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A ‘real-life Wakanda’ is tearing itself apart – POLITICO

Illustration by Beth Suzanna

There has never in the history of the United States of America been anything like this five-year-old city. On the southwest outskirts of Atlanta, it is a mostly suburban municipality with a population of some 108,000 in which nine of every 10 of the residents are Black. Of places of its size, it is statistically the Blackest by far.

A hundred or so years after hundreds of thousands of rural Black people began to alter the contours of national politics by migrating toward better jobs and lives in cities, then suburbs, across the country, the existence and the autonomy of South Fulton would seem like a welcome culmination of a long evolution from powerlessness to power.

But the city is tearing itself apart.

Its mayor, khalid kamau a gay, Christian, socialist, self-described Black nationalist, a former film student, flight attendant, bus driver, Black Lives Matter organizer says that he wants to create a real-life Wakanda, a city thats Black on purpose. But hes brushed up against the incremental, integrationist, typically more moderate politics of Atlantas Black elite shared by much of the rest of South Fultons local government. And now, hes accusing the city of hiding public records. Hes attempted to fire the city attorney. Hes reiterated his request to hire a therapist for the city.

Michael Kruse, Brittany Gibson and Delece Smith-Barrow went to this strange, singular capital for our latest installment of The Next Great Migration where they began to hear whispers of a next Next Great Migration. Because while South Fultons leaders debate issues of identity, most of its residents are wondering if they should stay in a city that promised economic prosperity and security but is instead delivering political strife.

Read the story.

You are a donkey, Mr. Danger.

Can you guess what foreign head of state said this about President George W. Bush in a televised speech in 2006? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**

When Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida wanted to pull a political stunt this week, he got almost effortless media attention by sending two planes full of migrants to, of all places, Marthas Vineyard.

Republican governors have actually sent more migrants to Chicago, New York and Washington D.C., but theres a reason the Vineyard story blew up. Its a blue bubble within a blue bubble, the kind of place rich Democrats go when they want to get away from political turmoil. Heres what to know about the enclave that DeSantis just crashed:

- If you go there, its just called the Vineyard.

- Despite its old-line WASPy reputation, the Vineyard has an immigrant community already and has long been a popular vacation spot for Black families.

- In the summer, theres reliably a big-money Democratic fundraiser on the social calendar. Just last month, Barack Obama jumped into the midterm fight by headlining an event with Eric Holder.

- It's one place in America you can reliably visit a nude beach and seeAlan Dershowitz.

- It's where Obama gets away even from his friends. His 60th birthday, celebrated on the Vineyard, was famous for how many people he disinvited. Notably still on the list: Jay-Z, Tom Hanks, Eddie Vedder.

- A Vineyard scandal once took down a Democratic presidential hopeful.

Michael Beschloss speaks during a taping of NBC's Meet the Press on Oct. 30, 2005 in Washington, D.C. | Alex Wong/Getty Images for Meet the Press

History With a Kick Historian Michael Beschloss loves the archives. His Twitter is an oddly compelling stream of archival images that has gotten him a touch more than 800,000 followers over a decade. For most of that run, his history lessons have tended towards the anodyne. But in the Trump era, Beschloss has found his inner online provocateur, tweeting out pictures of the Rosenbergs as news broke that federal agents found nuclear secrets at Mar-a-Lago, or the Munich Beer Hall Putsch on Jan. 6th.

Is he that way irl? Michael Schaffer went to see him for this weeks Capital City column, on a mission to figure out whether Beschloss is the classic TV historian, the guy with the quick Twitter fingers or something beyond either of those public personas.

58 percent of voters who strongly approve of President Joe Bidens performance also have a favorable opinion of King Charles III. Thats compared to just 45 percent of Democrats writ large.

Photograph by Michelle Gustafson for POLITICO

A Biblical Campaign Josh Shapiro is trying to become a new kind of Jewish politician as he runs for governor of Pennsylvania. Instead of downplaying his religion out of a fear of appearing different, he thinks he can use his faith he describes himself as a middle-class Conservative Jew as a tool to win over voters in his fight against Doug Mastriano. On a bright September morning in Philadelphia, as Shapiro speaks with more than a dozen powerful pastors of nearby A.M.E. churches who could help him turn out Black voters in November, it seems to be working, writes Holly Otterbein.

POLITICO illustration / AP /iStock

What AOC and Nixon Have in Common While ire towards the Supreme Court comes mostly from the left these days, in 1970, angry with a series of liberal rulings, then-President Richard Nixon directed a congressman from Michigan by the name of Gerald Ford to target liberal Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas for impeachment. In a two-hour address, the normally mild-mannered Michigan congressman tore into the veteran sitting justice, accusing Douglas of giving legitimacy to the militant hippie-yippie movement, attacking his personal life and linking him with porn and even the Mafia. Frederic J. Frommer looks into the fallout from Fords crusade and why getting someone off the bench is never a simple proposition.

These presidential soap busts (yes, we said presidential soap busts), pictured September 1947, were the work of J. T. Taylor from San Antonio, Texas. The soap artist wrote to Harry S. Truman to ask for a portrait of the president without glasses so the sculptor could carve his likeness, as he had done for all prior presidents, writes Ella Creamer.

Presidents and political symbols have often been the subjects of bathroom supplies: The Secret Service once called a California businesswoman to ask if she would stick the presidential insignia on her toiletry range and sell it in the White House gift shop.

Presidents are actually responsible for paying for general household items like toothpaste, toilet paper and deodorant themselves. Since presidents cant easily pop into a local CVS (and rarely carry a wallet), a White House staff member will pick up those items and then bill the president.

**Who Dissed? answer: It was then-President of Venezuela Hugo Chvez, who repeatedly called Bush "Mr. Danger" and also called him (in Spanish) a liar, drunk, coward and psychologically sick.

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A 'real-life Wakanda' is tearing itself apart - POLITICO

LeBron James Launched His Own Media Company When the NBA Star Realized He Needs to Control His Own Narrative – Sportscasting

As one of the most famous athletes in the world,LeBron Jamesis used to having his every move scrutinized by the media. But after years of feeling misrepresented, the NBA star decided to take matters into his own hands by launching his own media company.

With over$300 million earned from the NBAalone, the business-savvy athlete has used his platform and influence to create content that tells his story in his own words.

James is not new to the business world. The NBA star has committed to numerous endorsement deals and business ventures. However, James entrance into the media world is perhaps his most impressive.

In 2014, the 37-year-old teamed up with business partner Maverick Carter to launch Uninterrupted, a digital media company that produces content focused on athletes and their stories. The multimedia platform allows athletes to connect with their fans by giving testimonials regarding their experiences without the interference of traditional media.

James and Carter chose the name Uninterrupted because they wanted to create a space where athletes could connect with their fans and uninterruptedly tell their stories and experiences.

In an interview withSports Illustrated, James explains that he wants to be able to tell his story, in his own words, not just for himself but for his family too. I got tired of media altering the narrative or picking whatever suits their narrative regarding what I was doing, James explained. He feels that if the public and the media will fashion an image for you and your family, it is best to control it rather than watch it play out.

This sentiment is echoed in his statement about wanting to play in the NBA with his sons. After James floated the idea, most people began speculating about his future. However, with Uninterrupted, the media had no chance to miss coverage or provide false narratives about what he said.

Instead, LeBron was able to tell his story on his terms. In addition to providing athletes with a platform to share their stories, Uninterrupted has produced various content. The company has released severaldocumentariesand web series.

In addition to Uninterrupted, James also has five other notable business ventures. These include a Beats by Dre partnership, production company SpringHill Entertainment, and investments in various companies likeBlaze PizzaandLiverpool Football Club. Hes also invested in Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group. Recently, James added anew Pepsi Productto his ever-expanding business portfolio.

While some may see the Ohio natives business ventures as another way to make money, its clear the NBA star is using his platform and influence to create opportunities for himself and others. With Uninterrupted, hes enabled the production of various projects, including The Shop. Initially available on HBO, LeBron and his team have moved the unscripted series to YouTube to reach a wider audience. Other projects produced through Uninterrupted includeFate of a Sport, Road to Discovery, HBCUs Rising and more.

With multiple successful ventures under James belt, there is no telling what he will do next. But one thing is for sure: He will continue to tell his story on his terms.

RELATED: Ray Allen Completely Dismisses LeBron James as the GOAT: He Aint Even Great In All Those Categories

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LeBron James Launched His Own Media Company When the NBA Star Realized He Needs to Control His Own Narrative - Sportscasting

Mental health benefits of replacing social media with exercise – Medical News Today

Social media use exploded with COVID-19s lockdowns and contact restrictions. Millions turned to Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and other platforms to escape feelings of isolation, anxiety, and hopelessness.

However, excessive screen time has led to addictive behaviors, stronger emotional attachment to social media, and deeper mental anguish for many people.

Researchers at the Ruhr-Universittt in Bochum, Germany investigated the effects of reducing social media use (SMU) and increasing physical activity, or both, on emotional well-being and tobacco consumption.

Julia Brailosvskaia, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the universitys Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, led the two-week experiment.

Brailosvskaia and her team observed that the interventions they suggested may have helped enhance participants satisfaction with life. At a 6-month follow-up, the subjects continued to report spending less time on social media, maintaining physical activity, feeling happier, and smoking fewer cigarettes.

The Journal of Public Health recently published these findings.

The studys authors noted that mental health consists of two interrelated but separate dimensions: positive and negative.

With this paradigm, they hypothesized that the positive dimension of their intervention would increase life satisfaction and subjective happiness. The negative dimension would decrease depression symptoms and addictive tendencies of SMU.

Medical News Today discussed this study with Dr.Sheldon Zablow, an author and nutritional psychiatrist. He was not involved in the research.

When asked about the effects of social media on mental health, Dr. Zablow asserted:

If activities interfere with customary basic age-appropriate milestones of economic self-sufficiency, socialization, or health maintenance, then they are detrimental. The activities could be alcohol use, substance use, dietary choices, exercise choices, or entertainment choicesspecifically social media.

Dr. Zablow warned that excessive social media use weakens social interpersonal bonds, which can negatively impact mental health.

MNT also spoke with Dr. David A. Merrill, adult and geriatric psychiatrist and director of the Pacific Neuroscience Institutes Pacific Brain Health Center at Providence Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, regarding the present study. He was not involved in the research.

Dr. Merrill argued that the term social media is a misnomer thats almost like a bait and switch, designed to increase user engagement.

Too much social media use, he said, could end up exacerbating mental issues for people with behavioral health conditions or addictive vulnerabilities.

Theres the brain reward system that you get from clicking or scrolling or maintaining the use of the social media, Dr. Merrill said.

I think [that the authors are] demonstrating causally that you both need to have a conscious awareness of the need to limit the self-soothing aspect of social media use, and you also need to have alternatives, so you need to have some other way to bring joy into your life, and especially during the pandemic.

As a psychiatrist, Dr. Zablow emphasized that the essential part of any treatment program recommended is exercise. Psychotherapy and, when indicated, medication, will not work well if a person does not exercise.

Dr. Zablow added that exercise increases the production of neurotransmitters, the brains natural antidepressants and antianxiety molecules.

Consequently, more exercise can build mental health, while less activity due to social media overuse can curtail healthy brain chemistry.

Dr. Brailosvskaia and her colleagues reasoned that a conscious and controlled reduction of time spent on SMU as well as an increase of time spent on physical activity could causally reduce negative mental health consequences of the COVID-19 situation. They also believed that combining both interventions might amplify this effect.

The professor mentioned that the methods can easily fit into everyday life with little cost, effort, or risk of violating COVID-19 protocols.

Further, the scientists expected their experiment to reduce stress caused by COVID-19 and diminish smoking behavior.

The researchers recruited 642 healthy adult social media users and placed them in 4 experimental groups.

The social media (SM) group had 162 individuals, the physical activity (PA) group of 161, a combination group of 159, and a control group of 160.

Over 2 weeks, the SM subjects reduced their daily SMU time by 30 minutes and the PA group increased their daily physical activity by 30 minutes. The combination group applied both interventions, while the control did not change their behaviors.

Following the World Health Organizations physical activity recommendations for adults, the first three groups increased their exercise time by 30 minutes.

The participants completed online surveys and daily compliance diaries at the start of the trial, 1 week later, and after the 2-week period. They also submitted follow-up surveys at 1, 3, and 6 months post-experiment.

Dr. Brailosvskaia and her team concluded that their interventions helped people decrease the time they spend with SM.

Even 6 months after the experiment, the participants had reduced their daily initial SM time by about 37 minutes in the SM group, by about 33 minutes in the PA group, and by about 46 minutes in the combination group.

Moreover, participants reported having a decreased emotional bond with social media.

All the interventions encouraged more physical activity as well. Six months later, our participants had enhanced their initial weekly physical activity time for 26 minutes in the SM group, for 40 minutes in the PA group, and for 1 hour 39 minutes in the combination group, the authors wrote.

Even the control group increased their activity by 20 minutes.

Dr. Merrill was impressed with the studys striking findings with the combination of reducing social media with increasing physical activity. He agreed with the notion that SMU restrictions need a complementing activity that brings joy or a sense of achievement.

According to the studys authors, the experimental longitudinal design of their present research allowed them to establish causality.

However, the study population lacked diversity. All the participants were young, female, German, Caucasian, and highly educated.

Dr. Merrill felt that, while it would be interesting to replicate this investigation in the United States with a more diverse group, the results would likely be similar.

The study did not consider which form of SMU the subjects were using or specify which type of physical activity the participants engaged in. The researchers hope that future work will focus more on these factors.

Dr. Brailosvskaias research suggests that modest changes in SMU and physical activity could help protect and enhance mental health conveniently and affordably.

The professor and her team recognize how SMU can minimize isolation and help spread information.

From time to time, it is important to consciously limit ones online accessibility and to go back to the human roots [] a physically active lifestyle to stay happy and healthy in the age of digitalization, the researchers wrote.

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Mental health benefits of replacing social media with exercise - Medical News Today

Tighter Focus on Nursing Home Infection Control Offers More Effective Patient Safety – HealthLeaders Media

Infection control tended to be part of a list of responsibilities in most nursing homes, but now that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requiring facilities to have at least a part-time infection preventionist on-site, that focus on patient safety will make a difference, an industry leader said.

"Prior to COVID, I would venture to say there were some types of plans in place. Some places probably had better plans than others, and I know that there are places that reached out and got external expertise to try and guide their plans," said Linda Dickey, president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). "But having someone on site, at a facility, watching practices, is really important."

Before the CMS requirement, if someone was in charge of infection prevention, it was one of many responsibilities they carried, without any dedicated time or expertise, Dickey said, adding that an infection preventionist increases the focus on patient safety.

Duties of an on-site infection preventionist would include gathering and reporting data on different infections to the state and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and doing rounds through the facility to observe direct care practices, providing coaching and feedback if necessary. If a resident had previously been treated for an infection, the preventionist would follow up with them.

They also are charged with trainingstaff to ensure they understand the importance of basic practices, such as getting flu shots, not just for their own safety but for the residents safety as well.

If there is an outbreak, the infection preventionist is responsible for coordinating with public health investigations on how those transmissions occurred, as well as performance improvement to change practices and behaviors.

Adding an infection preventionist to a facility's staff won't be a quick or easy fix. The post-acute sector is struggling alongside other parts of the industry to hire during a staffing shortage, further exacerbated by the pandemic. Dickey noted that a large number of infection preventionists have begun retiring, and because it isn't a well-known profession, there's not a large pipeline from which to choose.

"Of the infection preventionists that are out there, there's not a huge number that specialize in long-term care," she added. "That may be part of what they know, but it isn't their sole focus."

There is currently no job code for the role of infection preventionist, and APIC is reaching out the nation's department of labor to correct that. A job code will help with salary benchmarking so that facilities can begin to market the role and its responsibilities.

To help with the lack of qualified talent, APIC has developed an internship program that would give healthcare professionals an introduction into what infection preventionists do. The program framework APIC provides has the worker reviewing topics and information over the course of 10 weeks, with the organization able to lay it out in a way that best suits their employees.

APIC also plans to partner with colleges and universities, and begin reaching out to high schools to introduce students to the career path. They're also developing academic pathways focusing on infection prevention that can be imbedded in nursing, public health, lab, or microbiology programs.

"There are programs out there and internship programs for infection prevention," Dickey said. "But they're not, I don't think, widely known. And there aren't a lot of degree programs where you can specialize in infection prevention, so that's what we're trying to bolster."

Typically, an individual has a degree in nursing, public health, or laboratory discipline prior to getting the infection prevention and control certificate (CIC) and must have at least two years of experience. While there's no specific medical degree required to pursue the certification, Dickey notes that most facilities won't hire someone unless they have a background in some sort of health-related degree.

"I don't think its just a money thing for these organizations. They want to do a good job and I think that they will see that there's value in infection prevention and doing it well," Dickey said. "It will save money, it will improve care, it will help care, and it will help people move more gracefully toward the end of life."

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Tighter Focus on Nursing Home Infection Control Offers More Effective Patient Safety - HealthLeaders Media

Both individual investors who control a good portion of Storytel AB (publ) (STO:STORY B) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week’s…

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Storytel AB (publ) (STO:STORY B), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 35% to be precise, is individual investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While institutions who own 26% came under pressure after market cap dropped to kr2.7b last week,individual investors took the most losses.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Storytel.

See our latest analysis for Storytel

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Storytel does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Storytel's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Storytel. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Roxette Photo NV with 13% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 8.4%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

We also observed that the top 6 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Storytel AB (publ). It has a market capitalization of just kr2.7b, and insiders have kr408m worth of shares in their own names. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

With a 35% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Storytel. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

With a stake of 11%, private equity firms could influence the Storytel board. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 13%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Storytel better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Storytel you should know about.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Find out whether Storytel is potentially over or undervalued by checking out our comprehensive analysis, which includes fair value estimates, risks and warnings, dividends, insider transactions and financial health.

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Both individual investors who control a good portion of Storytel AB (publ) (STO:STORY B) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's...