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If this weekend's lineup is any indication, it's going to be a great month in the capital city.

If this weekend's lineup is any indication, it's going to be a great month in the capital city. Let's get into it.

Food Truck Thursday at the Pulaski County Administration Building //With the festival behind us, it's time to fill that food truck-shaped hole in your life. This meetup at 201 Broadway St. will welcome eats like Bragg's Big Bites, Fry Fry Crazy, The Cajun Trouxth and more. Be there 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. to get the goods. Learn more here.

A Night in Vegas at The Hall // We're counting on you, Lady Luck. This annual fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas is bringing the Vegas vibes with a night of food, signature cocktails, auctions and plenty of gaming. It starts at 5 p.m. Learn more here.

Full Moon Market at The Labyrinth // Welcome back, harvest moon. Once again this monthly market is returning to 619 S. Spring St. for an autumn celebration of art, curiosities, books, drinks and more. Stop by 6-9 p.m. Learn more here.

Paint the Rock at Argenta Plaza // Celebrating its 10th year, the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation will once again host this outdoor evening where artists create pieces live while attendees enjoy food and auctions (including the works made on site). The event will also recognize Jerry Chandler Legacy Award recipient Leah Diane Willett, Paint the Mission Award recipient Dr. Travis Ayers and Paint Awareness Award recipients Bonnie Boaz and Cris Mammarelli. It starts at 6:30 p.m. Learn more here.

More al fresco fun: The 2023 Guide to Your Favorite Fall Festivals

A Harvest Moon Toast at Bella Vita Jewelry // Everyone's getting into the seasonal spirit this weekend. This downtown shop is staying open late to celebrate the full moon, Bella Vita's new website and the launch of its newest jewelry line. The toasting lasts from 5-7 p.m. Learn more here.

Fall/Winter Cocktail Menu Release Party at Rock Town Distillery // No matter your sign, our crystal ball says you'll like the taste of this. Rock Town is launching its new seasonal menu with an astrology-themed party full of tarot readings, jewelry making and lots of delicious sips. Stop by 6-9 p.m. Learn more here.

"At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul" at The Labyrinth // Might want to sleep with the lights on after this. Next up in the monthly Friday Night Frights series is this 1964 Brazilian horror flick (by most accounts, the country's first) following a dastardly gravedigger and launching the Coffin Joe trilogy. On the fence about frights? Proceeds from the screening benefit Arkansas Community Advocates to support our unhoused and low-income neighbors. Showtime is 7 p.m. Learn more here.

Keep it spooky: Haunted Arkansas Brings Back Ghost Tours, Boos & Brews Series

Yoga in the Rock at the Main Street Pocket Park // Let the zen begin. Close out the week and come get your ohm on at this community class, the first of the fall season, this time led by local yogi Sam Davis of Sixth House Wellness Studio. BYO-mat. The class starts at 10 a.m. Learn more here.

Encore at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre // Ballet Arkansas is kicking off its 45th anniversary season in style with an opening reception at The Rep. While enjoying light bites and specialty cocktails, guests will meet with artistic staff and dancers and get a preview of the choreography to come in the milestone season. It starts at 7 p.m. Learn more here.

Taylor Fest at The Hall // Are you ready for it? This traveling show has been roaming the country, throwing dance parties tailor-made for Swifties (and the Swiftie-adjacent) with all the hits, and now it's back. Doors open at 8 p.m. Learn more here.

Fantasia at Simmons Bank Arena // From the studio to the NLR stage, the winner of "American Idol" season three is bringing her award-winning R&B stylings to the metro. Joining Fantasia is Grammy-nominated artist Joe. Showtime is 8 p.m. Learn more here.

An icon returns: Stevie Nicks Coming to Simmons Bank Arena

Rhythm in the Rock Music Festival at the Market at Chenal // Back for the first time since spring, this WLR market is turning up the jam at 21 Rahling Circle. The lineup of local performers features the Shannon Boshears Band and others, and you can hear it all with a side of vendors, food trucks and games for the kiddos. It starts at 9 a.m. Learn more here.

While you're at it: Save the Dates for the Market at Chenal 2023 Lineup

Oktoberfest at Rusty Tractor Vineyards // We can't think of a better way to welcome the new month. The vineyards are inviting guests to enjoy sausages and pretzels from Fassler Hall, Oktoberfest brews, German wine flights, music, a costume contest and plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the grounds. Join in from noon - 6 p.m. Learn more here.

Mad Hatter Tea Party at Trapnall Hall // A very important date, indeed. This first-ever event hosted by the WCF Peacekeepers invites guests to an afternoon of whimsical teas and treats, prizes for best hats and the chance to support Women & Children First in the process. It starts at 2 p.m. Learn more here.

City Garden: Beer & Ice Cream Social at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History // The Quapaw Quarter Association is bringing back this annual event to salute the end of summer. Stop by and celebrate the historic neighborhood with sips from Stone's Throw and frozen treats from Shake's Custard, plus food trucks, music and more from 3-5 p.m. Learn more here.

"Pines of Rome" at the Robinson Center // Kicking off the Arkansas Symphony Orchestras 2023-2024 season, plus the official debut of Geoffrey Robson as the ASO's new Music Director, is this concert that features the talents of violinist Jennifer Frautschi and the music of Respighi, Chausson and Florence Price. You can catch the show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday or 3 p.m. Sunday. Learn more here.

"Leonardo!" at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts // This one's for you, parents. Up next for the AMFA Childrens Theatre is "Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster," which brings Mo Willems beloved books to life through puppets, actors and songs. See the show at 10:30 a.m. Saturday or 2 p.m. both days. Learn more here.

Keep the arts coming: Little Rocks 2023 Fall Performing Arts Calendar

Six Bridges Book Festival around the metro // Listen up, literary lovers. The Central Arkansas Library System's 20th annual signature event has once again descended upon the city with a mix of virtual and in-person events. The fest features a full lineup ranging from kids' book authors to historians and so much more, and yes, that includes the annual pie bake-off and recipe swap at The Root Cafe. Learn more here.

Continued here:
Weekend Guide: 18 Activities to Usher in October - Little Rock Soiree

Today, the Department of State released a landmark report on how the Peoples Republic of China, or PRC, seeks to reshape the global information environment to its advantage. Beijing has invested billions of dollars to construct a global information ecosystem that promotes its propaganda and facilitates censorship and the spread of disinformation. While formidable, the PRCs efforts have faced setbacks in democratic countries, due in large part to resistance from local media and civil society.

The report finds that the PRCs information manipulation efforts feature five primary elements: leveraging propaganda and censorship, promoting digital authoritarianism, exploiting international organizations and bilateral partnerships, pairing co-optation and pressure, and exercising control over Chinese-language media. These five elements enable Beijing to bend the global information environment to its advantage. If successful, the PRCs efforts could transform the global information landscape, creating biases and gaps that lead nations to make decisions that subordinate their economic and security interests to Beijings.

The PRC is gaining overt and covert influence over content and platforms

The PRC is constraining global freedom of expression

The PRC is promoting an emerging community of digital authoritarians

Original post:
How the People's Republic of China Seeks to Reshape the Global ... - Department of State

This fall, Ive been starting my sociology classes by asking my students to share some uplifting news theyve come across.

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, they were abuzz aboutTaylor Swifts appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday. Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had left Arrowhead Stadium together in Kelces convertible, confirming dating rumors.

As a scholar of the attention economy, I wasnt exactly surprised. Many of my students love Swifts music, and the story had dominated major social media platforms like X, formerly known as Twitter, as a trending topic.

But I was taken aback when I learned that not a single student had heard that the Writers Guild of Americahad reached a dealwith the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP, after a nearly 150-day strike. Thishistoric deal includes significant raises, improvements in health care and pension support, and unique to our times protections against the use of artificial intelligence to write screenplays.

Across online media platforms, the WGA announcement on Sept. 24, 2023, ended up buried under headlines and posts about the celebrity duo. To me, this disconnect felt like a microcosm of the entire online media ecosystem.

It almost goes without saying that news and social media platforms promote some stories and narratives over others.

This particular occurrence is fascinating, however, because the AMPTP represents some of the media conglomerates that directly disseminate news. For example,CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a member of the AMPTP.

At the time of this writing, CNN.com hasthree headlinesabout the WGA strike andeight headlinesabout Swift at the Chiefs game.

Edward Herman and Noam Chomskys 1988 book Manufacturing Consent outlines the problem of media ownership by conglomerates. According to this theory, powerful interests control narratives, in part, by owning news sources.

Theres a free press in the U.S. But Herman and Chomsky argue that the news that reaches everyday people tends to be framed by a set of assumptions that align with the ideological interests of the media corporations and their advertisers: maintaining the economic status quo and spurring consumerism.

In the U.S. today,six conglomerates own and control 90% of media outlets.

Per Pew Research Center data, a majority of Americansget their news from online sources. Scholars have since adapted Herman and Chomskys propaganda modelto explain how social media ecosystems function.

The role ofalgorithms is a key focusof emergent research on manufacturing consent online. Sociologist Ruha Benjamins work consistently shows thatalgorithms are encoded with their developers biases. Other studies show thatcritiques about algorithmic biases are suppressedby corporate digital media platforms throughstrategies like shadow-banning, which refers to covertly banning users of concern without their knowledge. These algorithms determine what is trending on websites like X. This, in turn, influences trends on other platforms, like Google searches.

Google trend results show an enormous increase in search queries about Travis Kelce since Sept. 20, 2023, with the WGA strike victory receiving almost no interest in comparison. The massive gap in interest between these topics serves as an example of algorithms supporting trending topics over other newsworthy content.

Another key focus of the propaganda model for social media istargeted advertising.

Unlike their predecessors in television, social media companies use big data to know users intimately and present ads that are personalized to each user. This strategy includes guerrilla marketing techniques like the ones employed by several companies after Swifts appearance.

For example, the National Football Leaguechanged its X bioto read NFL (Taylors Version). Sales of Kelces jerseyskyrocketed in the few daysafter Swifts appearance at the Chiefs game. Hidden Valley Ranch changed its X handle to Seemingly Ranch after a Swift fan account noted that during the game, Swift had dipped her chicken fingers in seemingly ranch.

The muted coverage of the writers strike fits intoa longer historical patternof tension between labor movements and corporate media.

In many cases, corporate media hasframed disproportionately negative narrativesabout strikes and union activities.

For example,an analysis of media coverageof tensions between the United Auto Workers and General Motors from 1991-93 found that major newspapers, including The New York Times, consistently framed GMs position in a positive light, while crafting significantly more negative stories about the strike and autoworkers.Similar patterns are visiblein media reporting on the 1993 American Airlines flight attendant strike and the 1997 United Parcel Service strike.

When not covering labor issues in a negative light, corporate media has a track record of ignoring and minimizing these issues. Communications scholar Jon Bekkens meta-analysis of media coverage discoveredsubstantial drops in coverage of labor issuesby major outlets like the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times and CBS throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century.

This historical dynamic isbeginning to change. Increasingpublic support for labor unionsand worker action have made it difficult to ignore the bubbling currents of organized labor across many industries, fromStarbuckstoautoworkers.

Today,58% of Americans support the ongoing United Auto Workers strikesagainst GM, Ford and Stellantis, the company that makes Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles.

Despite corporate ownership and biased algorithms, labor movements have managed to secure public support, demonstrating that Americans are increasingly aware of their own class interests. During such a fraught political climate for the economic status quo, the WGA victory is a major indicator that strikes work.

So, amid these tensions, a feel-good story about Taylor Swift and football is a gift to media executives and one that helps sell more ranch dressing, too.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Link:
Taylor Swift and the end of the Hollywood writers strike a tale of ... - Kansas Reflector

Companies such as China's Xiaomi have developed foldable smartphones in a bid to break into the market. AFP

Many people, and in particular younger generations (Gen Z and late Millennials), have an online presence that they are not entirely happy with, and either have, or would like to, make or want to make attempts to rectify this compared.

How should this be approached? Max Beckett, expert at Uswitch.com Broadband shares his top tips for minimising an unwanted digital footprint and how to clean up an existing online presence. These take the form of:

Google yourself

Beckett recommends: Input your personal information such as your full name, address, and phone number into a search engine, and work backwards by deleting any public accounts that appear, or contact the website directly asking to be removed.

Cull social media accounts

Becketts next piece of advice is: If youre no longer using a social media account, or its simply out of fashion, take steps to permanently delete or privatise it. Social media is often the first thing to appear in an online search result for someones name, so its worth taking time to remove the information they display.

Make a list of all the sites you visit

T avoid forgetting where personal information may have been stored, Beckett recommends: By keeping an ongoing list of sites you visit either frequently or infrequently, you can then regularly keep check of what information they hold on you, and delete any accounts or personal information that you no longer want them to have.

Make a direct request to the search engines

If there is something of particular concern, Beckett states: You can ask Google directly to remove any outdated content.

Think about the past

MySpace may now be a distant memory, but to be sure remnants of your online past are gone for good, you can use the Wayback Machine to search for personal information in its archive, including from sites that have shut down, advises Beckett.

Delete email address accounts

Another hint, in relation to email, is: Removing this crucial element from many account logins is one way of decreasing your chances of being found online.

Utilise GDPR

For those in Europe, Beckett proposes making the most of the GDPR regulation: (a) A consumer shall have the right to request that a business delete any personal information about the consumer which the business has collected from the consumer. Having this right is a great advantage when contacting businesses for your personal data removal.

Official removal sites

Finally Beckett states For a cost, these services will search the web for your information and remove what they can. However, be aware that in order for them to clean up your personal information online, you will first have to give them personal information.

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Taking back control of your digital footprint - Digital Journal

New diagnoses of six major cancer types in the United States fell abruptly in early 2020, coinciding with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to findings from part 2 of the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. The volume of pathology reports also declined sharply in early 2020, suggesting that fewer cancer screenings and other cancer-related procedures were performed during that time. Taken together, the findings suggest that many cancers were not being diagnosed in a timely manner during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, likely due to interruptions in medical care.

These missed opportunities for early cancer detection are alarming, particularly for those vulnerable populations that continue to face significant barriers in accessing cancer care, said Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D., director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This report highlights the urgency in helping all Americans get back on track with their cancer care so that we can avoid unnecessary deaths and complications from cancer. Thats exactly why expanding cancer screening access and awareness is a key priority of the Biden-Harris administrations Cancer Moonshot.

This study is the largest to date using population-based data from central cancer registries to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer incidence (new diagnoses of cancer) in the United States. The report appeared September 27, 2023, in Cancer.

The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer is a collaborative effort among NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the American Cancer Society; and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries to provide information about cancer occurrence and trends in the United States. Part 1 of the latest report, which focused on national cancer statistics, was released in October 2022.

Part 2 of the latest report focuses on changes in cancer diagnoses in the United States during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors suggest that these changes were due in part to interruptions in medical care. In particular, early 2020 saw a decline in cancer screenings. In addition, diagnoses made as a result of early symptoms or in the course of routine medical visits may have been delayed when people held off on seeing their doctors.

The authors analyzed cancer incidence data for 2015 to 2020 using data from select population-based cancer registries that participate in CDCs National Program of Cancer Registries or NCIs Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program.

The authors compared the number of newly diagnosed cases of cancer in 2020 with what was expected based on previous years. They looked at female breast, lung, and colorectal cancers, which are often diagnosed through screening tests or other forms of early detection that may have been disrupted by the pandemic; thyroid and prostate cancers, which are often diagnosed incidentally; and pancreatic cancer, which is usually diagnosed when the patient presents with symptoms. The authors also compared the volume of electronic pathology reports sent to central cancer registries in 2020 with the volume sent in 2019.

From March to May 2020, new cases of all six cancer types fell sharply. By July 2020, however, diagnoses of all cancer types except prostate cancer had returned to pre-pandemic levels, with little difference between observed and expected numbers during the second half of the year.

Over the same period in early 2020, the volume of electronic pathology reports also declined steeply before returning to pre-pandemic levels. Because these reports are transmitted automatically to cancer registries, the findings suggest that the decline in new cancer diagnoses was not due to delays in reporting caused by pandemic disruptions but rather to missed screenings and delays in other cancer-related procedures.

The authors also looked at declines in new cancer cases by cancer stage at diagnosis, sex, age, and population group. For each cancer type in the study, new cases of early-stage cancers fell more sharply than new cases of advanced cancers. The declines were greatest for the cancers typically diagnosed through screening (female breast, lung, and colorectal cancer). For example, 7,147 cases of early-stage colorectal cancer were expected to be diagnosed in 2020, but only 5,983 cases were diagnosedmeaning that potentially more than 16% of early-stage colorectal cancer cases werent caught.

We are deeply concerned about the implications of delayed diagnosis, which is typically associated with more aggressive disease and worse outcomes, said Karen E. Knudsen, M.B.A., Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. It is imperative to ensure that we make up for lost ground on finding cancers early, and thereby maximize opportunities for effective treatment and survival.

However, missed screenings only partly explain the observed declines in new cancer cases. Fewer in-person medical visits likely also contributed to the underdiagnoses, particularly for diseases such as thyroid cancer, which is often caught incidentally during other medical procedures.

Asian or Pacific Islander populations had greater declines in new cases of all cancer types, except for pancreatic cancer, compared with White, Black, and American Indian or Alaska Native populations. Another notable population group difference was a greater decline in prostate cancer diagnoses among White people than Black people.

The authors acknowledged that the data comprise information reported to a subset of cancer registries, which may not be representative of the entire U.S. population. Nor does it include in-depth analyses on cancer diagnoses in Hispanic populations, which will be incorporated at a later point.

Nevertheless, the findings suggest that there were missed opportunities for early cancer detection during the pandemic. Other studies have suggested that delays in cancer detection may lead to long-term consequences, such as shorter survival and greater number of deaths. The authors noted that efforts to get people back on track with screening should focus on removing barriers to preventive care visits and reducing disparities in early detection.

As part of the reignited Cancer Moonshot, the President and First Lady announced a call to action on cancer screening to jump-start progress on the nearly 10 million screenings in the United States that were missed as a result of the pandemic. To date, the Cancer Moonshot has accelerated innovations in cancer prevention, detection, and treatment and has expanded access to cancer screening across all 50 states, territories, and Tribal organizations, including through $200 million invested from CDC. The Biden-Harris administration continues to prioritize closing the screening gap so Americans can catch cancer early, when outcomes are best, and encourage Americans to get recommended screenings.

We recommend everyone get back into routine health care, including cancer screening, said Lisa C. Richardson, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDCs Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. Its also important to make sure children, adolescents, and adults are up to date on vaccines to prevent infections withviruseslike hepatitis B virus and human papillomavirusthat can lead to cancer.

Meanwhile, research is ongoing to gain additional insights into the impacts of the pandemic on cancer trends.

This study is a reminder that a decline in cancer incidence may not always reflect progress in the fight against cancer, said Betsy A. Kohler, M.P.H., North American Association of Central Cancer Registries executive director. We are currently conducting more in-depth analysis of the full 2020 data to further understand the implications of the pandemic on cancer outcomes.

For more about the report, see: https://seer.cancer.gov/report_to_nation/.

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About the National Cancer Institute (NCI):NCIleads the National Cancer Program and NIHs efforts to dramatically reduce the prevalence of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI website atcancer.govor call NCIs contact center, the Cancer Information Service, at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nations medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visitnih.gov.

About the American Cancer Society (ACS): The American Cancer Society is a leading cancer-fighting organization with a vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. For more than 100 years, we have been improving the lives of people with cancer and their families as the only organization combating cancer through advocacy, research, and patient support. We are committed to ensuring everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.To learn more, visitcancer.orgor call our 24/7 helpline at1-800-227-2345. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):CDC works 24/7protecting Americas health, safety, and security. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to Americas most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.

About the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR): The North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, Inc., is a professional organization that develops and promotes uniform data standards for cancer registration; provides education and training; certifies population-based registries; aggregates and publishes data from central cancer registries; and promotes the use of cancer surveillance data and systems for cancer control and epidemiologic research, public health programs, and patient care to reduce the burden of cancer in North America. For more,seenaaccr.org.

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Annual Report to the Nation Part 2: New cancer diagnoses fell ... - CDC