%), installment loans (-42.3%) and mortgages (-24.1%).

Lower-risk consumers also showed a decline in originations, with the percentage drop for new credit cards greater for super prime consumers than for subprime, likely due to lower demand. However, other unsecured products saw much smaller YoY declines for low-risk versus high-risk borrowers, whereas auto originations for prime and better borrowers effectively recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

We’ve observed depressed spending and decreased overall balances as people stay home, cut entertainment and travel costs and increase their savings rate,” explained Fabian. Fewer consumers have been seeking credit, regardless of whether they are below or above prime. As pandemic-related lockdowns ease and businesses reopen, consumers are expected to increase their spending, which may drive a resumed need to borrow. Lenders could work with existing consumers to inform them of the many credit products and services available as consumers return to more robust spending and borrowing patterns.”

Improving delinquency rates indicate resilience of the Canadian credit market

Despite the end of a majority of deferral programs, delinquency rates decreased for all products. At the end of Q1 2021, consumer-level serious delinquency (90 DPD) dropped 63 bps YoY to 1.4%, and consumer non-mortgage delinquency decreased YoY 62 bps to 1.39%, potentially driven by the combination of increased consumer liquidity and deleveraging observed driving down non-mortgage credit balances and reducing payments.

Consumers are managing financial obligations effectively, likely thanks to improved savings and debt relief, and many appear to have leveraged that increased liquidity to pay down credit balances. The number of consumers making payments beyond the minimum payment due on revolving balances grew 4% from the prior year.

There are several healthy market trends that lenders should consider in extending new credit to consumers,” said Fabian. As pandemic-related concerns begin to ease, consumers are performing better than expected even after deferral programs ended, and delinquencies are lower than expected. Lenders can take note of these positive trends and be prepared to meet the needs of consumers as their credit demand rebounds in 2021.”

1 U nless otherwise stated, the source of the information in this release is from the TransUnion Canada consumer database.

2 Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0112-01 Current and capital accounts - Households, Canada, quarterly

3 TransUnion CreditVision ® score risk tier segment definitions: subprime = 300-639; near prime = 640-719; prime = 720-759; prime plus = 760-799; super prime = 800+

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)

TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing a comprehensive picture of each person so they can be reliably and safely represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good.® TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people in more than 30 countries. Our customers in Canada comprise some of the nation’s largest banks and card issuers, and TransUnion is a major credit reporting, fraud, and analytics solutions provider across the finance, retail, telecommunications, utilities, government and insurance sectors.

For more information or to request an interview, contact:

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Consumers Show Signs of Resilience and Deleveraging in a Slow Credit Market - Stockhouse

When Australian author and illustrator Sophie Beer started writing her latest book about consent a board book pitched for the one-to-three-year-old reader the conversation was already changing.

This was at the beginning of the pandemic, and society was suddenly a lot more cognisant of greetings and interpersonal consent, she says. Suddenly, shaking hands and hugging hello was risky and we had to get creative with awkwardly waving and elbow-bumping instead. All these new greetings [became] a vehicle for us to discuss preference of personal boundaries with kids.

Illustrated in her bright, electric style, How to Say Hello offers children a variety of greetings to choose from, from fist bumps to smiles; from special dances to peeks out from between a parents legs. Ultimately, she writes, there are so many ways to say hello! with the book delivering an inclusive message of empowerment about making your own choices, and respecting those of others.

Board books on bodily autonomy and consent arent common but when it comes to picture books, Beer recommends Emily Neilsons Can I Give You a Squish (gorgeous and playful) and Sharee Millers Dont Touch My Hair! As children grow older and more curious, there are even more resources, including the wonderful Welcome to Consent! by Yumi Stynes and Dr Melissa Kang.

Kang explains that, as a society, were becoming more literate on the issue of consent. Young people themselves are demanding change to education, to the law, to societys attitudes to women and to power imbalances, she says. And in a post-MeToo world, books are one of many ways to bring the issue to younger children.

The younger the child, the more a parent or carer needs to physically touch a child in order to care for them but there are many opportunities to frame these actions into consent-nurturing interactions, she says. It is possible to educate children about their bodies, feelings, thoughts, actions and values which are the basics of consent.

Beer believes that learning social boundaries and how to enforce them can never be taught too young. She also thinks its important to teach kids that people can communicate differently and might accept greetings differently: differences in sensory processing and socialisation can make hugs uncomfortable for some, for example.

Childrens individual consent is just as important as teenagers or adults, she says. Too often, a child may feel uncomfortable hugging an unfamiliar relative hello, yet they are ordered to for the sake of politeness.

Being respectful of differences in personal boundaries is a kindness we can afford to anyone, young or old, she continues. [Even now], I very often put up with behaviour from people I was uncomfortable with just for the sake of social politeness as a young woman.

Sex educator and researcher Deanne Carson of Body Safety Australia, says that while discussing consent with preverbal or nonverbal children (like the audience of How to Say Hello) might be challenging, there are ways to teach bodily autonomy, such as by naming body parts, asking questions (would you like me to help you get dressed?), and explaining to a child why an adult might need to help a child be safe like getting them into a car seat or giving first aid.

All of this connects with the child, and develops their understanding of their body, helping children to be as empowered as they can be, says Carson. Im happy were starting to have this conversation.

How To Say Hello is the latest in Beers series of board books which feature a range of family structures, races and disabilities including Love Makes a Family, Change Starts with Us and Kindness Makes Us Strong. With this series, Ive aspired to create a colourful, cosy world of kindness and inclusivity, Beer says.

This last year of the pandemic has also been a strange time of global isolation, so saying hello and togetherness seems a lovely ambition.

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Teaching consent to toddlers: Im happy were starting to have this conversation - The Guardian

Over the past decade or so, NBA players have been speaking up about all sorts of issues. Whether thats taking control of their personal brand, using their free agent leverage to build superteams, or revealing their stances on social issues via peaceful protesting, LeBron James nailed it when he coined the term of being more than an athlete.

While every person regardless of celebrity status, fame or otherwise has the right to take control of their own lives and speak their own minds, weve unfortunately seen some folks slam pro athletes for showing this. Some think people like James should just stick to sports (Note: He shouldnt), while others think guys like Aaron Rodgers are coming across as entitled for trying to force a trade while still under contract, seemingly doing anything he can to get out of Green Bay.

We could go back and forth about whether empowering athletes has been good or bad, but one current general manager who remained anonymous didnt hold back on giving his opinion on the matter. In fact, this person claims that giving NBA players so much power has been the worst thing that has ever happened in sports. Thats, uh, quite the take.

In a recent article by Isaac Chotiner of The New Yorker, heres what the NBA front office executive had to say.

Player empowerment is a catchall for the fact that the league has done a terrible job of empowering teams, a current N.B.A. general manager told me. The players have all of the leverage in every situation. I think its the worst thing that ever happened to professional sports on all levels.

Its an interesting dilemma that millionaire NBA players have put billionaire owners in. Ever since LeBron James held the national TV special called The Decision back in 2010 to announce his free agent choice, the entire sports industry has been turned upside down. Its given other athletes, in all sports, the blueprint to follow his lead.

But that does impact leagues and teams, which, in effect, impacts the overall product.

Rosters are turned over every few months. Fans dont get to build a real relationship with players often. Superteams get formed which limits parity and creates competitive imbalance. And, as weve seen from some fans, giving athletes power to voice their opinions on social issues on such a public platform has turned some away from watching games.

That said, athletes have every right to make decisions that are best for their careers and families. Sure, it can be annoying when a top rookie is rumored to threaten a team before a draft so not to be chosen by said franchise See: Eli Manning in 2004 with the Chargers. But, hey, NBA players and other athletes have gotten smarter and adapted with the times, meaning that the business of sports is more than only making billions for greedy owners like it was in the past.

(H/T Pro Basketball Talk)

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Current GM Claims NBA Players Getting So Much Power Is Literally The Worst Thing Sports Has Ever Seen - BroBible