Category Archives: Golden Rule

This is a pivotal moment for social-emotional learning in K-12 schools.

On the one hand, interest in building or expanding SEL programs is surging among educators and parents, supported by an unprecedented infusion of billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief aid.

On the other hand, school and district leaders are facing emotionally charged conversations with the public as states consider bills to limit teaching about divisive subjects such as racism and sexuality. In some cases, right wing political groups that oppose critical race theoryan academic framework that says racism isnt just the product of individual bias but is embedded in legal systems and policieshave flagged common educational terms like social-emotional learning and equity as linked to the concept, though schools insist they are not.

While district and school leaders are eager to nurture the social-emotional skills they see as vital to overcoming the disruptions and trauma caused by the pandemic, no one wants to get caught in a political firestorm.

So, how should educators navigate these difficult political waters and do what is best for kids?

In this environment, anything can be politicized, said John Bridgeland, the CEO of Civic Enterprises, a public policy firm, who has worked extensively on building bipartisan support for SEL programs in schools.

Through social-emotional learning, schools teach students skills like creative problem-solving, persistence, and showing empathy. Teachers incorporate those skills into traditional classroom instruction through exercises like group projects and guided conversations, and schools adopt practices, like morning meetings, to boost students sense of belonging and trust.

And interest in social-emotional learning is growing. Between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, district spending on SEL programming grew about 45 percent, from $530 million to $765 million, according to a report by the consulting firm Tyton Partners and published with the Collaborative for Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning, or CASEL.

Molly Spearman, South Carolina Superintendent of Education

Now schools have access to funds through the American Rescue Plan and the CARES Act that can help them train teachers, buy new materials, and implement programs.

Surveys of parents and educators alike show support for making SEL part of schools pandemic recovery efforts. In a nation poll of parents conducted in June by the National Parents Union, 45 percent of respondents said their child was very or somewhat likely to need services to support their mental health and emotional well-being in school. In a November survey by the same organization, 67 percent of respondents said they were extremely or very concerned about how schools are preparing students for the future. Of those parents, 34 percent said schools are not teaching enough interpersonal skills and 43 percent said they arent teaching enough critical thinking skills.

Many statesunder control of governors and state schools chiefs from both major political partiesincluded social-emotional learning strategies in their plans for spending billions of American Rescue Plan dollars. Theyve done so alongside calls to hire more school-based mental health professionals and to train teachers to identify and address student trauma, according to an analysis by Future Ed, a think tank at Georgetown University.

Texas, for example, plans to offer schools guidance on assessing students emotional and mental health needs. Virginia awarded funds to schools to develop universal SEL surveys. Wyoming provided funds for schools to enact new SEL programs. Tennessee plans to create a centralized website to offer SEL resources and training to schools. Montana included the adoption of two SEL programs in its American Rescue Plan application.

Now more than ever, we need to focus on this area, said Molly Spearman, the state superintendent of education in South Carolina. Im not so sure its not the most important thing we need to work on.

But as interest in social-emotional learning rises among educators and policymakers, its also increasingly the target of ire from some conservative groups.

Local news reports show parents in several statesincluding Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, and Utah have confronted their local school boards over social-emotional learning plans, often conflating it with critical race theory and saying some of the subjects addressed in their districts SEL curriculasuch as gender identity and implicit biashave no place in schools.

While educators responding to a November survey by the EdWeek Research Center said they saw increased support for SEL, 34 percent said that, in the past year, their school had received feedback from parents concerned that social-emotional learning is teaching their children values they dont approve of.

A September controversy in Virginia that included both state and national politics may foreshadow conversations that will only grow louder as states approach the 2022 midterms.

In the Fairfax County schools, some parents and a group called Parents Defending Education, which has objected to equity efforts in schools around the country, criticized the districts decision to survey students about SEL and school climate. Some activists from national groups outside of the district called SEL a Trojan horse for critical race theory.

The districts student survey, administered through a contract with a Boston company called Panorama Education, includes questions such as: Do you have a teacher or other adult from school who you can count on to help you, no matter what? and How confident are you that students at your school can have honest conversations with each other about race?

Panorama helps schools around the country field similar surveys to ensure students feel supported and safe at school. Educators also use the companys analysis tools to examine trends such as attendance patterns alongside students grades to determine the most effective way to intervene if they struggle. While the district allowed parents to opt their children out of taking the survey, some parents expressed concerns about how the data would be used and how children would respond to the questions.

The situation boiled over after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo in October calling for his agency to respond to a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff across the country by meeting with local schools and law enforcement to discuss strategies for addressing those threats.

Republican lawmakers immediately pushed back, arguing that Garland was trying to chill dissent of parents whod spoken out against their schools virus precautions and teaching about race. And they insisted Garland had a conflict of interest because his son-in-law helped found Panorama Education. Garland denied any conflict of interest, and the company said his son-in-law, Xan Tanner, is no longer an employee.

Meanwhile, some SEL programs have also faced criticism for not doing enough to recognize the full extent of the challenges students facebe it racism, poverty, or homophobia.

Dena Simmons, assistant director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, resigned last spring after clashing with the centers director and founder, Marc Brackett, over the extent to which issues of social justice and racism should be addressed in the centers popular SEL curriculum, RULER. In emails obtained by The 74, Brackett expressed concerns that using contemporary political examples would alienate people and lead to the RULER curriculum being banned in some school districts.

Social-emotional learning is a somewhat nebulous term. That leaves school administrators and teachers with the task of sorting out parents legitimate concerns about things like whether programs are effective and how schools will measure success apart from broader misunderstandings and mischaracterizations of SEL.

John Bridgeland, CEO of Civic Enterprises

SEL aims to teach students life skills such as empathy, managing their emotions, developing relationships, and understanding other points of view and backgrounds. But, by extension, it can also encompass topics such as mental health, bias, and identity.

Tia Kim, the vice president of education research and impact at the Committee for Children, a nonprofit that promotes SEL and is also the developer of the popular Second Step curriculum, said she has seen a general shift among school districts goals for their social-emotional learning programs. A few years ago, they focused on improving academics or reducing disciplinary referrals, she said. Now, the focus is around mental health and building positive school climates.

If [students] are coming in with depression and anxiety, its going to impact their learning, Kim said. To build good conditions for learning, kids have to feel like they belong and that they have good relationships, both with their peers and educators, and SEL is one way to support that sense of community and belonging.

An increasing number of districts also see social-emotional learning as a means to bolster their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, according to the report by Tyton Partners.

While parents are largely in favor of many of the skills taught through social-emotional learning, such as setting goals, managing emotions, and being informed citizens, the term itself is unpopular, according to a poll by YouGov and commissioned by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Among those parents, 89 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Republicans agreed that students must have their social-emotional needs met in order to achieve their full academic potentialthey just prefer the term life skills. (Republican parents in particular disliked the name social-emotional learning.)

Educators and policymakers would do well to use less jargon when talking about social-emotional learning, the report warned.

Supporters of SEL have long recognized that their efforts needed to be bipartisan, said Bridgeland, the CEO of Civic Enterprises and the former director of the White House domestic policy council for President George W. Bush. Bridgeland was a member of the Aspen Institutes Commission on Social Emotional and Academic Development, which made recommendations in 2019 for educators, researchers, and policymakers about how to better incorporate an awareness of students relational and emotional development into education.

The commissions members knew that affiliation with one political party or ideology might jeopardize their efforts, so they were very deliberate in engaging people across the political spectrum, Bridgeland said. Events featured discussions from members of the Kansas state board of education in addition to leaders of national teachers unions. Commissioners included Brian Sandoval and John Engler, the Republican former governors of Nevada and Michigan. And materials emphasized skills employers wanted to see in new graduates alongside discussions of empathy and inclusion.

Bridgeland remembers meeting with conservative organizations to discuss the commissions work.

The first question they had was, What the hell are you talking about? he said. I get math. I get reading. What the hell is social-emotional learning?

When commissioners explained they wanted schools to nurture qualities such as discipline, self-management, and relationship skills, theyd say, Oh yeah, were for that, Bridgeland said.

Its essential that schools actively engage families in talking about and creating social-emotional initiatives, their districts goals, and the research that supports those efforts, researchers and district leaders said.

The key to engaging families is demystifying the jargon around SEL and explaining to parents that the schools are trying to reinforce a lot of the life skills parents are already teaching their kids at home, said Sandra Martinez, the social-emotional learning family engagement coordinator for the Dallas Independent School District.

We wanted to create consistency in the practices and the terminology, she said, so that families understood what was going on in the classroom so they can support that learning at home because we know that parents are kids first teachers, and they are the utmost experts on their children.

Martinezs position is a new one in the district, and a lot of her outreach to families has been virtual. She writes newsletters for parents in English and Spanish, each exploring a different SEL theme that includes definitions of terms, videos of experts, and exercises to try at home.

We basically provide the terminology so when their kid comes home and says we did a mood meter or a check in, they are familiar, Martinez said. We say, You already do this at home when you ask your child how they feel, we just call it a mood meter.

She also surveys parents on the social-emotional skills families consider most important for their children to learn and works with schools to provide a virtual SEL discussion series for parents. She plans to launch a book club for parents where they will read about social-emotional learning topics.

Spearman, South Carolinas state superintendent, acknowledges that shes heard suspicions about SEL from some parents.

I say I dont know whats going on in other states, but in South Carolina, heres what we are focused on: Its about building confidence in our young people that we care about them, that they matter, and that they learn the golden rule, she said. Thats what it means to me. I have not found a single person who disagrees with that.

Spearman, the president of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said her peers around the country have faced similar communications challenges. To overcome them, South Carolinas SEL website, for example, includes a video which explains the concept and a section for parents about ways they can support their childrens emotional development.

South Carolinas SEL plan relies on regional coaches to support teachers in helping students cope with emotional challenges, build empathy for their peers, and build trusting relationships with adults so they know how to ask for help.

That connectivity, especially right now, is how we remain a community that has open and honest conversations and remains a community through these difficult times, said Sarah Gams, the states 2021 teacher of the year, who is leading its SEL work.

SEL has faced political headwinds in some places before current debates over how schools discuss issues like racism and sexuality.

In 2016, for example, Tennessee withdrew from a multi-state working group assembled by CASEL less than a month after joining. The move came after some lawmakers equated the groups focusto create developmentally appropriate standards for SEL skills that schools could adopt voluntarilyto previous controversies over the common core, Chalkbeat Tennessee reported.

When Idaho state education leaders pitched a social-emotional learning proposal to lawmakers in 2020, citing concerns about teen suicide rates, one member of a legislative committee compared the plan to the dystopian behavior control in the novel Brave New World. Others said responsibility for helping children develop their character should be in the hands of parents, not schools.

Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra, an elected Republican, later told Education Week she didnt understand the response.

We want to make sure we are connecting parents and students and teachers with the right tools and the right resources to get them the help that they need, Ybarra said. I dont think there is any other way to talk about this. It is not a blue issue. It is not a red issue.

Despite recent opposition to social-emotional learning from some conservatives, the idea, and overlapping concepts like character education, have hadat least not too long agosupport from prominent politicians across the political spectrum.

After the 2018 school shootings in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas, for example, a federal school safety commission assembled by Republican President Donald Trump included social-emotional learning in its recommendations for schools.

Youth who learn these core skills are able to manage their emotions and interactions in ways that benefit themselves and others, said the final report of the commission, which was led by then-U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Most importantly, recent research suggests that the development of social and emotional skills can lead to improved outcomes for educational attainment, employment, and earnings.

Bridgeland, who calls SEL a rocket booster for schools work to improve student skills and academic outcomes, said educators must work to build on that past agreement.

When you go through it with parents, its overwhelming how much they support it, he said. It carries away the political arguments that, frankly, people are tired of.

See the rest here:

Schools Face Fears of 'Critical Race Theory' as They Scale Up Social-Emotional Learning - Education Week

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Continued here:

Health Insurance | Golden Rule Insurance

Its not explicitly spelled out, but the obligation to pay whats owed would surely fall under the Golden Rules mandate to do to others what you would have them do to you.

Just as surely, the city of New Orleans has long failed to live up to this basic standard when it comes to honoring legal claims. A recent accounting shows that the city has 568 outstanding legal judgments and settlements in state and federal courts totaling nearly $40 million.

Among them are a $375,000 settlement to the family of 18-year-old Mariah Woods, an innocent bystander killed during a reckless 2011 police chase, and a seven-figure judgment in favor of former city consultant George White that dates back to former Mayor Marc Morials administration.

For years, leaders of the perennially cash-strapped city have admitted that they have no principle to stand on, and occasionally attempted to whittle down the total. City Council member Joe Giarrusso has said New Orleans has a moral obligation to settle old scores, but his proposal to borrow against the existing judgment fund to do it was tabled when the pandemic struck. Last month Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city will put an additional $5.9 million toward the cause, and the City Council approved $4 million to pay old judgments.

But they do have ill-advised law on their side, in the form of a state constitutional provision that allows governments not to pay judgments when funds arent appropriated for that purpose.

That should change, because New Orleans is hardly the only offender. Even if the constitution doesnt change, the city needs to come up with a plan to pay up. Jurisdictions across the country manage to do things right.

Politicians can say all right things about meeting their obligations. But until they do it, their words of sympathy are worth about as much as a city IOU.

Originally posted here:

Our Views: New Orleans should follow the Golden Rule and pay what the city owes - The Advocate

Shann Varner knows a thing or two about karate and wants to help raise awareness for women by teaching a self-defense class with those skills.

The event will be a collaborative effort by Five Runs Farm and Golden Rule BBQ on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. Five Runs will serve as host of the class for ages 12 and up.

Varner, a 25-year third-degree black belt veteran in Yoshukai Karate, realized there was a need for the self-defense class while working part-time at Golden Rule.

I noticed that as we were leaving late, most of the girls went out the front door of the restaurant. Usually, the doors lock behind them, and its between 9:30 and 10:30 at night. As someone who has taken karate for several years, the lack of self-awareness bothered me. They were looking at their phones with their heads held down. They should be aware of their surroundings and understand we live in a world that is not as easygoing as it was 20 years ago. I told Christy I would like to hold a self-defense class for the ladies and young women of Golden Rule to offer protection if they need it, and she thought it would be a great idea. Guys are also welcome to come and learn about self-defense, he said.

Golden Rule Owner Christy Turner added the event would be open to the public with limited space and be conducted on a first-come basis. This self-defense class will not only be very important for our restaurant staff but also the general public. There is no charge to attend, but donations will be accepted. We appreciate Tabitha Sasser and Abigail Powell for allowing us to use their facility.

The class will help make women aware of their surroundings, especially during the late evening hours. The sex trafficking is bad in bigger areas such as Dothan and Montgomery. These kids are looking down texting and not paying attention. They need to understand that somebody can come out of the shadows just as easily and snatch them up. Nine times out of 10, theyre looking down. Although screaming will help call attention to what is going on, it will not resolve the situation. People say it cant happen to them in a little town like Andalusia, but anything can happen to anybody, Varner said.

Non-perishable items may be brought to the class as donations. Im sure there are food drives taking place during the holidays. If someone wants to bring a can of soup or other canned goods, we will give back to the community and help those who are less fortunate than us.

Varner works full-time with Carolina Millwork and Truss and teaches classes at the Adult Activity Center behind Andalusia Ballet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays. He is married to his wife of 22 years, Amanda, with two children: Kaitlynn and Kole. I teach traditional martial arts for ages five and up. Our style is called yoshukai, and the name of my school is Andalusia Yoshukai Karate.

Five Runs Farm is located at 17922 County Road 34 outside of Andalusia. For more information visit Andalusia-Yoshukai Karate on Facebook or call Shann Varner at 334-475-1825.

Ill be going around helping each person individually and hope even some guys who are smaller in stature show up wanting to learn self-defense, Varner said.

See more here:

Varner teaches self defense through martial arts class - The Andalusia Star-News - Andalusia Star-News

We analyzed the top 300 cryptos by market cap and were shocked by the results.

Cryptocurrency has dominated the headlines this year, whether it's because of the scams, the astronomical returns, or the fears of what impact it might have on the financial system. More and more Americans now own crypto, and every week brings another story of increased adoption.

We used CoinMarketCap data to analyze the performance of the top 300 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Some of the results were astonishing.

Out of the top 300 cryptos, 67 launched this year, so we don't yet have full data for them. A further 11 are stablecoins which are pegged to other commodities such as gold or the U.S. dollar.

Even after the recent crypto price crash, a whopping 188 of those 222 remaining cryptos have doubled in value. That's 85%. And many have produced even bigger gains:

What seems even more astonishing at first glance is that only six of those 222 cryptos lost value.

Looking at the figures above, it's easy to get the impression that cryptocurrencies are an easy way to make money. Unfortunately, investing is never quite that simple.

When we look at the top 300 coins by market capitalization, by definition, we're looking at the winners. The coins that didn't produce such good results will have fallen out of the top 300 -- or never made it onto the list. To illustrate this, we checked how many of the top 300 cryptos by market cap at the start of the year are still on the list today.

A total of 136 cryptocurrencies that ranked in the top 300 at the start of the year have fallen off of the list. Or, to put it another way, only 164 cryptos managed to keep their top 300 position.

In addition, because this is a volatile and speculative market, timing is also important. If you'd bought during this year's peaks of April and early November, there's no guarantee those cryptos will ever recover in value.

There's no such thing as a totally risk-free investment, especially in cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrencystyle="text-decoration: underline"> investment went from strength to strength in 2021, but that does not necessarily mean we'll see similar growth in 2022. Some analysts believe this is only the beginning, while others warn the crypto bubble could burst at any time.

This is a relatively new and unregulated market with a lot of unknowns. We don't know what impact increased regulation might have, nor do we know which individual cryptos might fall victim to hacks or suffer technical glitches.

If 2022 follows the same pattern as 2021, we can guess that almost half the cryptocurrencies in today's top 300 chart could fall behind. This can be challenging for buy-and-hold investors who are looking for cryptos with strong long-term potential.

If you're hoping to invest in a coin that will double in value next year, it is important to weigh the risks and rewards. To use crypto jargon, some cryptocurrencies could go to the moon. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of cryptocurrency scams or poorly thought through projects that have very little chance of success.

The more you understand about the industry and each coin, the better. With 15,000 coins out there, it still takes patience, research, and a bit of luck to pick the winners. Look into the coin's management team, read its whitepaper, and investigate what sets it apart from its competitors.

The golden rule of crypto investing is to never invest money you may need -- whether to meet your other financial goals or cover your day to day living costs. It's tempting to go all in on crypto in the hope of more than doubling your investment, but you could also lose everything.

One way to minimize the risk is to use a reputable cryptocurrency exchange. Another is to research and then research some more. And another is to only invest money you can afford to lose. That way, if you do buy into a coin that fails, it will be disappointing, but it won't be financially devastating.

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You'll Never Guess How Many Altcoins Have More Than Doubled in Value This Year - The Motley Fool

Atfour o'clock in the morning in a quiet, pitch-black jungle, a patrol of young Thai soldiers looked through night vision goggles and heat detection cameras for any sign of movement.

Their beat:a mountainous section of the Thailand-Myanmar border in Asia's notorious drug trafficking heartland, the Golden Triangle.

Their targets: armed smugglers hiking from Myanmar.

Soon, the soldiers spotted a group of people with large backpacks hiding in the dense scrub.

"The patrol ordered them to stop to check, but the group opened fire at the officers," Royal Thai Army Colonel Sudkhet Srinilthin told the ABC.

"The soldiers fired back and there was a firefight for around 30 minutes."

Once the sun came up, the soldiers found six bodies alongside nine large, straw backpacks full of methamphetamine pills.

It was a tragic result for the smugglers, but the patrol's biggest drug bust for the year.

"The total drugs we seized were 1.8 million pills," Captain Kittidech Gunkloy said as he showed the ABC the backpacksat a Thai defence base later that day.

"If all this could get inside Thailand it would [be valued] about 100 baht ($4) a pill, so in total around 180 million baht ($7.5 million) and then who knows how much, double or triple, if it could reach a third country."

The Golden Triangle is the region where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet at the junction of the Mekong and Ruak Rivers, includingthe surrounding mountains in all three countries.

It is a stunning part of South-East Asia, but its beauty belies a dark underbelly.

Traditionally well-known for its opium and heroin trade, the Golden Triangle still produces large amounts of opiates, but it is now one of the biggest synthetic drug production and distribution points in the world.

The drugs are primarily made in the hills of Shan state in northern Myanmar, where clandestine laboratories are pumping out crystal and tablet methamphetamines by the tonne for militia groups and organised crime syndicates.

The cooks and crooks are rarely caught, but smugglers from poor backgrounds enter a daily game of cat and mouse with Thai border guards.

It is always dangerous, and sometimes deadly.

Around 1,500 officers from Thai Taskforce Pha Muang are responsible for keeping watch over 342 kilometres of porous land borders alongside Myanmar to the west and Laos to the east.

"We need to patrol 24 hours, day and night, and when we can't cover that [in person] we use special tools to help, like CCTV or motion sensors to check along the border," Colonel Sudkhet said.

On a daytime border walk the ABC was invited to join with another patrol, it was clear to see why the jungle has become an attractive route for drug smugglers.

The bush is thick, the terrain is rugged, there are plenty of places to hide, and some of the barbed-wire border fences are flimsy or cut away.

Smugglers also take their chances across the long, winding rivers separating the countries, which are patrolled by heavily armed Thai navy officers out on the water.

Captain Jirat Pookthong from the Mekong Riverine Unit sees his team's role as policing Thailand's front door while soldiers in the jungle guard the back door.

"We devote our strength and our heart to stop the drugs the best we can," he told the ABC.

"Definitely, if there was no riverine unit to keep watch, the illegal operations around the Golden Triangle especially drugs would be able to get inside Thailand.

While the global pandemic disrupted industries far and wide, the drug trade out of the Golden Triangle has not just survived, but thrived.

Jeremy Douglas from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has spent more than a decade in the region.

He told the ABC that despite the large drug busts, supply has barely been dented.

"COVID never slowed the drug business down, it's really, really resilient," Mr Douglas said.

"Frankly, the guys that are in this business, the big organised crime figures and their militia partners in Myanmar, don't play by the rules we do, so while borders closed to us they were freely crossing them."

After being manufactured in Myanmar, the drugs are trafficked through Laos and Thailand, then sent by sea cargo, air cargo, and, increasingly during COVID, by parcel post to other countries, including Australia.

Mr Douglas said drug busts in Laos were up 600 per cent for the year, including "by far the largest seizure in the history of East and South-East Asia" 55 million methamphetamine tablets and 1.5 tonnes of crystal meth.

A Thai-led operation involving the Mekong countries and southern China smashed records in 2021, too.

They confiscated more thanhalf a billion methamphetamine pills, 30 tonnes of ice, six tonnes of heroin, three tonnes of ketamine, and 257 tonnes of chemicals used to make illegal drugs.

"We saw an increase in drugs being seized which to us indicates an increase in production, and at the same time prices on the street were down, so supply was very, very high," Mr Douglas said.

He added that the turmoil in Myanmar following February's military coup had fuelled the rise in synthetic drug production.

"Clearly people are using the post-coup chaos and environment as an opportunity and traffickers, of course, need those kind of conditions," he said.

"They don't want the Myanmar police to be working against them.

"Right now, the police are fighting an insurgency or dealing with ethnic armed unrest, so they have other issues on their mind, and that is a free space for others [drug smugglers] to do their business."

As the drug trade traverses the mountains and rivers of the Golden Triangle, some of the communities in the region are desperate for their "beautiful part of the world" to earn a new reputationas a tourist destination.

Phakakan Rungpracharat, 42, grew up in the northern Thai village of Ban Pa Mee, just a few kilometres from the Myanmar border.

She set up a mountainside cafe five years ago, and since then other locals have opened guest houses, restaurants, and stalls selling handicrafts from the local Akha hill tribe.

"Nowadays, we have proved that our community has so many great things, and we are more than what the world has thought of us before," Ms Phakakan told the ABC.

"We have become a tourism village, we have created work for the youth and our community, we have a lot of young people who left or lived abroad and have come back to develop their village."

Thailand reopened to fully vaccinated international visitors last month and some have started to trickle up to the villages, temples, and lookouts in the Golden Triangle.

Ms Phakakan said the recent news of the six drug smugglers' deaths was upsetting, but she also felt comforted that soldiers were patrolling the border to keep local villages safe.

"I want to tell people around the world to please come and visit us, please don't worry about the drugs, we can guarantee your safety," she said.

"We have such beautiful scenery, a good way of life, nice weather, it's peaceful, and we have great food and coffee this is who we are."

The Golden Triangle's drug trade is established and lucrative, despite the authorities' attempts to stop the flow and some locals' desire to reinvent the region.

For every group of drug smugglers caught, many are successfully running the gauntlet and making it from Myanmar into Thailand and Laos every day.

Beyond this part of South-East Asia, the organised crime syndicates these smugglers work for have tentacles that stretch all over the world.

The steep rise of the Golden Triangle's drug supply is a big concern for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in particular.

Simon Lalic, the AFP's senior officer in Thailand, said Australia was a key target market for Golden Triangle drugs.

"Our statistics suggest that anywhere between 60 to 80 per cent of the methamphetamine that is consumed in Australia comes from this very region," Mr Lalic told the ABC at a checkpoint on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

The AFP's Thailand officers work closely with local authorities in a dedicated team called Taskforce Storm, to share intelligence, information and forensic technology.

During the pandemic, the task force's biggest Australia-bound hauls have been found in sea cargo, including methamphetamines concealed in motorbike parts, coconut milk cansand barbecue grills, and heroin hidden in tins of acrylic paint.

Last month AFP officers made a breakthrough, with the arrest of one of the kingpins behind the heroin-in-paint shipmentin Sydney.

Two men, including a38-year-old considered to be one of Australia's most significant organised crime threats, were charged with allegedly conspiring to import the drugs an offence with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

"We see our work as really important here in Thailand, because every kilogram that we seize and every dollar that we confiscate has an effect on the criminal entities that are working in this," Mr Lalic said.

"It's a difficult fight because the numbers are big and the statistics show that this issue is getting bigger and bigger, but we can't stop the fight."

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Asia's infamous Golden Triangle and the soldiers tracking down the drug smugglers who rule its narcotics trade - ABC News

Image courtesy FFRF

SHORTLY before Darwin Day 2021 (February 12) the Freedom From Religion Foundation and its Chicago chapter unveiled the striking billboard above in Chicago.

At the time FFRF Co-President Dan Barker said that that science works and must be trusted during pandemics such as Covid. He added:

It was a natural selection given the continuing pushback by the Christian Right against masking and social distancing mandates.

Tom Cara, FFRFs Executive Director for the Metropolitan Chicago Chapter, coordinated the billboard project. He said:

This new billboard is timely in two ways. First, to encourage everyone to help keep us all safe by trusting in science, not superstition, and to mask up! Second, to give science the respect it deserves by honouring the birthday of Charles Darwin.

During this critical time in our history, it is very important we recognize the outstanding contributions of those in the science and medical fields.

The billboard was just one of a host efforts to get Americans vaccinated and produced positive results but only among those untainted by religion or Republicanism.

Natalie Jackson, in this August op-ed, concluded:

Most white evangelical Republicans, and Republicans in general, disagreed with our question about the Golden Rule, that because getting vaccinated against COVID-19 helps protect everyone, it is a way to live out the religious principle of loving my neighbors (57 percent and 58 percent, respectively).

This may be because for some white evangelicals and Republicans, politics and religion are inseparable and Gods will, or their interpretation of it, controls everything.

At the beginning of this month, The Jerusalem Post confirmed that white evangelicals dont give a toss about the welfare of others.

It quoted from a recent Pew Research Center survey that found that only 57 percent of white evangelical Protestants had received at least one shot of the vaccine, compared to 86 percent of Hispanic Catholics, 79 percent of white Catholics, 73 percent of white non-evangelicals and 70 percent of black evangelicals.

Curiously, the JP neglected to point out that the study showed that atheists top the list of those who have received jabs. That was left to the FFRF which said the study showed that fully 90 percent of atheists are vaccinated.

Barker said:

Atheists believe in this life, not an afterlife, and we dont need a god to threaten us with hell to do the right thing. Were good for goodness sake.

The FFRF emphasised the underlying issues behind the disparate vaccination rates. Its Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor added:

This is one of the great moral issues of today and religion is simply failing. Religious folks are often suspicious of a tiny little shot to prevent the spread of a lethal contagion that has killed 1 in every 500 Americans and has completely overwhelmed and overworked our heroes on the health care frontlines.

It takes religion to make the immoral seem moral.

The numbers, said organisation, show some interesting trends. Agnostics lag slightly behind atheists, while nothing in particular Nones are about average. Catholics score above average, and Hispanic Catholics even better than agnostics.

It seems like a rare instance of American Catholics listening to their Pope and the Pope having the correct message. Now, if he would only apply himself to the scourge of rape and abuse within his church.

Id love a cup of coffee

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Survey shows that US atheists are overwhelmingly pro-vax - Patheos

Madeleine Egle secured her second World Cup victory of the luge season, while doubles pair Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller also topped the timesheets on a golden day for Austria. Egle's time of 1:45.208 secured the women's singles title and she finished 0.293s faster than Germany's Julia Taubitz.It marks the 23-year-old's first win since the season-opener in Yanqing, while Germany's Anna Berreiter completed the podium in third and Natalie Geisenberger who will defend her Olympic title in February was fourth. In the men's doubles, Steu and Koller completed an action-packed weekend with a remarkable gold - the ninth of their World Cup career. The pair were in Nations Cup action on Friday and 24 hours later they won by the slenderest of margins, beating Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken by three thousandths of a second. Latvia's Martins Bots and Roberts Plume finished third, 0.213s back and only six thousandths clear of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt. Sportsbeat 2021

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Austria rule the roost on golden Saturday - Eurosport COM

James toldExpress.co.ukthat there are a few things British travellers should avoid doing if they want to keep to a holiday budget. Although many British people might change money before travelling, James said there are plenty of reasons to avoid carrying cash on holiday.

He toldExpress.co.uk: The pandemic has sped up the death of cash. Its no longer always possible to pay in cash.

Many shops or restaurants demand card payments instead in an effort to minimise contact with customers.

But regardless of the hygiene benefits of using a card over cash in the midst of a pandemic, cash is also more expensive due to ATM fees and higher exchange rates.

Savvy UK travellers can make big savings on their overseas spending and most want to use card payments anyway.

READ MORE:Benidorm customers lose their temper over Covid rules

Typical high-street bank fees sit at three to five percent for overseas transactions, so some travellers might be resigned to having to fork out high bank charges every time they use their cards.

However, there are alternatives to unlock much lower fees. Currenseas card links directly to your existing bank account, but removes the bank fees, offering a saving of at least 85 percent on every transaction.

According to research, a quarter of British people dont want to use cash payments abroad due to fears over hygiene.

Using a travel card on holiday instead of cash could save British people a lot of time and money.

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James added: Most travellers are aware of the extortionate rates on offer at airports, yet many still leave it until theyre almost boarding their flight to exchange money.

Recent research suggested that travellers could lose almost 30 percent of their holiday money due to exchange rates and fees at airports - its costly, inconvenient and you could put yourself at risk carrying large amounts of cash.

Airport currency exchange rates are normally far more expensive for British travellers than exchanging money earlier.

British travellers are also safer from risk of robbery if they opt for a travel card over cash.

James toldExpress.co.ukthat British travellers can always save money abroad if they choose to pay in local currency.

He said: Whether buying festive gifts at a German Christmas market or treating the family to dinner, the golden rule is always to ensure you pay in the local currency.

Many travellers make the mistake of paying in sterling, but the rate offered could be far worse than that of your bank or what is offered to you by a specialist overseas money provider.

James added that paying in GBP abroad will normally include a lot of hidden fees in the rate.

British travellers should check the UK Government website for the latest restrictions before going on holiday.

Tourists will need to take a pre-departure test before travelling to the UK and a PCR test on or before day two after arrival in the UK.

They must self-isolate until they receive a negative test result and continue to isolate if they test positive.

For more money saving travel tips and advice and to find out more about Currensea visit its website.

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Costly, inconvenient and a risk Britons should always avoid when going on holidays - Express

Fidelity ADT pointed out some may call them nosey neighbours or busy bodies, but people who report suspicious activity in their neighbourhood are doing the right thing if their concerns have substance.

Charnel Hattingh, head of marketing and communications at Fidelity ADT, says fighting crime is not solely the job of the police and private security companies; residents have to keep their eyes and ears open too.

Social media platforms have made it easy for people to get involved in crime-fighting but it is important users understand the boundaries of information sharing within the rules of the group as set out by the administrators.

Suspicious activity refers to behaviour or actions which seem unusual or are out of place. It is important to understand what suspicious activity is, so that you know when to act on something, says Hattingh.

Gut instinct remains a good compass in this respect.

Reporting groundless suspicions can lead to a waste of resources for the police or private security companies, as well as CPF and other neighbourhood structures on patrol.

Hattingh says there is great value in establishing good relationships with your neighbours because when you know each others routines it is easy to spot something which doesnt belong or is out of the norm.

Noticing suspicious activity helps to prevent neighbourhood crimes. As community members, we all have a duty to do our part to keep our suburbs safe, says Hattingh.

She provides five examples of suspicious activity to be aware of:

1. A stranger/s in a car cruising the street or sitting in a parked car for a long period of time. If you dont recognise the car or occupants, note the make, model, colour and registration and a description of the occupants. Report this to the police or your security provider to check out.

2. Strangers walking the streets looking over walls or into parked cars.

3. A stranger in your neighbours yard when they are not home. Unless they told you they have a house sitter or someone coming to feed their pets, this should raise alarm bells. The same goes for a stranger loitering on a street corner or outside a gate.

4. People going from gate to gate requesting access to check your meter or conduct a survey without proper identification. Criminals use various tricks to gain access to properties and can pose as anything from construction workers to churchgoers doing good. The golden rule is never to open the gate for a stranger. Domestic staff are often targeted so educate your helpers and equip them with remote panic buttons.

5. Every suburb has showhouses or houses for sale. These have become major attractions for criminals, who usually then target the houses in groups of men and women posing as potential buyers. Two will keep the agent busy while a third wanders through the house and steals what they can. Remember too, showhouses and houses for sale draw strangers to your neighbourhood. They may use the one criminal opportunity to also check out the rest of the neighbourhood. Agents are urged to be particularly vigilant.

We live under a lot of stress due to crime, so it is understandable that many peoples suspicion radars are very finely tuned. To be of real help and provide valuable information, which could even lead to the arrest of a wanted suspect, ensure you are reporting something of genuine concern.

Good neighbourly relations help enormously to keep suburbs safe. So, if you havent already done so, commit to getting to know your neighbour better and talk about crime and ways to help keep each others properties and families safe, Hattingh concludes.

Also Read:Home safety tips for the holidays

Also Read:Four steps to improve your homes security

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Know when something is suspicious in your neighbourhood - Boksburg Advertiser