Posts in category: Don Lichterman

Segment 1: Steven Esposito, President of Yellowstone Wealth Management in Lake Forest, talks to John about the consumer price data that shows inflation may be retreating, how the market is reacting to the data, and why he’s excited about the future of the market.

Segment 2: Joan E. Solsman, Senior Reporter, CNET, tells John about HBO Max hiking prices, what happened with the FAA outage, Twitter reportedly discussing auctioning off usernames, and Microsoft researchers revealing new text-to-speech AI model called VALL-E that can closely simulate a person’s voice with just a three-second audio sample.

Segment 3: Juliana Kaplan, Labor / Inequality reporter, Business Insider, tells John why the next recession might hit the wealthy more.  

Segment 4: Keith Ogulnick, Show Manager, Discover Boating Chicago Boat Show, talks to John about the return of the beloved Chicago Boat Show after a two year hiatus!

Reality television star Kate Chastain has found her next venture — The Traitors on Peacock. The series features 17 contestants, dubbed the “faithful,” and three deceitful, murderous traitors. And if the faithful fail to identify the traitors by the end of the game, the three of them will steal the cash prize. Read on to learn more about Kate, including if she is a faithful or a traitor.

Kate Chastain appears in ‘The Traitors’ on Peacock

Among The Traitors cast are 10 reality television stars, including Kate Chastain, and 10 people who have never appeared on TV.

By Lulu Brenda Harris for CITE

Environmentalists have urged Zimbabwe’s government to establish competent environmental courts to comprehensively prosecute those who ignite bush fires.

Known as veld fires, they are now common in Zimbabwe, resulting in the loss of lives, property, wildlife, and domestic animals.

Those who start veld fires are currently prosecuted in Magistrates Court under Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007. (Environmental Management [Environmental Impact Assessment and Ecosystem Protection] Regulations 2007).

The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act only criminalises malicious damage to property in Section 140, as arson is no longer a crime, but if someone intentionally sets fire to a property, the criminal code will apply.

On October 10, ten men aged between 20 and 50 died while attempting to put out a veld fire in Esigodini’s Rodrose Farm in Matabeleland South in the south west of Zimbabwe.

Activists urged the country to act swiftly and forcefully to combat environmental crimes such as veld fires.

The Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR), which promotes environmental awareness, dubbed last week’s incident as the ‘10-10-10 Veld Fire Disaster,’ saying it was unfortunate the ten died while defending their environment.

“We pass our sincere condolences to the affected families and wish a speedy recovery to those who sustained injuries. MIHR also takes this time to reiterate the call for urgent and decisive action to be taken,” said MIHR Coordinator, Khumbulani Maphosa in an interview with CITE.

“We specifically recommend that the country needs to consider setting up a competent environmental court that shall be responsible for trying environmental criminals like those who start veld fires.”

Maphosa stated that environmental courts were required since the ‘10-10-10 Veld Fire Disaster’ demonstrated “beyond doubt” the seriousness of environmental crimes to biodiversity loss and human life.

He also said harsher sanctions for environmental crimes such as veld fires and pollution are required in Zimbabwe.

“Stiffer and more exorbitant fines and lengthy jail sentences will act as a deterrent for wanton environmental criminality,” Maphosa said, noting the government needs to set up mechanisms to support local community environmental defenders who risk their lives and limb protecting the environment.

“Specifically, this mechanism should cater for those who get injured, and the families of those who die during environmental defense duty. This mechanism can be set up from the Environmental Fund which is provided to in Section 48 to 54 of the Environmental Management Act.”

According to Section 18 (4a) of the Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007 (Environmental Management [Environmental Impact Assessment and Ecosystem Protection] Regulations 2007) any person who on any land leaves unattended a fire, which he or she with or without authority has lighted or assisted in lighting or used or rekindled or to which he or she had added fuel before such fire fire is extinguished; or 4(b) with or without authority light or assist in lighting, or use or rekindle or add fire to a fire which spreads or causes injury; or 4(c) deliberately fails to extinguish a fire on his property shall be guilty of an offense and liable to a fine not exceeding level 14 per hectare or part thereof or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and imprisonment.

The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry is now working on modifying the Environmental Management Act to address the prosecution of veld fire perpetrators, as well as establishing the National Environmental Action Plan.

MIHR believes that such a system for supporting local environmental defenders should be incorporated into the policies under consideration.

“Veld fires are one of the major serious environmental hazards that affect Zimbabwe to date. It

is estimated that each year Zimbabwe loses an average of 900 000 hectares of land and millions of dollars worth of property to veld fires. The major causes of these veld fires include land clearance, illegal miners, open burning of waste, poaching and sheer criminality,” Maphosa said.

“The Environment Management Agency (EMA) has been instrumental in educating citizens about veld fires and encouraging local citizen agency. The unfortunate ‘10-10-10 veld fire disaster’ is an indication of the effectiveness of the EMA efforts as these beloved environmental champions died volunteering to defend their local environment.”

A traditional leader, Chief Abel Chundu of Hurungwe said there are a lot of veld fires taking place as laws were not punitive enough for culprits.

“There are a lot of people who are dying and some are dying trying to put out fires,” he said,

highlighting that in their traditional courts, they thoroughly dealt with such cases “but we are not seeing justice happening in the Magistrates’ courts.”

Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa, claimed Cabinet has spent much time discussing veld fire effects and what might be done to solve the situation.

She stated that farmers around the country had lost a large number of fields, some of which were planted with wheat.

“As a country, we are proud of the wheat production and we are looking forward to having a good harvest but because of such fires, it is painful that people who perpetrate this arson are people who do so for very petty reasons like those who will be hunting for mice,” she said.

The minister said the Environmental Management Act would have to be looked into and that during the amending process, parliamentarians must make sure the law is restrictive.

“We need to ascertain whether the law is punitive enough so that when people have participated in arson, then they will be deterred by heavy sentences,” said Mutsvangwa.

“I am going to engage the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, (Ziyambi) Ziyambi so that the Act should be looked at. Even the Attorney General should look at the law and the law will be brought to Parliament so that it is reviewed or amended.”

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAID’s VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organization Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Written articles from the Mozambican and Angolan cohorts are translated from Portuguese. Broadcast stories remain in the original language. Read the original story here:

From the perspective of a child in sixth grade, I think that we need more gun control in Virginia. I have been in school and had intruder drills where they would never tell us if it was a drill or there was really an intruder. Once I started to get older and learned more about the world, I have been scared at school, which is supposed to be a safe place to learn. There have been so many school shootings, not even just confined to Virginia. I feel that we should have more security in schools and enforce what we can bring to school. I just hope that we can make school areas feel safe.

Kendall Scott, sixth grader, Hickory Middle School, Chesapeake

Inflation is difficult for many people because our daily needs are very expensive right now. Eighteen eggs can cost $7 or $8, and gas prices are going down a little, but they were really high. Even simple things are expensive right now. Clothes, cars and foods are so expensive that families are struggling to pay rent and having to choose between gas and food. I hope that the government can bring down inflation so people can afford what they need and get back to normal.

Isabella Conzo, sixth grader, Hickory Middle School, Chesapeake

Social media is destroying our country and kids are addicted to their devices. One example is a TikTok challenge going around where kids are destroying bathrooms. Another example is kids are targeted through things like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. Through your social media account, people can get your address, your Social Security number and more if they try hard enough. Kids are also losing the ability to communicate because there is not enough face-to-face talking. Bullies who are on social media can make fun of kids at home too so that could create a rise in suicide.

Liam Rathbone, sixth grader, Hickory Middle School, Chesapeake

Why is it that I, an 11-year-old, know that communism is wrong, but grown adults still think it’s OK? It’s killed 100 million people, wants to abolish private property, and has made people poorer than they would be otherwise.

If I did 10 chores, but my little sister did two chores, and my parents paid us the same as a reward, why would I ever want to complete more chores than my sister did? Communism doesn’t really care what you want to do, or your needs, or our health, or the environment. It only cares about if you do the job you were told to do by the state. Communism also doesn’t let you progress in sciences because it doesn’t allow people to have free ideas. And often, they lie about things science shows us if it makes them look bad. Why do I understand this, but we still have adults trying to make it work?

Damien Adduce, sixth grader, Hickory Middle School, Chesapeake

In most elementary schools throughout the country, recess is a period for students to interact with their peers and get physical activity outside. Schools without recess have students that can’t sit still and are very antsy throughout their classes. I personally think that middle school students should be given recess, even past sixth grade. However, there is a reason they stopped recess in middle school: Students learn well when they are constantly reviewing and processing information.

But is this really an excuse to take out a big part of a kid’s childhood? I’ll let you decide, but I do think recess is an important part of school.

Jay Challa, sixth grader, Hickory Middle School, Chesapeake

If we were to give bus drivers larger wages and better benefits, would it encourage more people to want to become school bus drivers and would this help with them being more punctual and accountable at their jobs? I think that the more bus drivers we have, the smoother the routes will be on a daily basis, and if their salary were higher, it would encourage more people to desire the job.

Some buses take a lot of time to come to the school because they have to drop off the elementary school kids first. If there are more bus drivers, the routes will be shorter and buses can come on time. Another problem is that buses often have to double up their route to substitute for another bus driver, making the route longer and causing students to miss a lot of their class and have to make up their work later. I think that money, stability and a happy work environment are what it will take to fill the positions for school bus drivers.

Isla Horne, sixth grader, Hickory Middle School, Chesapeake

Sixth-grade sports are not fair. People in sixth grade even if they make the team, they are rarely allowed to play. For example, I know somebody who has been on the volleyball team since sixth grade and she is now in eighth grade, and she has never played a single game or a single minute in a game yet. I also know people who are on the football team but didn’t get to play even if they were better than others. I think if you are chosen to play on the team, you have to at least play a little bit.

Garrett Saxon, sixth grader, Hickory Middle School, Chesapeake

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has unveiled its newest online exhibit, “Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues, 1945-1970,” which is available to access for free on the museum’s website.

The multimedia exhibit explores the story of Nashville’s vibrant and pioneering R&B scene and its important role in helping the city become a world-renowned music center. The online exhibit revisits, updates and preserves the museum’s award-winning “Night Train” physical exhibit, which was featured in its 5,000-square-foot temporary gallery space from March 2004 to December 2005.

Hatch Show Print poster announcing Earl Gaines and Jimmy Beck at the New Era Club, c. 1959. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum

“Night Train to Nashville” explores Nashville’s R&B activity in the decades following World War II. As Nashville’s country music industry was just getting started, the city was also a hotbed for R&B in the late 1940s,’50s and ’60s, with celebrated performers including Country Music Hall of Fame member Ray Charles, Arthur Alexander, Ruth Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Etta James and Little Richard, among others contributing to the city’s rich musical heritage. During this time, R&B reigned alongside country in the city’s clubs and studios, on radio and on nationally syndicated television.

The multimedia exhibit showcases historic photos, performance videos and audio recordings, as well as instruments, show posters, stage wear and other rare items featured in the original exhibit.

“The ‘Night Train to Nashville’ story provides important context about how R&B played a vital role in Nashville becoming ‘Music City,’” explains Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “Similar to the original exhibit in 2004, the online version offers a multidimensional vantage point from which to consider the era’s race relations and the city’s Black musical culture, and how they affected the making of this incredible music and Nashville’s evolution. As the city developed into a major recording center, it did so against a background of urban change and at a time when racial barriers were tested and sometimes broken on bandstands, inside recording studios and on the airwaves.”