Articles by admin

No Image

Business September 3, 2019

The Price Of Gold Is At A 6-Year High. But Is It Actually A Good Investment?

The price of gold is at its highest in six years. “Gold bugs” — that is, die-hard gold investors — swear by the commodity as a certain bet. But are they right?



MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The price of gold is at its highest in more than six years. Gold bugs – that is, die-hard gold investors – swear by the commodity as a sure bet. But are they right? Stacey Vanek Smith and Darius Rafieyan of NPR’s The Indicator from Planet Money report from New York.

STACEY VANEK SMITH, BYLINE: The world’s largest gold coin rolled through town all the way from Australia.

DARIUS RAFIEYAN, BYLINE: And it was put on display, like, on a literal pedestal in a little roped-off section in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

VANEK SMITH: This event was basically a gimmick, a big advertisement. It was there to promote investing in gold.

RAFIEYAN: Gold is having quite a moment right now – no question. The price of gold is at a six-year high, and investors from all over the world are jumping into gold.

VANEK SMITH: But why is the price so high right now? And is gold actually a good investment?

RAFIEYAN: The gold coin gimmick was admittedly pretty effective. A little crowd had gathered. They were taking selfies with the coin.

VANEK SMITH: But, you know, there was this one guy in the crowd who kind of stood out.

What does it – what do you feel when you look at it?

KAROL DIBYEC: Honestly, what I feel – I feel I want to steal it.

VANEK SMITH: (Laughter).

RAFIEYAN: Well, this very honest man is Karol Dibyec. He designs and installs kitchens. He lives in New Jersey. And Karol loves gold.

VANEK SMITH: Are you a gold bug?

DIBYEC: Yeah, I am (laughter).

VANEK SMITH: You are?

DIBYEC: (Laughter) Yeah.

VANEK SMITH: Gold bugs – so these are people who invest in gold, but these are not like the same people who invest in stocks and bonds.

RAFIEYAN: No, gold people are passionate about gold. They want to talk about it. They believe in it. For a lot of hardcore gold investors, gold is almost like a religion.

VANEK SMITH: Gold bugs believe that gold has this inherent value, that it is valuable everywhere. So if your country’s economy goes bust and your currency is suddenly worthless, you’re fine if your money is invested in gold.

RAFIEYAN: And this is why during times when people feel uncertain about the future or worried that the economy might go south, a lot of people start gravitating to gold.

VANEK SMITH: So is gold a good investment?

JOSH BROWN: No.

VANEK SMITH: (Laughter).

RAFIEYAN: Josh Brown is the CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and he says that the real appeal of gold is more nostalgic than rational. He says gold did have this golden moment back in the ’70s and ’80s when the economy and inflation were spinning out of control, and gold was this stable safe haven from all the chaos.

VANEK SMITH: Josh says ever since then, gold has had this reputation for being safe and secure, a place you can put your wealth when the economy is looking shaky.

RAFIEYAN: But Josh says when you actually look at the numbers, the data, this doesn’t really track.

BROWN: Gold is below the level it traded at in the early 1980s – almost 44 years ago – on an inflation-adjusted basis. Everything outperformed it. I mean, stocks versus gold over the last four decades – it’s embarrassing. It’s not even worth discussing.

RAFIEYAN: And this moment right now could be gold’s last real hurrah. Josh’s gold is getting a little outdated. A lot of younger investors who want an independent, government-free store of wealth now tend to gravitate not to gold but to cryptocurrency, like bitcoin.

VANEK SMITH: And Josh says you hear a lot of the same arguments and that same kind of extreme zeal that you used to hear from gold bugs now from crypto investors.

RAFIEYAN: Cryptocurrency – it’s still a relatively small market. But Josh says he thinks more and more, it will play the role for a certain stripe of investor that gold once did.

Darius Rafieyan.

VANEK SMITH: Stacey Vanek Smith, NPR News.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Health September 3, 2019

When Employer Demands Clash With Health Care Obligations

NPR’s Steve Inskeep talks to Paul Spiegel, one of several doctors at Johns Hopkins University arguing that physicians who work in immigration detention centers could be violating the Hippocratic Oath.



STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Many people know a physician’s Hippocratic oath. It’s often summarized by the phrase first, do no harm. But what about when patients are detainees in U.S. immigration centers? A group of doctors is asking if it is ethical for doctors to agree to serve in those detention centers. Paul Spiegel of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health wrote about this in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

What is wrong with a physician thinking about going into an immigration detention facility to administer to children?

PAUL SPIEGEL: Nothing. In fact, I think it’s very important and a worthwhile endeavor to do so. The issue is rather more will a physician be able to fulfill his or her Hippocratic oath by having the independence to be able to provide the standard of care that is accepted and recommended.

INSKEEP: Why wouldn’t they have independence?

SPIEGEL: Well, there’s something called dual loyalty where the loyalty for the physician is first and foremost to the patient, but a physician, unless they’re working independently, is also working for an organization. And in this case, we have to look at, for the Department of Homeland Security, will they allow – will their decisions and the managers allow the clinicians to be able to provide the latest standard of care?

INSKEEP: Can you give me an example in which the concerns of the Department of Homeland Security would override a physician’s independent judgment of what’s best for a patient?

SPIEGEL: So we’ve seen in some detention facilities hygiene has been not acceptable in terms the provision of soap, water and sanitation. And the latest, of course, is concerns that some children have died from influenza. And then recently the Customs and Border Patrol has said that they will not provide influenza vaccines to people in their detention facilities.

INSKEEP: So there may be circumstances of very short-term detention under proper conditions that would seem fine to you, but there are many other circumstances you think doctors should have nothing to do with.

SPIEGEL: Correct, or doctors need to be able to speak out when they see something is not being handled properly. And so it’s why we’re also calling for an external committee to document what the standards are and then to be able to make their findings public.

INSKEEP: Suppose that an individual doctor is subscribing to your advice, wants to keep their Hippocratic Oath and the conditions just don’t exist. And the choice is either I as a doctor go in and do what help I can or I just stay away. Would you tell me to stay away?

SPIEGEL: Yes – very difficult situation. There needs to be some care. And so I don’t think we’re advocating to say unless health care professionals can fulfill their Hippocratic oath that they should all walk out and therefore no care should be delivered. We are hoping that Congress will ensure that there are changes so that doctors can work independently in those situation and ensure that the standards are being met.

INSKEEP: Did you as a physician lose any sleep while trying to think through this problem?

SPIEGEL: (Laughter) Because of my background of working in places in the Rwandan genocide and in Syria, it’s not something new for us to think through. But it’s been a little bit more disturbing to see these issues occur in the United States.

INSKEEP: Paul Spiegel of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Spiegel, thanks so much.

SPIEGEL: Thank you very much, Steve.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Sports September 3, 2019

Tennis Action At The U.S. Open Continues To Thrill Crowds

The excitement is building in New York as the U.S. Open moves closer to the championship matches. ESPN analyst and six-time Grand Slam champion Rennae Stubbs has been watching courtside.



RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

OK. Now let’s check in on the U.S. Open in New York. ESPN analyst and six-time Grand Slam champion Rennae Stubbs has been sitting courtside. She knows a good tournament when she sees one.

RENNAE STUBBS: Oh, it’s been incredible. I think that the women have really been quite the story here at the U.S. Open obviously and Serena Williams still in the tournament.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STUBBS: Serena Williams is back in a U.S. Open quarter final.

MARTIN: So Serena Williams is still in. Coco Gauff, though, the other U.S. star, is out. Her run at the U.S. Open ended yesterday. But Rennae Stubbs says it’s only the beginning for the athlete.

STUBBS: She’s 15 years of age. So when you think about that and you think that Serena’s at the tender age of – what is she? – 37 now, we’re going to see – hopefully see Coco Guaff around for a very long time.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Coco, Coco, Coco.

MARTIN: And then there is the player fans root against. Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has become the so-called villain of the tournament. His over-the-top showmanship has drawn plenty of boos.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Basking in the boos.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: You guys being against me, you gave me so much energy to win. Thank you.

STUBBS: You know, he’s actually a really funny guy, and he’s a tremendous player. But I think he kind of thrives on this, loves the drama, and I think he’s a great character.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: What a performer this guy is.

STUBBS: It’s been a fantastic U.S. Open for everybody.

MARTIN: ESPN analyst and six-time Grand Slam champion Rennae Stubbs. The U.S. Open runs through next Sunday.

(SOUNDBITE OF LUSINE’S “LUCKY”)

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Business September 2, 2019

New Import Taxes Underscore China’s Role As Growing U.S. Food Supplier

The Trump administration leveled new tariffs this weekend on more than $100 billion worth of imports from China, including chocolate, sweet biscuits and chewing gum.



AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The Trump administration imposed new tariffs this weekend on more than a hundred billion dollars’ worth of Chinese imports. The targets include chocolate, sweet biscuits and chewing gum. The import taxes highlight the evolution in the kind of products China sells to the world. NPR’s Scott Horsley reports on America’s growing appetite for food from China.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Maybe it’s no surprise that China exported $89 million worth of green and black tea to the United States last year. But apple juice – yeah, almost $300 million worth. The U.S. also imported nearly $400 million worth of frozen tilapia from China. And in case the fish was a little bland, we also bought $43 million worth of Chinese garlic.

Agricultural economist David Ortega of Michigan State University says China has grown into the third-biggest supplier of foreign food to the U.S., behind Canada and Mexico. So when the trade war turns into a food fight, the indigestion cuts both ways.

DAVID ORTEGA: It’s not just American farmers that are missing opportunities to send products to China, but then we also have farmers in China whose livelihood depend on products coming here. And likewise, we have, you know, consumers on both ends that are being affected in terms of prices from these tariffs.

HORSLEY: Much of the food the U.S. buys from China requires labor-intensive processing, giving the country’s low-wage workers an advantage. China’s emergence as factory to the world is well-known, but its growing importance as farmer and fishmonger gets less attention.

Tony Corbo, who’s with the environmental group Food & Water Watch, says it’s easy to overlook the Chinese peas and spinach in the frozen food aisle or that river of Chinese apple juice.

TONY CORBO: Not only are you talking about the juice itself as a commodity, but apple juice is used as a sweetener in all sorts of other foods.

HORSLEY: China’s still recovering from a series of food safety scandals more than a decade ago involving tainted baby formula, toothpaste and pet food.

Darci Vetter, who was the chief agriculture negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative, says since then, the country has imposed more rigorous oversight.

DARCI VETTER: China has tried to respond by really upgrading its food safety laws and changing its food safety regime. That’s still something that’s a high priority for them.

HORSLEY: Many Americans are still wary, though. During the George W. Bush administration, the U.S. opened the door to cooked and processed chicken from China but only if the birds themselves were raised in the U.S., Canada or Chile. Corbo says only one shipment ever made that circuitous journey.

CORBO: Why did the chicken cross the Pacific twice? It was – 110 pounds was exported to the United States, but that’s been it because it caused such a big controversy at the time.

HORSLEY: Gavin Gibbons of the National Fisheries Institute says a lot of tilapia makes the opposite journey, raised on a fish farm in China but exported to be cut and packaged in this country.

GAVIN GIBBONS: That’s something that fuels jobs here in the U.S. It’s facilities in Minnesota and Pennsylvania and Ohio and Illinois that do that.

HORSLEY: Gibbons says by relying on farm-raised fish from China, Midwestern processing plants can operate year-round without overfishing here at home. But fish imported from China is already subject to a 25% tariff, and that’s set to go to 30% next month. Gibbons says that makes it hard to compete with domestic chicken, beef and pork for Americans’ dinner plates.

GIBBONS: When it comes to seafood and tariffs, you know, we are really collateral damage in this trade war, and we get hit coming and going.

HORSLEY: America’s lobster fishermen have already been feeling the pain of China’s retaliatory tariffs for more than a year now.

Darci Vetter, the former trade negotiator, worries much like the food safety scandals of a decade ago, the trade war will do long-lasting damage in both China and the U.S., leaving a bad taste in consumers’ mouths that no amount of imported chewing gum will take away.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE SHINS SONG, “PINK BULLETS”)

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Sports September 2, 2019

Tennis’ Display Of Sportsmanship Catches Attention Of Sports World

Naomi Osaka defeated Coco Gauff in the third round at the U.S. Open, but it was their display of sportsmanship after the tennis match that caught the attention of the sports world.



AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Over the weekend, sports fans were given a treat by two of the rising stars of women’s tennis. Twenty-one-year-old Naomi Osaka faced 15-year-old Coco Gauff in the third round at the U.S. Open.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Another aggressive return, and Osaka breaks again. It’s 4-2.

CHANG: And while the number-one ranked player in the world, Osaka, beat Gauff in straight sets, it was the post-match consoling between the two players that has everyone feeling the love. Here’s what Gauff told ESPN right after her loss.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

COCO GAUFF: She told me that I did amazing, and good luck. And then she asked if I could do the on-court interview with her, and I said no because I know I was going to cry the whole time, but she encouraged me to do it.

CHANG: Now, typically, the post-match on-court interviews are left for the winning player, but as Soraya McDonald, a writer for The Undefeated, put it…

SORAYA MCDONALD, BYLINE: Part of what you saw in that moment, aside from this just beautiful sportsmanship and empathy and compassion, was also a recognition of what it is like to be a black woman in a sport where you’re still very much an outsider.

CHANG: McDonald says that very sentiment was reflected when it was Osaka’s turn to speak. She pointed at Gauff’s parents in the stands.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NAOMI OSAKA: I remember I used to see you guys training in the same place as us, and for me, like, the fact that both of us made it and we’re both still working as hard as we can – I think it’s incredible, and I think you guys are amazing. I think, Coco, you’re amazing.

CHANG: It was on that very court in Arthur Ashe Stadium that Osaka won her first Grand Slam last year amidst a booing crowd. McDonald called this year’s gesture the moment when, quote, “black girl magic” became black girl solidarity.

MCDONALD: It basically lets everyone know, you know, on national television that there’s no animosity between them. They’re here for each other, and I think that that shows an amazing amount of grace.

CHANG: And if you’re wondering if Naomi Osaka will have a chance to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles, well, she was upset this afternoon. But it does seem the future of American tennis is in good hands.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Sports September 1, 2019

Astros Ace Justin Verlander Throws 3rd No-Hitter Of His Career

Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander celebrates after throwing a no hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays, marking his third career no-hitter.

USA Today Sports/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters


hide caption

toggle caption

USA Today Sports/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander lifted both his arms aloft then bent to his knees with the clenched fists of a victorious warrior before his teammates thronged him from all sides.

Verlander was not just not marking any old win. The right-hander tossed a no-hitter Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

It is his third career no-hitter, putting Verlander among an elite group of just six other major league pitchers with three or more no-hitters under their belt. It’s a group that includes Cy Young, the namesake for the award that goes to the best pitcher each year in the American and National Leagues.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know that the list of guys who have thrown three instead of two gets pretty small — some of the guys I’ve idolized,” Verlander said after the game. “It’s a special moment. I’m so happy to be able to celebrate this with my teammates.”

Verlander, 36, struck out 14 and allowed just one base runner after walking Cavan Biggio in the first inning.

Propelled by Verlander’s blazing fastball, the Astros topped the Blue Jays 2-0.

His last no-hitter was also against Toronto, in 2011, when he was throwing for the Detroit Tigers.

He now has the bragging rights to becoming the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter twice against a team in its own stadium.

While Verlander now joins a small cadre of pitchers who have hurled three or more no-hitters, the top record-holder belongs to Nolan Ryan, who completed seven career no-hitters.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Health September 1, 2019

Report: Hundreds Of Florida Nursing Homes Fall Short Of Post-Irma Regulations

NPR’s Michel Martin talks with reporter Elizabeth Koh about how Florida nursing facilities are preparing — or not — for intense hurricanes.



MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now staying here in Florida, residents may be spared a direct hit from Dorian, but forecasters say dangerous storm surges, hurricane-force winds and power outages are still expected. For Floridians, the memory of Hurricane Irma two years ago is still fresh, in part because at least 84 people in the state died as a result of the storm. Twelve of those deaths occurred at a nursing home in Hollywood, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale after the storm knocked out power to the facility’s air conditioning system. On Tuesday, four employees of the center were charged with aggravated manslaughter in connection with those deaths.

That tragedy raises the question of whether the state is better prepared today, especially in caring for vulnerable residents. A Miami Herald report found that hundreds of nursing homes do not meet new requirements put in place since Hurricane Irma. Miami Herald reporter Elizabeth Koh is with us now from Tallahassee to tell us more.

Elizabeth, thanks so much for joining us.

ELIZABETH KOH: Thanks for inviting me.

MARTIN: So, Elizabeth, has the state taken steps since Hurricane Irma to ensure that facilities like nursing homes can continue to care for residents in the event of a major hurricane? Are they ready?

KOH: The biggest thing that the state did after Irma was to pass regulations last year shortly after the storm hit to say that nursing homes and assisted living facilities needed backup power, specifically for their air conditioning, which is where the Hollywood Hills nursing facility failed. The regulations call for additional fuel storage in addition to powerful generators that can keep those temperature facilities running. And that was supposed to go into implementation at the beginning of last year’s hurricane season.

MARTIN: Last year’s hurricane season – so did it? I mean, are these facilities ready?

KOH: Hundreds of facilities needed more time. They cited delays with local governments that required additional permits, backlogs and contractors, difficulty getting the equipment installed. When we’re talking about large nursing home facilities, we’re talking about some pretty powerful, substantial generators that need concrete pads to sit on, things like that. So the state gave them an extension until the end of the year.

MARTIN: So do you have a sense of whether the staff at these facilities and the families of the residents – do they feel prepared for the storm?

KOH: That’s something that the state is trying to check. Unfortunately, as we learned in Irma, that’s something that can be difficult to determine with full certainty. The Hollywood Hills nursing facility, as we discussed, is a facility that had a generator on the premises. It just didn’t power their air conditioning. It had an emergency plan, like a lot of nursing home facilities have now. But that was a plan that wasn’t very thoroughly vetted by county officials.

So the question of how safe nursing home facilities actually are – that’s something that we’re seeing local officials do site checks and calls to see if they can establish generator statuses at various facilities and ensure the safety of residents. But if you are concerned about a family member who is at a facility, it’s worth calling and checking and asking how they’re preparing for this storm.

MARTIN: Are there any other lessons that the states learned from the tragedy that occurred in Hollywood Hills? Is there any – are there any other steps that they’re taking to give the public confidence that something like this won’t happen again?

KOH: They’ve put out a new website – it’s fl-generator.com – that gives the public an opportunity to look at what kind of generator status is on file with the state – whether they have a permanently installed generator, whether it’s a temporary generator on site, off site. So that’s a resource for the public.

The state has also promised that they will do spot checks after the storm to make sure that facilities that have gotten generators have those generators up and running. We’ve been told that the state has stockpiled additional generators in case some of those generators fail so that they have backups. And we’re told that the Department of Health is also helping with that, too – the State Department of Health.

MARTIN: That was Miami Herald reporter Elizabeth Koh joining us from WFSU in Tallahassee, Fla.

Elizabeth, thanks so much for joining us, and thanks for your reporting.

KOH: Thank you very much.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Business September 1, 2019

Facebook’s New Requirements For Political Ads

NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with Dipayan Ghosh, a fellow at Harvard University, about Facebook’s new political ad requirements.



MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Facebook’s credibility has been called into question ever since the company admitted that its platform was used as part of disinformation campaigns during the 2016 elections. Lawmakers threatened regulations, none came. And in the years that followed, the companies struggled to regain trust with the public as other abuses of the platform have come to light. Last week, Facebook announced a new set of requirements for any group or company that wants to target users with political ads on its site.

Here to talk more about that is Dipayan Ghosh. He is co-director of the Technology and Democracy Project at the Shorenstein Center. That’s at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Ghosh previously worked at Facebook on issues of global privacy and public policy design. Dipayan, thanks so much for joining us.

DIPAYAN GHOSH: Of course. Thanks for having me.

MARTIN: Could you just start by telling us what we mean by a Facebook ad? Like, what do these political ads look like now, and what will they look like after these new requirements are implemented? I guess what I’m asking is, how will I know if I’m looking at a political ad on Facebook?

GHOSH: Well, that’s one of the criticisms that people have laid on this announcement, which is that we’re not really going to see. As users of Facebook, we’re likely not going to see much change on the front end of seeing the apps that we interact with on Facebook’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Instead, these changes are more on the back end for Facebook to help verify that the people putting ads out are legitimate political actors.

MARTIN: So to whom is this being disclosed? Is this being disclosed through Facebook? Is this being disclosed to the viewer on the site? How will we know?

GHOSH: Well, it seems like things are slightly unclear still, but what we have heard from the company is that the company is going to move toward a more rigorous verification system. Before – or, in fact, currently what the company is doing is if you’re a political operator, a political advertiser and you want to push an ad on Facebook or Instagram or one of its platforms, what you’ve got to do is essentially just let Facebook know that you’re a political advertiser, a political organization. And you’ve just got to register that with Facebook and register your name and your location.

What Facebook is additionally going to ask for now is, in addition to your street address and contact information, a tax ID number or a Federal Election Commission identification number or some kind of a governmental identification that can help the company verify that you are a political organization. That’s the main change that’s happening on the back end to help the company sort out whether or not you’re a political organization trying to advertise or you’re an illegitimate actor that’s trying to push a political ad.

MARTIN: And why is that? Again, just for people who – I mean, maybe this is obvious – but why does Facebook remain such an attractive place for political campaigns?

GHOSH: So much attention is moving toward Facebook and other digital platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Google. So many millions of dollars are spent to push political ads on these platforms. The eyeballs of society, particularly of young people in society who are coming into voting age are on Internet platforms. They’re not – they’re increasingly less and less on broadcast and radio. Additionally, what what political advertisers have realized is that they can start using these platforms in potentially interesting ways.

They can slice and dice different audience segments, meaning different classes of a constituent population and target them with incisive political advertising that triggers what those constituents believe or attempts to trigger an emotional response in ways that you can’t do on broadcast or radio because you’ve got to advertise to the entire constituent population, not just a targeted segment of it. And this, in fact, is exactly the tool that the Russian disinformation operators used in 2016 and which caused all the problems that we’ve seen in the aftermath of Cambridge Analytica.

MARTIN: So, you know, given all that, given, you know, everything that we just talked about, some have called on Facebook to ban political ads altogether. What’s your opinion about that?

GHOSH: I think it’s very clear that companies should discontinue political advertising until and unless it can show that it can operate political advertising in a way that protects our democracy. To the extent that we lack transparency into the interactions that we have with political ads and the company remains unaccountable to mistakes that it makes, we should absolutely discontinue political advertising on Facebook. Now, the company can correct those problems, and if it can, then I think it can come back. But for the time being, we’ve seen too many mistakes to allow for another 2016 to happen.

MARTIN: That’s Dipayan Ghosh. He is a fellow at the Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School. He’s the co-director of the Technology and Democracy Project there. Mr. Ghosh, thank you so much for talking to us.

GHOSH: Thanks so much, Michel.

MARTIN: And we do want to mention that Facebook is among NPR’s financial supporters.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Business August 31, 2019

A Blind Man Fulfills Mission To Make Legos Accessible For Visually Impaired

Lego announced a new program for downloadable audio and Braille instruction sets for the visually-impaired. One blind Lego enthusiast brought his passion project for accessibility to fruition.



MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A few months ago, we told you a story about a special project by Lego, the Danish toy company that makes all those plastic bricks. Lego decided to make Braille bricks to make it easier for visually impaired people to have fun with them. We have an update. This week, Lego released new audio and Braille instruction manuals for some of their sets. They’re available to download from their website. The sets can be used through the computer or with different devices to interpret them. The idea came from Matthew Shifrin, a 22-year-old Lego enthusiast from Massachusetts who is blind.

MATTHEW SHIFRIN: Find one dark green 2-by-6 brick. Put it knob side down vertically on the table. Then find three black 2-by-2 plates with side connectors and put these plates knob side down on top and starting from the back.

MARTIN: That is Shifrin reading from the new set of Braille instructions. And here’s what the computer audio version sounds like.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Next, we will build the escape car with flames. Find one black wagon bottom 4-by-10 with four side connectors. Put it…

MARTIN: Shifrin was instrumental in pushing the company to take this step. He’s been building with Legos since he was 5 with the help of family and friends. But as a kid, he couldn’t do it on his own because he couldn’t see the graphics-based instructions.

SHIFRIN: I just built what I could, just kind of making things up.

MARTIN: That changed on Shifrin’s 13th birthday thanks to a family friend named Lilya Finkel.

SHIFRIN: Lilya came over, and with her, she brought this big cardboard box and those big, fat binders, thick as a textbook. And in this big, fat box was an 843-piece Middle Eastern Lego palace. And the binder that she brought it had hand-Brailled instructions that she’d typed up on a Braille typewriter.

MARTIN: Shifrin says it was a game-changer for him.

SHIFRIN: For me, building a Lego set independently before this was about as likely as driving a car. And suddenly there it was. I could build these sets on my own. I realized that blind kids deserve this.

MARTIN: Shifrin and Finkel created more sets and launched a website to share them with others. But they couldn’t keep up with the requests for more. Then Finkel was diagnosed with cancer, and the pair realized they needed help to take the idea further. So they reached out to Lego. Eventually the Danish company was interested and expanded on the original concept to include audio instructions.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Open the box. This can be tricky for everyone.

MARTIN: This week’s release of the new audio and Braille instructions was a bittersweet moment for Matthew Shifrin, though. His family friend and partner in this project, Lilya Finkel, has since passed away. But Shifrin says her passion and creativity live on with a Lego project to be shared with others.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Sports August 31, 2019

Saturday Sports: Andrew Luck, Tyler Skaggs

A tragic death and a surprise retirement are shaking faith in football while upstarts are playing legends in tennis. NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with ESPN’s Michele Steele.



SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And now it’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: And not a happy week in sports. Andrew Luck retired from the NFL at the age of 29, saying he just can’t take the pain. And an autopsy revealed that the Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died of an overdose of dangerous drugs, including opioids and also alcohol. He was just 27.

We’re joined this week by Michele Steele of ESPN from Chicago. Thanks so much for being with us, Michele.

MICHELE STEELE: You bet, Scott.

SIMON: This is a heartbreaking story. The LA Times revealed the autopsy yesterday. The families hired an attorney to try and find out how he got those drugs. He did not seem to be dealing with any injuries that might drive him to legally prescribed painkillers – let me put it that way, though.

STEELE: Yeah, Scott. What a tragic story. You know, Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, you mentioned, just 27. He was on a road trip on – with the team. He was found in his hotel unconscious on July 1. And the coroner’s report that was just released says that they found alcohol, oxycodone and fentanyl in his system when he died. Those are some really powerful painkillers. You know, you mentioned injuries, he was healthy this season.

SIMON: Yeah.

STEELE: He had just pitched a couple days before, but he has had injuries throughout his career. And the Skaggs family released a statement just last night saying they were shocked to learn about the circumstances of his death and that it, quote, “may involve an employee of the Los Angeles Angels.” Now they’ve hired a pretty big attorney.

SIMON: Yeah.

STEELE: The police are investigating as well. Now the league is coming in. They’re planning their own investigation. And, Scott, the team, they’re not commenting.

SIMON: I want to ask you about what I’ll refer to as the aftershocks of Andrew Luck’s announcement he was retiring from pro football and the Indianapolis Colts. What do you make of yackers on sports radio or even some retired players who criticized him for making that decision?

STEELE: Oh, boy. You know, what a week for the hot take industry, so to speak. He was called soft, too much of a millennial primarily by what I’ll call opportunistic sports hosts. You know, Andrew Luck is a guy who reads books literally about concrete. He has a flip phone. There may be reasons to criticize him, but being a millennial certainly isn’t one of them. He’s got $100 million in career earnings. He just doesn’t want to be hit anymore. Let’s let him live his life.

SIMON: Yeah, I was very moved by what Rob Gronkowski said. Obviously – I think you covered him – right? – when you covered the New England Patriots.

STEELE: Yeah, yeah. You, know I was there for three years – 2013 to 2016 in New England. I covered him during that very eventful time. And if I could describe his persona, it would be really like a fun, slobbery golden retriever. And to see him this week, you know, talking about his football life and to be brought to tears talking about his career – he retired, by the way, this year at age 30 – not being able to sleep the night of the Super Bowl, it made me feel sad. So, you know, I’m happy that he’s working on being kind of a fun, happy guy again.

SIMON: You know, I’ve got to ask you – put you in a difficult position as a sports reporter – the more we learn more about disabling and even brain-obliterating injuries in football, is it going to be harder to get people to play, and for that matter, harder to get Americans to watch?

STEELE: Yeah, that is a great question and an existential one for the NFL. You would think it might be harder to watch. But last year was actually a great ratings year for the NFL. The league is talking about expanding the season maybe to 18 games. And even Gronk said this week he knew what he was signing up for. So I think players being self-aware certainly matters – matters to fans, matters to reporters. But we might see players go more the route of Andrew Luck and Rob Gronkowski and decide to sort of pack it in earlier than they would have maybe in prior eras.

SIMON: Fifteen seconds left, match of the day at U.S. Open?

STEELE: Oh, no question, 15-year-old Coco Gauff taking on U.S. Open defending champ Naomi Osaka. These are two women who came of age after Serena and Venus went pro. Serena called them the future of tennis. She’s going to be watching. I’m going to be watching, too. How about you, Scott?

SIMON: Oh, yeah, have to. Michele Steele of ESPN, thanks so much.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)