Neil Gaiman — the best-selling creator whose work contains comedian e-book sequence The Sandman and the novels Good Omens and American Gods — has denied sexual assault allegations made in opposition to him by two ladies with whom he had relationships with on the time, Tortoise Media reviews.

The allegations had been made throughout Tortoise’s four-part podcast Grasp: the Allegations Towards Neil Gaiman, which was launched Wednesday. In it, the ladies allege “tough and degrading intercourse” with the creator, which the ladies declare was not at all times consensual.

One of many ladies, a 23-year-old named Scarlett, labored as a nanny to his youngster. She claimed Gaiman assaulted her in February 2022, simply hours after they’d first met, whereas in a shower at his New Zealand house. Gaiman instructed the outlet that he and Scarlett “cuddled” and “made out” within the tub and that it was consensual; he added that within the three-week sexual relationship they had been in, they solely engaged in digital penetration.

Scarlett claims that whereas they had been in a consensual relationship, Gaiman additionally sexually assaulted her with non-consensual “tough and degrading penetrative sexual acts” per the outlet’s description in its investigation. In a single incident, the ache “was so painful and so violent” that she misplaced consciousness. “The ache was celestial,” she stated. When she requested him to cease, “he laughed and stated I wanted to be punished and used his belt on me,” she stated on the podcast, by way of The Telegraph. Gaiman denied the allegation to Tortoise.

The second lady, who glided by Okay, was 18 when she first met him in 2003 at a e-book signing occasion in Florida. She claims they started a romantic relationship when she was 20 and he was in his mid-forties. Whereas they had been in a relationship, she alleges she was subjected to tough and painful intercourse “she neither needed or loved.” At one level, she alleged that he penetrated her regardless of her objecting as a result of she was within the midst of a urinary tract an infection; the incident left her “screaming” in ache. Gaiman denied Okay’s allegations and instructed Tortoise he was “disturbed” by the accusations. (Reps for Gaiman didn’t instantly return Rolling Stone’s requests for remark.)

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In accordance with Tortoise’s investigation, Okay didn’t file a police report. Scarlett filed a criticism to New Zealand police in October 2022.

Gaiman instructed Tortoise that the police didn’t pursue his provide to help the investigation relating to the criticism, claiming that this confirmed the shortage of substance of the criticism. However New Zealand police instructed the outlet it made a “variety of makes an attempt to talk to key folks as a part of this investigation and people efforts stay ongoing,” including that there are “a variety of components to take into accounts with this case, together with location of all events.” 

Acclaimed writer Neil Gaiman has been accused of sexual assault by two girls who beforehand had consensual relationships with him.

Based on a brand new report from British information outlet Tortoise Media, the allegations in opposition to Gaiman span 20 years and contain younger girls who got here into contact with Gaiman as a nanny to his baby and as a fan of his writing, respectively.

The next article incorporates doubtlessly triggering materials regarding sexual assault and violence. Should you consider you might have skilled or witnessed sexual misconduct and are on the lookout for assist, seek the advice of the Canadian Useful resource Centre for Victims of Crime to search out assets in your space.

A 23-year-old girl named Scarlett alleges that Gaiman sexually assaulted her inside hours of their assembly in February 2022 in a shower at his New Zealand residence. Tortoise studies that Gaiman’s account of the connection is that they “solely ‘cuddled’ and ‘made out’ within the tub and that he had established consent for this,” which led to a three-week sexual relationship wherein “they solely ever engaged in consensual digital penetration.”

Scarlett alleges that Gaiman “engaged in tough and degrading penetrative sexual acts together with her” — a declare supported by Tortoise‘s viewing of “contemporaneous messages, notes,” and recollections of Scarlett’s associates the outlet spoke to.

The second girl, recognized within the report as Ok, met Gaiman at a ebook signing in Sarasota, FL, in 2003 when she was 18 years previous. Upon turning 20, she started a romantic relationship with Gaiman, who was then in his mid-40s. Per Tortoise, she claims she “submitted to tough and painful intercourse that ‘she neither needed nor loved.'”

Tortoise Media studies that Gaiman “strongly denies any allegations of non-consensual intercourse with the ladies,” including that New Zealand police allegedly “didn’t take up his supply of help over one girl’s criticism in 2022, which he says, displays its lack of substance.”

In response, New Zealand police stated that they had made a “variety of makes an attempt to talk to key folks as a part of this investigation and people efforts stay ongoing,” including that there are “quite a few components to take into accounts with this case, together with location of all events.”

The outlet writes that Gaiman “believes Ok’s allegations are motivated by her remorse over their relationship and that Scarlett was affected by a situation related to false recollections on the time of her relationship with him,” noting that this declare will not be supported by her medical information and medical historical past.

Gaiman, 63, was named one of many 100 most influential folks on this planet by Time journal final 12 months. An writer of brief fiction, novels, comedian books and extra, his authentic works, together with The Sandman and American Gods, have been tailored for display screen.

Jamie Foxx has shed new mild on the well being scare that hospitalized him in April 2023, revealing it began with a headache that escalated to a medical emergency. 

In a newly surfaced video circulating on social media, Foxx talks to individuals in downtown Phoenix reliving the beginning of the scare. 

“Dangerous headache. Requested my boy for an Advil,” he says, after which he snaps his fingers. “I used to be gone for 20 days. I don’t keep in mind something.”

He says that he was in Atlanta and that his sister and his daughter took him to a health care provider, from whom he acquired a cortisone shot, an injection used to deal with inflammatory circumstances, swelling, ache and irritation, in line with the Mayo Clinic.

“Subsequent physician mentioned, ‘There’s one thing happening up there,’” he says, motioning to his head. However he does not wish to give particulars, saying, “I gained’t say it on digicam,” earlier than the recording stops.

It’s not instantly clear when the video was recorded. Foxx’s representatives did not instantly reply to a request for remark.

Foxx, 56, has by no means disclosed what his thriller sickness was. 

He skilled the emergency engaged on the movie “Again in Motion” alongside Glenn Shut and Cameron Diaz in Atlanta and has since then largely saved out of the general public eye. 

In July 2023, he took to Instagram in an emotional video to explain the ordeal, saying he “went to hell and again” however was “coming again.” At a Critics Alternative Affiliation occasion in December, he revealed he was at one level unable to stroll. 

Additionally in December, he shared an Instagram publish on his birthday calling it “a particular one.”

“I NEEDED EVERY PRAYER… you lifted me via… I used to be in a position to make it to at the moment due to your prayers,” he wrote.

Foxx has regularly thanked and credited his daughter, Corinne Foxx, and his sister, Deidra Dixon, with saving his life.

They “saved it hermetic, they let nothing out, they protected me. And that’s what I hope everybody may have in moments like these,” he mentioned final July.

(Bloomberg) — By no means miss an episode. Observe The Large Take day by day podcast at present.

Within the fallout from Biden’s efficiency within the first presidential debate, a number one identify has emerged because the president’s pure alternative: Vice President Kamala Harris.

White Home and politics reporters Akayla Gardner and Gregory Korte be a part of Large Take host Sarah Holder to unpack why the requires a Harris candidacy are surfacing now, her entry to Biden’s battle chest and who else may very well be a contender.

Pay attention and observe The Large Tackle Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s a calmly edited transcript of the dialog:

Sarah Holder: Democrats in search of a backup plan after Biden’s disastrous  debate efficiency final week are beginning to rally behind a candidate some may discover stunning: Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Regardless of her struggles as second-in-command, persistently tepid approval rankings amongst voters and doubts from pundits – Democrats that had as soon as written her off are beginning to notice Harris might have some key benefits within the combat in opposition to Trump. 

For one factor – entry to Biden’s over $200 million marketing campaign battle chest. One other: A CNN ballot launched after Biden’s debate efficiency confirmed that she’d do barely higher than the president in a hypothetical matchup with Trump – although notably,  each Democrats are trailing the previous president.

However whilst Democrats float Biden options like Harris forward of the upcoming  Democratic conference – Biden and his allies have deflected issues concerning the president’s age and defended his document. At a press convention Wednesday, White Home Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned Biden is “completely not” contemplating dropping out. 

In the meantime, Harris has been positioning herself as loyal to the president. When requested in a CBS interview this week if she was ready to guide the nation, she mentioned – quote – I am proud to be Joe Biden’s working mate.

Right this moment on the present: Bloomberg White Home correspondents Akayla Gardner and Gregory Korte on the requires a Harris candidacy which might be surfacing now, who else may very well be a contender, and what the probabilities of Harris main the ticket actually are.

Hello, Akayla and Gregory. Thanks a lot for being right here.

Akayla, you reported out a narrative – at present’s Large Take –, and I am simply going to learn the title: “Kamala Harris Is Having a Shock Resurgence as Biden’s Marketing campaign Unravels.” Why is it a shock — and what’s behind this resurgence?

Akayla Gardner: This actually has lots to do with what’s performed out over the past couple of days. I believe we noticed fairly early on individuals kind of floating names of very formidable governors, people who find themselves rumored to probably run in 2028. However rapidly, individuals started to comprehend that if Biden have been to step apart, these tens of millions of {dollars} that the marketing campaign has, which is true now over $200 million readily available, would solely be capable of go to Kamala Harris as a result of her identify is on that line that donors have signed. And that may mainly imply that anybody else must begin from scratch, which might be very laborious to do at this level with slightly bit over 100 days to the election.

Holder: Are you able to assist us perceive — the one candidate that may be capable of have entry to these funds can be Vice President Kamala Harris?

Gardner: I believe there’s a couple of situations. I believe proper now the understanding is that, sure, legally that she would solely have that proper. 

Gregory Korte: If it is not Harris, then the cash would possible return to the democratic nationwide committee, which might assist a democratic presidential candidate, however the celebration cash would not go so far as candidate cash. There’s completely different sorts of cash. We speak about laborious cash. We speak about comfortable cash. This can be a little softer than the candidate cash. So it could not utterly go to waste if it is anyone apart from Harris, however as Akayla says, when these donors signed these checks, they despatched it to the Biden Harris committee. And so that cash is half hers to start with.

Holder: And Akayla, what does the most recent polling point out about how Vice President Harris may do if she have been to turn out to be the Democratic nominee?

Gardner: There was a CNN ballot out earlier this week that drew a variety of consideration that mainly confirmed Harris performing two factors forward of Biden in opposition to Trump. And that was actually the primary time that we had seen one thing like that. Harris has largely polled behind Biden or about even with Biden in opposition to Trump. So this was actually the primary signal that we noticed that she may very well be extra aggressive and actually probably indicators that his debate efficiency is actually having an influence on voters.

He simply had many mishaps throughout that debate efficiency, and I believe voters are beginning to actually query whether or not he can proceed on this job, particularly as a result of he can be 86 on the finish of the second time period. He is 81 proper now, and I believe there is no political technique that may actually get round the truth that the president is previous and persons are involved about it.

Holder: Gregory, how nicely is Vice President Harris doing in comparison with different potential nominees which have been floated like California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, or Division of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg?

Korte: Yeah we have examined all of those names in our Bloomberg Information/Morning Seek the advice of ballot. Now this was again in Might. So lots has occurred since then, however again after we did that, she was kind of what we’d name the perfect of the remainder, proper? She has the very best identify recognition of any of these names that you just simply talked about.

Holder: What different benefits may Harris have, on condition that she’s already the vp?

Korte: Yeah, nicely, she clearly has entry to Air Pressure Two. She will be able to command a bully pulpit already by advantage of her workplace. She would, as we have talked about, be capable of inherit the Biden Harris marketing campaign’s sizable battle chest, the, the, the money readily available that they should, to run advertisements and, and mount a marketing campaign.

However she additionally, look, in comparison with a variety of the opposite names that we talked about, she appears prepared and ready and has the ambition to, to fill these footwear. She, by definition, as vp, she has already mentioned that she is able to step in on a second’s discover.

So I believe it could be tough for the Democratic Social gathering to skip over her. She is the inheritor obvious. She appears to have Biden’s assist, if it got here to that. However, the issue the Democrats have is they’re the Democratic Social gathering. And so, if not Biden, there can be many voices within the celebration arguing for an open conference, that it shouldn’t be preordained, that we should always at the very least hear from the delegates, uh, about who their desire is.

That desire could nicely find yourself with Kamala Harris if it got here to that, however I believe others may, uh, additionally need an opportunity to persuade the conference that they too, can be a, an excellent candidate.

Gardner: I might additionally add to that: Harris also can run on Biden’s document. She is his vp, so the identical issues that he’s speaking about and bragging about when he talks to voters, she will speak about that as nicely. And he or she’s additionally run for president earlier than, so she has confronted nationwide scrutiny. She has confronted loads of assaults from Republicans over time.

Anybody new would have their document freshly scrutinized. They’d be freshly attacked by the Trump marketing campaign, by the RNC. These are issues she already has in-built to her favorability, to her polling numbers now. So she is already anyone who might just about slide into that spot with out going by means of the identical kind of reintroduction to the American public.

Holder: If Biden steps down and endorses Harris, May different Democrats nonetheless throw their names within the ring, um, and result in an open contest on the DNC in August?

Korte: That is attainable, however form of unlikely. And the reason being as a result of keep in mind that Joe Biden has 99 % of the pledged delegates already dedicated to him. Now, these are delegates that aren’t pledged in the identical sense that Republican delegates are. After we speak about Republican delegates, they’re sure, they’re legally required to vote for whoever, uh, they, they, uh, are, are pledged to.

The democratic rule says that the delegates shall, in all good conscience, vote for the desire of their state. Um, and so, these are Biden delegates. It could take 600 delegates, uh, to place their names on a petition for anyone else apart from Biden or Harris to have their identify positioned in a, into nomination out of greater than 4,000 delegates.

So not unimaginable, actually mathematically throughout the realm of risk, however can be a reasonably tough, uh, activity. And as one Democrat defined it to me, it could take a Nancy Pelosi degree whip counting operation, even to simply determine which of these 600 delegates might come over to your aspect to put your identify within the nomination.

Holder: However Akayla, what would the response be throughout the Democratic Social gathering and its voter base if Harris, for instance, have been handed over in favor of one other rising celebration star, within the case that Biden may step down?

Gardner: I believe there’s a variety of frustration, anger from a few of Harris’s closest allies, um, together with Reverend Al Sharpton. Um, we talked to Melanie Campbell, who’s additionally a frontrunner of one other civil rights group, and so they felt like that may be incorrect. They really feel just like the vp has, you already know, nearly a proper or is, can be the pure inheritor obvious on this scenario.

And the optics would not look good. She’s the primary lady of shade to serve in her function. Voters of shade are significantly essential this election, black voters particularly. And so they won’t take too kindly to her being handed over. Um, and people are constituents that Biden actually wants. He is already on shaking floor with a variety of these constituents. So that they might not be so comfortable if she have been to be handed over. 

Holder: Let’s recreation out, actually rapidly, what a Harris marketing campaign may appear like. Gregory, in the event you’re a Democratic operative, what are Harris’s greatest strengths that you just may look to leverage?

Korte: Effectively, I believe one energy is the problem that she’s actually been working on for the Biden Harris ticket, for months now. And that’s the problem of abortion. She’s a lady. She will be able to converse to that slightly bit extra personally than possibly Joe Biden can himself. She has gone to Florida. She’s gone to states the place they’ve handed restrictive abortion legal guidelines, some states the place there’s actually abortion on the poll, the place a lot of states are attempting to, to move referenda or constitutional amendments to enshrine abortion rights on the poll.

As Akayla mentioned, she speaks to Black voters in a approach that no different candidate on this race is true now. Look, these are essential Democratic constituencies, uh, that Biden has traditionally finished nicely with, however has struggled with, uh, over the previous few months for, for a wide range of causes. Perhaps it is the, the Israel Gaza battle, possibly it is, uh, the state of the financial system, uh, however she has finished that kind of care and feeding of those constituencies whereas the president is busy being president.

Gardner: I might additionally say Harris does have a variety of connections to Wall Road. We did a narrative about her, um, assembly with CEOs. She’d say, kind of cast a variety of public non-public partnerships, um, within the administration, attempting to assist among the efforts that the administration cares about, whether or not that is supporting minority owned companies, uh, small companies, coping with the basis causes of immigration. So she probably has a reasonably large pocket of donors herself to faucet.

Holder: Akayla, what are seen as Vice President Harris greatest weaknesses?

Gardner: Effectively, I believe fairly early on within the administration, she was kind of saddled with some not so fashionable points. She was given the duty of coping with the basis explanation for immigration, which as you may think about, um, have been created over many generations and are nonetheless are very tough to cope with and immigration typically has been a weak point for Biden.

He has put out these government orders within the final couple of weeks. Many individuals felt in preparation for the controversy, figuring out that Trump would possible use that in opposition to him. Um, however that’s actually one thing that Republicans have hit her on is as a result of, um, the immigration. Disaster, if you’ll, has, um, been so acute on this nation.

Um, additionally Republicans have kind of pounced on these video clips of her having quote unquote, phrase salad solutions. Um, individuals have felt that a few of her talking engagements have felt scripted. Um, however once more, these are assaults that she has confronted for a many variety of years. And one other contender would simply be freshly put into the race and should cope with related assaults.

Holder: Gregory, has something like this ever occurred earlier than? An incumbent dropping out and his VP taking up the candidacy, candidacy, as we’re discussing proper now.

Korte: Boy I might should suppose again to pre fashionable occasions. The one, uh, precedent that we have been speaking about, uh, most just lately might be Lyndon Johnson who, uh, dropped out of working for reelection in 1968. However that was, that was in March and now we’re in July. And so it is, uh, it is slightly bit completely different occasions that the best way that you just marketing campaign for president has modified lots over the previous 50 or 60 years, but additionally we’re a lot, a lot later within the recreation. And so now there’s, there is no actual fashionable precedent for this.

Holder: Clearly, a variety of that is hypothetical. Biden has not indicated he is stepping down. His staff has defended his debate efficiency and his document. What is going to you be awaiting within the coming days to grasp? This second.

Korte: Effectively, the president himself has been telling members of his celebration that he understands they get a poor debate efficiency, and it is on him to attempt to flip round that notion. And he is additionally acknowledged that that form of has to occur fairly quickly. And so he is scheduled a lot of interviews over the following few days.

He will be making some marketing campaign visits to swing states, he’s gonna get again out on the path. And we will see him in unscripted conditions, proper? And not using a teleprompter. He will be doing a little, uh, interviews on black radio stations in a lot of, uh, key swing states over the following few days. He will sit down with George Stephanopoulos from ABC information, and the persons are going to be watching, uh, simply how he conducts himself, uh, in these interviews.

Look, he is Joe Biden. He is at all times stuttered. He is at all times been gaffe inclined, however now he is below this relentless highlight of each single misstatement is below a microscope. Uh, persons are, are going to touch upon it.

It should compound his issues. And so he actually wants to have the ability to, to have a high notch efficiency over the following few days.

Holder: Thanks each a lot for sharing your reporting with us. We’re excited to observe the place it takes you subsequent.

Korte: Thanks for having us.

Gardner: Thanks.

Holder: That was Gregory Korte and Akayla Gardner, each White Home and politics reporters at Bloomberg.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

(TMX) – Jamie Foxx shared some new particulars about his medical emergency final yr that left him unable to stroll and stored him out of the general public eye for a number of months.

A video posted on Instagram, Foxx is talking with followers in Phoenix.

“I had a headache, requested my boy for an Advil,” he mentioned, then snapped his fingers. “I used to be gone for 20 days. I don’t keep in mind something.”

Foxx mentioned that his sister and daughter took him to a health care provider after which took him to a different physician who advised them, “there’s one thing happening up there,” pointing to his head.

“I received’t say it on digicam,” he mentioned. “Yeah, I don’t wish to say it on digicam.”

Final April, Foxx had a medical emergency whereas filming “Again In Motion” in Atlanta.

He opened up about his lengthy restoration whereas accepting the Vanguard Award on the Critics Selection Affiliation Awards Celebration of Cinema and Tv Honoring Black, Latino and AAPI Achievements in December 2023.

“You understand, it’s loopy, I couldn’t try this six months in the past. I couldn’t really stroll,” Foxx mentioned.

Foxx mentioned he wouldn’t want that have on his worst enemy.

“It’s powerful when it’s virtually over, while you see the tunnel. I noticed the tunnel, I didn’t see the sunshine,” he mentioned. “I’ve a brand new respect for all times. I’ve a brand new respect for my artwork.”

Copyright 2024 TMX. Grey Native Media, Inc. contributed to this report. All rights reserved.

I haven’t been excited in regards to the Democratic nominee for president since 2008, after I was 20 and all in for Barack Obama. That zeal had light by his second time period, as the constraints of his liberalism grew to become clear over time. Since then, I’ve moved left, and I’ve come to think about voting as an act of obligation, not enthusiasm. After Senator Bernie Sanders misplaced the nomination to Hillary Clinton in 2016, I knew I had no selection however to carry my nostril and vote Democrat anyway. 4 years later I did it once more, for Joe Biden. Although I’m girding myself for a similar tiresome train this yr, I now have a request for the celebration. Don’t make me vote for an 81-year-old man who couldn’t reply a fundamental query about abortion final week. Give me Kamala Harris as an alternative.

If Sanders have been a decade youthful, I’d write a distinct article, however he isn’t, and furthermore, he’s a significant presence within the Senate. Our choices are few, actually. Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan is an efficient politician with a promising nationwide future, even when she’s going to by no means be the good hope of the American left. However she lacks identify recognition outdoors her dwelling state, and she or he’s by no means gained a nationwide race. The identical drawbacks largely apply to Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois. The case for Harris, then, is partly scientific. She’s acquainted. She will boast democratic legitimacy, having served on a ticket that beforehand beat Donald Trump. A brand new CNN ballot additionally reveals her “inside placing distance” of the previous president, an early indication {that a} swap could not overly hurt Democratic prospects.

Thursday’s debate was clarifying. Biden’s time in energy is coming to an finish, it doesn’t matter what his household or internal circle might imagine. Individuals want a viable different to Trump and his bleak imaginative and prescient for the nation. The case for Harris isn’t just scientific however ethical and materials. A second Trump administration might destabilize the nation, impoverish the working class, and roll again rights for girls and LGBT individuals. If Democrats are critical about defending marginalized teams, or constructing on their financial legacy, they need to admit the plain: Biden can’t win. It’s Harris’s time now.

4 years in the past, I couldn’t have imagined making this argument. Harris was not my first and even second selection in 2020. She was a former prosecutor, she was gaffe inclined, and her insurance policies have been technocratic to the purpose of oddity. (Contemplate her pledge to forgive student-loan debt for “Pell Grant recipients who begin a enterprise that operates for 3 years in deprived communities.”) She supported Sanders’s Medicare for All plan till she didn’t, a part of a broader pivot from the left to the middle. That technique didn’t work, after all. It made her a cipher, an unappealing distinction to the righteous conviction of Sanders and even the progressive wonkery of Senator Elizabeth Warren. On-line, the so-called Khive swarmed her critics with vigorous abuse; offline, her donations dried up, and she or he dropped out of the first earlier than voting. The presidency appeared far-off — till Biden picked her as a operating mate.

For many individuals on the left, voting is a compromise. The candidates we elect gained’t dwell as much as our beliefs on a regular basis, even when they are saying they’re socialists. A damaged political system absorbs them the second they win. Biden was no Sanders; I by no means anticipated him to subvert the Institution he’d served for thus lengthy. However the Biden-Harris administration outperformed my expectations in some respects. Biden has largely lived as much as his pro-labor guarantees, and the prospect of a GOP-controlled Nationwide Labor Relations Board ought to fear any union member or supporter. I need a stronger labor motion, able to organizing extra Individuals into its ranks, and whereas that prospect doesn’t hinge totally or even perhaps totally on the Democratic Occasion, I’d nonetheless want Biden’s vice-president over Trump. I’ve no motive to suppose that she can be worse on labor than Biden. I equally consider that she would take up Biden’s broadly progressive financial insurance policies. (They aren’t good, however they’re far superior to what we’d get from President Trump.) The administration has not achieved all it may well to forgive the nation’s student-loan debt, however Harris’s previous Pell Grant plan nonetheless feels unthinkable now that the dialog has so totally modified. What’s extra, a vote for her is a vote for an administrative state that prioritizes some model of financial progress over tax cuts for the rich.

I’m motivated, too, by deep anger: at Biden, at his advisers, even at his household, who’ve reportedly urged him to remain within the race. To a degree, I empathize with the humiliation he will need to have felt after Thursday’s debate. However he’s the president, not my relative or my pal, and it isn’t my job as a voter, not to mention a journalist, to coddle him. If he isn’t as much as a debate towards Trump, I believe it’s unlikely that he’s as much as the presidency, which is likely one of the most tough roles an individual might probably search out for themselves. Biden’s aides have insulated him from most contact with the press or the general public; it’s tough to belief them, or him, when the celebration insists on his health. Everyone knows what we noticed on Thursday, and it’s not “bedwetting,” as a DNC electronic mail steered, to be involved. The implied argument — that the Biden we noticed final week is by some means preferable to Harris — insults not solely Harris however the intelligence of the common voter.

If this election is actually an emergency, because the Democratic Occasion insists, it may well’t pin its hopes on Biden. It wants a steadier hand, and I consider that Harris is your best option. It’s a disgrace that that is how we’d get our first lady president, although illustration has by no means ranked close to the highest of my political targets. I nonetheless need Medicare for All, and free public faculty, and student-debt forgiveness for all. I need a president whose overseas coverage isn’t soaked in harmless blood. I need somebody who is aware of the codification of Roe v. Wade shouldn’t be practically adequate. But when I can’t get what I need this yr, I’d fairly accept Harris.

JACKSON, Tenn. — College students from Bruceton, Huntingdon, Camden and Memphis found that summer time within the U.S. means wet season in steamy tropical Costa Rica. However armed with serving hearts and good senses of humor, members within the newest World Citizen Journey Corps program overcame the climate and interacted with kids who wanted their consideration, erected a fence and secured habitats for animals needing safety, and even squeezed in a lesson in softball.

The action-packed days additionally included seaside time, boat rides, evening kayaking to bioluminescent waters, ziplining, and far laughter and friendship constructing, stated Hole Rock-Bruceton Central Excessive Faculty’s Spanish trainer Jenna Patton who served because the Co-Chief of this system alongside GCAC CEO Julie Hill.

Patton stated within the brief time span, she witnessed transformation.

“The scholars matured a lot from the start of the journey to the tip. They got here collectively, placing apart any variations and reliance on the comforts of house,” she famous, “They didn’t even point out tv. They had been so immersed within the magnificence round them. They solid relationships with folks in a brand new tradition, making for a really tearful goodbye. In a single week’s time all of them grew up.”

Many of the group had been recruited by Patton. Two 2024 graduates say that the expertise of crossing cultures and exploring life outdoors of their hometowns made a particular affect.

Drake Northup, an 18-year-old heading to the College of Tennessee at Knoxville with the intent of finding out biomedical or robotics engineering, noticed the development tasks on the Wild Solar Rescue Heart as a method of confirming his need to make use of engineering to assist out different communities and discover new locations.

As the one male within the group from Tennessee, he spent extra time with the 2 males accompanying the vacationers – the bus driver and tour information — who helped him enhance upon his two years of Spanish examine – the final with Patton.

“We talked in regards to the information in Costa Rica, the tradition and so they taught me how one can correctly say sure phrases,” the Bruceton native famous. “For example, the Costa Rican slang time period Pura Vida can be utilized as how are you doing, thanks your welcome, goodbye and whats up.”

The Pura Vida vibe went each methods as Kaidyn Williams grew to become information and coach, utilizing the shut of the day to do some instructing of her personal.

The 18-year-old Huntingdon resident was carrying her t-shirt touting Hole Rock-Bruceton as softball state champions. When the tour information pointed it out, a Wild Solar employees member requested what softball was.

She then discovered a makeshift bat in a close-by stick, designated some bases and alongside along with her friends cheered him on to his first grand slam.

Getting into Coast Guard boot camp in July, Williams was already dedicated to saving lives. After her Costa Rica week on the Nicoya Peninsula which included enjoyable within the solar, she says she is able to proceed to pursue her love of the water and to make a distinction there.

“I spoke with Pablo, our tour information, and he informed me about how the Costa Rican Coast Guard assist cease smuggling,” she stated. Conversations equivalent to this one and the service-focused nature of all the program “undoubtedly had a constructive affect” on confirming her alternative of profession.

As for the tropical storms, each agreed that the rain enhanced their expertise.

“The rain felt good. It was scorching!” Williams stated of the tropical warmth. “It additionally helped make the digging simpler.”

“And it washed us off,” Northup added.

Hill, who organized the GCAC program working with in-country companions to realize the West Tennessee-based nonprofit’s objectives of supporting sustainability and making a constructive affect on the lives of each the folks of Costa Rica and college students from primarily rural and economically deprived backgrounds, stated the week strengthened her dedication to main the nonprofit.

“I used to be impressed to see the scholars working so onerous in some fairly robust circumstances. But they saved at it with smiles on their faces. Then later to see them chatting in Spanish within the group chat – outdoors the classroom, not for a grade however for the enjoyable of it – that’s what training is – transformative,” she stated.

Northup and Williams say they’re strolling away equally impressed.

“It was very eye opening to know how others reside and it’s a approach that I’d prefer to reside,” Northup acknowledged. “The contemporary meals, the kindness of everybody, the best way they’re welcoming and defending nature – it’s inspiring.”

“In a phrase, it’s a shifting expertise,” Williams contributed. “You actually get to expertise how huge the world is.”

The 2 service tasks had been outcomes of collaboration with in-country guides. Wild Solar Rescue Heart is a non-profit group devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation, and launch of native wildlife. The GCAC volunteers spent three days serving to safe secure habitats for the sick, injured and orphaned animals there. Additionally they put in stepping stones to assist future volunteers get round safely.

The day the group landed within the capitol metropolis, they traveled to Hogar Sol Affiliation to interact with and ship gadgets collected for the susceptible kids housed there.

Members in this system alongside Northup and Williams had been Abby Quinn of Bruceton, Ady Olds of Bruceton, Amaya Caery of Memphis, Carlee Hicks of Bruceton, Kennedy Patton of Camden, Mckenzie Baylor of Bruceton, Mykenzie Burton of Camden, and Paige Woolf of Bruceton.

Plans are underway for a 2025 program in Costa Rica led by Patton. To be notified when registration begins, go to the GCAC web site and full the notification popup kind.

World Citizen Journey Corps applications embrace service tasks decided by collaboration with companions in-country. The latest June 26-July 2 journey in Costa Rica included three days on the Wild Solar Rescue Heart, a non-profit group devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation, and launch of native wildlife. Seen right here (left to proper) are GCAC Co-CEO Julie Hill, Tour Information Pablo Ledezma, Co-Chief Jenna Patton, Amaya Caery, Ady Olds, Mckenzie Baylor, Abby Quinn, Kennedy Patton, Kaidyn Williams, Carlee Hicks, Paige Woolf, Mykenzie Burton, Drake Northup, Wild Solar Proprietor Jeremy Levine, daughter Boa, and brother Mark, Wild Solar worker Pablo Alonso Rojas.

Kaidyn Williams graduated from Hole Rock-Bruceton Central Excessive Faculty this yr and is heading besides camp for the Coast Guard in just a few weeks. However she spent a number of days in between in Costa Rica the place she, together with World Citizen Journey Corps volunteers, helped an area nonprofit safe secure habitats for the sick, injured and orphaned animals there. She additionally took trip as a two-time softball state champ to clarify the game and coach her fellow employee Pablo Alonso Rojas (seen right here within the background) to his first grand slam.

Drake Northup discovered expertise throughout his service with World Citizen Journey Corps in Costa Rica that he thinks will serve him properly as he begins his research towards an engineering profession and continues to journey and help communities with wants they’ve recognized. He’s on the left right here with Abby Quinn to the correct and Ady Olds within the again. Kaidyn Williams is holding up the final nook of the makeshift service for fencing. Their trainer is an worker of Wild Solar Rescue Heart.

For extra native information, click on right here.

Staff in Greece are going to need to work a bit of bit longer beginning this week, with the nation introducing a six-day work week for some.

As a part of new labour legal guidelines handed final 12 months, some Greek employees started a 48-hour work week beginning Monday, a transfer that union representatives from throughout industries have termed “barbaric.”

The professional-business authorities of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated the modifications are “growth-oriented” and are crucial given the nation’s shrinking inhabitants and lack of expert labour — a disaster Mitsotakis has described as a “ticking time bomb.”

Nevertheless, the transfer isn’t discovering many takers right here in Canada.

“We do have an pressing want to repair Canada’s declining productiveness. Nevertheless, the answer isn’t essentially to undertake longer working hours however reasonably work in a better manner,” stated Diana Palmerin-Velasco, senior director on the way forward for work on the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

“To extend productiveness, we have to allow an modern financial system by means of regulatory modernization, technological funding and adoption, digital transformation of SMEs, and higher skilling and coaching of our workforce,” Palmerin-Velasco stated.

Moshe Lander, economics professor at Concordia College, stated Greece seems out of sync.

“The world appears to be getting in the other way. We appear to be speaking about, how will we get all the way down to a four-day work week? They need to return to a six-day work week,” he stated.

So, what does the legislation in Canada say concerning the concept?

Work circumstances are set by provincial laws, however a nation-wide view may come from the Canada Labour Code.

The Canada Labour Code, which oversees federally regulated industries similar to banking, transportation, and telecommunications, says “hours of labor in every week shall be so scheduled and truly labored that every worker has not less than one full day of relaxation within the week.”

Nevertheless, it goes on to say that the variety of working hours won’t exceed eight hours in a day and 40 hours in every week.

Technically, it may very well be potential to institute a six-day work week however the federal labour code would should be amended to extend the variety of working hours. Provinces with related guidelines must do the identical for the greater than 90 per cent of Canadians in non-federally regulated workplaces.

Unions in Canada fought to institute a shorter work week in 1872 and Lander stated the five-day work week has not dampened productiveness.

“We’ve completed about 100 years of a five-day workweek, and up till concerning the Nineteen Eighties, we have been seeing productiveness enhance, regardless of the very fact we have been working the very same variety of days,” he stated.

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He stated Canada’s lack of productiveness in recent times had little to do with the variety of days or hours Canadians labored, however extra to do with the shortage of competitors in key sectors similar to telecom, airline and retail.

When main Canadian firms don’t have any worry of competitors, he says they won’t be as incentivized to innovate.

“It’s not that the Canadian employee is essentially lazy, it’s simply that they’re not induced to work onerous as a result of the house owners of the companies that they work for usually are not afraid that anyone’s going to return steal the enterprise,” he stated.

Lander stated Canada may leverage its free commerce agreements with the USA, Mexico and commerce offers with some European and Asian companions to permit extra international competitors for Canadian firms.

“I perceive why you wish to see that Canadian flag over a few of our companies, but when that’s going to result in decrease productiveness and a decrease lifestyle, possibly nationalism must be put apart,” he stated.

He stated that extra international competitors within the labour market would additionally assist employees.

“If you happen to solely have a restricted variety of Canadian companies which are prepared to rent you on your labor, they’ve all the ability,” he stated. “Elevated productiveness means elevated pay.”

In the meantime, public sector employees in Canada are demanding extra flexibility in how they work.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) stated in an announcement Tuesday that it’s ramping up efforts to struggle over a three-day in-office mandate.

“PSAC members overwhelmingly oppose the federal government’s misguided telework mandate. They’re rightfully indignant that their employer is making unilateral modifications to their work environments with out justifying the choice with information,” PSAC stated in an announcement.

The union has promised a “summer time of discontent” over the federal government’s modifications.

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Vail Well being in partnership with Surf Synergy is launching new weeklong retreats in Costa Rica to advertise longevity and wellness. The retreats will mix medical analysis with actionable self-care methods, providing evidence-based options for well being and wellness.

The primary Longevity and Wellness Retreat will happen from Oct. 19 to Oct. 26, adopted by a second girls’s-specific wellness retreat from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2. The retreats will likely be led by consultants in wellness, bodily health, vitamin, behavioral well being, and getting essentially the most out of life. The Longevity and Wellness Retreat will incorporate elective browsing or SUP classes, waterfall hikes and different wellness actions.

“Costa Rica is one among 5 areas of the world the place folks dwell terribly lengthy and vibrant lives. Locals have adopted ‘La Pura Vida’ to explain a easy, pure, optimistic, completely happy, and fulfilling life,” mentioned Chris Lindley, Vail Well being’s chief inhabitants well being officer and government director of behavioral well being. “With an excellent mindset and backdrop, Costa Rica is the proper spot for embarking on a brand new life journey. We wish folks to find their full potential as they immerse themselves on this transformative expertise.”

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Members will take pleasure in each day workshops from consultants together with creator Aaron Naked, Vail Well being’s Dr. Barry Sandler, a wellness and longevity doctor, Lindley, Vail Well being Purposeful Drugs Dr. Eliza Klearman, and Household Nurse Practitioner Kyler Hijmans.

“The partnership between Vail Well being and Surf Synergy brings collectively the most effective of browsing, wellness, vitamin, and purposeful well being, in addition to the newest modern, evidence-based analysis on longevity and what we will do to delay our well being span,” Lindley mentioned.

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Dr. Klearman and Hijmans will lead the ladies’s particular retreat to assist girls uncover tricks to dwell more healthy and extra vibrant lives in addition to join with different like-minded people.

“Surf Synergy’s mannequin is for a transformative surf and wellness expertise for all of our company,” mentioned Surf Synergy co-founder Wealthy Naha. “The Longevity and Wellness Retreats take this expertise to a brand new degree with all of the sources and experience of Vail Well being.”

Surf Synergy just lately opened Casa De Cielo, which accommodates 24 company and has facilities corresponding to an infinity pool, and recreation room.

The retreat is designed for each people and small teams, and members are inspired to deliver associates or members of the family. It’ll embody one-on-one teaching, group classes with thought leaders and a number of evidence-based wellness actions.

Each visitor on the Longevity and Wellness Retreat receives a complete medical diagnostic evaluation and an individually tailor-made program designed to help their long-term optimum well being.

“Longevity isn’t just about residing longer, however about residing higher. It’s about embracing a wholesome way of life and discovering pleasure within the journey,” Lindley mentioned. “In spite of everything, what good is a protracted life if it’s not full of happiness and goal?”

For questions or to order a spot for this 7-night, all-inclusive Longevity and Wellness Retreat, contact Retreats@VailHealth.org or go to VailHealth.org/Companies/Longevity/Retreat. E-book by July 15, 2024, and save $500 {dollars}.

Greece launched a six-day work week for some in a bid to beat what has been known as an financial “ticking time bomb:” the mix of a scarcity of expert employees and a shrinking inhabitants.

As some Canadian corporations discover providing employees a four-day work week, specialists are watching Greece’s transfer intently and counsel it might work right here.

“Probably, it is a good suggestion,” mentioned Mark Colgate, an affiliate dean with the College of Victoria’s Gustavson Faculty of Enterprise.

The Greek authorities’s new laws partially stems from the 2009 debt disaster, which led to tons of of 1000’s of individuals leaving the nation. However Canada is dealing with most of the similar points, based on Colgate.

“Each nation is battling a productiveness subject. I believe Greece and Canada are proper on the high when it comes to two international locations confronted with that subject probably the most. The way you reply to that could be a essential subject. Greece has determined that is how they’ll do it,” he mentioned.

How does it work?

The brand new laws now in impact offers employees the choice of tacking on a sixth day to their work week, or working a further two hours per day. It solely applies to workers who work at personal companies that function 24 hours per day.

Greeks who decide in will probably be paid 40 per cent greater than their normal wage for the additional hours labored.

Colgate says the largest potential downside is employee exploitation, if the non-obligatory additional hours change into extra of an expectation.

“If the employee doesn’t need to work the 48 hours, the employer then says ‘you need to or in any other case I will not rent you, I am going to rent somebody who’s prepared.'”

May it come to Canada?

It is a system already in place at some companies, however might this scheduling possibility be widespread in Canada? The brief reply from Colgate is just not anytime quickly.

“However we’re going to should provide you with inventive options, and that is Greece’s inventive resolution. Although some individuals are pushing again, in the event that they don’t do that, they’re going to change into much less and fewer aggressive as a nation and that’s precisely the difficulty we’re confronted with in Canada proper now too.”

Financial institution of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem lately echoed Colgate’s concern.

“Our Achilles heel is productiveness. We’ve been excellent at rising our financial system by including employees. We’ve been a lot much less profitable at growing output per employee,” Macklem mentioned final month.

“Our message is: if you would like extra non-inflationary progress, we’ll want a concerted dialogue between companies, governments and teachers, civil society on how are we going to get productiveness progress up in Canada.”