Category Archives: Progress

That escalated quickly.

Days after the inexplicably idle mega-billionaire and chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX announced that he had bought a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter and would join its board, wait no hes not doing that; Musk wants the whole damn thing.

In a tweet, Musk disclosed that he served Twitter an offer to buy its remaining stock at $54 per share, confirming murmurs that his endgame and it is a game for him is a hostile takeover of one of the worlds most prominent social networks.

Its still a mystery how Musk plans to execute his grand plans at Twitter while competently helming two large, ambitious tech companies, but the worlds richest man apparently didnt have enough to keep him busy. Not content to simultaneously run two tech companies, Musk is aiming for three. And that could be very bad news, both for a platform that was finally starting to move in a healthy direction and the team thats taking it there.

Twitter isnt perfect. Its always been both things the terrible hell site and the one that occasionally gives us moments of transcendence. During Russias bloody invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Twitter has been both a nexus of misinformation and a vital aggregator of real-time open source intelligence about the war. Much like, in its last era, Jack Dorsey was both a self-serious aloof tech mystic and one who occasionally had moments of real moral clarity that reverberated through the platform and its policies.

Musk isnt just the antithesis of the leadership Twitter actually needs right now hes also an emblem of the platform at its worst. A petty, thin-skinned troll much too rich for all of this (truly it would only take one million dollars to keep me from tweeting ever again a modest price!), Musk actively conducts a formidable army of internet goons, regularly misleads the public about his heroic efforts to intervene in various global crises, sows mistrust about the media when the media is generally just doing its job, slanders private citizens and generally conducts himself like a person who doesnt give a single shit about the literally incomprehensible power differential between himself and basically every other person on the planet.

And, weve really got to emphasize this bit, Musk really should have more than enough going on to keep him from executing a dramatic and totally unnecessary power grab at his favorite place to trawl for internet points with weed and boob jokes.

Social media is very different from spaceships, but the first one isnt easy either. Running a social media company in 2022 is as much about running a company as it is about mitigating very real society-level harms like harassment, misinformation and negative impacts to mental health. Musk isnt just unconcerned with things like harassment and misinformation, two of Twitters most pressing threats to the social order; hes a notorious vector for both.

Musk might think he knows whats right for the business of Twitter and maybe he does; hes very, very rich which, in the absence of wisdom, seems more than sufficient for most of lifes endeavors! But Twitter finally looks to be on the right course, paying attention to the right things (new products, new revenue streams, new users). Its a shame that the worlds richest man might derail that progress in the service of amusing himself.

Toward the end of the Trump era, Twitter began making more decisive steps toward limiting the harms that had prevailed on its platform for years, leading the industry on dynamic content moderation after a too-long era of inaction, but leading still. The company crafted new misinformation tools on the fly and generally opened up about its policy-making process with the refreshing admission that its set of rules was a living document shaped by fallible people and not something etched in stone.

During that period of time, at Twitter and every other major social network, it became clear that after years of pretending otherwise, the most sensitive policy decisions ultimately came down to one persons hunch about what was either the most right, or at least looked the least wrong in the moment. Most famously, the company took the bold if well-overdue step of issuing the then-president a permanent lifetime ban for his role in inciting violence during the insurrection at the Capitol.

Twitters hunch-haver is no longer Jack Dorsey, who left his role as chief executive late last year. But if Musks inexplicable extracurricular gambit does go through, it might instead be a petty man animated by a misguided notion of free speech that mostly means posting anything you want to a privately owned social network regardless of the potential harm it may cause an intellectual posture that curiously doesnt extend to his own workers when they dare to disagree with him. Its not hard to imagine Musk reversing Twitters progress on hate and harassment and generally derailing a lot of important, thoughtful work at the company. Thats a bummer.

I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy, Musk wrote in his letter to the board. However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.

Twitter has extraordinary potential, he continued. I will unlock it.

For those of us who would love to see Twitter evolve into a more useful, less toxic utility for real-time information and very occasionally very funny jokes, Twitter has been moving in a promising direction. From the companys aspirations to build a choose-your-own-algorithm open standard and its premium subscription product Twitter Blue to new anti-harassment tools designed to mitigate its disproportionate burden on the often marginalized voices that Twitter can, in its finer moments, amplify, the social network has at last been showing a little spring green here and there. But that growth is under threat.

Last week after Musk appeared to reverse course on taking a board seat with his investment, Rumman Chowdhury, who directs Twitters AI ethics team working on algorithmic harms, observed Musks immediate chilling effect at the company.

Twitter has a beautiful culture of hilarious constructive criticism, and I saw that go silent because of his minions attacking employees, she wrote on Twitter, lauding the company for doing right by its employees by keeping Musk out of the henhouse. She later muted the thread, observing only that the trolls have descended.

Indeed they have.

See the original post:

If Elon Musk gets his way, Twitter will lose years of progress - TechCrunch

Steve Rissing| Special to The Columbus Dispatch USA TODAY NETWORK

Timothy Snyder, a Yale historian, writes about the politics of inevitability.

In The Guardian newspaper, he described recently the politics of inevitability as a sense that the future is just more of the present, that the laws of progress are known, that there are no alternatives, and therefore nothing really to be done…. (N)ature brought the market, which brought democracy, which brought happiness.

Imagine the biology of inevitability.Ever since life first formed on Earth 3.7 billion years ago, humanitys rise and spread was inevitable.

To put it Biblically, we, or at least the meek, shall inherit the land and delight (our)selves in abundant peace (Psalm 37:11).

Ignore events in Ukraine.

In a recent podcast, Snyder explained that, ...(In) the politics of inevitability, if there is huge wealth inequality as a result of unbridled capitalism, we teach ourselves to say that thats kind of a necessary cost of this overall progress. We learn this dialectical way of thinking by which what seems to be bad is actually good.

In the biology of inevitability, theres a huge gap in human ecological impact between rich, developed countries and poor, developing countries.

Average Americans emit 130 times more greenhouse gases than average citizens of Madagascar.Yet, Madagascar, an island nation east of Africa, is much more vulnerable to climate change effects already underway, including typhoons (hurricanes), extreme floodingand drought.

To paraphrase Snyder, such huge inequalities in ecological relationships as a result of our unbridled capitalism and dependence on fossil fuels, is a necessary cost of human progress.

What seems bad increasing effects of climate change, biodiversity loss, pandemics is actually good because its part of inevitable human progress and the triumph of democracy and market forces.

Snyder argues in the podcast that our perspective of the politics of inevitability fails us. It inevitability …(teaches) you to narrate in such a way that the facts which seem to trouble the story of progress are disregarded.

Ukraine again.

Thats exactly what the biology of inevitably does.Burning fossil fuels and emitting greenhouse gases is part of inevitable human progress and the nature of market forces. If its inevitable, we cant stop it.

But what if it stops us?

Mars appears to once have had liquid water. Its hard to imagine rivers and seas of lifeless, sterile water on Mars or elsewhere.Under the right environmental conditions, life, at least microbial life, seems inevitable.

In his recent book, The Road to Unfreedom, Snyder also speaks of the Politics of Eternity that arises when the politics of inevitability collapse.In this view, time is a circle that endlesslyreturns to the same threats from the past … (where) government cannot aid society as awhole, but can only guard against threats.

Think Make America Great Again.

Mars currently appears free of liquid water and life.While likely in the past, life on Mars was not eternal.

Make Mars Alive Again (MMAA)?

Our policymakers may believe climate change, biodiversity loss, and pandemicsare inevitable costs of progress (often, to their benefit).

What if they are blinded by the biology of human inevitability and eternity and just flat-out wrong?

Where does that leave humanity, up a creek without any liquid water?

Steve Rissing is professor emeritus in the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at Ohio State University.

steverissing@hotmail.com

Original post:

Biology: Are Earth's climate problems the price of economic and political 'progress'? - The Columbus Dispatch

On Marchs final evening, a stolen car made its fourth pass down a quiet Brooklyn block and slowed to a stop before a row of neat brick homes. A gunman braced in the sunroof, then opened fire on three cousins having dinner in a parked car.

At least eight shots slammed into the Toyota Camry on the roadside in East Flatbush, killing a 12-year-old honor-roll student named Kade Lewin. Jenna Ellis, 20, was critically wounded in the drivers seat, but survived, and an 8-year-old girl in the back seat was uninjured.

Police said the gunman likely mistook Kade for someone else. That fatal error prompted Mayor Eric Adams to hold aloft, at a news conference four days later, the boys white Nike sneakers with blue swooshes, making their absent owner a symbol of the need to end shootings that have upended hard-won progress reducing killings in Black and Latino neighborhoods.

As whiter, more affluent areas rebound from the pandemics ravages, renewed gun violence is complicating the recovery of vulnerable places like East Flatbush, a middle-class Black enclave with deep ties to the Caribbean.

You just felt like everything was getting better, said Louis Straker Jr., pastor of Reflections Church on Utica Avenue and a native of the neighborhood. During the pandemic, all hell broke loose.

East Flatbush had made long strides since the citys most dangerous era. The neighborhood routinely saw 50 or more killings a year during the 1990s, when the city recorded more than 2,000 annual murders. When crime fell to its lowest point since the 1950s in the years before the pandemic, East Flatbush remained one of the deadliest areas. Then, in 2018, murders fell to only six from 17 the year before, according to police statistics for the 67th Precinct, which serves the neighborhood.

The pandemic brought a sobering reversal. Murders last year reached their highest level in a decade, and at least 103 people have been killed so far this year. As of last week, the 67th Precinct was leading the city with seven murders so far this year, up from two over the same period in 2021.

Theres no doubt that we took a step back, said Deputy Inspector Gaby Celiba, the 67th Precinct commander since January 2021. He said he sees reason to be optimistic as officers make more gun arrests: Were going to get it where we need it to be.

East Flatbush became predominantly Black in the 1960s as real-estate agents used the fear of integration to drive out Italian and Jewish residents and replaced them with Afro-Caribbeans and African Americans who, with few desirable options, snapped up its one- and two-family homes at inflated prices. Today, major corridors like Church Avenue are lined with beauty supply shops, small hair and nail salons, Pentecostal and Adventist churches with vibrant signs and aromatic restaurants serving dishes like stew chicken, oxtails and callaloo.

Violence in East Flatbush was long contained among people involved in gangs, entangled in the drug trade and in hot spots in the neighborhoods periphery. Now, police say that criminals have become more brazen.

Patricia Black, 53, has raised a family and run a salon in her house on East 56th Street since the 1990s, and never worried about harm coming to either. Then Kade was killed in front of her home. Stray bullets flew through her salon, located in her basement, shattering a mirror and lodging in the wall.

I would leave my door open, Ms. Black said. Now, I dont know what its becoming.

Fahd Muthana, who owns and manages M&M Grocery, a deli on Nostrand Avenue, said the violence around East Flatbush today reminded him of the conditions in 1990 when he immigrated to the city from Yemen. Last November, his 18-year-old son, Zayid, was shot in the head and critically wounded while trying to stop two masked thieves from leaving the store.

Zayid had surgery to remove the bullet and after a period of recovery returned to school part-time, Mr. Muthana said, but has to take blood thinners to reduce the risk of clotting and give up his dream of playing football in college.

Mr. Muthana said the police have identified Zayids shooter from the stores security camera footage and from a debit card that the gunman dropped during the attack, but that they needed more evidence to make an arrest. Deputy Inspector Celiba declined to discuss the investigation.

Mr. Muthana, who lives in Sheepshead Bay, said he would feel safer with more police around East Flatbush. We want more safety, because its crazy outside, he said.

Despite the violence, many residents said they still feel safe. A block and a half from the deli, Ceazer Stephens and Maine Gray chatted on a recent weekday evening next to a playground at the edge of Flatbush Gardens.

The rent-stabilized complex of courtyard apartment buildings, originally called Vanderveer Estates, was once notorious for drugs and violence. Residents called the intersection of Foster and Nostrand avenues the front page, because it was the site of murders that generated sensational headlines.

I feel safe here, because this is my community, Mr. Stephens, 30, originally from Trinidad, said. The most that may happen is some type of unfortunate soul lost to drugs is going to ask you for a dollar. Thats about it. But nobodys going to bother you or try to rob you. That doesnt happen like that any more.

Still, as violence rose throughout the pandemic, so did calls to address it. Mr. Adams was elected on a promise to restore public safety and has since revived police tactics that had fallen out of favor during the era of low crime. State lawmakers rewrote a slate of changes to the criminal-justice system passed in 2019 with the aim of reducing mass incarceration after critics blamed them for the rise in violence.

Jumaane Williams, the citys public advocate and a former councilman for East Flatbush, said that he supports some of the mayors proposals, like a plan to make all agencies responsible for addressing gun crime.

But he said that the city does not need to return to policies and practices abused under previous mayors. New York, he said, pushed crime down before the pandemic in part by relying on community anti-violence workers and less aggressive, more focused police work.

Whats most frustrating is seeing the gains that weve made slowly start going backwards, Mr. Williams said. Instead of addressing social inequities that fuel gun violence, he added, were going back to models that are primarily focused on law enforcement and incarceration.

Yul Hicks, the chief operating officer of Elite Learners, an enrichment organization that works with young people in central Brooklyn, said that the city needs to increase outreach and support for young people who may be susceptible to gangs and violence.

People at large may think that the community tolerates it or has accepted it as part of the culture no, its hurtful to all of us, he said. But some of these young guys are not being reached.

Last week, at the intersection of East 56th Street and Linden Boulevard, where Kade was killed, a Police Department van parked across from a makeshift memorial on the sidewalk. A balloon tied to a tree branch carried a simple apology: Im sorry.

Kade was a student at K763 Brooklyn Science and Engineering Academy, four blocks from where he was killed. Councilwoman Farah Louis, whose district includes part of East Flatbush, visited the school after Kades death and talked to classmates, who described him as a deeply compassionate child who loved to play football and basketball.

David and Jenell Walcott picked up their son, David Jr., from the school the Monday after Kade died and found the boy sullen. He told them that he had been building a friendship with Kade over their mutual interest in architecture and video games like Fortnite and Minecraft.

He said hes nervous and anything can happen now, Mr. Walcott said. To have that realization at such a young age is heartbreaking. I think a little piece of his childhood left.

Alain Delaqurire contributed research.

See the rest here:

A Rise in Murders Upends a Sense of Progress in Brooklyns East Flatbush - The New York Times

Minnesota drivers have been slow to adopt electric cars, but a potential new Tesla sales center and the states forthcoming clean car rule could accelerate the shift.

Electric cars accounted for fewer than 0.4% of registered vehicles in Minnesota last year, according to the state Department of Transportation. Although electric vehicles are less harmful for the environment and can be cheaper long-term than gas-burning cars, drawbacks like shorter driving ranges, high up-front costs and limited numbers of charging stations have stymied electric vehicle sales here.

A planned new salesroom in Bloomington thats likely a Tesla facility, according to Axios, could entice more car shoppers to go electric and give prospective buyers more options. Electric car availability is limited in Minnesota compared to some states especially those with low- and zero-emission vehicle rules which is one reason we have relatively few electric vehicles on the road, experts say.

Minnesotas clean car rules will also likely spur electric car sales when they go into effect in 2024. The rules, modeled after California policy, will require manufacturers to offer more low- and zero-emissions vehicles for sale here. Other states with zero-emissions standards have experienced faster electric car adoption.

Heres more on electric cars in Minnesota, in three charts.

See the article here:

How Minnesota's electric car progress compares to the US, in three charts - Minnesota Reformer

Earlier this year, we launched our Purpose Inform the Way Forward. Not only does this unite our commercial and societal responsibilities. It also anchors our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy.

As a business that stands for trust, we are building on our commitment to ESG for our customers, colleagues, and communities. Our own research of our customers in the legal and tax professions shows the importance they place on the role of business in society, with most surveyed feeling that their work has a positive impact on their community and wider society.

The bar is certainly rising. ESG measures are increasingly important to stakeholders in all industries. We are fortunate to be building on a strong foundation, but the work is never complete.

To advance our ESG strategy, last year we initiated a comprehensive global ESG materiality assessment, exploring not just how ESG topics affect our business, but how our business affects the economy, environment, and people including the significant positive impact we have as a company.

Although the work is ongoing, we are pleased to announce that Thomson Reuters has aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).

The UNGPs are the global standard addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity, and they provide the internationally accepted framework for enhancing standards and practices with regards to business and human rights.

This decision augments our longstanding commitment to the UN Global Compact, the UN Declaration on Human Rights and other international standards. It also reaffirms our commitment to respecting human rights throughout our operations, and reflects our increased focus as we continue our transition from a holding company to an operating company.

We believe the interest and focus on ESG will continue to build. Conducting business in a principled manner transparently disclosing relevant targets and metrics related to our ESG programs not only allows our stakeholders to be informed on our progress, but also encourages others to drive positive change.

As we continue our work to inform the way forward, we will share an update in our upcoming social impact and ESG report.

Read the rest here:

Progress on our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts - Thomson Reuters

Mekhi Becton arrived in New York almost three years ago with sky-high expectations. The mammoth offensive tackle oozed potential and was viewed as the Jets left tackle of the future and it looked like he was on his way to that point during his rookie season.

Bectons path to stardom has been derailed by injuries, though. The No. 11 pick in the 2020 NFL draft played just one game last season after suffering a season-ending dislocated kneecap in Gang Greens opener. Injuries were also an issue for Becton during his standout rookie year, and his lack of consistent availability prompted Robert Saleh to announce that he would have to win back his starting left tackle job in January.

Joe Douglas said last month that the Jets are operating as if Becton is one of their two starting tackles, but his place in the pecking order is no longer as solidified as it was when he was a high-profile rookie. Becton is going to have to stay healthy if he wants to stay in the starting lineup.

Controlling his weight will go a long way in ensuring that happens.

Becton, who weighed 363 pounds at the 2020 combine, got up to at least 400 pounds while rehabbing his knee injury, according to ESPNs Rich Cimini. However, Becton is working his way back into shape with the help of a new nutritionist, and the Jets might be able to reap the benefits next season.

Ann Claiborne, Bectons nutritionist, told Cimini that Bectons weight is back down to the 300s. The two started working together during training camp in August and Claiborne helped Becton get down to 360 pounds before undergoing surgery on his knee.

Becton has hired a personal chef under Claibornes guidance. His diet is now anti-inflammatory, alkaline and free of processed foods. Becton eats lots of fruits and vegetables three times the amount he was consuming beforehand, according to Claiborne.

Becton has drawn criticism for his weight before.The Jets are hoping his efforts result in a significant and sustained difference this time around. Zach Wilson could use his larger-than-life blindside protector on the field, after all.

Visit link:

Jets OT Mekhi Becton making progress with new nutritionist - Jets Wire

Wednesday, Ime Udoka reiterated the Celtics do not anticipate Robert Williams returning in the first round of the playoffs; it's the same message he delivered before the regular-season finale against the Grizzlies.

"Doing a little bit more every day. He's looking good and in good spirits. We're happy with the progress, but at the same time, we understand it's going to take time and probably be a full series without him. He's out on the court. Doing some shooting drills, some touch work. We're still preparing for a series without him."

Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who also spoke with the media on Wednesday, talked about what it's been like playing without Williams. "We definitely miss him. He's so important to our team on both ends of the floor, so everybody's trying to adjust and pick up the slack when he's not out there."

Williams, who underwent a partial left knee meniscectomy to address a left knee meniscal tear, is on a 4-6 week timetable. Game 5 between the Celtics and Nets is on Apr. 27, four weeks from his surgery.

While that leaves the door open for the Timelord to return in Round 1, as Udoka has stated consistently, that's unlikely, and Boston is preparing to play the entire series without him.

Scroll to Continue

Further Reading

The Schedule is Set for Celtics' First-Round Series Against Nets

Nets Beat Cavs, Securing Playoff Rematch with the Celtics

Celtics Earn 2-Seed; Showdown with Nets Likely Awaits

Ime Udoka on the Celtics' Plan for Season Finale: "Let's do what we do and let the chips fall where they may"

Gary Payton Endorses Marcus Smart for Defensive Player of the Year

[Film Room] In Sunday's Win Against the Wizards, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown's Growth as Facilitators was Evident

Read more:

Ime Udoka Says He's "Happy with the Progress" Robert Williams is Making, But Reiterates it'll "probably be a full series without...

The Flyers 4-0 shutout loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night constituted an improvement over their previous game, a 9-2 defeat against the Washington Capitals.

Thats pretty much everything you need to know about the Flyers 2021-22 season.

READ MORE: In a season full of lows, the Flyers hit rock bottom with 9-2 loss to the Washington Capitals

Six players who suited up against the Capitals were not in the lineup the following night because of injury, including the teams leading scorer, Cam Atkinson, and starting goalie Carter Hart. Additionally, before Wednesday, six players in the lineup had each played less than 10 career NHL games defenseman Ronnie Attard (six), winger Bobby Brink (one), winger Noah Cates (seven), center Tanner Laczynski (five), defenseman Egor Zamula (three), and goalie Felix Sandstrm (one).

So, given the relative inexperience of the lineup, the back-to-back, the Rangers success this season, and the Flyers lack of it, any semblance of progress 24 hours after the disaster in Washington would have resulted in something of a moral victory.

That progress? They tried.

I think the effort was there, interim coach Mike Yeo said after the game. I think the focus was there. I think that the desire for the guys to really step up and win was there. We did some things that werent good enough to get the win, but cant fault the effort.

But aside from Tuesdays clunker against the Capitals and the Avalanches 6-3 drubbing on March 25, the Flyers rarely have pinned losses on a lack of effort as of late. Sure, the Flyers may have given the game their best effort, creating nearly double the high-danger scoring chances that the Rangers did (13-7), per Natural Stat Trick.

However, through 40 regulation losses in 74 games this season, a feat only pulled off once before in franchise history in 2006-07, the Flyers repeatedly show that their best is not good enough.

We cant be a team that just ... we say that we worked hard, and thats great, Yeo said. We have to be able to win games when the other team scores first, too.

No, the Flyers cant be that team if they want to instill winning habits before the seasons end, but given the lack of positives to take away from recent games, they are that team. Given the fact that they officially were eliminated from playoff contention seven games ago, perhaps theyve run out of time to prove that they arent that team.

On Wednesday night, the Flyers had their opportunities to shift the momentum their way. One of those moments emerged following a 5-on-3 penalty kill roughly halfway through the first period in which Sandstrm made six saves and winger Joel Farabee made a critical block on an Artemi Panarin shot.

The Flyers could have, and should have, been able to build off of that. They didnt.

Yeah, we probably should, center Scott Laughton said. Thats a good question. Seems like were getting a little bit two, three minutes lapses where we sit on our heels, and thats when they kind of take over.

By the analytics alone, the Flyers had a decent chance at a win over the Rangers. The Flyers played with the puck for the majority of the game, edging the Rangers in shot attempts (45-43), and boasted better shot quality, with 2.3 expected goals to the Rangers 1.73, according to Natural Stat Trick.

But none of that matters when the Flyers dont convert on their scoring chances. Winger Travis Konecny had one of them, which resulted from a tic-tac-toe passing sequence at 4-on-4 in the second period, but he couldnt score with a backhander on goalie Alexandar Georgiev. He also was involved in a 2-on-1 in the first period with center Kevin Hayes, who opted not to shoot and dropped the puck off for a trailer. His pass ultimately was intercepted by the Rangers to kill the play.

And it certainly doesnt matter when the Flyers arent up to snuff defensively, leaving a player wide-open backdoor for a goal for the second night in a row.

You cant try to make the extra play to get the perfect shot, Yeo said, to get that Grade A scoring chance. You still have to continue to shoot pucks and go to the net, and I dont want to say wait for those opportunities but not force those opportunities.

The Flyers boast the second-worst shooting percentage in the league, capitalizing on just 8.3% of their shots. Only the Los Angeles Kings are worse, but they rank second in shots (2,660). Conversely, the Flyers rank smack-dab in the middle of the league in shots with 2,264.

This season, the Flyers havent had the finish from the players they need it from most. Konecny, for example, is shooting more than ever (2.69 shots per game), but hes posted his worst shooting percentage (6.8%).

After the game, Konecny acknowledged that hes getting a lot of good shots, but a lot of those shots are coming from the perimeter.

[The Rangers] capitalized on their opportunities, Konecny said. Starting with me, we had plenty of opportunities that we didnt capitalize on. Theres always things you can clean up on. But I thought we really worked hard and we came back and answered from last nights bad game.

In a season full of lows, the Flyers will take the positives where they can get them. But last week, one of the Flyers biggest issues was maintaining a lead. This week, theyre laboring to establish one in the first place.

One step forward, another step back. Now, the Flyers have eight games left to try and right a ship that sailed a long time ago.

Excerpt from:

Flyers need to show more tangible progress than 'effort' over final stretch of season - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Sean Dyche always bristled at the suggestion he was a "throwback" or an "old school" manager but Premier League Burnley's decision to sack him on Friday raises the question of whether he is indeed the last of a dying breed.

An Englishman who spent the bulk of his playing career as a tough centre-half in the lower divisions is not the profile most top-flight clubs look for when recruiting managers. That is highlighted by the fact that despite his success at turning a low-budget, small town side into a relatively established Premier League team, Dyche was never poached by another club.

Even after achieving the seemingly impossible and taking Burnley to a seventh-placed finish and qualification for the Europa League in 2018, Dyche continued to be overlooked by bigger clubs who preferred instead to turn mainly to the continent for coaching talent or famous former players. There are six of the 18 Premier League clubs with English managers, two of them former England internationals in Frank Lampard at Everton and Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.

Only Eddie Howe at Newcastle and Dean Smith at Norwich City have similar backgrounds to Dyche in the English lower divisions with Brighton's Graham Potter having learnt his trade in Sweden where Watford's Roy Hodgson also cut his teeth at the start of a long career. With no chance to progress his career at a club with bigger resources, Dyche has continued to battle against the odds to keep Burnley in the top flight, but this season he has struggled to find the points to keep the Clarets out of trouble.

Burnley are 18th, inside the relegation zone, and four points behind 17th placed Everton ahead of this weekend's games. Supporters, who need no reminder about the club's long wilderness years in the lower divisions in the 1980's and 90's, never turned against Dyche but there was a sense of the team becoming stale this season.

Dyche took over Burnley, in October 2012, with the club in the bottom half of the second-tier Championship but despite having one of the smaller budgets in the division he guided them to promotion the following season. Burnley were relegated in their first season in the Premier League after a four-year absence but the club kept faith with Dyche who promptly led them to an immediate return, winning the Championship title.

The 2017-18 season saw Burnley qualify for European football for the first time in 51 years after a season in which they beat Chelsea and drew with Manchester City and Liverpool. But with little investment from the club's then owners, Burnley did not build on that success and finished 15th in the following campaign.

Dyche had a testy relationship with club chairman Mike Garlick who departed after American investors ALK Capital took over in December 2020 but the change in ownership has not delivered a radical difference in Burnley's lack of power in the transfer market. With his gruff voice and readiness to complain about playacting and poke fun at modern trends in the sport, Dyche has become a familiar figure for fans of the English game.

His popularity with Burnley fans may have waned during this season's poor form but the Turf Moor faithful never turned against him and many were shocked by his dismissal. In the past someone with Dyche's track record could be confident of quickly finding another job in the top flight but with the Premier League's preference for importing coaching talent he may have to work his way back up.

Burnley's owners have gambled that a new face can provide the spark needed for a late revival this season to secure their survival. As Dyche could tell them that will be no easy task.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

See the article here:

Soccer-Tough, gruff and English, Dyche never got chance to progress - Devdiscourse

This post was authored by Maggie Ferrato, Senior Analyst for Environmental Defense Fund.

Forest family photo of World Leaders at COP26 in Glasgow, Scottland. Karwai Tang/ UK Government via Flickr.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes latest Working Group III report has made it clear that the world is not on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreementand emissions have continued to rise across all sectorsdespite the technological and policy solutions that are increasingly available to decisionmakers.

Its an important message that needs to be repeated with more urgency than ever. We already know we must do much more to reduce our emissions, including by transitioning more quickly from fossil fuels and rethinking how we grow our food. And in February, the IPCCs Working Group II report highlighted the dramatic impacts the planet faces from a warming atmosphere, and how this decade is a critical window to adapt to our changing climate and limit the damage by dramatically cutting our emissions.

The IPCC reports taken together send a clear signal that countries must urgently set their ambitions much higher in the fight against climate change.

The good news is that the Paris Agreement was designed to ratchet up ambition over time. One of the mechanisms to make this happen, a process known as the global stocktake, is an opportunity to assess countries collective progress toward the Paris Agreements long-term goals on mitigation, adaptation and finance.

The IPCC reports provide an important backdrop for the UNs global stocktake process. Heres how countries can leverage the scientific research from the IPCC to conduct a stocktake that succeeds in increasing global ambition and action.

Mind the gapWith its focus on the ecological and social consequences of the climate crisis, the IPCCs Working Group II report highlighted the climate impacts the world already faces due to leaders failure to confront the climate crisis. Like other reports generated within the UN system, it described whats at stake if we fail to close the ambition gap, or the gap between where we are and where we need to be to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The IPCCs latest Working Group III report focuses on the pathways and solutions that could help us close this gap and avert climate disaster, but acknowledges that barriers, especially political, are preventing more ambitious climate action. This inaction needs to change, fast.

The stocktake can help bridge the ambition gap by putting the focus on opportunities and solutions for deep emissions cuts that each country can implement in this critical decade.

Implementation is keyExisting technologies, and the policies needed to deploy them, can drive deep emissions reductions that can help the world hold warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, along with other solutions like carbon dioxide removals and demand side changes. The IPCCs WGIII report underscores this point. What we need now is for countries to use these technologies and policies to implement their targets. Countries may find that some solutions are readily available and can help limit near-term warming and impacts, as well as contribute to deep emissions reductions this decade.

As former UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary and current President of the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability Richard Kinley pointed out at a recent event, we have lots of targets and what we really need are action plans. Its now up to countries to do the work, and the global stocktake can help catalyze action within and beyond the multilateral process.

Ratcheting up ambitionThe Paris Agreement requires countries to update their emissions targets, or nationally determined contributions, at least every five years and bring forth more ambitious targets. The outcome of the stocktake is intended to inform this process, known as the ambition cycle.

A properly executed global stocktake process will distill critical signals on climate mitigation from the volume of informationincluding the pathways provided by the WGIII reportand provide the impetus and information for countries to enhance their nationally determined contributions. This could help to set the world on the right path to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

EDF and C2ES are working together to ensure the success of the global stocktake process by helping countries identify the most impactful, readily available actions to reduce emissions and drive collective ambition toward meeting the Paris Agreement goals.

To unleash real climate benefits, the stocktake must not become a bureaucratic check-the-box exercise. A successful stocktake will instead help inform more collective ambition, and more impactful collective climate action.

The findings from the IPCC show us the world must come together, consider every reasonable action to reduce emissions now, and act. Countries must ensure the global stocktake process heeds the warnings from the IPCC and addresses the urgency of the climate crisis.

More here:

Countries must heed IPCC reports as they review collective progress under the global stocktake - Environmental Defense Fund