American Women Suck

— This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide financial advice. Tax season shows up, you open a paycheck or a profit-and-loss report, and questions start piling up. Which number is the one the tax folks actually use? Is it the big one on top, or the smaller one that feels closer to your real life? Nakase Law Firm Inc. often gets a version of the same question from clients staring at pay stubs and invoices: how do gross vs. net income impact tax calculations? Let’s set the table, then keep things practical. The big picture is that both numbers matter, just not in the same way. California Business Lawyer & Corporate Lawyer Inc. often hears clients ask a direct follow-up: what is gross income and how does it differ from net income? Once you see how the two numbers feed into your return, the whole process starts to settle down. A quick way to picture the two Here’s a simple picture you can hold in mind. Gross income is the sticker price. Net income is what you actually take home after the tax and expense “line items” do their work. Think of buying concert tickets: the headline price pulls you in, and then fees and taxes show up at checkout. Your final charge is the closer match to net income. What sits inside gross income For someone on payroll, gross income is the salary number your offer letter mentions—plus bonuses, freelance side gigs, rental money, interest, and dividends. For a shop or service business, gross income starts with revenue and then subtracts the direct cost of goods or services (ingredients for a bakery, parts for an auto shop, materials for a contractor). At this point, broader bills like rent, marketing, insurance, and staff pay have not been counted yet. So yes, gross is the wide-angle view. Net income, the number you live on Net income is the part that feels real. For employees, it’s the deposit that lands in your bank account after tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare, health premiums, and retirement contributions. For a business, it’s the profit after rent, payroll, software, equipment, interest, and taxes. If gross is the starting gate, net is the finish line. Where taxes start: gross and AGI Now to connect the dots. Taxes often begin with gross income and then move to adjusted gross income (AGI). AGI is gross income minus a short list of allowed adjustments. Common ones include certain retirement contributions and student loan interest. AGI can influence your eligibility for credits and deductions. So if gross is the headline number, AGI is the trimmed-down version that sets many thresholds. Where taxes end up: net and the bill you pay Next comes the number that shapes what you actually owe. After deductions (standard or itemized) and credits are applied, you reach the amount that leads to your final bill or refund. For a business, the journey is similar: start from revenue, work down to gross income, then subtract operating costs to reach net income—the piece that feeds into the return and points to cash left for growth, savings, or owner pay. Paycheck snapshot Picture a new hire at $90,000. On paper, that looks generous. Then the first paycheck arrives. The deposit is smaller than the mental math you did on offer day. That gap is everything that sits between gross and net—tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare, benefits, and retirement savings. So the next time a paycheck feels “light,” it isn’t a mistake; it’s the system doing what it always does. And yes, you can adjust parts of it—like how much goes into your retirement plan—so the split better fits your plan for the year. Small business snapshot Now switch to a small landscaping company. Revenue for the year hits $200,000. Nice headline. Then the owner lists the costs of trucks, fuel, mowers, repairs, payroll, insurance, and software. Add a few surprise fixes after storm damage. By the time the dust settles, net income is closer to $60,000. That smaller number is the one that matters for taxes and for decisions like hiring, buying a new trailer, or setting aside cash for slow months. How the split helps you plan Here’s where the difference between the two numbers pays off in a practical way—day to day and at tax time. Avoiding surprises: When you plan life around gross, bills can feel tight. Plan around net, and your budget reflects reality. Better withholding and savings choices: Small adjustments to retirement contributions or HSA funding can improve AGI, which can open doors to credits and deductions. Clearer business decisions: Watching net helps you see which expenses are carrying their weight and which ones just need to go. Cleaner records: When your books separate direct costs from overhead, your gross and net become clear, which makes tax prep faster and less stressful. Common mix-ups to watch for Two repeats show up year after year. First, a salary offer gets mistaken for take-home, and the monthly budget is built on the bigger number. Second, a business owner focuses on revenue and overlooks deductions that could soften the tax bill. Both are fixable. A quick review of withholding or a midyear check-in on expenses can bring the numbers back in line. A few small stories that stick A teacher I spoke with started the year worried about a tight budget. She shifted a bit more into her retirement plan, which trimmed AGI enough to qualify for a credit she had missed the year before. That single tweak made the refund feel less like a guess and more like a plan. A café owner noticed food costs creeping higher each quarter. Instead of raising prices across the board, he renegotiated a supplier contract and switched to seasonal specials. Net improved without chasing away regulars. The tax result at year-end told the story: same vibe, better margin. What pros actually do for you Accountants and tax attorneys connect the steps for you, start to finish. They help map your gross income, apply adjustments, and confirm AGI. Then they work through deductions and credits to shape the final figure that drives the bill or refund. For business owners, the help includes expense tracking frameworks, depreciation schedules, and advice on timing large purchases. If the tax agency asks questions, a legal pro can step in, interpret letters, and keep the process on track. Quick self-check you can use anytime Is the number in front of me the headline amount or the take-home one? If it’s the headline, what items typically shrink it for me? If I change one lever—like retirement savings—does that help me qualify for a credit or keep me in a friendlier bracket? For the business: which costs drive sales, and which just add noise? Bringing it home So, where does this leave you? Gross income sets the stage for taxes and for a lot of eligibility rules. Net income shows the life you actually live month to month—and the number that your return leans on at the end. Keep both in view, make small moves during the year, and the spring filing rush starts to feel less like guesswork and more like a routine you can handle. — This content is brought to you by Chris Reyes iStockPhoto The post Gross vs. Net Income: How They Shape the Taxes You Actually Pay appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

Why Staying Friends After a Breakup Is a Myth (And a Mistake) The final conversation has happened. The painful, yet necessary, words have been spoken. The relationship is over. In the emotional rubble of that moment, a well-intentioned but often perilous offer is frequently extended: “I hope we can still be friends.” It sounds like the mature, compassionate thing to do. It softens the blow, preserves the connection, and avoids the ugly finality of a true goodbye. We tell ourselves that this person knew us better than almost anyone; to cut them out completely would be to discard a chapter of our lives. But beneath this veneer of emotional intelligence often lies a minefield of unresolved feelings, false hope, and delayed healing. The truth is, for the vast majority of couples, attempting an immediate friendship after a breakup is not a sign of health — it’s a form of emotional denial. Here’s why you should seriously reconsider the impulse to stay friends. 1. You’re Not Mourning; You’re Managing A breakup is a loss, and loss requires grief. Grief is not a linear process; it demands time, space, and silence to process the absence. By immediately transitioning into a “friendship,” you are essentially putting a giant bandage over a deep wound. You’re managing the symptoms of loneliness and withdrawal without actually treating the injury. True healing involves sitting with the discomfort, not avoiding it by maintaining a diluted version of the relationship. This “management” technique prolongs the agony, stretching out the pain of withdrawal over months of confusing “friendly” interactions instead of enduring a few weeks of intense, but productive, sorrow. 2. The “Friendship” is Rarely Equal One person is almost always ahead of the other in the moving-on process. The one who initiated the breakup may feel guilt and a desire to soften the blow through friendship, mistaking it for kindness. The person who was broken up with often agrees to the terms, seeing it as their only way to maintain a foothold in the other’s life, secretly hoping for a reconciliation. This creates a fundamental power imbalance. One is a benefactor, offering the crumbs of their attention. The other is a supplicant, anxiously accepting those crumbs. This is not friendship; it is an emotional dependency disguised as one. 3. It Sabotages Your Future (and Theirs) Imagine starting a new relationship and explaining that your “best friend” is the person you were passionately in love with just a few months ago. Even the most secure new partner would find this dynamic challenging, and rightfully so. Lingering emotional intimacy with an ex creates a shadow that falls over any new connection you try to build. Furthermore, your continued presence prevents your ex from fully moving on. You are a constant reminder of what was, making it harder for both of you to embrace what could be. A clean break is an act of respect — for yourself, your ex, and your future partners. 4. You’re Avoiding the Inevitable Second Breakup Most post-breakup “friendships” have an expiration date. They often end when one person starts dating someone else, when the emotional crutch is no longer needed, or when the unresolved resentment finally boils over. This means you are voluntarily signing up for a second breakup somewhere down the line. You’ve gone through the pain of dismantling a romantic relationship, only to set yourself up for the pain of dismantling a fractured friendship later. 5. It Blurs All the Necessary Boundaries A romantic relationship is built on a specific set of boundaries: emotional intimacy, physical closeness, and primary commitment. A breakup is the process of dissolving those boundaries. A friendship requires an entirely new, and much more distant, set of boundaries to be healthy. Attempting this overnight is like trying to turn a cathedral into a coffee shop without any renovation. You’re left in a confusing space that still feels like a cathedral, where every whispered conversation and familiar glance carries the ghost of what used to be. Without time and distance to redefine the relationship, you’ll constantly fall back into old patterns, old intimacies, and old pains. So, Is It Ever Possible? Yes, but with major caveats. Genuine friendship can sometimes be possible after a significant period of no contact. This isn’t a few weeks; it’s often months or even years. It requires both people to have fully, and completely, moved on. The romantic feelings must be entirely platonic for both parties. You must be able to think of your ex with someone else and feel genuine happiness for them, not a pang of jealousy or nostalgia. When you meet again, it shouldn’t feel like picking up where you left off. It should feel like meeting a new person who just happens to know a lot about you. The Kindest Cut The kindest thing you can do for each other after a breakup is to grant the gift of space. A clean break is not an act of hatred; it is an act of profound respect for the relationship you once had. It acknowledges that what you shared was too significant to be reduced to a lukewarm friendship. It allows both of you the freedom to grieve, to grow, and to eventually become the people you need to be for the next chapter of your lives. Sometimes, the most loving gesture after a breakup is not a promise to stay, but the courage to let go completely. — This post was previously published on medium.com. Love relationships? We promise to have a good one with your inbox. Subcribe to get 3x weekly dating and relationship advice. Did you know? We have 8 publications on Medium. Join us there! Hello, Love (relationships) Change Becomes You (Advice) A Parent is Born (Parenting) Equality Includes You (Social Justice) Greener Together (Environment) Shelter Me (Wellness) Modern Identities (Gender, etc.) Co-Existence (World) *** – Photo credit: Kelly Sikkema On Unsplash The post The Clean Break appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

A one-string banjo doesn’t sound happy. Overconfidence in one strength brings leaders down. Visionaries fail when they can’t get stuff done. Relationship builders fail when they don’t have tough conversations. Doers without empathy build disengaged teams. Vision needs execution. Relationships deal with conflict. And “Git-R-Done” types without empathy are taskmasters. Leadership is a three-legged stool, not a one string banjo. 5 Reasons Leaders Fail #1 Neglecting Balance Leadership is a three-legged stool: Vision – direction Relationship – engagement Execution – results Leaders collapse when they neglect any pillar. #2 Ignoring Self-Awareness You damage people unintentionally when you don’t appreciate your impact. Without honest feedback, you repeat blind spots with confidence. Growth slows. Trust erodes. Teams fragment. #3 Avoiding Collaboration Solo problem-solvers become bottlenecks. Refusing to delegate isn’t about standards, it’s about control. Micromanagers wonder why no one steps up. Heavy-handed leaders drain energy. #4 Resisting Personal Growth Leaders who don’t develop can’t grow their organizations. Avoiding conflict, resisting feedback, or clinging to past success guarantees future failure. Growth requires letting go. #5 Losing Touch with Reality Brilliant strategies die when disconnected from people and execution. You don’t fail because of bad ideas. You fail because of bad follow-through. You don’t fail all at once. You fail a little at a time by ignoring weaknesses, minimizing your impact on people, and refusing to evolve. If you want to thrive long-term, ask yourself: What strength am I overusing? What skill am I neglecting? Leadership is not a fixed trait. It’s a capacity that must keep growing or it dies from within. What are some reasons leaders fail from your point of view? Don’t miss: Why Talented Leaders Fail This post is based on the wonderful work of Richard Hagberg PhD and Tien Tzuo. Read their new book Founders, Keepers: Why Founders Are Built to Fail, and What it Takes to Succeed. — Previously Published on leadershipfreak with Creative Commons License *** Does dating ever feel challenging, awkward or frustrating? Turn Your Dating Life into a WOW! with our new classes and live coaching. Click here for more info or to buy with special launch pricing! *** Subscribe to The Good Men Project Newsletter Email Address * If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member today. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here. On Substack? Connect with us there. — Photo credit: unsplash The post Why Good Leaders Fail (And Don’t See It Coming) appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

— Gambling may be illegal in your jurisdiction. Please check your local laws before gambling. Listing five Hollywood celebrities in five seconds is an easy task. How about listing five celebrities in the casino niche off the top of your head? In distinct industries worldwide, several people have worked to ensure that their respective industries thrive despite the challenges they may have to face. The casino niche is no different. Since they were newly introduced until now, casinos have had plenty of people who have contributed positively or negatively to their growth. In this article, we’ve identified five of the biggest celebrities in the casino niche and shared their stories with you. Let’s dive in. Biggest Celebrities in the Casino Niche The list may be endless, but these influential celebrities have excelled in the casino niche. Bill Krackomberger Bill Krackomberger, popularly known as Bill Krackman, was born in New York in 1968 and started gambling early as a nine-year-old who worked in pizza shops and arcades. Bill is now a professional bettor, casino specialist, TV personality, and one of the biggest celebrities in the casino niche. Famous for being a prolific professional gambler, Bill focuses mainly on sports betting, and his fame and expertise have made him appear on television networks like CNN, Fox, ESPN, Sports, and other podcasts and radio shows. He is a regular guest author and host for OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos.org. After an incident he encountered at age 15 – where he was $10,000 deep in debt and had to be bailed out by his father’s friend – Bill decided to gamble responsibly and has since encouraged people to do the same. With his skills and experience, Bill helps other players make excellent gambling options and ensures that they make profitable bets while focusing on the advantages of gambling and shining a light on its disadvantages. Krackman has a YouTube channel where he responds to the questions sports bettors may have. If you’d like to ask a few questions or join any of his sessions, you can search for him using the username KrackWins. Denise Coates The daughter of Stoke City FC owner Peter Coates, Denise was determined to forge a path different from her father’s. Her dream was to revolutionize the casino industry. In the early 2000s, while gambling was not as widely accepted as now, Denise grabbed the opportunity and included a delectable twist to sports betting. She came up with the idea to offer in-play betting, and following the success of the first few tries, bet365 was created. Bet365 became the first betting company to accept in-play betting, introducing an exciting upgrade to how people played sports bets. Having won several awards, Bet365 currently has its headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent and boasts over 7,000 employees. Bet365 remains one of the industry’s leading live casinos and sportsbooks, making Denise Coates a formidable and highly influential figure. William Hornbuckle Hornbuckle’s primary role is leading MGM Resorts International, and, to his credit, not once has he ‘buckled’ under the weight of that responsibility. His company has been described as the “heavyweight in the global casino and resort industry,” making his opinions highly relevant and sought-after. Chairing the US Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which directly advises the US Secretary of Commerce, Hornbuckle’s relevance comes as no surprise. Also, with the global visibility MGM has acquired over the years, it has cemented its place as one of the major casino real estate companies worldwide. Amy Howe Amy Howe, current CEO of FanDuel, is a vibrant leader who has won the respect and loyalty of her employees through her transparency, work ethic, and dynamic approach to organizational affairs. Bursting into the spotlight in 2021, she has propelled FanDuel forward in the gaming industry and spearheads the whirlwind change happening in the firm. Howe has caused significant growth in FanDuel, introducing a positive work culture and fostering the need for workers to understand the essence of teamwork. Under her leadership, the company has won multiple awards, like the Digital Operator of the Year award, and gained the premier position in several states. Howe has won twice the American Executive of the Year award at the 2022 Global Gaming Awards in Las Vegas. Lui Che Woo Building his empire was difficult, but Lui Che Woo pulled it off excellently. His empire, Galaxy Entertainment Group, owns and manages land-based gambling sites in Macau, including StarWorld and City of Dreams. Over the years, Woo has built his enterprise from the ground up with his wit, excellent business strategies, and undeniable prowess. Now, his wealth is approaching $12.2 billion, making him one of the Far East’s most influential – and wealthiest – business owners. Seeing how much he has achieved, one might expect him to be an arrogant businessman, but this would be far from the truth. Woo is a philanthropist who donates his wealth as he deems fit to several charity organizations in Hong Kong. His notable acts have earned him awards like the Outstanding Contribution Award and Citizen of Honor. Did these celebrities work alone to get to where they are? They possibly built their successes from scratch by themselves, but no man is an island, and at some point, these celebrities partnered with different people over the years to be as successful as you see them. Denise Coates, for instance, owns only part of Bet365 shares, while her brother owns the rest. A lot goes on behind the scenes in the gambling industry, and several people have worked to ensure that the industry gets to the level it is currently at. Although this list covers most top dogs, many other influential people still work hard to maintain the thrilling world of the casino niche. As the industry continues to evolve, a batch of new influential figures will emerge, adding to the visionaries who have made different sacrifices for the industry to thrive. And we will be here to welcome them. — This content is brought to you by Sara Ferrero iStockPhoto The post Biggest Celebrities in the Casino Niche appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

Your Love and Best Friends You know, every guy experiences a true love at least once in his life—the girl who felt like she was meant to be your wife. The one whose smile became your personal mission. And the thing is, she set such high standards in your life that no other girl has been able to match them since. It doesn’t necessarily have to be your ex-girlfriend I’m talking about. It could be her, but it could also be your best friend—the one you never had the courage to confess your feelings to. Or maybe it was the girl with whom everything was going perfectly, but you weren’t ready for commitment, so you let her go. You know what all these situations have in common? You only realize she was your true love when her return to your life becomes impossible. And when her memories come back, they stir up a strange, indescribable feeling. It’s not that you’re unhappy in your life. Maybe you’re doing great—successful, even. But sometimes, away from the eyes of the world, you find yourself scrolling through her profile, reminiscing about her, seeking comfort in old memories—the kind of peace you once felt with her. And perhaps that’s why we call it true love—because no matter how hard you try, you can never truly let it go. Thank you for reading. — This post was previously published on medium.com. *** Does dating ever feel challenging, awkward or frustrating? Turn Your Dating Life into a WOW! with our new classes and live coaching. Click here for more info or to buy with special launch pricing! *** —– Photo credit: Şervan Bingöl on Unsplash The post Your First Love 😘 appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

Moscow dismissed the allegations as “preposterous” Russia has strongly rejected claims that it attempted to jam the GPS system of a plane carrying the EU’s leader. According to Brussels, the alleged incident occurred during European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s trip to Bulgaria last week. At a press briefing on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the allegations “preposterous” and “100% false.” She added that Moscow will continue to combat “the West’s web of lies” aimed at discrediting Russia on the world stage. Zakharova suggested the claims were meant to distract the public from “actual events,” including problems in the EU’s economy and the recent summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, China, which concluded on Monday. “It is not just paranoia, but a cynical plot to distract their own population from the EU’s worsening economic situation and from considering the real culprits behind the European crisis – the irresponsible, kleptocratic political elites of the European Union,” she said. Zakharova pointed to data from the flight-tracking website Flightradar24, which indicated that von der Leyen’s jet “reported good GPS signal quality from take-off to landing.” Since 2024, Nordic and Baltic countries have accused Russia of disrupting communications on planes and ships as part of “hybrid warfare,” allegations Russia has denied. View the full article

— There’s a kind of silence couples don’t talk about. It’s the quiet after another negative test, the space between appointments, the pause when someone asks, “So when are you having kids?” For nearly 17% of couples in America, that silence is their reality. And it carries a weight most of us can’t see, emotional, physical, and financial. Dr. Tiao-Virirak Kattygnarath knows that silence well. He’s spent more than 20 years in exam rooms and labs helping families who want nothing more than a child. “Becoming a father changed how I saw everything,” he told me. “I realized this little baby was the most precious part of my life, and I would do anything to protect him.” For him, fertility isn’t just about science, it’s about giving families back the joy that silence steals. Infertility isn’t simply about getting older or unlucky biology. It’s a disease, officially recognized by the World Health Organization, and yet in the U.S. it’s often treated like an elective procedure. Insurance coverage is inconsistent. Government support is practically nonexistent. And the result is that access depends far more on wealth than on medical need. “Many people think infertility is only about age or biology, but it is also about access and fairness,” Dr. Kattygnarath explained. “It should be treated like other diseases and funded by insurance or government, the same way cancer is.” Right now, many families are shut out of treatment simply because they can’t afford the $15,000-plus average cost of a single IVF cycle. That’s not just unfair, it’s unsustainable. Beyond individual heartbreak, declining birth rates have national consequences. Countries like Japan and South Korea are already staring down shrinking populations, weakened workforces, and unstable pension systems. America isn’t immune. Without fertility support, our demographic curve could bend the same way. “Supporting fertility treatments should be part of a national plan to keep birth rates high,” Dr. Kattygnarath said. From his perspective, investing in reproductive health isn’t just family policy, it’s economic policy. Every successful treatment means new citizens who will one day become workers, innovators, and taxpayers. It’s about securing the country’s long-term competitiveness as much as it is about helping a couple start a family. Of course, numbers only tell part of the story. The emotional cost of infertility runs deep. Couples blame themselves, carry guilt from past choices, and often wrestle with depression. “Infertility can cause strong emotions like low self-worth, guilt about past events, and sometimes depression,” Dr. Kattygnarath said. “It can be a serious test for a couple’s relationship.” Some partnerships fracture under the strain. Others survive, but with emotional scars and financial stress that linger long after. And yet, he’s quick to point out, many couples display extraordinary resilience, sticking together even after multiple failed attempts. That persistence inspires him as much as it challenges him. In a healthcare system known for rushing patients in and out of exam rooms, fertility care demands a different approach. It’s intimate, emotional, and life-altering. “Being kind and caring does not take much time,” he said. “Whether patients pay themselves or not, they all deserve our full attention.” That philosophy comes not only from decades of professional practice but from his own journey as a father. He knows firsthand that when someone entrusts you with their hopes for a family, you can’t treat it like just another appointment on the schedule. If he could change one policy tomorrow, Dr. Kattygnarath wouldn’t hesitate to encourage insurance or employer coverage for egg freezing. Many women choose to delay children for career, education, or financial reasons. But biology doesn’t wait. “Once fertility declines, we cannot reverse it, and it is heartbreaking to tell someone their only option is egg donation,” he said. Funding egg freezing would give women real control over their futures instead of closing doors on them later. That single shift could change millions of lives, keeping more families intact, expanding workforce participation, and strengthening the country’s demographic outlook. Infertility is often seen as a private struggle. But it’s not. It’s a public health issue with economic, cultural, and generational consequences. Left unaddressed, it threatens the stability of families and the strength of the nation. Dr. Kattygnarath’s work reframes the silence of infertility into a call to action. His vision is simple but powerful. He aims to make fertility care accessible, compassionate, and equitable. That way, more couples can move from quiet heartbreak to joyful noise. And for a country that depends on strong families and a stable future, that might be one of the most important investments we can make. — This content is brought to you by Melissa Moraes. Photo provided by the author. The post The Silence of Infertility and One Doctor Who Refuses to Accept It appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

By Nerida Spina, Rebecca Spooner-Lane, Elizabeth Briant and Julia Mascadri When it comes to new teachers, there is an expectation that they are “classroom ready” from day one on the job. Yet there is mounting evidence that new teachers are being sent into schools that are short-staffed and where experienced teachers are leaving the profession, feeling high levels of stress and burn out. Clearly, even at the best of times, teaching is a complex profession. Developing proficiency to work in this kind of context requires time, experience, and supported opportunities for feedback and reflection. “Classroom readiness” has become a buzzword in education policy and teacher education; all initial teacher education providers need to assess graduates’ readiness through Teaching Performance Assessments. Given that it is so challenging to create workplaces that keep experienced teachers in the profession, our research looked at these expectations of new teachers. We conducted a scoping review to examine what ‘classroom readiness’ means, and whether or not it can – or should – be assessed. Assessing new teachers’ classroom readiness We found that classroom readiness is conceptualised in three broad ways: as adherence to a set of regulations and standards; as a policy construct; and as a professional journey. Given the requirement that all initial education providers assess pre-service teachers through Teaching Performance Assessments according to teacher professional standards, it is not surprising that much of the literature defines classroom readiness according to these standards. There has been an ongoing discussion about the suitability of this approach for some time. Back in 2009, Connell described teacher standards this way: What teachers do is decomposed into specific, auditable competencies and performances. The framework is not only specified in managerialist language. It embeds an individualised model of the teacher that is deeply problematic for a public education system. The arbitrariness of the dot-point lists means that any attempt to enforce them, on the practice of teachers or on teacher education programmes, will mean an arbitrary narrowing of practice. (p. 220) As a policy construct, classroom readiness is used by governments and regulatory bodies to justify reforms in teacher education, and to reassure the public that teacher educators are held to high standards. This approach has seen initial teacher education providers absorb the high costs associated with implementing and moderating teaching performance assessments. Finally, others describe readiness as an ongoing journey of growth and development rather than a fixed state that can be measured at a single point in time. Even the best beginning teachers continue to learn and adapt as they encounter new challenges and contexts. This view argues that they should not be expected to be fully prepared from the start. Authors in this final group instead advocate for adequate recognition of the complex and relational aspects of teaching that cannot be assessed in a TPA. The problem with “readiness” The first problem with the rhetoric of ‘readiness’ is that it has the potential to place unrealistic expectations on beginning teachers. Assessing readiness through a narrow lens that has a focus on planning, teaching, assessment and reflection has the potential to gloss over the support that new teachers really need. Teachers’ work is primarily relational in nature and measuring classroom readiness overlooks aspects of teaching that are hard to quantify, but yet are foundational for teaching and learning. Teaching is complex and one assessment cannot capture the diverse contexts and level of adaptability and resilience required of beginning teachers. The second problem with readiness is that there is no agreement across the literature, or even in policy itself, about how it could be possible to assess whether a new teacher can do everything from supporting students experiencing complex trauma, through to managing excessive workloads. The OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 indicates that Australian teachers report higher levels of stress than the OECD average and that 30% to 50% of all teachers leave the profession in the first five years. This is the context into which new teachers find themselves. A serious question is whether it is realistic for anyone to be ‘ready’ for these circumstances; and if so, how it would be possible to assess readiness to work in these conditions. It takes a system to support beginning teachers It is not realistic to expect that just because new teachers can plan and teach a lesson during a supervised placement, they are fully prepared for the complex schools where they are likely to work. In fact, expecting beginning teachers to work independently from day one, without sufficient ongoing mentoring, risks reinforcing the very conditions that push more experienced teachers out of the profession. It is undoubtedly important that ITE programs equip pre-service teachers with strong understandings of curriculum and assessment, teaching practices, and student diversity. However, if we want beginning teachers to have long and rewarding careers, they must be met with appropriate support once they enter the profession. Recent research shows that beginning teachers need support that is specific to their context, which requires sustained government investment. This is not to say there are any easy solutions for how to support new teachers. Experienced teachers are already operating at their limits, particularly in hard-to-staff schools where teacher shortages and turnover have substantially increased the workload of experienced teachers. Without adequate resourcing for time release, reduced teaching loads, professional development and networking, mentor teachers themselves risk burnout, further compromising the support new teachers need. It is understandable that policy makers and systems want assurance that new teachers are ready to tackle the demands of the job from day one. However, the real-world complexities of teaching mean that no amount of preservice teacher preparation can full equip graduates for every situation they will encounter. What beginning teachers need are fair workloads, ongoing mentoring, opportunities for collaboration, and access to professional learning that is responsive to the evolving demands of their specific school context. A professional journey of growth Rather than viewing classroom readiness around a set of standards to be achieved by the end of a degree, we should view it as the beginning of a professional journey of growth. New teachers require time, support, mentorship and opportunities to reflect and learn as they navigate the demands of their early years in the classroom. Nerida Spina is an associate professor at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia. Nerida’s research expertise is teaching and leadership for equity and social justice. Rebecca Spooner-Lane is an associate professor at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research explores the professional development and career progression of teachers from graduate to lead teacher. You can find her on LinkedIn. Elizabeth Briant is an associate lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research explores contemporary social conditions that shape the growing use of private tutoring in Australia. Julia Mascadri is a senior lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research interests include pedagogical practice in early childhood education, educational leadership, and assessment in initial teacher education. You can find her on LinkedIn This article was originally published on EduResearch Matters. Read the original article. — Previously Published on aare.edu.au with Creative Commons License *** Photo credit: iStock The world is changing fast. We help you keep up. We’ll send you 1 post, 3x per week. The post Readiness To Teach? That Will Take Time and Development appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

— Managing money is one of the most important parts of running a business. From sending invoices to tracking expenses and staying on top of taxes, it takes time and accuracy. For many companies, having a full-time accounting team costs too much and slows things down. That’s why more businesses now choose Accounting Process Outsourcing (APO). APO is an easy, smart way to handle your accounting. It saves money, gives you access to skilled experts, and lets you focus on growing your business. This blog will explain how APO works, why it’s worth it, and how to choose the right outsourcing partner. What is Accounting Process Outsourcing? Accounting process outsourcing refers to hiring a third-party provider to handle part or all of your accounting and financial operations. The goal is to offload time-consuming, complex tasks to specialists who can perform them better, faster, and cost-effectively. Outsourced accounting services typically include: Bookkeeping and general ledger maintenance Payroll processing Accounts receivable and payable Bank reconciliations Tax compliance and filing Financial reporting and forecasting Audit preparation Budgeting and cost control Top Benefits of Outsourcing Accounting Services 1. Budget Friendly Outsourcing eliminates the need to hire full-time employees, invest in accounting software, or build a dedicated finance team. You pay only for the services you need. 2. Access to Finance Experts When you outsource, you get access to skilled accountants and tax experts. Many certified professionals (like CPAs or CAs) know the latest tax laws and accounting rules. They ensure your finances are in good hands, so you don’t have to worry about making mistakes. 3. Real-Time Financial Visibility Most outsourcing companies use cloud tools like QuickBooks or Xero. These platforms let you see your financial information whenever you want. You can check your cash flow, track expenses, and monitor your profits anytime, helping you make better decisions faster. 4. Compliance & Accuracy Accounting mistakes can lead to penalties or legal problems. Outsourcing helps you avoid errors by having professionals handle your finances. They make sure your records are accurate and meet all the necessary rules and regulations, reducing the chance of penalties. 5. Business Scalability Outsource accounting services to scale without the hassle of hiring and training new staff. Whether launching new products, expanding into new markets, or increasing your operations, your outsourced team can easily adjust to meet your growing needs. When Should You Consider Accounting Process Outsourcing? Your internal team is overworked or lacks expertise. Your business is growing rapidly, and you need a scalable financial operation. You want to reduce overhead and back-office complexity. You lack real-time visibility into your finances. You struggle with compliance or tax filing errors In-House vs Outsourced Accounting Factor In-House Team Outsourced Services Cost High fixed cost Flexible pricing Talent Limited local expertise Certified experts Technology Outdated or basic tools Latest cloud-based platforms Scalability Requires hiring Instantly scalable Compliance High risk of errors Audit-ready and compliant Choosing the Right Accounting Outsourcing Partner Here’s what to look for: 1. Industry-Specific Experience A good outsourcing partner should have hands-on experience working within your industry. Whether in eCommerce, healthcare, fintech, or real estate, familiarity with your sector’s financial nuances ensures compliance with industry regulations, better forecasting, and tailored reporting. 2. Certified Accounting Professionals Look for firms with certified professionals like CPAs (Certified Public Accountants), CAs (Chartered Accountants), or ACCAs. Their qualifications ensure your books are managed according to global accounting standards, providing credibility, accuracy, and strategic financial insight. 3. Use of Cloud-Based Accounting Tools The right partner leverages technology to streamline operations. Platforms like QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zoho Books, and NetSuite enable real-time data access, faster reconciliations, and seamless collaboration. Cloud integration also means fewer errors and improved data security. 4. Strong Commitment to Data Security Outsourcing accounting involves sharing sensitive financial data. Ensure your partner follows robust security protocols, such as end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication, secure file transfers, and certifications like ISO 27001 or SOC 2 compliance. This safeguards your business from data breaches and financial fraud. 5. Transparent Service Level Agreements (SLAs) & Pricing A reliable outsourcing firm should provide clear SLAs that outline deliverables, timelines, support terms, and escalation processes. Equally important is transparent pricing, no surprise charges, fixed or tiered plans based on your business size, and clarity on what’s included. 6. Real-Time Reporting and Proactive Communication Look for regular reporting schedules, access to live dashboards, and easy communication channels (email, Slack, or dedicated account managers). Proactive updates and insights help you stay in control and make data-driven decisions. Conclusion In a world where businesses must do more with less, accounting process outsourcing is not just a cost-saving tactic but a strategic decision. It empowers businesses to stay compliant, gain real-time financial insights, and easily scale operations. Want reliable, expert-managed financial services? Collar Search offers end-to-end accounting process outsourcing for growing businesses like yours. Custom packages to suit your business sizeSecure cloud-based platforms, reduced costs, and better compliance. — This content is brought to you by Soffy Loren iStockPhoto The post Accounting Process Outsourcing – Why It’s the Future of Financial Management appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

By Washington State The new study in the journal Earth’s Future offers detailed projections of lightning across the Western US for the mid-21st century. The largest change in lightning is expected in parts of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, with four to 12 more days of lightning per year in some parts of the Rocky Mountains. Researchers also matched those lightning projections with future wildfire risk to calculate the changes in daily risk of lightning-caused fires. Although there is variability across the region in the projections, the trend was clear: a heightened risk of lightning-caused wildfires across 98% of Western lands susceptible to fire. “The Northwest is emerging, in this study as well as in others, as the region where fire- and fire-related hazards are likely to increase substantially more than in other parts of the western US,” says Deepti Singh, an associate professor in the School of the Environment at the Washington State University Vancouver and coauthor of the paper. The study adds urgency to the need to manage forests for wildfire risk and prepare at-risk communities for fires, as the planet continues to warm and wildfires grow in size and severity, the researchers say. Lightning already accounts for more than two-thirds of the acreage burned in wildfires across the West, but current global climate models are unable to directly simulate future lightning because they rely on geographic resolutions too coarse to capture the conditions that create it. The machine-learning models developed in this study zoom in to create the most detailed picture yet of future lightning patterns and lightning-caused fire risk across the West. “There are already a lot of studies that say future wildfire activity will increase in the Western US and that’s without even considering potential lightning increasing, which we’re showing is going to happen in many areas,” says Dmitri Kalashnikov, lead author of the paper. “We’re also making projections for the near-term future—2031 to 2060. That period starts in just a few years, so it’s on our doorstep.” To make these projections, Kalashnikov applied a machine learning technique known as a convolutional neural network. These neural network-based predictive models were tailor-made for each grid cell of 1 degree by 1 degree across the Western US. That’s an area of roughly 69 miles on each side, which is the typical spatial resolution of climate models. This approach allowed for targeted lightning projections at finer geographic scales than previous studies. These neural-network based predictive models were the subject of a paper published in 2024, led by Kalashnikov and coauthored by Singh, among others. In the current project, the team used data from three key meteorological variables conducive to lightning from the summers of 1995–2022 to train the network in each grid box to make mid-century projections. “Instead of developing one model to predict lightning everywhere, we really went in on a finer scale to predict lightning at each 1-degree box,” Kalashnikov says. The models identified days where cloud-to-ground lightning would be likely for each grid; researchers also quantified how many of these days are expected to be high fire-weather weather days, using the Fire Weather Index, a measure of wildfire risk based on weather and climate conditions. Critically, the authors found that most locations will experience an increased risk of lightning-caused fires due to increases in the Fire Weather Index, even in places where lightning occurrence might not increase. An increase in lightning days does not result in a 1-to-1 increase in fire risk, however, because fire risk depends on other variables, such as temperature, rainfall or wind, and vegetation dryness. Across the Rockies, for example, the number of days with a high likelihood of lightning-caused fires is expected to grow by three or more days by the mid-21st century though the overall increase in lightning days is larger. On the other hand, parts of Utah and Arizona showed a reduction in lightning days—but an increase in days of potential lightning-caused fires, due to higher wildfire risk in general. The Southwest showed fewer projected increases in lightning days—and even declines in some areas—but the region is still expected to see a rise in days with a likelihood of wildfires ignited by lightning. Kalashnikov led the project while completing his PhD at WSU and is now a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Merced. Coauthors included researchers from UC Merced, Colorado State University, Portland State University, and other institutions. Source: Washington State University Original Study DOI: 10.1029/2025EF006108 — Previously Published on futurity.org with Creative Commons License *** – The world is changing fast. We help you keep up. We’ll send you 1 post, 3x per week. Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here. — Photo credit: iStock The post Northwest US Will Face Higher Lightning and Wildfire Risk appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

— The surge in popularity of electric mobility has changed the way people think about commuting, exercise, and sustainable transportation. Electric bikes have become the go-to option for many riders looking for a convenient, eco-friendly, and versatile mode of travel. At the same time, the adult tricycle has gained traction as an alternative, especially for riders who value stability, comfort, and practicality. The discussion of electric trike vs electric bike is more relevant than ever as more people consider which option is better suited for their lifestyle. While both vehicles are powered by electric assistance and designed to reduce dependence on cars, their differences in design, function, and usability can have a major impact on the rider’s experience. The Appeal of Electric Bikes An electric bike functions much like a traditional bicycle but includes a motor and battery system to assist the rider. The assistance can come in the form of pedal-assist, which makes pedaling easier, or a throttle system, which can power the bike without pedaling at all. This versatility is one of the biggest reasons for their success. Riders appreciate the ability to travel longer distances, climb hills with less effort, and arrive at their destinations without being completely exhausted. Electric bikes come in a wide variety of styles, from lightweight city cruisers to rugged mountain eBikes and cargo models designed for family transport. Their adaptability means they can appeal to everyone from daily commuters to fitness enthusiasts. Because they are designed with two wheels, they maintain the speed, agility, and maneuverability of a traditional bicycle, which makes them particularly useful in urban environments with heavy traffic or limited space. The Case for Adult Tricycles While electric bikes are immensely popular, the adult tricycle presents a different set of advantages. Instead of two wheels, these bikes feature three, usually with two wheels in the back and one in the front. This simple adjustment changes the riding experience significantly. The additional wheel provides stability and balance, which is particularly appealing for seniors, riders with mobility challenges, or anyone who feels uneasy balancing on two wheels. When combined with electric power, the tricycle becomes even more versatile. An adult tricycle e-bike provides the same pedal assistance as a regular e-bike but removes the worry about tipping over or losing balance when stopping. The design also allows for larger cargo space, making it especially practical for errands, shopping, or even small deliveries. This is why many commuters consider the best electric trike for commuting to be more practical than a standard bike in certain situations. Comparing Riding Experience The heart of the electric trike vs electric bike debate lies in the riding experience. An electric bike offers speed, agility, and the thrill of a traditional cycling experience enhanced by electric assistance. It feels natural for anyone who has ridden a standard bike before. However, it does require good balance and a certain level of physical confidence. Riders must be prepared to manage two-wheel stability when starting, stopping, or maneuvering through tight spaces. In contrast, an adult tricycle offers a slower but steadier ride. Stability is guaranteed, so there is no fear of falling, even at low speeds. This makes it more comfortable for leisurely rides or for people who want to focus on enjoyment rather than balance. On the downside, tricycles are generally wider and heavier, which means they are not as agile or easy to maneuver in narrow lanes or crowded areas. However, for many riders—especially seniors or those carrying cargo—the stability and security far outweigh the reduced maneuverability. Pros and Cons of Electric Tricycles To fully appreciate whether an adult tricycle might be better than an electric bike, it’s important to understand the pros and cons of an adult tricycle e-bike. On the positive side, tricycles provide unmatched stability, making them ideal for seniors or anyone with balance concerns. The ability to stop and rest without needing to balance is a huge relief for many riders. They are also excellent for carrying cargo, whether that means groceries, a pet carrier, or work supplies. For those looking to replace a car for short trips, this practicality can be transformative. Furthermore, the comfort of wide seats and upright handlebars makes longer rides more enjoyable. On the downside, adult tricycles are bulkier and heavier than regular eBikes, which can make them harder to transport or store. They are slower and less nimble, meaning they may not suit riders who value speed or need to navigate dense urban traffic. Additionally, because of their larger footprint, parking a tricycle in tight spaces can sometimes be a challenge. Pros and Cons of Electric Bikes For comparison, the electric bike offers its own strengths and weaknesses. The key advantages include agility, speed, and versatility. An electric bike is usually lighter than a tricycle, making it easier to carry up stairs, store in apartments, or transport on a car rack. Riders who enjoy the sensation of cycling will find an e-bike closer to that experience. EBikes are also more common on the market, with a wider range of designs and price points. However, the reliance on balance is a major drawback for some riders. Falls and injuries are more common with two-wheel bikes, especially among seniors. They also generally offer less cargo capacity, limiting their usefulness for shopping or errands. For riders who need both stability and practicality, a two-wheel e-bike may not fully meet their needs. Commuting with EBikes vs Tricycles One of the most common reasons people invest in electric mobility is commuting. Here, the choice between an electric bike and the best electric trike for commuting depends heavily on the rider’s circumstances. If the commute involves crowded bike lanes, narrow streets, or a need for higher speeds, an e-bike is usually the better choice. It can weave through traffic and cover ground quickly. On the other hand, if the commute involves carrying bags, groceries, or equipment, a tricycle may be more convenient. Its cargo space and stability allow riders to bring more with them without worrying about balance. For suburban or rural commuting where speed is less important, an adult tricycle can be the more reliable option. In this sense, the decision is less about which vehicle is better overall and more about which one better fits the rider’s lifestyle and environment. Health and Lifestyle Considerations Beyond commuting, the debate of electric trike vs electric bike also touches on health and lifestyle factors. Riding either option promotes physical activity, even with electric assistance. However, the style of exercise differs. An electric bike typically involves more balance, coordination, and exertion, making it closer to traditional cycling. This can be ideal for riders who are physically active and want to combine exercise with transportation. An adult tricycle, on the other hand, offers a more relaxed experience. The physical effort is still there, but without the stress of maintaining balance. For seniors or those recovering from injuries, this makes cycling more accessible. Tricycles also promote mental well-being by removing the anxiety associated with falling or losing control. For many, the stability of an adult tricycle e-bike actually encourages more frequent use, which in turn provides consistent physical and mental health benefits. Environmental and Economic Benefits From a sustainability perspective, both electric bikes and tricycles provide significant benefits. They reduce reliance on cars, cut down on emissions, and lower transportation costs. Charging an e-bike or trike is far cheaper than filling up a gas tank, and maintenance is relatively simple compared to a car. For individuals and families looking to save money while reducing their carbon footprint, both options represent smart investments. Economically, the choice between an electric bike and an adult tricycle may depend on intended use. If the primary goal is fast, lightweight commuting, the electric bike may offer better value. If the goal is to replace short car trips and carry cargo, the adult tricycle may be worth the higher upfront cost due to its long-term practicality. Making the Right Choice So, which option should you choose? The decision between an electric bike and an adult tricycle ultimately comes down to personal needs and priorities. Riders who prioritize speed, agility, and a traditional cycling experience will likely prefer an e-bike. Those who need stability, comfort, and cargo capacity may find the best electric trike for commuting to be the superior option. Both vehicles highlight the broader trend toward sustainable, independent mobility. Whether it’s the sleek design of an electric bike or the stability of an adult tricycle, both options empower individuals to move more freely, save money, and reduce their impact on the environment. By carefully weighing the pros and cons of an adult tricycle e-bike against the advantages of a two-wheel electric bike, every rider can find the solution that best fits their lifestyle. Conclusion The rise of electric mobility means that today’s riders are no longer limited to traditional bicycles or cars. With the growing availability of both eBikes and tricycles, individuals now have the freedom to choose a solution that aligns with their health, commuting needs, and personal comfort. The debate of electric trike vs electric bike is not about declaring one better than the other; it is about recognizing that both serve unique purposes. For those who crave speed and agility, the electric bike remains the classic choice. For those who value stability, safety, and practicality, the adult tricycle could very well be the smarter investment. In the end, the best option is the one that allows you to ride more often, enjoy the journey, and make cycling an integral part of your daily life. — This content is brought to you by Sky Link Building Photo provided by the author. The post Comparing eBikes vs Adult Tricycles: Which One Fits Your Lifestyle Best? appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

By Nicholas Gutteridge, The Texas Tribune, and Atirikta Kumar, The Texas Tribune “ACLU, other groups sue to block Texas’ DEI ban on K-12 public schools” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and a group of LGBTQ+ and student rights organizations are suing to block a new state law that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in K-12 public schools. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court, attorneys from the ACLU of Texas and Transgender Law Center argue that Senate Bill 12 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments as well as the Equal Access Act. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the legislation last June, and it will go into effect Sept. 1 alongside an array of other transformative laws for public education in Texas. “Senate Bill 12 is a blatant attempt to erase students’ identities and silence the stories that make Texas strong,” said Brian Klosterboer, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Every student — no matter their race, gender, or background — deserves to feel seen, safe, and supported in school.” [Texas’ DEI bans: What to know about the term and the debate] Supporters of SB 12 say DEI programs use class time and public funds to promote political agendas, while opponents believe banning those initiatives will disproportionately harm marginalized students by removing spaces where they can find support. Here’s what you need to know about the effort to block the law. What the ban would do: Authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, SB 12 prohibits public school districts from considering race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation in hiring decisions. The ban also bars schools from offering DEI training and programs, such as policies designed to reduce discrimination based on race or gender identity, except for when required by federal law. The law requires families to give written permission before their children can join any school club, and prohibits school groups created to support LGBTQIA+ students. Parents will be able to file complaints if they believe their schools are not complying with the DEI ban, and the law requires school districts to discipline employees who knowingly take part in DEI-related activities. Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, said SB 12 builds on a 2021 state law barring public schools from teaching critical race theory, an academic discipline that explores how race and racism have influenced the country’s legal and institutional systems. While critical race theory is not taught in Texas public schools, the term has become a shorthand used by conservatives who believe the way some schools teach children about race is politically biased. DEI advocates say initiatives that promote diversity provide support for marginalized communities in workforce development and higher education, while critics say DEI practices give preference to people based on their race and ethnicity rather than on merit. What the lawsuit says: Attorneys from the ACLU and the Transgender Law Center are suing Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath and three school districts on behalf of a teacher, a student and her parent. They’re also representing the Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, two organizations that say they would be harmed by the ban. The suit calls SB 12 an “overzealous” attempt to ban DEI in public schools and argues that it censors constitutionally protected speech and restricts students’ freedom of association. It’s also vague and overly broad, the suit says. “S.B. 12 seeks to erase students’ identities and make it impossible for teachers, parents, and volunteers to tell the truth about the history and diversity of our state,” said Cameron Samuels, executive director at Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. “The law also guts vital support systems for Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, and LGBTQIA+ students and educators.” As part of the lawsuit, the Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network claims SB 12 singles out the organization by explicitly restricting student clubs based on “sexual orientation or gender identity,” language the group uses to describe the student organizations it sponsors at schools. That restriction harms the freedom of speech of the group and its members, the suit says. The Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network has chapters in Texas at more than a dozen school districts, according to the filing. Lawsuits against similar laws have had mixed results in the past. Because of SB 12’s ban on discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, opponents have compared it to Florida’s “don’t say gay” law, which attracted widespread media attention in 2022 due to its far-reaching impacts in public schools. Civil rights lawyers sued to block it, saying the law violated free speech and the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause. But a federal judge dismissed the case and said the plaintiffs had no legal standing and had failed to prove harm from the law. The attorneys ultimately agreed to a settlement with Florida education officials that clarified the law to allow discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms only if it’s not part of instruction. The Texas Education Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The broader push against DEI: The DEI ban on K-12 schools comes two years after the Texas Legislature passed a similar ban for the state’s higher education institutions. Senate Bill 17 requires public universities to close their diversity offices, ban DEI training and restrict hiring departments from asking for diversity statements, or essays in which a job candidate expresses their commitment to promoting diversity in the workplace. [Texas’ DEI debate centers on a disagreement about whether programs perpetuate or prevent discrimination] Creighton, who also authored that bill, has warned higher education leaders that they could lose millions of dollars in state funding if they fail to comply with the law. Earlier this year, Abbott threatened Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh III’s job after claims spread online that Texas A&M was sending students and staffers to a conference that limited participation to people who are Black, Hispanic or Native American. At the national level, President Donald Trump has ordered all federal agencies to end “equity-related” practices and asked contractors to certify they do not promote DEI efforts. Trump also told schools and universities they would lose federal money if they do not eliminate diversity practices. Over the last five years, Texas and other Republican-led states have also taken other steps to abolish and ban DEI efforts in public education and the workforce. Similar to Trump, Abbott issued an executive order in January mandating that Texas agencies end all forms of DEI practices. “We must always reject race-based favoritism or discrimination and allow people to advance based on talent and merit,” Abbott said. Disclosure: ACLU Texas and Texas A&M University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here. More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year’s lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of “CNN NewsNight”; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/29/texas-aclu-k-12-public-schools-dei-ban/. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. — The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. *** Does dating ever feel challenging, awkward or frustrating? Turn Your Dating Life into a WOW! with our new classes and live coaching. Click here for more info or to buy with special launch pricing! *** On Substack? Follow us there for more great dating and relationships content. Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. A complete list of benefits is here. — Photo: The ACLU and a group of LGBTQ+ and student rights organizations are suing Texas to block the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in K-12 public schools. Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune The post ACLU, Other Groups Sue to Block Texas’ DEI Ban on K-12 Public Schools appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

No sugar-coating, I did some toxic shit. I lied to a dude about wanting to be in a relationship with him, not because I actually wanted him, but because I didn’t want to lose him. I know that already sounds selfish, but hear me out before you start screaming in the comments. There was this one guy who was just so good to me. He loved me in the way most teenage girls dream of a boy loving them. He was reliable, sweet, and at every possible opportunity made sure I knew he had been looking for something real. The problem? I wasn’t that into him. At least not enough to decide to invest. But his attention towards me was too tempting to give up. So when he asked me outright whether I pictured us together long-term, I said what he wanted to hear. I said yes. Not because I meant it, but because it kept him with me. It was safety. It was validation. And, if I’m being honest, it was selfish comfort. For me, the thinking was simple: Losing him would mean losing the comfort of being loved. And I wasn’t willing to let go of that then. I didn’t think about what it was doing to him, how unfair it was to him; I thought about how much I liked the way he made me feel. Most women won’t admit this, but sometimes, we like the chase, the attention, the effort — even if we don’t like the guy enough to choose him. OK, so now, let’s look at it from his perspective. He actually saw me pulling back at times, being evasive, not quite returning his feelings — but he brushed it off. Why? Because he believed that his effort could change my mind. He told me over and over that if he just kept proving himself to me, I would eventually fall as hard as he had. This is how guys get trapped. They see a few crumbs of attention and think it’s the whole loaf. They tell themselves that she’s “just guarded” or “still healing,” and they can break through the walls. But the reality? Sometimes she’s just not attracted enough to that guy. Here’s what you need to remember if the girl you’re dating is playing hot and cold: If you see the warning signs of this early on and you’re not picking up real interest, cut and run. Walk away. Trust me, if she really wanted you, you wouldn’t need to decode mixed messages. You wouldn’t need to beg for attention. A girl who is interested in you will let you know without you needing to play detective. The hardest truth is that, no matter how much you try, you can’t “convince” someone into actually wanting you. And the longer you stick around when she’s not fully in it, the more you’re giving her the power to use you as a backup plan, a safety net, or just free validation. When I think about it now, I realize I didn’t give him what he deserved. He deserved honesty. He needed someone on his level, not someone using him like a free Uber. But don’t put all the blame on me — he saw the signs and chose to ignore them. Well, gentlemen, at least let my mistake be a lesson. Don’t confuse attention with affection. Don’t think she’ll come around if you just try harder. She’s not interested. If she wanted you, she’d have you — simple as that. And to the man I lied to — yeah, you probably hate me for making this confession. Maybe you’ll call me manipulative or heartless. But in a way, you should thank me too. Because if this article helps even one guy wake up and stop chasing someone who doesn’t actually want him, then maybe all this foolishness wasn’t for nothing. — This post was previously published on medium.com. Love relationships? We promise to have a good one with your inbox. Subcribe to get 3x weekly dating and relationship advice. Did you know? We have 8 publications on Medium. Join us there! Hello, Love (relationships) Change Becomes You (Advice) A Parent is Born (Parenting) Equality Includes You (Social Justice) Greener Together (Environment) Shelter Me (Wellness) Modern Identities (Gender, etc.) Co-Existence (World) *** – Photo credit: Sudatip T. on Unsplash The post I Lied About Wanting a Relationship Just to Keep Him Close appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

By Filip Noubel, Jean Sovon, Jean-Christophe Brunet Francophone literature from Africa faces a dual challenge. On the continent, the prohibitive cost of imported books means that access to texts remains a privilege, while publishing in Africa also faces many obstacles, such as high production costs, poor distribution systems, and linguistic fragmentation. In the francophone countries of Europe, recognition of African literature, flourishing today and with roots stretching back to the 19th century, has come only relatively recently, as they were long subordinated to texts written by Europeans within a perspective shaped by colonial legacies. Early pioneers such as Léopold Sédar Senghor secured a place for it in Europe and across the world in the 1960s, and since then, writers like the Senegalese author Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, whose 2021 Goncourt Prize highlighted the vitality and richness of francophone African literatures, have carried it forward. Events like the Paris African Book Fair and the new Rive Noire Literature Festival, featured in this TV5 Monde video, are helping to make francophone African literature more visible and more accessible in France: The decision to end the Orange Book Prize in Africa in 2024, created in 2019 to support writers and publishers working on the continent, shocked many authors when it was announced and underlines the fragility of such structures. In an email interview, Global Voices asked Togolese writer Sami Tchak, who is also appearing at the Saint-Malo literary festival Étonnants Voyageurs (Surprising Travellers), how he defines and develops his francophone writing. Born in Togo in 1960, Sami Tchak, the pen name of Sadamba Tcha-Koura, began his career as a primary school teacher before going on to study philosophy and sociology in both Togo and France. In 2001, he published the iconoclastic novel “Place des Fêtes,” which brought him recognition in the francophone literary world for its exploration of sexuality. He went on to travel in Latin America, which became the source of inspiration for several of his novels. His many works include “Al Capone le Malien,” “La couleur de l’écrivain,” “Les Fables du Moineau,” and “Profaner Ananda,” co-written with Annie Ferret. Global Voices (GV): Would you describe your journey as that of an exile, a traveller between continents, or a curious spirit that refuses to look from above and instead searches for a more horizontal view? Translation Original Quote Sami Tchak (ST): None of the situations you mention applies to me. I am not an exile. I arrived in France with a study grant provided by my country, chose to make my life here after completing my studies, and return to Togo every year as often as I can and want to. Back home, I am regarded by some Togolese as one of the writers whose names are associated with national pride. So I am not an exile but a man living freely outside his own country. That is not the same thing. Nor do I define myself as a traveller. I am simply, like many other men and women in the literary world, a writer fortunate enough to be invited to conferences. I do not have the means to live as a traveller. I only travel when I am invited and my expenses are covered, and wherever I go, I barely have the chance to see anything beyond the spaces where the literary events take place. Travelling for work is not the same as living the life of a traveller. I am a curious man, as many people on this earth are, and also because writing requires us to pay close attention to the world, to nurture a desire to learn, to discover and to enrich the imagination. Yet this curiosity is not in any sense an attempt to pursue horizontality over verticality. In all the books where I address verticality, I do so as an observation and try to understand what it implies for our lives and, above all, for our ways of thinking. GV: Your exploration of the body and of sexuality has offered another perspective on the African experience. In what sense is this focus on the body both revealing and essential? Translation Original Quote ST: I am not sure what the African experience is supposed to mean, and I doubt there is anyone in the world who could explain what such an experience would involve. In what terms could it be defined? Historical, religious, political? To me, the idea of an African experience seems like an excessive essentialisation, which I portray in my novel “Le continent du Tout et du presque Rien.” This essentialisation reduces the complexity of a continent, together with the diversity of its peoples, cultures and experiences, to a generalised idea based on the shared destinies produced by colonisation. The body is also an essential element in all literature, but what matters, I believe, is the way each writer depicts and explores it. For me, the body, and sexuality above all, serve as a stage for human relationships and as a way of giving substance to philosophical reflections and to a vision of the world. This reflects a personal approach that others are free to interpret as they wish, as do those who devote their theses to my work. GV: Can literature be defined by its language or geography? Are you a francophone author, a Togolese author, an author from francophone Africa, or one without borders? Translation Original Quote ST: I addressed these issues in a book entitled “La couleur de l’écrivain.” In my view, it is our specific position as writers from colonized peoples who use the language of the colonizer that accounts for this kind of questioning, which has been raised for more than a hundred years. I am a Togolese living in France, and I write in French. I do not define myself as a francophone author, nor as an author without borders, but as a Togolese writer who writes in French. Even so, I realize that saying this does not stop such recurring questions, which have nothing to do with literature or with my approach as a writer. Still, I believe it is more useful to read authors whenever possible and to question them on the basis of their books. General questions do not allow for a genuine discussion of literature, nor do they help to bring a particular writer to light. GV: Which authors from francophone Africa, in your view, have most contributed, or are still contributing today, to the visibility and originality of francophone African literatures? Translation Original Quote ST: Literary experts would be better placed to give an intelligent answer to that question. For my part, I am aware that the visibility of some African authors, writing in French, English, Portuguese… is shaped by the European and American literary gatekeepers. In this YouTube video, Tchak talks about the relationships he maintains with his publishers: Read more: For African literary criticism: Interview with the founder of francophone ‘African literary chronicles’ — This post was previously published on globalvoices.org under a Creative Commons License. — Subscribe to The Good Men Project Newsletter Email Address * Subscribe If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member today. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here. — Photo credit: iStock.com The post ‘The Body as a Stage for Human Relationships‘: A Literary Perspective by Togolese Writer Sami Tchak appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

The US defense secretary blamed Biden-era policies for bringing Moscow and Beijing closer The US is seeking to restore deterrence against both Russia and China, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has said. Speaking to Fox News, Hegseth argued that the large military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, highlighted the closer ties between the two neighbors. “Unfortunately, the weakness of the previous administration has driven Russia and China closer together. That was a terrible development of a lack of American leadership and a lack of American strength,” Hegseth said. “But that’s why President Trump has charged us at the Defense Department to be prepared, rebuild our military in historic ways, restore the warrior ethos, and reestablish deterrence,” he added. Hegseth later clarified that although the US does not seek conflict with Russia or China, it aims to “maintain strategic advantage.” Moscow and Beijing have described their relations as a strategic partnership “without limits.” After the West imposed sweeping sanctions in response to the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Russia redirected much of its trade and supply chains toward China. Both countries have condemned Washington’s “Cold War mentality” and pledged to work toward a fairer, more equitable model of international relations. View the full article

Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital and other self-publishing platforms have opened the floodgates for creative freedom, faster publishing timelines and higher royalty potential — but it also means there’s a lot more noise. Standing out is the new challenge, says veteran book publicist Trish Stevens. “In the past, book publicity was mostly reserved for traditionally published authors. But today, self-published and hybrid authors are investing in professional publicity services to help drive visibility — and often finding tremendous success,” said Stevens, founder and CEO of Ascot Media Group. “But you can’t market a book that doesn’t look, read or feel professional, so first impressions are key.” According to Stevens, it all starts with a professional product: Invest in a great cover designer (this is a critical first impression!). Hire a professional editor (developmental and copyediting are both important). Write a compelling back-cover blurb that hooks readers and captures the book’s core message. Don’t skimp on formatting (print and e-book both matter). The search for a reputable book publicist can begin as soon as a publication date is imminent, Stevens added, and continue for months — even years — after a book hits the marketplace (as long as the content isn’t tied to quickly outdated information like technology). “A book publicist can help you keep your book in the public eye; they can communicate with the media and secure interviews and appearances for you; help keep your story in print and on the internet/social media; and they can help you reach new audiences,” she said. The bottom line, Stevens emphasized, is that visibility is a long game. The authors who succeed are the ones who keep going. “If they used a publicist during the first few months and got little to no results, they need to consider the possibility that the publicist just didn’t do a good enough job for them,” Stevens said. “Don’t let your dream die because someone failed to get you in the public eye.” Lastly, Trish added, “There’s nothing more gratifying to me in this book world than seeing authors get so excited after their campaigns kick off and watching them on TV discussing their books. Many of these authors’ books failed in publicity years earlier. We reignite their dreams with those older books, and it is extremely rewarding.” On more than one occasion, Stevens said she has heard authors describe their excitement as like being a kid again on Christmas morning — running downstairs, getting on their PCs to see just how many media hits have come in, along with Google Alerts. Many of these types of exciting testimonials can be found along with direct author contact information at https://ascotmedia.com/testimonials/. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t keep marketing your book,” Stevens added. “As long as you have a passion for it, there’s no reason you can’t continue to reach new readers and touch their lives, for years to come.” — Subscribe to The Good Men Project Newsletter Email Address * Subscribe If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member today. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here. Photo credit: iStock The post The Self-Publishing Boom: How to Market a Book and Stand Out from the Crowd — Veteran Publicist Weighs In appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

https://lunya.co/blogs/nightstand/the-bedtime-habit-thats-saving-relationships By Michelle Goldstein for Lunya It often begins with a battle. Not over toothpaste caps, late-night texts, or who left the lights on. No, the real culprit is the seemingly innocent, but ever-shrinking duvet. In the darkness, couples engage in a silent nightly war. Tug. Twist. Reclaim. Repeat. The collateral damage is frayed patience, poor rest, and, if science is to be believed, something even more serious. Health. The Sleep Research Society reports that up to 30% of a person’s sleep quality is dictated by their partner’s sleep patterns, from erratic tossing to temperature shifts and seemingly criminal blanket theft. Meanwhile, a review in Sleep Medicine Reviews found that couples in conflict (not necessarily from arguments, but from unrest) experience significantly shorter, more disrupted sleep cycles. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that chronic lack of quality rest can increase the risk of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and depression. In other words, this really isn’t just about comfort. The way people share (or don’t share) the covers can impact well-being. This is why couples worldwide are quietly turning to a decades-old Nordic custom that redefines what it means to share a bed. Luxury loungewear retailer Lunya explains the Scandinavian Sleep Method. What Is the Scandinavian Sleep Method? For couples in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, the concept isn’t revolutionary. It’s simply how people sleep. One bed. Two duvets. Better sleep on both sides of the bed. Instead of treating a single blanket as a symbol of romantic unity, Scandinavian couples embrace separate duvets as a practical act of mutual respect. One partner runs hot, the other cold. One prefers the weighted embrace of down, the other wants a barely-there layer. The method acknowledges a universal truth: comfort isn’t one size fits all. Relationship therapists have likened it to the sleep equivalent of separate bathroom sinks. Think of it not as an act of division, but a strategy for harmony. And sleep experts agree. Dr. Michael Gradisar, head of sleep science at Sleep Cycle, notes that nearly one-third of nighttime disruptions come from a partner’s movement alone, a problem drastically reduced by adopting two separate duvets. “Separate covers don’t drive couples apart,” says one sleep psychologist. “They allow partners to sleep deeply, and paradoxically, connect more.” The result? Less resentment. More rest. And, for many, a relationship that functions better both in and out of the bedroom. Why the Shared Blanket Isn’t Always Romantic In the U.S., the single shared duvet remains a cultural marker of intimacy. A cozy, cinematic shorthand for “look at us, we’re in sync.” But reality paints a different picture. Someone inevitably wakes up freezing and disgruntled while their partner cocoons in comfort, leaving a wake of micro-aggressions. You know the ones. A pointed sigh, a sharp yank, a not-so-subtle shift to the edge of the mattress. Sleep psychologists consistently rank co-sleeping disturbances like snoring, body heat, shifting, cover-hogging among the top contributors to poor rest. And yet, couples endure it, fearing that separating duvets suggests a relationship on the rocks. But as Scandinavian couples have quietly known for generations, sometimes the real marker of closeness is giving each other space. How to Make It Look (and Feel) Effortless Adopting two duvets doesn’t mean resigning your bedroom to an austere, mismatched fate. Scandinavian households have perfected the art of making a double-duvet bed look intentional. One common layout: Fold each duvet lengthwise, lay them side-by-side, and face the openings outward. The result is symmetrical and quietly elegant, evoking the precision of origami. Another approach is to fold the second duvet and drape it across the foot of the bed like an accent throw. To visitors, it’s just a decorative touch; at night, it’s your secret weapon for uninterrupted rest. Prefer top sheets? Keep one for your side. Duvet purist? Skip it. The method isn’t prescriptive, it’s adaptive. “The Scandinavian Sleep Method isn’t a trend or a look,” says one sleep consultant. “It’s a sensibility: intentional, functional, and quietly luxurious.” How to Start Sleeping, Scandi-Style Getting started is simple. If you share a queen or king-sized mattress, pick up two twin-sized duvets. Breathable and temperature-regulating options work best to avoid overheating in your private cocoon. Place them side by side so they meet in the middle, or overlap slightly for a seamless look. Then, personalize. Weighted on one side, airy linen on the other. Matching covers for cohesion, or complementary tones for contrast. The point isn’t to match preferences; it’s to respect them. Not a Breakup, But Relationship Maintenance For the uninitiated, separate duvets may feel like a metaphor for growing apart. But for many, it’s the opposite. Quality sleep leads to improved mood, greater patience, and yes, more interest in physical intimacy. In short, better rest makes people better partners. Separate duvets aren’t about distancing from each other. They’re about closing the distance between how people live, love, and rest. In a culture that equates sacrifice with devotion, the Scandinavian Sleep Method suggests a softer truth. Maybe you don’t need to compromise your sleep to prove your love. Maybe you can each have your own cover and still wake up tangled together, anyway. This story was produced by Lunya and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. — Previously Published on hub.stacker Subscribe to The Good Men Project Newsletter Email Address * Subscribe If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member today. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here. Photo credit: unsplash The post The Bedtime Habit That’s Saving Relationships appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

The summit in the Russian capital would be “unacceptable,” Kiev’s top diplomat has said Kiev has rejected a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in Moscow. Speaking to reporters in Beijing on Wednesday, Putin suggested that Zelensky could travel to the Russian capital to negotiate peace terms. Hungary, Switzerland, and Türkiye are among the countries that previously expressed readiness to host the talks. In a post on X, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga said that at least seven countries are prepared to host a potential Putin-Zelensky summit. “These are serious proposals and President Zelenskyy is ready for such a meeting at any time,” he wrote, using the Ukrainian spelling of Zelensky’s name. “Yet, Putin continues to mess around with everyone by making knowingly unacceptable proposals,” Sibiga wrote, calling for “increased pressure” on Russia. Putin has repeatedly said he is open to meeting with Zelensky at the “final stage” of negotiations. He reiterated on Wednesday that a summit could take place if it is “properly prepared and would yield positive results.” “At the end of the day, if Zelensky is ready, he can travel to Moscow,” he said. At the same time, the Russian leader again questioned Zelensky’s status as head of state, noting that his five-year presidential term expired last year and no new election was called due to martial law in Ukraine. Russia has insisted that for a lasting peace, Ukraine must recognize its new borders and abandon plans to join NATO. View the full article

By Petro Kotzé Since Namibia’s independence in 1990, the country has become a model of wildlife recovery, and is now famed for its free-roaming herds of megafauna and enigmatic national parks. A key to this recovery is the model of community-based natural resource management, which places much of the responsibility and benefits of wildlife conservation in the hands of rural communities, enabling people to earn income from small-scale hunting and tourism and thus motivating them to conserve wildlife. A recent 11-year dry spell has tested the resilience of the model and the people and natural systems that depend on it — but it also serves as an opportunity to build a more climate-resilient future for desert-adapted megafauna in habitats projected to become hotter and drier. Namibian conservation experts maintain that the key to wildlife survival is to cement their economic value in policies: if the people in the areas they roam can benefit from wildlife, they will stand a better chance in a more inhospitable future. See All Key Ideas SESFONTEIN, Namibia ­­­— “I want my children to see a rhino with their own eyes — not only in Etosha [National Park],” says Sofia /Nuas, a member of the Sesfontein Conservancy Committee, located in Namibia’s arid northwest. She’s sitting in the shade of a large sausage tree, yet even on this winter morning temperatures have quickly soared to more than 30° Celsius (86° Fahrenheit). Life in this hot and dry region is already tough, but climate change will intensify it. With a population of less than 3,000, Sesfontein is a small settlement located in the Northwestern Escarpment and Inselbergs of the Nama Karoo Biome. Cattle and goats meander across dusty roads, but tourists are also drawn to the desert-like outpost for its enigmatic landscapes and a chance to glimpse some of the world’s last free-roaming, critically endangered black rhinos (Diceros bicornis), as well as Namibia’s famed desert-adapted lions (Panthera leo) and African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana). Their presence here is no accident. Once near-depleted, the wildlife is protected not only by fences and the government, but by the communities who share the land with free-roaming predators and herds of springboks (Antidorcas marsupialis), giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) and gemsboks (Oryx gazella). The Sesfontein Conservancy is one of more than 80 communal conservancies in Namibia. For decades, these conservancies have helped bring wildlife back from the brink, in a model of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) that has resulted in swaths of land conserving Namibia’s wildlife beyond government-run national parks. The model’s continued success is also what experts say will help buffer the biodiversity against the onslaught of climate change. “It is our duty to conserve the animals,” committee member Paul Kasupi says. “Our ancestors left us the conservancy … and we must protect it for future generations.” However, this will become more challenging as the region is projected to become drier and hotter due to climate change. Already, the resilience of Namibia’s community-based conservation model and the iconic wildlife it protects have been tested during a brutal 11-year dry spell that finally broke last year. The outcomes, especially in the northwest, hint at the potential impact of long-term climate change on desert-adapted megafauna. They also show how to potentially pave the way for species survival. Namibia’s desert-adapted wildlife Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa. Annual rainfall plunges from approximately 600 millimeters (24 inches) annually in the northeast to less than 50 mm (2 in) in the south and along the windswept Skeleton Coast National Park, a narrow stretch of protected land along the Atlantic Ocean. Only those species adapted to the desert-like conditions survive. The most iconic are perhaps the lions that roam the foggy coast and have learned to hunt seals and seabirds. The desert-dwelling elephants dig wells up to a meter (3 feet) deep with their feet and trunks in the dry sand of the riverbeds. These “elephant wells” are then used by numerous other species like springboks, black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) and chacma baboons (Papio ursinus). However, the most important adaptation strategy of all, says Chris Brown, CEO of the Namibian Chamber of Environment (NCE), is the ability to roam over large areas to find areas of suitable food and water. For example, male lions cover an immense range of between 1,500 and 2,000 square kilometers (580 to 770 square miles) per year, says John Heydinger, research director and co-founder of the Lion Rangers Program in Namibia. Similarly, the home range of a male brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea) in the northwest is approximately 2,200 km2 (850 mi2), according to researcher Emsie Verwey. “They roam incredibly far in search of carrion for themselves and to bring back to their dens and feed their young,” she says. These adaptations evolved over millennia. But colonial-era hunting, guns, farming and fencing nearly wiped out Namibia’s wildlife in the 20th century. Brown, an ecologist and environmental scientist, estimates that, historically, 8 million to 10 million animals roamed Namibia. By the 1960s, those numbers had plummeted to around 500,000. Democracy, and a new dawn for Namibian wildlife Namibia’s independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990 marked a turning point. It became the first country in Africa to incorporate environmental protection into its Constitution. Not only did the new Constitution call for the “maintenance” of biodiversity, but also the sustainable use of natural resources. Rural communities on state land were given the right to manage and benefit from wildlife, provided they organized into conservancies. Each conservancy adheres to hunting quotas, based on annual wildlife surveys, says Kenneth /Uiseb, deputy director of wildlife research and monitoring at the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The result was the CBNRM program — and it triggered a quiet revolution. “Before, there was no control,” says /Nuas from the Sesfontein Conservancy. “If someone wanted to kill a giraffe, they just did. Now, if a legal hunter comes, the fee goes to the community.” She points out the electricity wires lining the village’s neat streets. “Our living standards improved,” she says, “and our children are going to school.” Today, Namibia has 86 registered communal conservancies, covering about one-fifth of the country and more than 300,000 community members. Along with national parks and private conservation areas, more than 45% of Namibia’s land — about 37 million hectares (91 million acres), or an area the size of Japan — is under some form of conservation management. And uniquely, Brown points out, Namibia’s entire coastline is protected, from the Orange River in the south, which forms the border with South Africa, to the Kunene River in the north, bordering Angola. Altogether, this protected landscape of more than 25 million hectares (62 million acres) forms the third-largest continuous area of formally managed and protected wildlife land in the world. Wildlife rebounded. Lions and springboks returned to areas where they hadn’t been seen for decades, and gemsboks, greater kudus (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and Hartmann’s mountain zebras (Equus zebra hartmannae), among others, bounced back, /Uiseb says. The elephant population in Namibia, he adds, swelled from an estimated 7,000 in the 1990s to 26,000 by 2025. Between 2005 and 2010, conservancies released more than 40 black rhinos, expanding the species’ range by roughly 20%. The free-roaming black rhino population in the northwest went up significantly, says Simson !Uri-≠Khob, CEO of Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) Namibia. “It became the biggest wildlife recovery story ever told,” /Uiseb says. Tourism boomed. Lodges sprang up, and communities received direct income, meat, jobs and training. But then the next dry cycle began — an 11-year period of low rainfall that tested the conservation model, people and wildlife to their limits. A decadal dry spell tests the resilience of the northwest “We’ve always had dry cycles every 10 or 11 years,” Brown says. “But this one was longer — and much worse.” Extreme weather events like this in Namibia are consistent with climate change predictions, he says, adding that in parts of the northwest, it hardly rained at all. With vegetation dwindling, wildlife numbers in the conservancies dropped dramatically. This was not only due to animals dying from lack of food, Brown says, but also because some animals migrated out of the conservancies, where there was less competition for food by livestock. But this meant that wildlife survey numbers plummeted in the northwest and Skeleton Coast National Park. Gemsbok numbers plunged from 2,314 in 2011 to just 131 in 2023. Over the same period, springboks decreased from 12,889 to 3,286, and Hartmann’s zebras from 3,361 to 358. !Uri-≠Khob says the black rhino population in the northwest dropped to about half of its size before the drought. “The adults survived. But the cows couldn’t produce enough milk for the calves.” A 2022 survey found 57-60 adult desert lions and 14 cubs, down from a total of 150. With wildlife counts hitting all-time lows, legal hunting permits for conservancies were suspended to protect vulnerable populations, /Uiseb says. Although hit hard, wildlife still fared better than livestock during the long drought, Brown says. Because the land is open — more than 8 million hectares (20 million acres) — wildlife could move to find food and water, he says: “Their resilience is higher.” “We lost all our cattle,” says Kasupi. “Most people did.” As wildlife numbers fell, predators like lions and cheetahs turned to the remaining livestock. Elephants aimed for vegetable gardens and water reservoirs. Conflict between people and wildlife increased. Still, in the conservancies, people didn’t resort to illegal hunting as a means of retaliation against the encroaching predators. “We won’t kill the lion,” Kasupi says, even when they come for their livestock. “The lion is protected. If it eats our goats, we report it to the ministry and we are compensated.” Income from tourism also created a critical buffer. “We survived from the lodges,” /Nuas says. “They gave the conservancies food and income when everything else failed.” Still, for the first time, some people began questioning the benefits of the CBNRM program, as the conservancies were unable to offset the livestock losses, /Uiseb says. However, multiple examples proved the model’s resilience. The heat is rising In 2024, as the dry spell stretched into its 11th year, President Nangolo Mbumba declared a national drought emergency. In September 2024, in line with the country’s constitutional mandate to use its natural resources for the benefit of Namibian citizens, the government approved a mass hunt to feed needy communities and reduce pressure on certain ecosystems. Namibia’s 723-animal quota (a cull also took place in Zimbabwe) included 83 elephants, 300 zebras, 100 elands, 100 blue wildebeest, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas and 30 hippos, along with other animals in five national parks. /Uiseb points out that while there was criticism from antihunting groups, especially internationally, Namibia’s Constitution is pro-sustainable hunting. The activity is seen as integral to cement the economic and social benefits of wildlife, and thus people’s willingness to conserve them. “The culling, as it was called, was part of active management to protect the species and the rangeland on which the species depend,” /Uiseb says. But this may not be the last cull of its kind. Namibia’s climate outlook is sobering. By 2050, the country is projected to warm by 2-3°C (3.6-5.4°F), and by 2080, up to 6°C (10.8°F). Rainfall is expected to decline by 10-30% across different regions. Evaporation, drought, floods and fire risk will all increase. Soil moisture will drop, plant cover will shrink. These effects will combine, compounding each other and accelerating land degradation and declining productivity. Climate models suggest that wildlife may fare better than agriculture, but still face major losses. By 2050, carrying capacity for wildlife in Namibia’s protected areas may fall by 12%, and by 25% by 2080. Similar declines are projected for communal conservancies and private land. That portends a massive drop in Namibia’s signature wildlife. Survival through action Brown is blunt about future choices. “If wildlife doesn’t have economic value, it will be lost,” he says. “Through the correct policy development, we must ensure that wildlife is competitive as a land use. If we cannot, we will struggle. It’s that simple.” The Namibian Chamber of Environment and others say that survival will depend on swift and decisive actions, informed by shifting climatic conditions and ecosystem feedback. Among the steps they recommend are collaborative efforts to expand, connect and manage conservation landscapes, linking national parks, communal areas and private land. Wildlife management, Brown says, must be adaptive and data-driven. Annual game counts and vegetation assessments, tied to rainfall data and monitoring, should inform decisions. These decisions must come early after the rains, informing swift action before vegetation is damaged and overutilized. Furthermore, there should be no rigid guidelines for offtakes — reducing wildlife populations through hunting, culling or translocations. Management should “navigate through highly variable climatic conditions with the vegetation in the best possible condition, with wildlife populations at sustainable levels and in good condition,” Brown says. In good years, he adds, offtakes may be unnecessary. But in extremely poor years, it may be necessary to remove half the animals in a given area, especially after a period of drought. “If the next rainy season is good, the animals can breed up quickly, but if not, the population can be reduced to ensure a food reserve for them.” Brown says it won’t be easy, requiring strong and decisive management without restrictions. But he also says Namibia’s wildlife economy will benefit from diversification. Species such as disease-free African savanna buffalos (Syncerus caffer) could be brought into production, adding as much as 20% to the sector’s value. A legal international trade in rhino horn and elephant ivory, he says, could significantly boost returns per hectare, while supporting rewilding efforts across Africa. But legalizing the trade of either commodity remains controversial. The NCE also recommends a formal wildlife meat trade with Europe and elsewhere. Finally, it recommends an aggressive deregulation of Namibia’s wildlife sector, reducing the intrusion of the state in wildlife management outside of national parks. The government, according to /Uiseb, is already employing a range of management interventions that could be considered in a hotter and drier climate: supplementary feeding, water provision, translocations, reintroductions and, when necessary, culling in line with available resources. Already, boreholes are being drilled in some fenced parks, and reintroductions are helping to restore wildlife populations. Offtakes, including transportation or management hunts, are conducted when conditions demand it. A pilot project is also underway to test landscape-level conservation, involving stakeholders on the borders of protected areas in conservation initiatives to expand the space available for wildlife. In the long term, /Uiseb says he wants to see farmers and conservation agencies pull down their fences to allow much more unrestricted movement of wildlife, in response to changing climatic and rainfall conditions. The hardest part to manage, /Uiseb says, is people. Demands for land, livestock and water are growing. “If farmers can live within what the land can provide, the system will survive,” he says. “But if they push it beyond its limits, we’ll lose everything. “The ecosystem is inherently resilient,” he adds, “but only if it’s allowed to recover.” Other voices in the conservation landscape agree. Heydinger from the Lion Rangers Program sees lessons in Namibia’s desert-adapted wildlife — species that have managed to survive in arid landscapes for millennia. “They are pioneers in terms of potential climatic futures,” he says. And, he adds, they may offer a model for the future of other large-bodied, wide-ranging species. !Uri-≠Khob from Save the Rhino Trust is cautiously optimistic. In principle, he says, black rhinos can be moved to more suitable grazing grounds if needed. But the risk is high as they’re so finely adapted to their habitats. The best option, he says, is to continue to build trust with and give the responsibility to the communities that live with rhinos. “Trust them,” he says. That belief still holds strong in places like Sesfontein, even after the drought. “Even when it gets difficult, we will stay here,” /Nuas says, adding that they want the wildlife to stay with them. Banner image: Elephants are one of the species that have bounced back after Namibia’s independence in 1990. Image by Emsie Verwey. Citations: Stander, P. E. (2019). Lions (Panthera leo) specialising on a marine diet in the Skeleton Coast National Park, Namibia. Namibian Journal of Environment, 3, A:1-10. Retrieved from https://nje.org.na/index.php/nje/article/view/volume3-stander Ramey, E. M., Ramey, R. R., Brown, L. M., & Kelley, S. T. (2013). Desert-dwelling African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in Namibia dig wells to purify drinking water. Pachyderm, 53, 66-72. doi:10.69649/pachyderm.v53i.325 Turner, W. C., Périquet, S., Goelst, C. E., Vera, K. B., Cameron, E. Z., Alexander, K. A., … Werner Kilian, J. (2022). Africa’s drylands in a changing world: Challenges for wildlife conservation under climate and land-use changes in the Greater Etosha Landscape. Global Ecology and Conservation, 38, e02221. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02221 Credits — Previously Published on news.mongabay with Creative Commons Attribution — Subscribe to The Good Men Project Newsletter Email Address * Subscribe If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member today. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here. — Photo credit: iStock.com The post Climate Change Tests the Resilience of People and Desert-Adapted Wildlife in Namibia appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

By Sy Boles | Harvard Staff Writer | Harvard Gazette Scientists fear funding cuts will slow momentum in ongoing battle with evolving bacteria In 2023, more than 2.4 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia were diagnosed in the U.S. Though that number is high, it’s actually an improvement, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The number of sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, decreased 1.8 percent overall from 2022 to 2023, with gonorrhea decreasing the most (7.2 percent). But the number of STI diagnoses is only one part of the problem. One treatment for STIs is doxycycline. It has been prescribed as a prophylactic for gonorrhea, recommended as a treatment for chlamydia since 2020, and used to treat syphilis during shortages of the preferred treatment, benzathine penicillin. But bacteria are living organisms, and like all living organisms, they evolve. Over time, they develop resistance mechanisms to the antibiotics we create to kill them. And according to Harvard immunologist Yonatan Grad, resistance to doxycycline is growing rapidly in the bacteria that cause gonorrhea. “The increased use of doxycycline has, as we might have expected, selected for drug resistance,” Grad said. The pattern of bacteria evolving to overcome our best treatments is one of medicine’s most fundamental problems. Since the introduction of penicillin in the 1940s, antibiotics have radically transformed what’s possible in medicine, far beyond treatments for STIs. They can knock out the bacteria behind everything from urinary tract infections to meningitis to sepsis from infected wounds. But every antibiotic faces the same fate: As soon as it enters use, bacteria begin evolving to survive it. The scope of the problem is staggering. Doctors wrote 252 million antibiotic prescriptions in 2023 in the U.S. That’s 756 prescriptions for every 1,000 people, up from 613 per 1,000 people in 2020. According to the CDC, more than 2.8 million antimicrobial infections occur each year in the U.S., and more than 35,000 people die, as a result of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) infections. I think of antibiotics as infrastructure. –Yonatan Grad For researchers like Grad, the endless battle against the clock can be a bit like a game of high-stakes Whac-a-Mole — tracking antibiotic resistance, figuring out how it works, and developing new kinds of drugs before the bacteria can catch up. “Being able to treat these infections underlies so many aspects of medicine — urinary tract infections, caring for people who are immunocompromised, preventing surgical infections and treating them if they arise, and on and on,” said Grad. “This is foundational for modern clinical medicine and public health. Antibiotics are the support, the scaffolding on which medicine depends.” Hold or release new drugs? Grad’s research shows how quickly resistance can develop. In research described in a July letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, Grad and colleagues evaluated more than 14,000 genome sequences from Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes gonorrhea, and found that carriage of a gene that confers resistance to tetracyclines — the class of antibiotics to which doxycycline belongs — shot up from 10 percent in 2020 to more than 30 percent in 2024. Fortunately, doxycycline remains effective as a post-exposure prophylaxis for syphilis and chlamydia. It’s an open question why some pathogens are quicker to develop resistance than others. The urgency varies by organism, Grad said, with some, like Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause of tuberculosis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, showing “extremely drug-resistant or totally drug-resistant strains” that leave doctors facing untreatable infections. The findings raise alarm bells, or at least questions, in doctors’ offices around the country: As bacteria develop resistance to tried-and-true antibiotics, when should new drugs be introduced for maximal utility before the bacteria inevitably outwit them, too? Traditional stewardship practice has recommended holding back new drugs until the old ones stop working. But 2023 research from Grad’s lab has challenged that approach. In mathematical models evaluating strategies for introducing a new antibiotic for gonorrhea, Grad found that the strategy of keeping the new antibiotics in reserve saw antibiotic resistance reach 5 percent much sooner than quickly introducing the antibiotic or using it in combination with the existing drug. Lifesaving progress halted Extra time could be critical for Amory Houghton Professor of Chemistry Andrew Myers, whose lab has been developing new antibiotics, including ones that target gonorrhea, for more than 30 years. “Most of the antibiotics in our ‘modern’ arsenal are some 50 years old and no longer work against a lot of the pathogens that are emerging in hospitals and even in the community,” Myers said. “It’s a huge problem and it’s not as well appreciated as I think it should be.” In my opinion, we can absolutely win the game — temporarily. –Andrew Myers Many antibiotics work by targeting and inhibiting bacterial ribosome, the central machinery that translates the instructions in RNA into a protein readout. Ribosomes are “fantastically complex” 3D shapes, Myers said. Creating new antibiotics means inventing new chemical compounds that can bind like puzzle pieces into their grooves and protrusions. “My lab will spend quite a lot of time, sometimes years, to develop the chemistry — to invent the chemistry — that allows us to prepare new members of these classes of antibiotics,” Myers said. “And then we spend years making quite literally thousands of different members of the class, and then we evaluate them. Do they kill bacteria? Do they kill bacteria that are resistant to existing antibiotics? We’ve been incredibly successful with this, one antibiotic class after another. The strategy works.” But it’s also in danger. The Trump administration ended a National Institutes of Health grant to Myers’ lab for the development of lincosamides, a class of antibiotics whose last approved member, clindamycin, dates to 1970. A second terminated NIH grant may kill a promising new antibiotic on the cusp of further development. Myers’ lab has created a new molecule that has proven effective in killing Klebsiella Pneumoniae and E. coli, both identified by the World Health Organization as among the highest priority pathogens. Without continued funding, the molecule may not make it to the clinical trial phase and may never become an approved drug. “A delusion among people is that these decisions can simply be reversed and these NIH grants restored,” Myers said. “That’s not true. The damage is real, and it’s irreversible in some cases.” Carrying on Paul Farmer’s legacy The funding cuts extend beyond individual labs to a global health infrastructure. Carole Mitnick, a professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, studies multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and has watched about 79 percent of USAID funding for global TB support get slashed this year. “In the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Sierra Leone, and no doubt elsewhere, we’ve seen stocks of lifesaving anti-TB drugs sitting in warehouses, expiring, because programs that would have delivered them have been canceled or staff who would have collected them have been abruptly fired,” she said. “Not only is it immediately deadly and cruel not to deliver these lifesaving cures, but it sets the scene for more antimicrobial resistance by not delivering complete treatments. And it very clearly wastes U.S. taxpayer money to invest in the purchase of these drugs and let them sit in warehouses and expire.” Mitnick’s work on multidrug-resistant TB, a form of antimicrobial resistance, builds on the legacy of Paul Farmer, the late Harvard professor and Partners In Health co-founder who revolutionized MDR-TB treatment by rejecting utilitarian approaches that wrote off the most vulnerable patients. “Getting to know Paul and having him advise me, initially on my master’s thesis and ultimately on my doctoral dissertation, gave me a new framework,” Mitnick said. “It allowed me the freedom to use a social justice framework and to say that actually our research should be motivated by who’s suffering the greatest. How do we blend the research, which we’re very well placed to do at Harvard, with direct service and trying to reach the populations who are most marginalized? That shape is still very much in place and still informing the choices that several researchers in our department make in Paul’s legacy.” Our research should be motivated by who’s suffering the greatest. –Carole Mitnick Globally, about 500,000 new people are estimated to have MDR-TB or its even heartier relative, extensively drug-resistant TB, each year. MDR-TB caused an estimated 150,000 deaths worldwide in 2023. TB is the poster child for pathogen characteristics and social conditions that favor selection for drug-resistant mutants. In a single case of TB, the bacteria population comprises bacteria at different stages of growth and in different environments of the body, requiring distinct drugs that can attach to each of these forms. Multidrug treatment regimens are long (measured in months, not days) and toxic, making them difficult for people to complete. And in the absence of any incentives or requirements, there’s a long lag between developing new drugs and developing tests that can detect resistance to those drugs. Consequently, treatment is often delivered without any information about resistance, in turn generating more resistance. The fight against MDR-TB has an unlikely new ally: Nerdfighters, the fan group of prominent video bloggers John and Hank Green — or, more specifically, a subset of that fandom calling themselves TBFighters. John Green’s 2024 book, “Everything is Tuberculosis,” raised awareness about the prohibitive cost of TB diagnostic tests. Mitnick said that in the acknowledgments, Green called his book a sort of love letter to Paul Farmer. “Paul didn’t directly introduce John to TB, but it really is Paul’s legacy that took John Green to Sierra Leone, and then he met this young man named Henry who had multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. It awakened in John the awareness that actually TB was not a disease of the past, but a disease very much of the present.” The TBFighters energized an existing coalition movement to reduce the cost of testing for TB and other diseases from about $10 per test to about $5 per test, based on estimates that $5 covered the cost of manufacturing plus a profit, even at lower sales volumes. “It wasn’t until John Green and the TBFighters entered the fray in 2023 that we made any headway: The manufacturer announced a reduction of about 20 percent on the price of one TB test,” Mitnick said. “So not a full win, but a partial win.” Despite the challenges, researchers remain cautiously optimistic. “In my opinion, we can absolutely win the game — temporarily,” said Myers. “Whatever we develop, bacteria will find a way to outwit us. But I’m optimistic that the molecules that we’re making could have a clinical lifetime of many decades, maybe even as long as 100 years, if they’re used prudently.” Grad sees his work more like the construction crews that repair the city sidewalk or maintain bridges. “I think of antibiotics as infrastructure,” he said. “These tools that we use to maintain our health require continual investment.” — This story is reprinted with permission from The Harvard Gazette. *** Subscribe to The Good Men Project Newsletter Email Address * If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member today. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here. — Photo credit: iStock The post Racing Against Antibiotic Resistance appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

When I was a young writer, I spoke to magazine editors, political speechwriters, authors, professors, agents, and book editors. I was told one thing. It was universal counsel. “Find your voice.” It’s seemingly simple advice, right? No. It takes most writers years to find their voice. It takes writing, more writing, editing, writing, editing, and even more writing. There are some individuals born with a voice. Other creatives have to work to develop their unique voice. The one thing that sets them apart from other writers, artists, and musicians. The creatives who live to tell their stories. Who are compelled to share their hearts and vision. The pulsating soul within that they are unable to quiet. I’m not against AI. I use it as a business tool. I’ve also used AI to brainstorm a writing concept I’m developing. I’m a freelance journalist, marketer, former business columnist turned relationship columnist. I see value in AI. AI is a tool we can use in business and writing. We can brainstorm article ideas, ways to market our work, or perfect the main point of something we are trying to say. AI is an exciting tool. AI does not replace a writer. AI can and does render a replica of a writer’s copy. It can reflect a slice of an individual’s voice. Especially with effective prompts. But at best it’s an imitation, not unique art. I don’t use AI when I write articles. Because AI will never capture my voice. I worked hard to earn that voice. It wasn’t easy. The industry professionals were correct. I would need to write endlessly to find it. Only then would my distinct personality evolve, and connect with a reader. That’s when the magic happens. A magazine or book editor will comment on my voice. A reader will glance at my work, and instantly recognize the author. AI is a new frontier. Technology is advancing. There are ways we can use AI as a tool. Especially in the brainstorming arena for ideas, direction, etc. But AI will never replicate a writer’s voice. It will attempt to copy it. AI may even come close. That is all. Here’s another interesting tidbit to consider. The aforementioned industry professionals did tell me that one thing. But I left out the first part of their universal response. “You’re a greater writer,” they said. “Now you need to find your voice.” What does that tell you? AI may regurgitate some decent writing. It might even be great. But I was told I was very good. It wasn’t enough. It didn’t differentiate me. I told a decent story. But my words didn’t stand out. My voice couldn’t be heard, let alone recognized. AI will turn some people into writers. AI will turn some writers into input prompters. AI will cause some upheaval before it levels out. New technology always does. Change scares us, at least many of us. But AI won’t insert the full human voice. AI won’t hear my entire heart. AI will hear a portion of it. AI will research my work to a level that is exciting. AI will have the ability to capture much of me. I will feel known by AI. I will feel understood. But it will never capture all of me. This is where writers and AI don’t completely intersect. This is the human value. This is our voice. — This post was previously published on medium.com. Love relationships? We promise to have a good one with your inbox. Subcribe to get 3x weekly dating and relationship advice. Did you know? We have 8 publications on Medium. Join us there! Hello, Love (relationships) Change Becomes You (Advice) A Parent is Born (Parenting) Equality Includes You (Social Justice) Greener Together (Environment) Shelter Me (Wellness) Modern Identities (Gender, etc.) Co-Existence (World) *** – Photo credit: MD Duran On Unsplash The post What AI Will Never Do appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

A 31-year-old man diagnosed with schizophrenia allegedly pushed his 16-year-old victim under an oncoming train, the authorities have said An Iraqi migrant in Germany is suspected of murdering a 16-year-old Ukrainian girl, identified as Liana K., by pushing her under an oncoming train, the local public prosecutor’s office has reported. According to a statement released last Friday, the incident took place on August 11 at a train station in Friedland municipality, Lower Saxony. The authorities said police had been called over a report of a man “causing a disturbance.” When the officers arrived, the 31-year-old suspect, reportedly named Muhammad A., is said to have approached them voluntarily and pointed to the victim’s lifeless body, while not admitting to any involvement. Police initially did not detain the man, the prosecutor’s office said. However, hours later he was arrested for displaying “aggressive behavior” at a different location, and taken to a psychiatric hospital. Subsequent tests discovered the man’s DNA on the victim’s body, resulting in a detention order being issued for the suspect, the statement read. The authorities explained that it was not clear whether the Iraqi national, if found guilty, would face a prison sentence or be confined to a mental facility, as he had previously been “diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.” According to the statement, the suspect’s asylum application was rejected as inadmissible in December 2022 and he was ordered deported to Lithuania, from where he had apparently come. After the man’s appeal was struck down, he is said to have gone into hiding. In July 2025, after the fugitive had been located, the German immigration authorities applied for his deportation, only for the Hanover District Court to reject the motion, citing insufficient grounds. Local media has reported that Liana K’s family arrived in Germany in July 2022. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, an estimated 1.2 million Ukrainians have come to Germany. It follows a mass influx of asylum seekers from nations such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, starting in 2015. View the full article

The Russian president says he has been “satisfied” with the performance of the country’s negotiators in the Istanbul talks Moscow is open to bringing the direct negotiations with Ukraine to “a truly high political level,” Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. The president made the remarks on Wednesday during a Q&A session with the media, which concluded his four-day visit to China. Asked about the performance of the Russian negotiating team during talks hosted by Türkiye, Putin spoke highly about the group and its head, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, in particular. “I am satisfied with Medinsky’s work. If there is a need to do something regarding raising the level [of negotiations], bringing it to a political level, we are ready for it,” Putin said, refusing to name any officials who could potentially participate in such talks. Russia’s negotiating team has become an example of a “reserved, professional approach,” the president said. Direct talks between Moscow and Kiev resumed in Türkiye early this year. The negotiating team has been headed by Medinsky, who also led the ultimately unsuccessful effort to settle the conflict through diplomacy, attempted in early 2022 shortly after the hostilities broke out. Several rounds of the resumed talks have not yielded any major breakthrough but have allowed the two sides to make certain progress with regard to various humanitarian issues. Namely, Moscow and Kiev held multiple major prisoner swaps, as well as exchanged bodies of fallen soldiers. View the full article

Affairs rarely stay hidden forever. Sometimes the secrecy unravels because your partner finds a suspicious text. Sometimes it’s your own guilt that cracks the facade. And sometimes, like a slow leak becoming a burst pipe, you’re simply too emotionally torn between two worlds to keep it together. Regardless of how it happens — discovery, confession, or suspicion — getting caught in an affair sets off a chain reaction you can’t easily stop. If this is where you find yourself right now, take a breath. You’re not alone, and while you can’t undo what’s been done, you can decide what happens next. Learn more about why affairs happen. The Big Three: Terror, Shame, Relief Terror. The fear of being found out often shadows every step of an affair. Once that fear becomes reality, the terror escalates: Will she leave? Is my marriage over? Can this ever be repaired? Most men don’t start an affair to end their primary relationship, but exposure forces a brutal reckoning with exactly that possibility. Shame. Once the secret is out, shame hits hard. Now you’re facing the hurt, betrayal, and anger of someone you vowed to protect. Many men will say anything to stop the bleeding in this moment. But remember: empty promises can backfire. Rebuilding trust is a long game, and every word counts. Relief. Oddly enough, many men also feel a surprising sense of relief. No more double life. No more paranoia. Getting caught often gives you the push you couldn’t muster yourself to end the affair and confront what’s broken at home. Jim’s Story: The Wake-Up Call Take Jim, for example. He drifted from his wife, Liz, and found comfort in Shelly, a coworker who seemed to “get him.” Like many, Jim told himself it helped him cope. He believed the affair made things better at home — until it didn’t. A simple holiday weekend decorating the house with Liz and reconnecting with family jolted Jim awake. He realized what he stood to lose: the family he loved and the life he’d built. That weekend made him see the lie he’d been living — and the man he wanted to be again. Ending the Affair: No Easy Out Cutting things off with an affair partner (AP) is rarely tidy. Jim tried. Shelly didn’t accept it easily. She texted, called, and demanded explanations. She even threatened to call his wife. The truth is: the more time and emotion you’ve shared, the messier the breakup. If you’re in Jim’s shoes, be clear, direct, and decisive. Half measures keep everyone stuck. Avoid excuses. Don’t leave the door cracked open — you’re not doing her (or yourself) any favors by staying “kind” if it’s over. Should You Confess? One question looms large once you decide to end the affair: Should I tell my spouse if she doesn’t already know? Some experts say yes, because secrets corrode intimacy. Others argue that confession without a plan just shifts your guilt onto her. Only you can decide what’s right for your relationship. But know this: if your partner suspects, or if others know, it’s probably only a matter of time before the truth comes out anyway. If you do confess, don’t do it to “feel better.” Do it because you’re ready to be fully honest and fully accountable. And be prepared: real forgiveness doesn’t come overnight. You can’t rush it. You can’t demand it. You have to earn it daily. Your Reckoning: Who Do You Want to Be? At the heart of it all is this: getting caught is not just about damage control. It’s about facing the man you’ve been — and the man you want to be. Like Jim, you might discover that what you truly want has been at home all along, waiting for you to show up, honest and whole. So, you’ve been caught. Now what? Own it. End the affair. Get real about your marriage. Take responsibility. And step up for your partner, your family, and yourself. Check out these essential do’s and don’ts for affair recovery. If you’re struggling to find your next steps, don’t navigate this alone. Talk to a trusted counselor, mentor, or therapist. You can heal — and so can your relationship — but not by staying stuck in secrecy and shame. — This post was previously published on Dr. Jeanne Michele’s blog. *** You Might Also Like These From The Good Men Project Compliments Men Want to Hear More Often Relationships Aren’t Easy, But They’re Worth It The One Thing Men Want More Than Sex ..A Man’s Kiss Tells You Everything Subscribe to The Good Men Project Newsletter Email Address * Subscribe If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member today. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here. Photo credit: iStock The post You’ve Been Caught: What Happens Next? appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article

An unscripted exchange in Beijing featured the leaders talking about life expectancy, biotech, and immortality Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have been caught on a live microphone sharing a rare unscripted chat about longevity and biotechnology. The conversation took place on Wednesday, as Putin and Kim joined Xi in Beijing to view a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of imperial Japan’s defeat in World War II. A live feed of the event briefly carried their exchange as they walked up to the Tiananmen Gate, and was quickly flagged by social media users following the event. Bloomberg later published a clip from the broadcast. The audio, patchy and lasting under a minute, began with Xi saying in Mandarin that “these days” reaching 70 years was no longer unusual. A Russian interpreter was then heard relaying his remark: “Earlier, people rarely lived to 70, but these days at 70 years you are still a child.” Putin then responded with a comment not clearly picked up on the feed, though an interpreter’s Mandarin version suggested the Russian leader spoke about biotechnology. “With the development of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted, and people can live younger and younger, and even achieve immortality,” the interpreter was heard saying. The statement rendered into Korean also referenced organ transplants. Xi then said: “Predictions are, this century, there’s a chance of also living to 150.” The camera cut away as he finished. Xi and Putin are both 72, while Kim is 41. Later on, Putin confirmed the conversation when asked about it by Russian reporters. “Modern medical developments, including surgery to replace organs, give rise to expectations that life expectancy will increase significantly,” he said, adding that such changes would have “social, political, and economic consequences.” View the full article