Business resource center in Palo Alto

August 10, 2020

Summer Streets continues with partial closure of Ramona St, starting August 7

compiled by the El Reportero staff

The Summer Streets program is designed to be a nimble and flexible initiative to evolve with the public health emergency and support both our community and local businesses.

Our Business Assistance Center has up to date information for businesses that continue to operate and for those businesses that are closed and experiencing hardship during the shelter in place order. If you are a restaurant or retail business that would like to provide outdoor dining or shopping experiences, please learn more on our Summer Streets for Business page.

Thought Leaders: Stanford’s eCorner Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series features Kevin Weil, VP of Product at Novi Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 4:30 p.m. Join virtually as they bring founders, investors, and industry influencers to center stage and invite them to share what it takes to become a disruptor.

Grants for Artists and Cultural Practitioners: The California Relief Fund for Artists and Cultural Practitioners is distributing $920,000 from the CAC’s general fund in the form of $1,000 grants to help artists and cultural practitioners (including fine and performing artists, teaching artists, culture bearers, and maker-based sole or collective creative entrepreneurs) who comprise the various and diverse cultural communities of the state of California. The application cycle closes Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 3 p.m.

Coffee & Community: Join the Renaissance Women’s Business Center for “Coffee & Community,” a space for entrepreneurs to share stories of resiliency, strength, and support during these challenging times. Be prepared for an interactive morning with fellow entrepreneurs and the Renaissance team. Bring a cup of coffee or tea, and join the group on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Best of the fest season finale – Michael Franti, Los Lobos, and more

Headline One-Hour Special Broadcast On KPIX-TV

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 29, 2020)—Stern Grove Festival celebrates the conclusion of their 83rd season with a one-hour special featuring exclusive, newly-recorded performances from Michael Franti, Los Lobos, Ben Gibbard, Bebel Gilberto, Fantastic Negrito featuring Tarriona “Tank” Ball, ALO and Con Brio. The Best of the Fest finale, hosted by TV and radio personality and season emcee Liam Mayclem,

The Festival created Best of the Fest in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the moratorium on large gatherings. The nine-week series of video playlists, featuring performances and historic footage from its archives, began on Sunday, June 14, and has garnered a significant audience on KPIX-TV and its sister station KBCW 44/Cable 12.

It will be televised on KPIX-TV/CBS on Sunday, Aug. 16 at 4 p.m., and simultaneously on the Festival’s Facebook page, where Mayclem will host a Watch Party.

Some SF libraries expected to start servicing its clients

The City Librarian, Michael Lambert, is planning the first reopening of the Main Library and the Excelsior Branch to curbside service a local news source reported.

Named SFPL To Go, the program will allow pick up and return of pre-ordered books and materials. The exact dates of reopening will be announced soon and we will let you know the details at once. Please continue to check our home page at FriendsSFPL.org.

Save the Dates: D1, D7, & D11 Board of Supervisors Candidate Forums

Save the dates for our upcoming D1, D7, & D11 San Francisco Board of Supervisors Candidate Forums. In our LWVSF hosted online forums, candidates for Board of Supervisors will answer questions submitted in advance about issues important to San Francisco voters:

– District 1: Thursday, September 17, 7-8:30 p.m.

– District 7: Wednesday, September 23, 7-8:30 p.m.

– District 11: Wednesday, September 30, 7-8:30 p.m.

– Registration is required; Zoom details will be emailed prior to the forum. Please register and share with your friends, family, colleagues, and online communities by forwarding this email or sharing the event on Facebook! Register here: https://lwvsf.org/candidate-information.

Cuban regime wants to take rapper Maykel Osorbo custody of his daughter

August 10, 2020

by the El Reportero‘s news services

The threat to opponents of depriving them of parental authority over their children has been a common practice of the political police for many years, but it has rarely been carried out, says a report by ADN Cuba.

An Interior Ministry official threatened rapper Maykel Osorbo and his partner Rosmelis Hernández to strip them of the custody of their 4-year-old daughter, Jade de la Caridad.

Hernández was summoned to the Old Havana police station, located at the intersection of Cuba and Chacón streets, to alert her to the education she is providing her little girl.

“I was not allowed to enter the interview, even though I was the girl’s father. However, I could see that there were many State Security agents inside the police unit, ”the rapper told Radio Televisión Martí.

“Rosmelis was received by a Major [of the Department] of Minors of Old Havana who told her about the upbringing that we are giving to our daughter. They told her that the girl is starting school in the next academic year (…), that we are not teaching her the real concepts of the Revolution and that this was going to create a disorder in her behavior.

“And that is why, at any time, they could take away the custody of the girl, who will analyze whether the state is raising her or her grandmother is raising, which they will determine,” said the rapper.

A day earlier, the same unit had been summoned to the same unit by Felicia Hernández, Rosmelis’s mother, to order her to expel Osorbo from her home, because, according to what they alleged, he is “an anti-social element.”

Film by Cuban Edesio Alejandro wins new award

Jul 29 – The film Mambo Man, by Cuban musician Edesio Alejandro and British-Iranian film-maker Mo Fini, received today a new award after being chosen as the Best Feature Film of the season at Best Global Shorts festival.

With this prize this film increased to 15 the awards won, including Best Director and Best Fiction Film at the Festigious International Film Festival; Best Feature Film at the Florence Film Awards; and Best Foreign Film at the Moody Crab Film in India.

‘And today we reached 15 awards, […], I am very happy, congratulations to all my Mambo Man team, these awards belong to us all, […], all of you are indispensable, thanks to all,’ Edesio Alejandro wrote on Facebook

This independent film, shot in locations of the eastern region of Cuba, was produced by Tumi Music, a British company that has recorded Cuban traditional musicians for years.

The film is starred by renowned Cuban actor Héctor Noas, with the special feature of musicians Cándido Fabré, María Ochoa, Arturo Jorge, David Álvarez, and Julio Montoro.

Selena tribute during Premios Juventud 2020

Premios Juventud 2020 is officially 10 days away and today (Aug. 3), Billboard exclusively reveals more exciting news.

As part of the forthcoming 17th annual awards show, Univision announced that a special segment, honoring 25 years of Selena Quintanilla’s music and legacy, will air during the star-studded event.

Her brother and producer of her biggest hits, A.B. Quintanilla III, as well as Karol G, Natti Natasha, Danna Paola, Ally Brooke and Greeicy, will participate in the motivating special.

“For me being part of this special was a real honor. She is a woman that after all these years, and everything that has happened, is a legend. I never hard the chance to meet her while she was here but she is an icon, an icon that lasts a lifetime,” Greeicy tells Billboard.

“How amazing is it that she has inspired so many with her music. It was very challenging for me to create the energy and portray her flavors of cumbia. It was a beautifully difficult challenge and it was very special because I learned from her music and I’m going to keep enjoying it with respect and I hope to honor her. To have the privilege to prepare this special with her brother, who knew her, lived with her, and spent her life with her, is very special. It was a hard challenge for me because I felt like I was speaking directly to her. The special is going to be really great, it was beautiful to be able to create it with him, he was wonderful to work with,” she adds.

Is racism responsible for today’s Black problems?

August 10, 2020

by Walter E. Williams

I doubt whether any American would defend the police treatment of George Floyd that led to his death. But many Americans are supporting some of the responses to Floyd’s death — rioting, looting, wanton property destruction, assaults on police and other kinds of mayhem by both whites and blacks.

The pretense is that police conduct stands as the root of black problems. According to the NAACP, from 1882-1968, there were 3,446 black people lynched at the hands of whites. Today, being murdered by whites or policemen should be the least of black worries. In recent times, there is an average of 9,252 black-on-black murders every year. Over the past 35 years, that translates into nearly 324,000 blacks murdered at the hands of other blacks. Only a tiny percentage of blacks are killed by police.

For example, in Chicago this year, there were 414 homicides, with a total of 2,078 people shot. So far in 2020, three people have been killed by police and four were shot. Manhattan Institute scholar Heather Mac Donald reports that “a police officer is 18 1/2 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a police officer.” Crime is a major problem for many black communities, but how much of it can be attributed to causes such as institutional racism, systemic racism and white privilege?

The most devastating problem is the very weak black family structure. Less than a third of black children live in two-parent households and illegitimacy stands at 75 percent. The “legacy of slavery” is often blamed. Such an explanation turns out to be sheer nonsense when one examines black history. Even during slavery, where marriage was forbidden, most black children lived in biological two-parent families.

Professor Herbert G. Gutman’s research in “The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom 1750-1925” found that in three-fourths of 19th-century slave families, all the children had the same mother and father. In New York City, in 1925, 85 percent of black households were two-parent. In fact, “Five in six children under the age of six lived with both parents.” During slavery and as late as 1920, a black teenage girl raising a child without a man present was a rarity.

An 1880 study of family structure in Philadelphia shows that three-quarters of all black families were nuclear families. There were only slight differences in family structure between racial groups. The percentages of nuclear families were: black (75.2 percent), Irish (82.2 percent), German (84.5 percent) and native white Americans (73.1 percent). Only one-quarter of black families were female-headed. Female-headed families among Irish, German and native white Americans averaged 11 percent. According to the 1938 Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, only 11 percent of black children and 3 percent of white children were born to unwed mothers.

As Thomas Sowell reported: “Going back a hundred years, when blacks were just one generation out of slavery, we find that census data of that era showed that a slightly higher percentage of black adults had married than white adults. This fact remained true in every census from 1890 to 1940.”

The absence of a father in the home predisposes children, especially boys, to academic failure, criminal behavior and economic hardship, not to mention an intergenerational repeating of handicaps. If today’s weak family structure is a legacy of slavery, then the people who make such a claim must tell us how it has managed to skip nearly five generations to have an effect.

There are problems such as grossly poor education, economic stagnation and poverty that impact the black community heavily.

I would like someone to explain how tearing down statues of Christopher Columbus, Thomas Jefferson and Confederate generals help the black cause. Destruction of symbols of American history might help relieve the frustrations of all those white college students and their professors frustrated by the 2016 election of President Donald Trump. Problems that black people face give white leftists cover for their anti-American agenda.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

Rejoice! The Agora is growing!

August 10, 2020

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear readers:

Did you know that if you don’t follow the state’s orders to obey everything they say – during this so-called epidemic, regardless of whether it goes against your own freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and God, you are working against the state economy? So you are a criminal in thought, as described by investigative journalist James Corbett, in the following article, which I hope you fully enjoy and learn something new from it. – Marvin Ramírez

by James Corbett

August 1, 2020

Have you entered a store without the mandated mask affixed to your face?

Visited a friend in violation of a lockdown order?

Frequented a New York bar that didn’t offer “substantive” food to go with your beer?

Congratulations! You’re a thought criminal!

And here’s the best part: There are more thought criminals being born every day!

What am I talking about? The counter-economy, that’s what!

As you’ll no doubt remember from my previous writing on the subject, counter-economics is not what the Pentagon does to cook its books each year. No, it’s both an idea and a practice that was pioneered by Samuel Edward Konkin III, everyone’s second favourite Canadian emigre anarchist.

In An Agorist Primer, Konkin explains that “All (non-coercive) human action committed in defiance of the State constitutes the Counter-Economy.” That’s a deceptively simple definition, so let’s tease out some of the nuance here:

“Non-coercive” is important because murder, theft, assault, fraud, extortion and other forms of coercion are not part of the counter-economy, but, as Konkin notes, are simply “other forms of statism.”
“Human action” is important because, as Konkin was at pains to stress, counter-economics is not a dry, dusty theory to be discussed in a philosophy classroom, but an idea that can only be realized in practice.
And “in defiance of the State” is important because the purpose of counter-economics is to undermine, and, eventually, shrink the state out of existence.

So, you walk into a store without a mask in defiance of your city’s ordinances? Congratulations! You’re a practicing counter-economist.

You pay a barber under the table to cut your hair despite lockdown orders to the contrary? Congratulations! You’re a practicing counter-economist.

You’re a business owner who fails to implement the government-mandated physical distancing and disinfection standards in your workplace? Congratulations! You’re a practicing counter-economist.

Now, this idea could be extended to the point of inanity. Yes, you could technically be a counter-economist if you drive 51 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, but such action is less likely to be an attempt to undermine the authority of the state and more likely to be an attempt to get to a dental appointment on time.

A key part of counter-economics is that this “human action committed in defiance of the state” is consciously directed action. Its purpose is to defy the state, or to carve out a space for people to interact and transact with each other in ways that defy the state’s edicts. This space—the truly free market, unfettered by concern for the state and its mandates—is the agora. Derived from the Greek word for the marketplace, the agora is the space where counter-economic activity flourishes. (But you already knew that, right?)

As Konkin puts it: “The goal is living in the agora and the path is expanding Counter-Economics.”

It should now be apparent how applicable these ideas are to our current situation.

Take the recent demonstration in Berlin. Depending on which source you rely on, there were thousands or hundreds of thousands of Germans that just took to the streets of Berlin to protest the stifling coronavirus restrictions in their country. But this wasn’t just a protest, it was human action in defiance of the state. Note well: These Germans didn’t protest these restrictions by writing scholarly papers on the situation or starting an online petition. They physically took to the streets in defiance of the very orders they were opposing. That is counter-economics in action.

Or take the recent action by Defending Utah, a liberty-minded organization based in Utah. To protest local face mask ordinances they began a regular Thursday event whereby interested members would be texted the location of a particular grocery store and a particular time. At the appointed time, members of the group would all enter the store without masks. They can’t be stopped on their way in because there are simply too many of them, and they can’t be ignored by the establishment mouthpiece media, who have to resort to smearing them instead. That is counter-economics in action.

There are plenty of other examples. Like the Texas salon owner who cut hair in defiance of lockdown orders and who chose jail time rather than make a court-ordered statement that she was wrong and selfish. Or the New Jersey businessmen who were thrown in jail for refusing to shut down their gym despite statewide shutdown orders.

You see? This whole COVID-1984 phenomenon is giving plenty of otherwise ordinary, obedient tax cattle the chance to become counter-economists. It is growing the agora.

But it needs to be restated: All of these counter-economic activities that are happening as a natural response to the lockdowns and restrictions mean nothing if they are not consciously directed counter-economic activity. If people are not aware of the importance of their decisions, if they don’t understand why we must expand the agora and broaden popular support for unsanctioned activities, then they will be easily led back into the system at the first convenient on-ramp.

If the state slackens the rules here or creates some leeway there, then people will—as usual—take the path of least resistance.

“Sure, we could form trading communities outside of the purview of the state. We could begin building up alternative currencies, supporting local businesses, disconnecting ourselves from the Big Brother enslavement grid . . . but that seems like a lot of work. And what if we get caught? What if we face resistance? What if we get a bad social credit score! No, much safer to just sign up for our new Digital Dollar account with the Fed and receive our monthly UBI payment. Of course, it means we’ll have to roll up our sleeve for the coronavirus vaccine and keep our COVI-PASS app up to date, but what’s the harm in that? At least we’ll be taken care of!”

It’s impossible to argue that the counter-economic path is going to be an easy one, because it’s not. But for those who care about human freedom, it’s the only path. And, as the technology of control available to the state increases in sophistication—from brain chips to 5G to gene editing—the agorist path becomes even more important. It is not exaggeration to say that there will be no humanity as we’ve known it by the end of this century if the would-be societal controllers get their way.

The choice of whether or not we grow the agora is quickly becoming an existential one.

In the end that choice is ours to make, but we better make it quickly. Are we counter-economists committed to growing the agora and ending the state? Or are we merely tax cattle to be slaughtered when the state deems us to be sufficiently fattened?

Need more potassium? Here are 9 potassium-rich foods to add to your diet

August 10, 2020

by Virgilio Marin

Potassium is important for many bodily functions. The essential mineral, for instance, plays a vital role in muscle contraction. Multiple studies have also found that consuming more potassium can lower a person’s risk of stroke.

But if the body has low levels of potassium, it can lead to hypokalemia, a condition marked by muscle cramps, weakness and irregular heartbeat.

Nine excellent dietary sources of potassium

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends eating 4.7 grams of potassium a day for adults. Knowing which foods are great sources of potassium is a must to get your fill for the day. It’s a well-known fact that bananas are rich in potassium, but here are some other potassium-rich foods to spark up your palate.

1. Potatoes

A medium-sized potato contains about 941 mg of potassium, which is twice as much than a medium-sized banana’s 422 mg. In fact, sweet, red and white potatoes are all excellent sources of potassium.

Baking is the best way to prepare potatoes but leave the skin on, as it contains much of their potassium content. Wash the vegetables properly before cooking.

French fries, despite being made with potatoes, aren’t a healthy source of the mineral. They are fried, so they have added fat from the oil. Furthermore, they are typically peppered with salt, which can offset the benefits of potassium.

2. Leafy greens

Swiss chard, amaranth leaves and cooked spinach are particularly packed with potassium. A cup of each provides more than 800 to 900 mg of the mineral. Furthermore, leafy greens have additional benefits on the brain. A study found that a serving a day of leafy greens may slow age-related cognitive decline. (Related: Ten reasons why leafy greens are the power players on any plate.)

3. Prune juice

Prune juice is packed with with 707 mg of potassium. And because it is also rich in fiber, prunes, or dried plums, can also be used to relieve constipation.

4. Tomato puree, juice and paste

Tomatoes can also offer potassium in addition to lycopene. Tomato puree, juice and paste are more concentrated than the fresh fruit, and are used in several recipes. Tomato paste, in particular, contains 669 mg of potassium per 1/4 cup.

5. Dried apricots and raisins

These two dried fruits are not only delicious but also high in potassium. Dried apricots have more than 1,000 mg of potassium per half a cup, and raisins have 618 mg for the same serving. These two fruits abound in the market, but the healthiest ones are those with no added sugar, coatings or other ingredients.

6. Beans

Many beans offer potassium, but three of the best sources are adzuki beans, kidney beans and soybeans. They also contain a good amount of fiber, making them beneficial for gut health.

7. Lentils

Lentils are a small, round legume with a lot of fiber and protein. And a cup of cooked lentils also has 731 mg of potassium.

Lentils can be bought fresh or in a can. While canned lentils can still offer the mineral, consider rinsing them properly to get rid of the sodium. (Related: Heart-healthy lentil salad: Easy to make and nutrient-dense.)

8. Fruit juices

Fruits are known for being nutrient-dense, meaning they pack in a host of vitamins, minerals and powerful compounds. The following fruit juices, in particular, are high in potassium:

Passionfruit juice: 687 mg

Pomegranate juice: 533 mg

Fresh orange juice: 496 mg

Fresh tangerine juice: 440 mg

9. Milk and yogurt

Dairy products are best known as a calcium-rich food. But they also offer other nutrients such as potassium. In fact, studies suggest that milk is the number one source of potassium among American adults. That’s because a cup of milk has about 366 mg of the mineral. Meanwhile, a cup of plain non-fat yogurt has as much as 579 mg.

Tea and coffee also offer potassium but in lower amounts. Adding creamers or milk, however, can boost their potassium content.

As the list demonstrates, bananas are not the only sources of potassium. A lot of foods also provide the nutrient, aside from the many more vitamins and minerals they each have to offer. Consider increasing your palate diversity. Not only will variety make for a scrumptious meal, but it also gives a wide array of health benefits.

Get to know more healthy foods and the nutrients they offer at Nutrients.news.

Sources include:

COVID-19: How to return to school in the midst of the pandemic?

August 9, 2020

Experts assure that the most vulnerable students must be cared for before implementing formulas that increase the digital divide. School districts are being forced to reopen without any guidance from the federal government

by Jenny Manrique

In East Orosi, a community of about 200 families in the Central Valley of California, children have been thinking for 10 years that water comes naturally from a bottle. There they depend on the distribution of the precious bottled liquid for bathing, cooking and other cleaning uses. They do not know what drinking water coming out from a tap is (even if they pay for the service), much less what is broadband internet access.

These brutal inequities are the main challenge when thinking of a safe and equal model to return to school this semester, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Eddie Valero, supervisor of District 4 of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors in California, which covers East Orosi, it is impossible to think about distance learning with equity if you don’t start by looking at what communities, mostly Latino and traditionally neglected, they need.

“We must model our classes with the most struggling students as a priority in these poor and underserved neighborhoods. And from there, look up to those who have the most access,” said Valero, who spoke at a press conference organized via zoom by Ethnic Media Services.

The supervisor said that in the communities he serves there are no community centers where children can go to study, and that many already had learning deficiencies before the pandemic. In these places, access to smartphones, computers, or private tutors is a mere illusion. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), there are 11 million children in the country who do not have access to laptops or the internet at home.

“We must continue to pressure our legislators at both the state and federal levels on ways to rectify our mistakes … We need to reimagine what the schools of the future will be like.”

Valero was optimistic with two bills currently in the Senate and Assembly in California that could have a massive impact on equitable access to technology, one of the main pillars of distance education.

One is Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry’s AB-570, which would authorize schools to ask the Department of Education for the necessary computing devices and Internet connectivity suitable for home learning, prioritizing the poorest neighborhoods.

The other is Senator Lena González’s SB1130, which seeks that the Public Services Commission approve funds for infrastructure projects that allow all households considered to be “high poverty” no later than December 2024 to have access to band internet. Wide at speeds of a minimum of 25 megabytes per second.

The Cutler-Orosi School District – also in the Valero jurisdiction – began by distributing Chromebooks and Ipads to all students in grades kindergarten through 12. And it is the intention of the Supervisor to involve county libraries and the Department of Parks and Recreation “In the search for solutions to use our libraries and parks more effectively in times of social distancing.”

Districts forced to improvise

The problems of the so-called digital divide were compounded by the pandemic. Most schools were not prepared to give teachers real guidance on how to use technology or effective forms of instruction for children to study from home. That’s not counting homeless children, those with learning disabilities or those who live in crowded homes where there is no space to study or concentrate.

Although in those situations, parents would like children to return to their traditional educational space, “we are asking districts to reopen (schools) without any guidance or security for staff,” said Pedro Noguera, dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California (USC).

“Teacher unions have announced that they will go on strike if forced to work in unsafe conditions … in the absence of federal and state leadership, districts are improvising on their own how to return to school,” said Noguera, who He recalled that in countries like Israel, the early opening of schools has caused the outbreak of the virus.

“We have to put pressure on technology giants like Facebook and Amazon, which have accumulated huge profits during the pandemic … they have a moral responsibility to assist technologically disadvantaged families,” added Noguera.

Three models of back to school have been discussed in the United States: online teaching in its entirety; a hybrid model that allows a percentage of the school population to be brought to the classroom at a safe distance of 6 feet some days of the week, while the rest remain at home; and the return to school without any additional protocol, that is to say as it was done in the past.

“At the beginning of this process (March-April) there were many states in the south of the country, such as Flori-da Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, Texas, that wanted to do things normally without social distance or masks,” said Dan Domenech, executive director of the Association of Superintendents of Schools, (AASA in English).

“But infection rates have dramatically changed their stance … We have strongly pushed for guidelines from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), but the (Donald Trump) administration believes these principles are contrary to its main objective which is to open the economy”, added Domenech.

AASA has calculated how much it would cost the country to partially reopen schools with sanitation protocols in school spaces, special protection equipment (PPE) for teachers and staff, and bus routes that allow minimizing the number of children in the vehicles. He concluded that this cost is $490 per student, which is why he is asking Congress to approve a budget of $ 200 billion.

“The solution is for the federal government to put the money in, but since it’s going into recession in the summer now, it’s impossible to know when those funds will be available,” said Domenech.

(This article was cut due to lack of space).

Mexico begins distance learning via in year 2020-21

August 9, 2020

by the El Reportero‘s wire services

MEXICO, Aug 3- Mexico begins, on Aug. 4, the 2020-2021 school year at a distance because it lacks the conditions to do so in person due to the Covid-19 pandemic, announced Monday the Secretary of Education, Esteban Moctezuma.

At the morning press conference at the National Palace of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the head of Education said that the pandemic requires extraordinary efforts because the risk to health remains high due to the persistence of SARS-CoV-2.

Reality forces us, he said, to be patient and prudent, otherwise it could happen to us as it did to other countries that opened schools and had to close them almost immediately.

In Mexico we will only return to the classroom when the epidemiological lights are green, and that is a government decision.

He said that in this situation they are obliged to look for alternatives, design methods and models so that students continue to access education in spite of adversity and that it is possible for teachers and students to advance in learning.

It is not, he clarified, a replacement for the traditional school, but rather an adaptation to the circumstances imposed by life, and teachers have taken advantage of the time to follow the learning process and train themselves to successfully face this circumstance.

Moctezuma announced that millions of students will have the electronic means to follow their classes through this distance route in which public and private television and radio stations, as well as other digital media, will collaborate.

Chile says goodbye to plastic bags

SANTIAGO, Chile, Aug 3 – As a great victory to preserve the environment, groups defending nature consider that the use of plastic bags in all Chilean businesses will be banned as of Monday.

The law banning the use of plastic bags came into force in 2019, but in a first stage it was established to suppress them in large shopping centers and supermarkets, while as of Monday, all establishments in the country, regardless of size, will have to abide by it.

Greenpeace Chile spokesperson Soledad Acuña stated, ‘this is a first progress against the plastic pandemic that reveals that eliminating unnecessary plastic items is possible.’

Chile is the first country in Latin America to totally eliminate plastic bags, but at the same time it is first in the continent in the generation of plastic waste per inhabitant, according to Greenpeace data.

The presence of plastic wastes in the oceans is a rapidly growing problem. It is estimated that in 2020, the global production of plastics will exceed 500 million tons per year, which would be 900 percent more than in 1980, Acuña said.

16-day-old baby recovers from coronavirus in Sonora

The infant spent two weeks in intensive care

A baby who was born infected with the coronavirus has recovered 16 days after her birth. The infant was reunited with her mother on Wednesday after 14 days in intensive care at the Children’s Hospital in Hermosillo, Sonora.

The child’s mother, identified only as Sandra, was admitted to Women’s Hospital in Hermosillo on July 12 with high blood pressure. After a medical review, doctors decided to perform a cesarean section the following day.

After Marian was born on July 13, she was diagnosed with respiratory complications and was suspected of being a carrier of the coronavirus. Testing for the virus came back positive.

After the birth, Sandra’s blood showed low oxygen levels so she was transferred to Sonora’s General Hospital where she was tested for the coronavirus. Those results, too, came back positive.

After two weeks in intensive care, Marian was discharged completely healthy, said Dr. Erika Martínez, head of the Children’s Hospital’s neonatal department and was allowed to go home with her parents.

Tadeo, Marian’s father, thanked the hospital’s staff for the care given his daughter.

“Thank you very much to all of you, to the nurses, doctors and social workers who were caring for our daughter,” he said. “And to the people who do not believe in this disease, you can see that it is real, and you should take precautionary measures. Wash your hands and practice social distancing, even with family. ”

Source: El Universal (sp).

Learn steps to prepare for next disaster on your mobile

August 9, 2020

by Sunita Sohrabji

EMS contributing editor

SAN FRANCISCO — Listos California—a disaster preparedness campaign based in the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services – has launched a new program aimed to help the state’s most vulnerable populations to ready themselves for sudden disasters.

Responding to the rapidly-increasing propensity of wildfires and floods, the California state Legislature last August passed AB 72, a $50 million initiative designed to help the state’s residents prepare for natural disasters. The program was initially known as the California for All Emergency Preparedness Campaign, and is now called Listos California.

Listos means “ready” in Spanish.

During a briefing with reporters July 23, organized by Ethnic Media Services, Karen Baker, co-chair of Listos California, announced the campaign’s newest initiative, a text message program which allows users to take a safety preparedness course on their cell phones.

Users can text 72345 on their mobile phones, and add listosca in the message. An auto reply asks the user to choose from a drop-down list of several languages. Once enrolled in the program, the user immediately receives a text with a graphic of five basic safety preparedness measures. Over the course of one week, text messages provide more details on preparing for wildfires, earthquakes, and floods.

“People know they need to be prepared, but are scared or think it’s too expensive or time consuming,” said Baker. “So our challenge from the get-go has been to create products and partnerships that can make it affordable, easy, and actually empowering.”

“We care deeply that outreach will reach people where they are,” said Baker, noting that this is the first time any state has used text messaging to train and educate the general public. The course is free and available in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean and Hmong.

Listos California is focused on particularly vulnerable people who may have limited access to information because of language barriers, physical and cognitive disabilities, social isolation, and age. The program has identified 24 regions across the state which are most vulnerable, and has partnered with more than 200 community organizations — including faith-based services — and ethnic media to spread its message of safety preparedness in multiple languages.

The program is implemented through the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and is chaired jointly by Baker and Justin Knighten.

“Now more than ever, it’s about survival and making sure that people have the information that they need to create a baseline of preparedness,” said Knighten. “Diverse populations have always been a priority,” he added.

Several community partner groups attended the briefing to speak of their work in the field. Speakers shared their efforts of meeting people at grocery stores, food pantries, and places of worship to spread the message about disaster preparedness and to share in-language information.

As the COVID pandemic began to hit the state in early March, Listos restructured its focus: 20 percent of the campaign’s budget went into outreach efforts to vulnerable communities, with advice on simple steps to keep safe during the crisis, including hand-washing, wearing masks, and social distancing.

“COVID has left no one untouched. Pivoting the campaign in real time was so important,” said Tina Curry, deputy director at the California Office of Emergency Services. “But even in the midst of COVID-19, we have to get ready for fire hazards.”

Maricela Rodríguez, Director of civic engagement and strategic partnerships in California Governor’s office, said helping to change behavior is a lot of what the Listos COVID campaign is focused on.

Basic disaster safety preparedness includes:

getting alerts to know what to do
making a plan to protect your family, which includes an evacuation route on a paper map, as cell phone connectivity might not be possible
packing a “to go” bag with copies of identification, insurance documents, cash in small bills, wallet, and cell phone chargers
making a “stay at home” box with at least three gallons of water per person, canned goods, and trash bags
helping friends and neighbors to also get ready

Additional resources can be found at listoscalifornia.org

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Other tips for preparedness – from the Red Cross

Include common emergency scenarios when you plan

Plan for the emergencies that are most likely to happen where you live
Be familiar with natural disaster risks in your community.
Consider how you will respond to emergencies that can happen anywhere, such as home fires and floods.
Consider how you will respond to emergencies that are unique to your region, such as volcanoes, tsunamis or tornadoes.
Think about emergencies that may require your family to shelter in place (such as a winter storm), vs. emergencies that may require evacuation (such as a hurricane).
Consult our emergency resource libraryfor tips on preparing for, responding to, and recovering from specific disasters.

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Pack an emergency preparedness kit

Drinking water (at least one gallon per person per day)
Nonperishable food, such as canned veggies and protein bars.
Manual can opener.
Flashlights or portable lanterns and extra batteries.
First aid kit.
A crank- or battery-powered radio.

Best of the fest season finale – Michael Franti, Los Lobos, and more

August 9, 2020

Headline One-Hour Special Broadcast On KPIX-TV

Compiled by the El Reportero‘s staff

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 29, 2020)—Stern Grove Festival celebrates the conclusion of their 83rd season with a one-hour special featuring exclusive, newly-recorded performances from Michael Franti, Los Lobos, Ben Gibbard, Bebel Gilberto, Fantastic Negrito featuring Tarriona “Tank” Ball, ALO and Con Brio. The Best of the Fest finale, hosted by TV and radio personality and season emcee Liam Mayclem,

The Festival created Best of the Fest in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the moratorium on large gatherings. The nine-week series of video playlists, featuring performances and historic footage from its archives, began on Sunday, June 14, and has garnered a significant audience on KPIX-TV and its sister station KBCW 44/Cable 12.

It will be televised on KPIX-TV/CBS on Sunday, Aug. 16 at 4 p.m., and simultaneously on the Festival’s Facebook page, where Mayclem will host a Watch Party.

Some SF libraries expected to start servicing its clients

The City Librarian, Michael Lambert, is planning the first reopening of the Main Library and the Excelsior Branch to curbside service a local news source reported.

Named SFPL To Go, the program will allow pick up and return of pre-ordered books and materials. The exact dates of reopening will be announced soon and we will let you know the details at once. Please continue to check our home page at FriendsSFPL.org.

Better Lives, Bitter Lies podcast premieres

Must Forging Better Lives Always Be Entwined With Facing Bitter Lies?

Join Park Guides as they discuss destiny-shaping ideas that defined the SF Bay Area

San Francisco, CA – San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is proud to announce the new podcast Better Lives, Bitter Lies. This fun and educational audio series, is created and hosted by park guides Anne Monk and Sabrina Oliveros.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, all manner of ships sailed into San Francisco Bay, bringing people drawn by the promise of a better life. For many of these newcomers, seeking new lives meant living with ideas – created about their destination, their destinies, and themselves – that shaped both their personal histories and the history of San Francisco’s waterfront. Better Lives, Bitter Lies examines several of these ideas, using San Francisco Bay Area points of interest as springboards for lively, enlightening discussions.

Beginning with the first episode, Chrysopylae – which reviews popular beliefs about the naming of the Golden Gate Bridge – Monk and Oliveros use historical documents, firsthand accounts, literature, music, and conversations with experts to examine how these ideas took the form of myth, mistruth, propaganda, or outright falsehood.

A new episode will appear every two weeks on the Park’s podcast page: https://www.nps.gov/safr/learn/photosmultimedia/podcasts.htm

Future episodes will include Gold Mountain, Paper Children, Daughters of Joy, A Deadly Trade, Little Brown Brothers, and a feature on the multifaceted stories carried by the park’s iconic square-rigged cargo ship, Balclutha. Check the park’s website and social media channels for future releases!

Will premiere on the Park’s website (https://www.nps.gov/safr/learn/photosmultimedia/podcasts.htm) on Tuesday, July 14, 2020.

SF Boys Chorus brings classes online

For Potential Remote Learners Bay Area Counties: Auditions for the San Francisco Boys Chorus online classes are ongoing. Classes will be conducted online starting after Labor Day.

Boys under 7 are not required to audition and will be automatically accepted into the exploratory music program. Older boys must set up an audition before classes begin. To sign up and learn more visit www.sfbc.org/auditions.

The City Council is holding a virtual Special City Council meeting on Monday evening, July 13, 2020 at 7 p.m. A highlight of some of the major policy items is below.

Public Hearings to Consider:

An Urgency Ordinance approving text amendments to Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) requirements in the Zoning Ordinance and other miscellaneous updates, including permitted ADU types allowed, side and rear setbacks, height for detached ADUs, and to comply with State law.

Some SF libraries expected to start servicing its clients

August 9, 2020

Compiled by the El Reportero‘s staff

The City Librarian, Michael Lambert, is planning the first reopening of the Main Library and the Excelsior Branch to curbside service a local news source reported.

Named SFPL To Go, the program will allow pick up and return of pre-ordered books and materials. The exact dates of reopening will be announced soon and we will let you know the details at once. Please continue to check our home page at FriendsSFPL.org.

Better Lives, Bitter Lies podcast premieres