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After years of binge drinking, ANTONIA HOYLE didn’t touch a drop for two years. So what made her reach for a glass again? The answer will surprise you…

Sabir Ansary — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 09:29:20 +0000

Handing back the clementine tart to my dinner party hostess, I tell her I want a bigger slice. Hardly polite behaviour, especially as I’ve just told her that when we first met, I thought she was a b***h. But after six glasses of wine, I don’t care.

Alcohol has freed me from my responsibilities as a friend, mother, daughter and wife so that I’m guffawing at my own wisecracks, impervious to the feelings of others. In my drunken parallel world, I am attractive, I am witty, I am charming… but my husband Chris looks confused as I make heart shapes across the table at him with my fingers like a teenager.

Six hours later, I am staring into my bloodshot eyes as I rest my forehead against the cool glass of my bathroom mirror. Reminded of the last time I had a hangover of this magnitude, back in December 2021, I am overcome with a familiar sense of shame and nausea.

Antonia Hoyle began her period of sobriety at the start of 2022. But in January this year she became a drinker again…

For more than two years, not so much as a drop of alcohol touched my lips. After nearly three decades of regular, enthusiastic and at times heavy drinking, I credited sobriety with newfound clarity, increased confidence and a stable mood.

The more I learned about the damage alcohol does physically, psychologically and societally, the more determined I was to avoid it. And I’d found it easier than I’d thought.

Having embarked on a new sober life at the start of 2022, I lasted until January 20 this year, when, after 750 alcohol-free days, I became a drinker again. I have drunk six times since then, to varying degrees, of which last weekend’s display was by far the most extreme — a deliberate, if destructive, attempt to see if I still enjoyed the sensation of getting drunk.

I didn’t make the decision to drink again lightly. Most of us are aware of the dangers of alcohol, but I’d reached the disappointing conclusion that it seemed integral to my social life and sense of belonging. Unlike so many other sober people I admire, in a society still obsessed with alcohol, I am too weak to go against the grain.

On top of that, increasingly sobriety had come to feel like another form of perfectionism, a way of proving my worth, a stick to beat myself with — less an achievement than a millstone around my neck. The longer I abstained, the further I had to fall from the pedestal on which I’d put myself. I knew drinking again would trigger complex feelings of guilt and relief, shame and liberation, but I was intrigued to see whether it would prove worth it in the long run.

For much of my adult life, alcohol has been part of my identity, turning me into ‘fun Toni’ at parties and helping me switch off after a stressful day.

Two pregnancies and five Dry Januarys notwithstanding, I had drunk alcohol every week since I was a teenager. I could stop at one glass, but usually wanted more.

As a mother of two children, now aged 13 and 11, I saw wine as an essential antidote to the hard graft of parenting — often drinking half a bottle after a hard day. During lockdown, my drinking increased to the extent that I even taught my then 11-year-old daughter how to make my daiquiris.

Antonia enjoying a drink in her 20s. For much of her adult life alcohol was part of her identity, turning her into ‘fun Toni’ at parties and helping her switch off after a stressful day, she writes

Antonia at university. During Dry January in 2022 she signed up for online sobriety school Monument, which teaches that alcohol is the culprit rather than the person drinking it

I drank more than the recommended 14 units a week, but, I reassured myself, no more than many fortysomething women. Though aspects of my drinking were problematic I did not, as far as every popular metric around drinking was concerned, have a problem.

Increasingly, however, hangovers left me racked with anxiety over what I might have said or done wrong. After a particularly boozy Christmas in 2021, I wondered if life would feel easier without alcohol.

Halfway through Dry January 2022, I decided to quit for longer, signing up to Monument, an online sobriety school. Unlike AA, which maintains alcoholism is a disease that can never be cured, Monument believes alcohol abuse is a spectrum and that alcohol — addictive to everyone — is the culprit, rather than the person drinking it.

As months passed, I saw alcohol in an increasingly sinister light. Yes, much of my drinking had seemed harmless, but it had also been behind every traumatic event in my life: from fracturing my wrist as a student to getting sacked from my first job during work drinks. It had also stopped me developing healthy coping strategies for difficult situations. Meeting new friends or dating? The easy, instant solution became drink.

Yet stopping was easier than I expected, even at events — birthdays, a wedding, two funerals — where our instinctive reaction is often to drink.

Sober, I read voraciously, my productivity soared and my skin glowed. I felt braver, kinder, capable of making small talk at parties without the social lubrication of alcohol.

My husband, who has always been a moderate drinker who can take or leave alcohol, was pleased — he’d always thought I was happier not drinking — and my children happy they had more of my attention.

Yet privately, a part of me also felt embarrassed. I hadn’t hit rock bottom, crashed my car or streaked naked while drunk. I was just a midlife mum who liked wine a bit too much. Was stopping drinking entirely a tad melodramatic? An attention-seeking ploy?

My friends, most of them enthusiastic drinkers, were supportive but surprised by my all-or-nothing drinking strategy. Yet as an all-or-nothing person, I was convinced if I had one glass, I’d want another — and I’d soon be back to a life where weekends without wine seemed inconceivable.

I marked a year alcohol-free with mixed emotions — making a big deal out of it felt fraudulent.

Towards the end of last year Antonia admitted to herself that she missed drinking, saying she lacked alcohol’s licence for stupidity and relief in a serious adult world

To stay motivated, I knew I needed further goals to aspire to. Yet, slowly, my good intentions unravelled.

I signed up to a novel-writing course but dropped out halfway through. I couldn’t conquer the wine-avoiding chocolate habit that had seen me gain half a stone. Meanwhile, my social media use soared as I tried to get the missing dopamine hit from likes and comments. Instead, constantly comparing myself to others made me feel anxious and depleted.

In short, sobriety no longer seemed transformational — after gaining in confidence during the first year, the benefits had plateaued and I began to feel bored.

Towards the end of last year, I admitted to myself I missed drinking. Not for its stress-relieving properties — I’d learned that if you simply sit with difficult emotions, they will pass. What I lacked was alcohol’s licence for stupidity and relief in a serious adult world.

Nobody had treated me like an outsider but, increasingly, I felt like one.

Sobriety influencers suggest we ditch heavy-drinking friends and seek support networks among non-drinkers. But I loved my friends, and at 45 had neither the time nor energy to find new ones.

I struggled to shake a gnawing sense of otherness: on the sidelines of my son’s football match as parents anticipated their lunchtime pint; at the mulled wine table outside the school Christingle service; and when a friend’s face dropped when she realised the bottle of Prosecco I’d turned up with was non-alcoholic.

So in early January, ahead of a reunion, I told my three university friends that I would be drinking. They said they loved me drunk or sober but jumped to get a second bottle of Prosecco when I arrived.

Chris was apprehensive. He had supported me more than anyone in my decision not to drink. But my heart hammered with excitement and trepidation.

I expected the Prosecco to taste disgusting — as alcohol does to a teenager — but the bubbles sparkled deliciously on my tongue. I felt overwhelmed and tearful that, at least, I had finally made my decision.

A few sips later and I felt a familiar sense of giddiness. I had planned to stop after one glass — a new ground rule, along with not drinking at home or in response to stress. But the detachment from being slightly drunk, and delight at being with friends, rendered rules ridiculous. I drank another glass and a half of white wine over lunch.

For a few hours, I felt blissfully removed from the outside world. It was only as the effects wore off that I wondered what alcohol actually contributed to the occasion. An illusion of joy, undoubtedly. But were my conversations more meaningful as a result? Was my laughter more heartfelt?

I expected the Prosecco to taste disgusting — as alcohol does to a teenager — but the bubbles sparkled deliciously on my tongue

I wasn’t sure.

My husband was relieved I seemed lucid on my return. But I woke at 5am with a dry mouth and sense of unidentified panic — a reaction to the alcohol, undoubtedly, but perhaps guilt at starting drinking again, too.

I’d forgotten how deeply unpleasant I am with a hangover. Groggy and irritated, I snapped at my daughter for making a mess icing cakes and couldn’t muster enthusiasm for my son’s football match. The children didn’t say anything, but I felt a terrible mother.

Alcohol can be detected on the breath for up to 14 hours after a drink, but I believe it affected me for the rest of the week.

Seven days later, friends were incredulous when I said I was still too hungover to drink again. While the effects may have been psychological, research shows that after a long period of abstinence, our functional tolerance (the ability to withstand impairments such as slurred speech) and metabolic tolerance (the rate at which the liver eliminates alcohol from the body) reduces.

My children had been so proud of me for not drinking that I was too ashamed to tell them I’d started again. They found out a fortnight later, through my daughter’s friend, after I wrote about it on Instagram. Yet I was surprised by their mostly sympathetic reaction.

‘I just don’t think after two years you’re going to get drunk any more,’ my daughter reassured me — and I realised she might be right. It was the permission I had given myself to drink, more than the drink itself, that I had found liberating.

It was nearly a month before I drank again at a pub with friends. As soon as the Sauvignon Blanc hit my empty stomach, my inhibitions were lowered, conversations seemed less guarded, more intimate… and, in truth, more fun. When my glass was finished (we were all driving), I felt a tangible sense of loss.

One glass, I realised, would probably never feel enough. Yet it was enough to make me wake at 5am, feeling miserable. I also believe alcohol made me more emotional and less resilient that week. I flew off the handle when Chris forgot to get the firewood and cried during an episode of Friends.

I wondered if, for moderate drinkers, a long period of abstinence could act as a circuit-breaker — rewiring the brain to consume less. If so, it was a huge relief I appeared to be one of them.

Yet even drinking a glass or two sporadically over a period of weeks, I noticed my skin looked more lined, spots appeared around my nose and chin, and my sleep, even on nights I wasn’t drinking, was disrupted. To assuage my guilt, I exercised harder, braved howling gales to run when injury allowed and spent 45 minutes instead of 30 on my exercise bike. I turned down crisps to compensate for the calories in wine and ate less chocolate. I lost 5lb, but it was a pyrrhic victory.

But I was also curious to know if the sense of abandon being drunk once provided, and that I used to crave, still held the same appeal. Hence this weekend’s dinner party. ‘I might start swearing,’ I warned the other guests.

‘I haven’t seen drunk Toni for so long,’ one friend said excitedly; another told me I was ‘sparkling’. Though I wanted my sober self to be enough, I was quietly thrilled by the compliment.

My memories began to blur after four glasses of champagne, and by 9pm, when I had moved on to Sancerre, I was slurring my words. My husband says I’m more interesting sober, ‘because you’re repeating yourself endlessly when drunk’. Nevertheless, I was overcome with affection for him — hence the out-of-character hearts across the table.

The freedom from the pandemonium of my midlife thoughts — work, children, chores, repeat — is welcome.

Of course, it comes at a cost. By the taxi ride home I was hiccupping, and I woke with a jolt at 4.27am, with a sense of self-loathing that lingered 48 hours on.

As I type, I’m wondering whether my behaviour towards my hostess warrants an apology, and vow not to get that drunk again.

‘So, was it worth it?’ a fellow guest WhatsApps me.

To which I say, I just don’t know. While I don’t think I’ll ever get that drunk again, an all-out ban isn’t on the cards either. A life of total sobriety no longer appeals.

The post After years of binge drinking, ANTONIA HOYLE didn’t touch a drop for two years. So what made her reach for a glass again? The answer will surprise you… appeared first on USMAIL24.COM.

Ten years ago, their first Mother’s Day portrait was greeted with nothing but warmth. With this doctored photo spawning a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories, we ask 20 questions Palace should answer to put an end to the frenzied gossip about THAT photo

Sabir Ansary — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 10:17:54 +0000

What enormous changes can happen in ten years.

In 2014, Kate and William released their first Mother’s Day photo.

Our report, printed on the front page of The Mail on Sunday, described the image as ‘a tender, natural and intimate portrait… never before has a royal portrait beckoned to an audience with the same promise of effortless informality’.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as they then were, were taken by an award-winning photographer at a window of their home in Apartment 1A of Kensington Palace, still virtually newlyweds.

Prince Harry had just launched his Invictus Games, while Meghan Markle was a relative unknown in Britain. She worked across the Atlantic filming the legal drama Suits and ran her lifestyle blog The Tig.

There are still many unanswered questions (Kensington Palace declined to comment)

If a picture is worth a thousand words – although in both cases it was much more – in 2014 it was mainly platitudes and jokes. But amid the flurry of press coverage following last week’s Mother’s Day graphic, it would be safe to assume that quite a few were unprintable expletives.

There are still many unanswered questions (Kensington Palace declined to comment for this piece).

Kate’s admission that she tampered with the photo and her apology for it have sparked a furious debate about transparency and trust – a key pillar of public support for the monarchy.

Some Palace insiders felt that further comment would only give the story unwanted oxygen.

But the silence created a vacuum that led to unprecedented online ridicule and conspiracy theories.

That’s the level of controversy that the Daily Mail’s respected royal expert Richard Kay wrote yesterday: “If the royal family isn’t quite at the eleventh hour, it’s dangerously close.”

Unfortunately, what the public has been officially told is scarce. It was reported that William took the photo of his family on Friday, March 8.

It was published on the official Instagram of the Prince and Princess of Wales at 9am last Sunday and then sent to news media.

Kensington Palace quickly answered questions from journalists about why the princess was not wearing a wedding ring, but aides declined to comment.

By 8 p.m. on Sunday, the Associated Press news agency had issued a ‘kill notice’ stating that the image had been manipulated.

It was quickly followed by Getty, AFP and Reuters. At 10.30am on Monday, an unprecedented mea culpa attributed to the Princess was shared on Kensington Palace’s social media platforms. It reverberated around the world.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica called the incident “Photoshop-gate,” while Japan Today reported on the “Katespiracy” and El Universal, one of Mexico’s largest newspapers, said the photo was a “failure of the royal family’s communications strategy.” showed.

Kensington Palace quickly answered questions from journalists about why the princess was not wearing a wedding ring, but aides declined to comment

It was reported that William took the photo of his family on Friday, March 8

Analysis of the metadata, information attached to the images and left by the Palace when the photo was released, showed that it had been saved in Photoshop, an editing tool, once on Friday evening and again the next morning.

It soon became clear that many Britons supported the princess – who was said to be ‘shell-shocked’ – and saw the controversy as a storm in a teapot.

But as Kate continues to recover from serious abdominal surgery and William returns to work as normal this week with an engagement in Sheffield, following the chaos caused by his family’s Mother’s Day photo, there are fears that nothing will be ‘normal’ for the Royal family shortly.

QUESTIONS THE PALACE NEEDS TO ANSWER

1 Who made the decision to release a surprise Mother’s Day photo – and with so little notice?

2 Why wasn’t William in the photo?

3 Why didn’t the couple (or their advisors) realize that editing different aspects of the photo would be immediately noticed?

4 Most obviously, people would have noticed the absence of Kate’s wedding ring. If editing software was used, surely the ring would have been the first thing to be assured was present?

5 Were there any personnel involved in the production of the photo?

6 Why was the image shared with the attached metadata showing how it was saved twice in photo editing software Adobe Photoshop on an Apple Mac and the exact times this happened on the night of Friday March 8 and the following morning?

7 After the boss of the AFP news agency told the BBC that Kensington Palace did not respond to questions about the image, leading to a ‘kill notice’, why did royal aides not intervene and try to prevent AFP and other news agencies from exploiting it? making the images? such drastic measures?

8 When news agencies pulled the photo amid concerns about the ‘manipulation’ of the image, why didn’t royal officials clear the air by releasing the unedited original?

9 Why didn’t the Palace explain what specifically was edited into the photo?

10 When Kate personally apologized on Monday for the “confusion” caused and said she had edited the image, why didn’t William share the blame since the photo was his copyright?

11 Although the statement said the princess “occasionally experimented with editing,” why haven’t Palace staff confirmed whether previous family photos taken by Kate had been edited?

12 Why wasn’t a professional photographer asked to take the photo?

13 What other damage control measures have been taken by the royal staff?

14 Will the Waleses themselves continue to take official family photos?

15 Why have we still not been told why William suddenly, at very short notice, last month withdrew from attending a memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece, his godfather?

16 Are there disagreements between staff working for Charles and the Waleses over the amount of information being released publicly about the King’s cancer treatment and Kate’s surgery – with regular and detailed bulletins being issued about Charles while very little has been announced about Kate’s condition?

17 Both the Prince and Princess of Wales have relatively new private secretaries. Do they have more experienced assistants to give them advice?

18 Why did the military announce on its website that Kate would appear at Trooping the Color in June, only to delete the statement within hours, amid confusion, after Kensington Palace said it had not confirmed her appearance?

19 What will Kensington Palace do to restore trust in the information it shares?

20 Don’t Palace aides realize that the public has enormous sympathy for any royal with health problems and that more openness about any condition will only add to that support?

The post Ten years ago, their first Mother’s Day portrait was greeted with nothing but warmth. With this doctored photo spawning a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories, we ask 20 questions Palace should answer to put an end to the frenzied gossip about THAT photo appeared first on USMAIL24.COM.

AP TET Results 2024: Andhra Pradesh TET Results Coming Soon at aptet.apcfss.in; Key for the last answer, submit points here

Sabir Ansary — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 04:16:22 +0000

AP TET results 2024 will be declared at aptet.apcfss.in. Know how to check Andhra Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (AP TET) result.

AP TET Result 2024: The AP government, Ministry of School Education, will make the announcement AP Result 2024 coming soon https://aptet.apcfss.in/; candidates can do the AP TET Scores by entering his/her candidate ID, date of birth and verification code. The department has already published the AP TET Final Answer Key 2024 Eligibility Test for Teachers in Andhra Pradesh (AP TET) was administered between February 27 and March 9. The exam was conducted in two shifts: the morning shift would take place from 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Meanwhile, the afternoon shift was held from 2:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

The Andhra Pradesh AP TET was held for two papers. Paper I was conducted for a person who wants to become a teacher for classes 1 to 5. Paper II was conducted for a person who wants to become a teacher for classes VI to VIII. But did you know that there are some criteria after which you are considered to pass AP TET? If you would like to know more, read below.

For candidates from the OC community, a score of 60 percent or more is considered passing.
For candidates from the BC community, a score of 50 percent or more is considered passing.
For SC/ST/Differently able-bodied (PH) & Ex-servicemen, a candidate must secure 40% marks or above

The Joint Director, TET, and Member Convener, Andhra Pradesh, will issue memos/pass certificates in digital format to the candidates. Certificates will also be made available in Digilocker from the date of issuance of TET results.

The ministry has released the publication AP TET Answer Key reportedly on March 5. Candidates were allowed to raise any objections to the APTET Preliminary Answer Key on March 11. The AP TET Final Answer Key 2024 was released on March 13.

AP TET Results 2024: Andhra Pradesh Tany aptitude test Results on aptet.apcfss.in; How to check

Visit the official website of AP Government, Department of School Education at https://aptet.apcfss.in/.
On the homepage, look for the link that says ‘AP TET Final Results’.
Click on it and a new window will appear on your screen.
Enter the login details such as candidate ID, date of birth and verification code.
Your AP TET result will appear on the screen.
Check your result thoroughly and use Ctrl+S to save your result to your device.

The APTET Certificate/Brand Memo will remain valid for a period of time in accordance with the NCTE Guidelines dated: 09.06.2021, as amended by the Government in GOMs.No.69, dated: 25.10.2021. The validity of the TET Qualification Certificate obtained before 09.06.2021 is lifelong as per GOMs.No.69, dated: 25.10.2021. This certificate will also be made available in digilocker from the date and time of the TET result.

Weightage for APTET-2024 scores for selection in District Selection Committee (DSC) recruitments:

20% weightage will be given to APTET scores in subsequent teacher recruitment by the state government. In other words, 20% Weightage is for the APTET score and 80% Weightage is for the written test in the Teacher Recruitment Test (TRT) for preparing the selection list.

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Who has the secret of well-being? The answer may surprise you.

Albert Elence — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 09:20:13 +0000

When it comes to happiness and living well, we can learn a lot from toddlers.

Stay here with me. Hasan Merali, an associate professor of pediatrics at McMaster University and an emergency room pediatrician, has treated thousands of patients between the ages of 1 and 5. In his book “Sleep Well, Take Risks, Squish the Peas: Secrets From the Science of Toddlers for a Happier, More Successful Way of Life,” he writes that this group has an undeserved bad reputation.

“A term I hate is ‘terrible twos,’” Dr. Merali me. ‘Or ‘three-nagers.’ Can you imagine if we labeled another age group like this?”

Yes, he said, toddlers have tantrums, but… research suggests that they occur on average once a day and last three minutes.

The rest of the time, Dr. Merali said, toddlers are models of wellness. He shared some good habits, common among people under 5, that can improve your mental and physical health.

Try positive self-talk.

Young children tend to coach themselves out loud, a practice known as private speech (like this popular clip of a 4-year-old snowboarder).

Toddlers aren’t shy about talking to themselves, Dr. Merali said, and neither should you. Research shows that positive self-talk for adults can help with problem solving, learning, confidence, and managing your emotions.

I told Dr. Merali that I tend to speak harshly to myself, but would try using phrases like “You can do it” instead.

Take every opportunity to move.

According to research, two-year-olds are active for almost five hours a day an overview of 24 studies. They move joyfully and instinctively, said Dr. Merali.

Adults can look for ways to get more exercise, even if it’s just for a minute. Take a quick walk around the block, or plan a meeting on foot instead of sitting down. If you’re home alone, do what Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist at Stanford University, calls “full-body karaoke”: sing and move to your favorite song.

Short bursts of activity have been shown to cause this increase lifespan if they amount to 10 minutes per day. Standing up for three minutes every half hour can also help control your blood sugar levels.

You can also find ways to be around young children, “a happiness that is second to none,” said Dr. Merali. (The nonprofit Generations United has one national database of intergenerational programs and activities.)

Asking questions.

Young children are not afraid to ask questions, Dr. Merali said. A study found that they asked an average of 107 questions per hour. (This won’t surprise their parents.)

I’ve written a few children’s books, and my favorite part of reading at the library was question time: “Have you ever been to the moon?” “Can you turn into a cheetah?”

Adults are socialized to withhold our questions because we often worry about what other people think, Dr. Merali said. But asking questions not only helps us obtain information, it is also an important way to do so build relationshipshe said.

Improve your sleep schedule.

Toddlers thrive on routine, and a schedule with consistent sleep and wake times will help you too, says Alberto Ramos, a sleep neurologist and researcher at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

If your schedule allows it, and you have the urge, a nap also has numerous benefits, including sharper thinking and reaction times and better memory.

As long as you don’t suffer from insomnia, which can be made worse by napping, Dr. Ramos takes a short nap – 20 to 30 minutes maximum – in the early afternoon.

Look for opportunities to laugh.

Toddlers “see the world as a comedy club,” writes Dr. Merali. One study found that young children laugh six times as much as adults. But we can look for ways to build playfulness and humor into our day.

Listen to a comedy podcast or trade silly texts with someone, said Dr. Merali. Research shows you laugh more when you’re with friends, so make time for them, he said.

“I get a dad joke in the mail every day,” said Dr. Merali me. “And during my lunch break I watch videos.”

I asked him what he watches: “funny toddler videos,” he said. Naturally.

The FDA has approved Wegovy for heart health.

The weight-loss drug Wegovy is now approved for reducing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular death in adults with heart disease and overweight or obesity. The updated label will most likely put more pressure on employers to mention it, but Wegovy is in short supply. It is unclear how long the shortage will last.

Read the story: Wegovy goes beyond weight loss

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Trump gives a detailed answer on why he returned to a TikTok ban

Sabir Ansary — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:42:06 +0000

Former President Donald J. Trump on Monday offered a blustery and confusing explanation for why he changed his mind on whether the United States should ban TikTok over concerns that its Chinese ownership poses a threat to national security.

In a CNBC interview, Mr. Trump said he still considers the social media app a threat to national security, but that banning it would drive young people “crazy.” He added that any action that harms TikTok would benefit Facebook, which he called an “enemy of the people.”

“Honestly, there are a lot of people on TikTok who love it,” Trump said. “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it.”

“There’s a lot of good and a lot of bad with TikTok,” he added, “but what I don’t like is that without TikTok you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook an enemy of the people. , along with much of the media.”

Trump tried to ban TikTok during his time in office, prompting Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the platform to a new owner or face being blocked from US app stores. A House committee last week proposed legislation that would similarly force TikTok to cut ties with ByteDance.

In a strong show of bipartisanship — rare in Washington these days — top Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the Chinese Communist Party’s House Select Committee used nearly identical language to describe TikTok’s risks.

The Republican chairman, Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, said that “America’s main adversary has nothing to do with controlling a dominant media platform in the United States.” And his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, said TikTok “poses a critical threat to our national security” as long as it is owned by ByteDance.

But as the bill was being considered, Trump said last week on Truth Social, his social media platform, that “if you get rid of TikTok,” it would double Facebook’s revenue. He said he didn’t want Facebook to “do better.”

The full House is expected to vote on the legislation on Wednesday. President Biden said last week he would sign the measure into law if it reached his desk.

To support his “enemy of the people” claim, Mr. Trump has cited grants that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg provided to state and local election offices in 2020 to help their voting administration during the pandemic. Mr. Trump suggested that Mr. Zuckerberg, whose website was part of the Trump 2016 campaign victory strategy, should receive jail time for these donations.

Mr Trump also claimed that Facebook was as beholden to China as TikTok. Facebook is blocked in the country and attempts by parent company Meta to return have been unsuccessful. The company has steps taken to sell its virtual reality headsets there.

The CNBC interviewer asked Mr. Trump about suspicions that he was “paid” to change his views on TikTok after meeting with a major TikTok investor, billionaire Jeff Yass.

Mr. Trump and his team are working feverishly to find new major donors as he heads toward a general election against Mr. Biden, who, along with allied groups, has far more money behind him.

Mr. Trump met this month with the world’s second-richest man, Elon Musk, and at a recent event hosted by the conservative group the Club for Growth, Mr. Trump reportedly praised Mr Yass called it ‘fantastic’. The Club for Growth recently made a rapprochement with Mr. Trump after many months of freeze.

Mr Yass, previously a fierce critic of Mr Trump, appears to have had his own change of heart. An official at a pro-Trump super PAC declined to say whether Mr. Yass had donated money to the outside group, but a person close to the campaign said the Trump team expected a significant donation from Mr. Yass to one of the external groups that provided support. the former president.

Mr Yass has funded a major campaign in Washington to stop the ban on TikTok. He and his allies have recruited several former Trump administration officials to help in the effort — including Tony Sayegh, a Treasury Department official, and Kellyanne Conwaywho was a senior advisor to the president.

In the CNBC interview, Mr. Trump denied discussing TikTok with Mr. Yass during their meeting.

“No, I didn’t,” Mr. Trump said, saying it was a brief meeting with Mr. Yass and his wife. “He never mentioned TikTok.”

Mr. Trump’s criticism of the new legislation is notable because of his decision to restrict the company during his time in office. An executive order he signed in August 2020 said TikTok’s data collection from its users “threatens to give the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.” It added that TikTok could be used to spread disinformation that benefited Beijing.

“These risks are real,” the executive order said.

The Trump administration has decided to block Apple and Google’s app stores from offering TikTok due to concerns over Chinese ownership of the app. But federal courts have repeatedly ruled that Trump’s TikTok ban would not go into effect.

ByteDance appeared to reach a deal to sell a stake in TikTok to Oracle, a cloud computing company whose executives had ties to Mr. Trump. The takeover never materialized as legal challenges to Trump’s ban made their way through the courts.

Mr. Trump acknowledged in his CNBC interview that highly paid lobbyists shaped the government’s handling of TikTok.

Congress, Mr. Trump said, is “extremely subject to people called lobbyists who happen to be very talented, very good and very rich.”

“I could have banned TikTok,” he added, “I could have pretty much gotten it banned, I could have made it happen. But I said, ‘You know what, but I’ll leave it up to you.’

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Singapore – so incredible that people struggle to find out if photos of it are REAL: Can you tell if this image of the city was generated by AI? More than half got the answer wrong…

Albert Elence — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 18:26:03 +0000

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline travel editor

Published: 12:49 EST, March 8, 2024 | Updated: 1:08 PM EST, March 8, 2024

Singapore is so striking, it seems, that people can’t tell whether photos of it are real or not.

In a survey by the Singapore Tourism Board, 60 percent of people showed a striking image (below) of the Gardens by the Bay structures, which are home to 1.5 million plants. They believed the image was created by AI, despite this being a real photo taken in Singapore. .

Of those surveyed, almost half (41 percent) admitted to having difficulty telling the difference between real images and AI images.

The tourism board described Gardens by the Bay as one of many “unreal and fascinating experiences in Singapore”.

It read: The iconic structures of ‘The Gardens’ are architectural marvels that reimagine nature with artistic finesse.

In a survey by the Singapore Tourism Board, 60 percent of people showed this striking image of the Gardens by the Bay structures, which are home to 1.5 million plants. They believed the image was created by AI, despite it being a real photo taken in Singapore.

The Henderson Waves Pedestrian Bridge also turned out to be a reality-defying structure in Singapore. In the study, the British also had difficulty determining whether a photo of it was generated by AI

‘The gardens have been designed with sustainability in mind and feature two huge futuristic structures – Flower Dome and the cooled conservatories at Cloud Forest – which use the very latest technologies for better energy efficiency.

‘Visitors can walk among the iconic Supertrees which rise up to 50 meters above the ground and come alive in the evening with an exciting light and music show.’

The Henderson Waves Pedestrian Bridge also turned out to be a reality-defying structure in Singapore.

In the study, the British also had difficulty determining whether a photo of it was generated by AI.

It is the highest pedestrian bridge in the country and has a “fantastic design” that offers “breathtaking views of the nearby marina and extensive greenery,” the tourism board said.

Parkroyal Collection Pickering hotel – a cross between a hotel and a vertical garden – also confused Brits in the AI quiz, along with the futuristic skyscrapers of Keppel Bay.

The tourism board also mentioned Singapore’s Changi Airport and its 40-metre-high waterfall as another potential reality bender.

Parkroyal Collection Pickering hotel – a cross between a hotel and a vertical garden – also confused the British in the AI quiz

Unreal: The futuristic skyscrapers of Keppel Bay

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Katie Britt will give the Republican answer to Biden’s State of the Union

Sabir Ansary — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 22:05:21 +0000

Republicans have chosen Senator Katie Britt of Alabama to deliver their response to President Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday evening. a president almost 40 years older.

Ms. Britt was sworn in last year after being endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, whom she endorsed in his 2024 campaign. She is the first elected female senator from Alabama and, at age 42, the youngest Republican woman elected to the Senate. She was born as Mr Biden, 81, was serving his second term there.

“The Republican Party is the party of hardworking parents and families, and I look forward to centering this critical perspective,” said Ms. Britt. said in a statement last week. “There is no doubt that President Biden’s failed presidency has left America increasingly weak and vulnerable. At this defining moment in our country’s history, it is time for the next generation to step up and preserve the American dream for our children and grandchildren.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, in announcing her selection, noted that Ms. Britt is the “only current Republican mother of school-age children serving in the Senate.”

Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and Minority Leader, said: “Senator Katie Britt is an unapologetic optimist, and as one of our nation’s youngest senators, she has wasted no time in becoming a leading voice in the fight to secure a stronger American future. leave years of Washington Democrats’ failures behind you.”

In electing her, Republicans saddled Ms. Britt with a tradition so difficult to pull off that it is seen as somewhat cursed: the opposing party’s on-camera rebuttal during the president’s annual prime-time address to the nation, filled with pomp, ceremony and standing ovations.

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Report helps answer the question: Is a college degree worth the cost?

Sabir Ansary — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 15:37:36 +0000

Most people go to college to improve their financial prospects, although there are other benefits to attending a post-secondary institution. But since the average cost of a four-year course has risen to six figures, even at public universities it can be difficult to know if the money is well spent.

A new analysis from HEA Group, a research and consulting firm focused on college access and success, can help answer this question for students and their families. The study compares the average income of former students ten years after enrolling with basic income benchmarks.

The analysis found that a majority of colleges exceed minimum economic measures for their graduates, such as having a median annual income higher than that of a high school graduate without higher education ($32,000, per federal scorecard). facts).

Still, more than 1,000 schools fell below that threshold, even though many of them were for-profit colleges that focused on short-term degrees rather than traditional four-year degrees.

Seeing whether a college’s alumni earn a “reasonable” income, says Michael Itzkowitz, founder and president of the HEA Group, can help people weigh whether to cross certain institutions off their list. For example, someone choosing among comparable colleges can see which institution has produced students with significantly higher incomes.

While income is not necessarily the only criterion to consider when comparing schools, Mr. Itzkowitz said, “It is a very good starting point.”

The report used data from the Ministry of Education College Scorecard to assess the earnings of approximately five million former students who had attended approximately 3,900 higher education institutions, ten years after first enrolling. (The analysis includes data from people who did not complete college.) The report includes public colleges as well as private nonprofit and for-profit schools; the schools can offer non-degree certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees.

The analysis found that schools where students earned less than their peers who never went to college tended to be schools that offer non-degree certificates, which can often be completed in 18 months or less, as did for-profit institutions, although the list also includes some public and private nonprofit schools. At 71 percent of for-profit schools, a majority of students earned less than high school graduates 10 years after enrollment, compared with 14 percent of public institutions and 9 percent of private nonprofit schools, Mr. Itzkowitz said.

“College is indeed worth it,” Mr. Itzkowitz said, but paying for it can be “significantly riskier” depending on the type of school you attend or the degrees you seek.

(Another report found that former students of for profit colleges tend to be at greater financial risk than those who attended comparable selective public colleges. These risks include having to take on more debt for higher education, a greater chance of defaulting on student loans, and a lower chance of finding a job.)

Jason Altmire, president and CEO of Career Education Colleges and Universities, a trade group that represents for-profit vocational colleges, said it doesn’t make sense to lump schools that offer primarily short-term certificate programs with colleges that offer four-year degrees. People who want to work in certain professions — such as hairdressing — generally cannot work in the industry unless they obtain a certificate, he said.

Mr. Altmire also said that income data from for-profit certificate schools could be skewed by “gender bias” because the programs had a higher percentage of women, who were more likely than men to work part-time while raising a family, lowering the cost of college . reported median income.

The HEA report also compared colleges’ performance to other benchmarks, such as the federal poverty line ($15,000 annual income for an individual), which is used to determine eligibility for benefits for government programs such as subsidized health insurance and Medicaid. Incomes at the “vast majority” of colleges exceeded this mark, the report found, although 18 — almost all of them for-profit schools offering non-degree programs in beauty or hairstyling — had students with middle incomes below that threshold.

Majors also matter because those in science, technology, engineering and nursing typically lead to significantly higher salaries than majors in the arts or humanities. (Last year the HEA published a separate analysis of the majors in universities who pay the most.)

When comparing post-college earnings, students and families shouldn’t look at the data in a vacuum, says Kristina Dooley, a certified education planner in Hudson, Ohio. Many schools where former students go on to become top earners have programs that focus on health sciences, technology or business, but that may not be what you want to study.

“Use it as one piece of information,” Ms. Dooley said.

She said students should not rule out a college just because it is not at the top of the income list. However, do ask questions, such as whether the career services agency will help set up internships and make connections with alumni to help you find a well-paying job.

Amy S. Jasper, an independent education consultant in Richmond, Virginia, said postgraduate income could be more important for students and families who had to get loans to attend college. “How much debt do they want to incur?” she said. “That is something that needs to be taken into account.”

But, she said, the benefits of college aren’t just financial. “I would like to think that choosing the right school is also about becoming a better person and contributing to the world.”

Here are some questions and answers about study costs:

Which colleges had the highest average incomes?

Big names, like most Ivy League schools, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are heavily represented at the top of HEA’s analysis. Their students had an average income of at least $90,000 ten years after enrollment. (A handful of for-profit schools, focused on careers like nursing and digital manufacturing, can also be found there.) But the highest-earning colleges on the list? Samuel Merritt University, a school of nursing and health sciences in Oakland, California, and the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, each with incomes over $129,000. You can view the data on the HEA website.

How much does university cost?

The average estimated “sticker price” for college—the published costs for tuition, fees, housing, meals, books and supplies, transportation, and personal items—ranges from about $19,000 per year at a two-year community college to about $28,000 for in- students at a public four-year college to nearly $58,000 at a four-year private college, according to 2022-2023 data from the College board. However, some students can pay much less due to financial support.

Are some college programs required to meet income benchmarks?

A federal one rule of ‘paid work’, which aims to make career programs more accountable, is expected to come into effect in July. The new rule, which applies mainly to for-profit schools but also applies to certificate programs at all types of colleges, requires schools to demonstrate that at least half of their graduates earn more than an average high school student in their state and that their graduates affordable student loans. Colleges that miss either benchmark must warn students that the school could lose access to federal financial aid. Schools that fail to meet the same standard twice within three years will no longer be eligible for federal aid programs.

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Katie Britt will give a Republican answer to Biden’s State of the Union

Sabir Ansary — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:57:01 +0000

Republicans have chosen Senator Katie Britt of Alabama to deliver their response to President Biden’s State of the Union address next week, turning to one of their youngest members of Congress to help reshape their aging, male-dominated party to polish and create a contrast with the president almost 40 years older.

“The Republican Party is the party of hardworking parents and families, and I look forward to centering this critical perspective,” said Ms. Britt. said in a statement Thursday. “There is no doubt that President Biden’s failed presidency has left America increasingly weak and vulnerable. At this defining moment in our country’s history, it is time for the next generation to step up and preserve the American dream for our children and grandchildren.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, in announcing her selection, noted that Ms. Britt is the “only current Republican mother of school-age children serving in the Senate.”

But in electing her, Republicans saddled Ms. Britt with a tradition so difficult to pull off that it’s seen as somewhat cursed: the opposing party’s on-camera rebuttal during the president’s annual prime-time address to the nation , full of pomp and circumstance, ceremony and standing ovations. The State of the Union response is notoriously clumsy, more often notable in recent years for its blunders than for the message it conveyed.

Bobby Jindal was widely criticized in 2009 when, as governor of Louisiana, he delivered the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s joint address to Congress, and Senator Marco Rubio’s response in 2013 is best remembered for his sudden craving for water.

Last year, Republicans elected Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, the nation’s youngest governor, who served as Trump’s press secretary during his presidency, in response to Mr. Biden, the oldest man to be sworn in as president.

Like all three of them, Ms. Britt is considered a rising star in the Republican Party, which is disproportionately represented in Congress by older men. She is an informal adviser to Mr. McConnell’s leadership team, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee’s homeland security panel, and sits on the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development and the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Ms. Britt’s speech will come just weeks after the highest court in her home state ruled that frozen embryos should be considered children, jeopardizing the legality of fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization in Alabama. Ms. Britt, who has described herself as “100 percent pro-life‘ and said she believes life begins at conception, came in support of access to IVF after the ruling. She added that she expected the state legislature to take swift action to protect the state.

Democrats have pounced on Ms. Britt’s selection in their effort to make reproductive rights — and Republicans’ record of counter-policies to guarantee access to abortion, contraception and fertility treatments — a top campaign issue this election year.

“Republicans have spent all week dodging and hiding their extreme views against IVF, but today they have chosen to catapult their anti-freedom extremism into the spotlight by naming anti-choice extremist Katie Britt to give their State of the Union response,” said Alex Floyd, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Republican of Mississippi, this week blocked passage of a bill that would protect access to IVF and other fertility treatments, and many Republicans said they opposed a federal bill on an issue they said should be up to each state are left.

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Haley calls Navalny a “hero” and says Trump must answer for his death

Sabir Ansary — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 02:06:26 +0000

Nikki Haley on Saturday called Aleksei A. Navalny, the outspoken Russian opposition leader, “a hero” and increased pressure on former President Donald J. Trump to respond to the news of his death. She said Mr. Navalny had died at the hands of President Vladimir V. Putin and that Mr. Trump “had to answer for that.”

Speaking to reporters outside her meeting in a park in Irmo, S.C., Ms. Haley praised Mr. Navalny for indicting Mr. Putin on corruption and election-fixing charges. She said he fled his country only to return “to fight the good fight.”

“And then he was arrested, and now Putin has done to him what Putin does to all his opponents — he is killing them,” she said, before turning to Mr. Trump, her rival in the Republican Party primaries. “And Trump has to answer that. Does he think Putin killed him? Does he think Putin was right to kill him? And does he think Navalny was a hero?

Ms. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, has drawn on her foreign policy experience and has long criticized her former boss for what she has described as his love of dictators and authoritarians leaders. She has only continued to ramp up criticism of him as they head into a primary showdown in her home state on February 24.

Mr. Trump has not yet publicly commented on Mr. Navalny's death. On Saturday, he attacked President Biden, saying in an online post: “I am the only one who can bring peace, prosperity and stability, as I did during my first term. America will be respected and feared again (if necessary!).”

On Friday, shortly after news of Ms. Navalny's death emerged, Ms. Haley went further than most Republicans in attacking Mr. Trump for his past comments in praise of Mr. Putin. At her rallies since then, she has underscored Trump's cozy relationship with the Russian leader and sought to raise alarm over his suggestions that he would encourage Russian aggression against U.S. allies in Europe.

She also spoke on Saturday The news that Russia was developing a nuclear space weapon with the potential to destroy satellites, and called for the prevention of war in space.

Russian authorities announced on Friday that Mr Navalny, who served multiple sentences in Russia, had died in a prison within the Arctic Circle. President Biden has said that US officials did not fully understand the circumstances, but that he believed “there is no doubt that Navalny's death was a result of something that Putin and his thugs did.”

At the news conference on Saturday, Ms. Haley asked Mr. Trump: “Why does he always side with dictators?”

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