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Where kids from Central Indiana school districts can get meals for the rest of the year

Governor Holcomb announced schools will be closed for the rest of the school year, but districts are committed to continue providing meals for kids.

       




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Where locals land on new basketball prospect rankings for 2019 and 2020

A look at where locals land on new national lists

      




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Several in-state prospects in latest Rivals basketball prospect rankings

Trayce Jackson-Davis and Keion Brooks are considered among the nation's best players in the 2020 class

       




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Several locals in new national football recruiting rankings

In-state names sprinkled through new rankings for 2020, '21 and '22

       




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Locals all over new national basketball recruiting rankings

In-state players well-represented in national recruiting rankings

       




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Q&A with IHSAA's Bobby Cox: On basketball's incomplete finish, proposals for emerging sports

IndyStar high school sports Insider Kyle Neddenriep caught up with outgoing IHSAA commissioner Bobby Cox.

       




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Colts TE Doyle deals with challenges with offseason workouts

Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle discusses the challenges of working out during the pandemic.

       




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ABB shareholders approve all proposals at Annual General Meeting

2020-03-26 -




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Obama 2012 takes off as rivals 'hit treacle'

The 2012 presidential race is on. Kinda.

At the moment, it feels more like a wade through treacle - so slow is the pace of President Barack Obama's opponents. Mr Obama can be unambiguous that he is going to run because they are all showing varying degrees of hesitancy.

If the president is to get back into the White House he has to leap a number of obstacles: an economy that is so sluggish that there are constant worries it could go backwards and supporters who may be unenthusiastic about sending more troops to Afghanistan, bombing Libya and failing to close Guantanamo Bay prison. There is also huge uncertainly in the country about health care and much more we will be looking at in detail.

But the strength of opposition doesn't seem, at the moment, a particularly high hurdle.  To British eyes, the primary system is one of the most curious parts of American politics.

The elite of British political parties have only grudgingly and slowly given the power of choosing their own leader. The principle of "one member, one vote" has been slow in coming. 

Elections for leaders rarely grip in the same way as American internal elections. While any American can easily register as a Republican or Democrat and have their say about who represents them, in Britain being a party member still seems an effort of will.

Twenty-five pounds ($40) per year may not be much to play your part in conservative politics in Britain, £12 may be a bargain to have a say in the Lib Dems and it's only a penny (for those under 27) to join the Labour Party - but it still costs something.

There's a feeling that being interested in who becomes your PM or MP isn't enough. You have to be willing to sit in draughty village halls on wet Wednesdays listening.  

The biggest difference is perhaps not in just who is involved, but how late in the political cycle the choice is made. This has a real impact. Every party leader, good or bad, has an image, policy likes and dislikes and personal ticks that colour voters approach to the parties as a whole.

The British public has years to get to know Ed Miliband and decide what to think about him leading a Labour government. Here in the US, the opposition is currently either faceless or hydra-headed. There is no obvious front-runner, and any prediction about who will be the Republican candidate in 2012 is nothing more than an informed guess.

Mr Obama v Michele Bachmann would be quite a different contest to Mr Obama v John Huntsman. 

Republicans get to choose, late in the day, exactly what they want their party to stand for.

The influence of the Tea Party suggests any candidate will be economically conservative, but beyond that, it is impossible to predict very much. The candidates are so unenthusiastic about firing the starting gun, the first big debate at the Reagan library in California has been put back from next month to the autumn.

Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Donald Trump seem almost certain to have a go. Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, John Huntsman and Mitch Daniels seem less sure bets. And, of course, there are plenty of other names out there.

Mr Obama is starting the race now to make sure that whoever challenges him, his organisation will be ramped up and ready, with big bucks at its command.




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When Michael Jordan collided with Bloomington, Bob Knight and the Olympic Trials in 1984

Michael Jordan spent the spring of 1984 in Bloomington before he became Michael Jordan

       




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US Field Hospitals Stand Down, Most Without Treating Any COVID-19 Patients

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: As hospitals were overrun by coronavirus patients in other parts of the world, the Army Corps of Engineers mobilized in the U.S., hiring private contractors to build emergency field hospitals around the country. The endeavor cost more than $660 million, according to an NPR analysis of federal spending records. But nearly four months into the pandemic, most of these facilities haven't treated a single patient. Public health experts said this episode exposes how ill-prepared the U.S. is for a pandemic. They praised the Army Corps for quickly providing thousands of extra beds, but experts said there wasn't enough planning to make sure these field hospitals could be put to use once they were finished. "It's so painful because what it's showing is that the plans we have in place, they don't work," said Robyn Gershon, a professor at New York University's School of Global Public Health. "We have to go back to the drawing board and redo it." But the nation's governors -- who requested the Army Corps projects and, in some cases, contributed state funding -- said they're relieved these facilities didn't get more use. They said early models predicted a catastrophic shortage of hospital beds, and no one knew for sure when or if stay-at-home orders would reduce the spread of the coronavirus. "All those field hospitals and available beds sit empty today," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said last month. "And that's a very, very good thing." Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said: "These 1,000-bed alternate care sites are not necessary; they're not filled. Thank God." Senior military leaders also said the effort was a success -- even if the beds sit empty.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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Donnie Walsh on losing basketball game to Dr. Anthony Fauci: 'How did that happen?'

Donnie Walsh has been plopped in the middle of America's most famous infectious disease doctor's basketball claim to fame.

      




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Planning Mother's Day brunch? Here are 25-plus restaurants with takeout deals near Indianapolis

Several Indianapolis-area restaurants are offering brunch deals and takeout specials to help mom relax and stay out of the kitchen on Mother's Day.

       




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NFL Draft 2020: Purdue linebacker Markus Bailey drafted by Cincinnati Bengals

Markus Bailey missed most of his senior season with a knee injury but he started 40 games for the Boilermakers.

       




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Greenwood officials have unveiled plans to redevelop 15 acres in Old Town. Here's what to expect.

The Greenwood Redevelopment Commission has given city officials the green light to seek bids for a nearly 20-acre development project. Here's what it could look like.

      




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Man killed after well trench collapsed in Bargersville, officials say

One person died after the collapse of a well that was under construction in the 4900 block of W. Road 225 N. in Bargersville.

      




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Introducing Domegos: A New Web 2.0 Vacation Rentals Directory

Wandering around the internet, I was searching for 2 different things at the same time: a hotel for a romantic weekend getaway (with our lovely dog!) and a new apartment to rent. I suddenly asked myself: “Why not renting a vacation home instead of booking the usual same type of hotels (those few hotels that [...]




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Watford oppose Premier League neutral venue proposals, joining Brighton and Aston Villa

Watford become the third team to publicly oppose the use of neutral venues when Premier League football returns.




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Skelton: Newsom is relying on public health officials for his coronavirus response. But he has to listen to others too

In the U.S. no one rules absolutely — not even public health officials fighting the coronavirus.




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Colts TE Doyle deals with challenges with offseason workouts

Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle discusses the challenges of working out during the pandemic.

       




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Coronavirus: Hong Kong to quarantine all arrivals from abroad

Hong Kong has seen 57 new infections over the past two weeks, 50 of which were imported.




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Erica Ogwumike has been drafted into the WNBA - but is also a medical student in the US.

Erica Ogwumike has been drafted into the WNBA - but is also a medical student in the US. She talks about combining the two - and why she would like to represent Nigeria.




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Online funerals and election face masks - Ghana's new normal

Ghana is well known for its elaborate funerals and rowdy election campaigns so coronavirus is changing everything.




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Coronavirus doctor's diary: 'Our hospitals weren't made to use this much oxygen'

Hospitals need to supply oxygen to more beds than is currently possible, so doctors are searching for hacks.




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Coronavirus: UK hospital trials new treatment drug

The new drug is based around a protein that is commonly used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.




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Coronavirus: Animals in zoos 'lonely' without visitors

Birds, elephants and primates are among those missing guests, zoos around the world say.





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Beautiful visuals and dreamy puzzles make ‘Luna The Shadow Dust’ an unusually enchanting game

The beautiful hand-drawn visuals, dreamlike puzzles, and mysterious story line of 'Luna The Shadow Dust' -- which unfolds without a word of dialogue -- will draw you in and hold your interest from start to finish.




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Banking that electric cars can also be cool, Ford introduces an all-electric Mustang

Ford Motor has unveiled the Mustang Mach-E, an all-electric sport utility vehicle that the company claims will have a range of at least 230 miles.




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Facebook's fight against coronavirus misinformation could boost pressure on the company to get more aggressive in removing other falsehoods spreading across the social network (FB)

  • Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation related to coronavirus than it has on other health topics in the past.
  • This decision may increase the pressure on the company to act more decisively against other forms of harmful falsehoods that spread on its social networks.
  • Facebook is banning events that promote flouting lockdown protests, and is removing the conspiracy theory video "Plandemic."
  • But false claims that vaccines are dangerous still proliferate on Facebook — even though they contribute to the deaths of children.

Amid the pandemic, Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation than it has in the past. That decision may come back to haunt it.

As coronavirus has wreaked havoc across the globe, forcing lockdowns and disrupting economies, false information and hoaxes have spread like wildfire on social media. Miracle cures, intentional disinformation about government policies, and wild claims that Bill Gates orchestrated the entire health crisis abound.

In the past, Facebook has been heavily criticised for failing to take action to stop its platform being used to facilitate the spread of misinformation. To be sure, coronavirus falsehoods are still easily found on Facebook — but the company has taken more decisive action than in previous years:

But Facebook's actions to combat COVID-19 misinformation may backfire — in the sense that it has the potential to dramatically increase pressure on the company to take stronger action against other forms of misinformation.

The company has long struggled with how to handle fake news and hoaxes; historically, its approach is not to delete them, but to try to artificially stifle their reach via algorithmic tweaks. Despite this, pseudoscience, anti-government conspiracy theories, and other falsehoods still abound on the social network.

Facebook has now demonstrated that it is willing to take more decisive action on misinformation, when the stakes are high enough. Its critics may subsequently ask why it is so reticent to combat the issue when it causes harm in other areas — particularly around other medical misinformation.

One expected defence for Facebook? That it is focused on taking down content that causes "imminent harm," and while COVID-19 misinformation falls into that category, lots of other sorts of falsehoods don't.

However, using "imminence" as the barometer of acceptability is dubious: Vaccine denialism directly results in the deaths of babies and children. That this harm isn't "imminent" doesn't make it any less dangerous — but, for now, such material is freely posted on Facebook.

Far-right conspiracy theories like Pizzagate, and more recent, Qanon, have also spread on Facebook — stoking baseless fears of shadowy cabals secretly controlling the government. These theories don't intrinsically incite harm, but have been linked to multiple acts of violence, from a Pizzagate believer firing his weapon in a pizza parlour to the Qanon-linked killing of a Gambino crime boss. (Earlier this week, Facebook did take down some popular QAnon pages — but for breaking its rules on fake profiles, rather than disinformation.)

And Facebook is still full of groups rallying against 5G technology, making evidence-free claims about its health effects (and now, sometimes linking it to coronavirus in a messy web). These posts exist on a continuum, with believers at the extreme end attempting to burn down radio towers and assault technicians; Facebook does take down such incitements to violence, but the more general fearmongering that can act as a gateway to more extreme action remains.

This week, Facebook announced the first 20 members of its Oversight Board — a "Supreme Court"-style entity that will review reports from users make rulings as to what objectionable content is and isn't allowed on Facebook and Instagram, with — in theory — the power to overrule the company. It remains to be seen whether its decisions may affect the company's approach for misinformation, and it still needs to appoint the rest of its members and get up and running.

For now, limits remain in place as to what Facebook will countenance in its fight against coronavirus-specific misinformation.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would immediately take down posts advertising dangerous false cures to COVID-19, like drinking bleach. It is "obviously going to create imminent harm," he said in March. "That is just in a completely different class of content than the back-and-forth accusations a candidate might make in an election."

But in April, President Donald Trump suggested that people might try injecting a "disinfectant" as a cure, which both has the potential to be extremely harmful, and will not cure coronavirus.

Facebook is not taking down video of his comments.

Do you work at Facebook? Contact Business Insider reporter Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (robaeprice@protonmail.com), standard email (rprice@businessinsider.com), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), or Twitter DM (@robaeprice). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by standard email only, please.

SEE ALSO: Facebook announced the first 20 members of its oversight board that will decide what controversial content is allowed on Facebook and Instagram

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A cleaning expert reveals her 3-step method for cleaning your entire home quickly




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Kim Kardashian West appeals to White House on behalf of ASAP Rocky

The reality star and her husband, Kanye West, tapped some high-ranking friends to help the rapper, who has been detained in Sweden.




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Brightest Young Things brings the millennials to the revamped International Spy Museum

A mostly millennial crowd explored the upgraded and interactive museum.




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A Republican finally reveals the truth about the GOP tax cuts

No, they aren’t going to pay for themselves.




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Officials have spent the last few years dismantling anti-recession measures

And now, we’re woefully unprepared.




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Saving lives in the pandemic will also save the economy in the long run

Economists are in agreement that returning to business as usual too soon could have devastating effects for GDP as well as human lives.




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It appears the Trump administration is doing all it can to drive away health professionals

The administration’s crackdown on immigration makes it harder to staff a health-care system facing chronic worker shortages.




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oscon: RT @oreillyanimals Vote Instant Wild's Digital Eyes & Ears for Wildlife Protection to win Google Global Impact Award http://t.co/BM3qufX1PF

oscon: RT @oreillyanimals Vote Instant Wild's Digital Eyes & Ears for Wildlife Protection to win Google Global Impact Award http://t.co/BM3qufX1PF




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oscon: Beginner's Guide to Computer Vision - 2D/3D image fundamentals, OpenCV, OpenNI Library + more http://t.co/ph2dKrC9W4 #oscon #tutorial

oscon: Beginner's Guide to Computer Vision - 2D/3D image fundamentals, OpenCV, OpenNI Library + more http://t.co/ph2dKrC9W4 #oscon #tutorial




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oscon: Tutorials at #OSCON are filing up (some already sold out). Register soon to get your top choices http://t.co/bQv7k8VXTf

oscon: Tutorials at #OSCON are filing up (some already sold out). Register soon to get your top choices http://t.co/bQv7k8VXTf




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velocityconf: RT @oreillyanimals Vote Instant Wild's Digital Eyes & Ears for Wildlife Protection to win Google Global Impact Award http://t.co/Z0EetiQshZ

velocityconf: RT @oreillyanimals Vote Instant Wild's Digital Eyes & Ears for Wildlife Protection to win Google Global Impact Award http://t.co/Z0EetiQshZ




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velocityconf: RT @courtneynash: Bill Scott's #fluentconf keynote theme also rings true re #velocityconf: tech change is really about people/culture change

velocityconf: RT @courtneynash: Bill Scott's #fluentconf keynote theme also rings true re #velocityconf: tech change is really about people/culture change




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velocityconf: RT @OReillyAnimals Advice, please! Elephant Listening Project asks for ideas/solutions/help with 3 practical problems http://t.co/Y90YP3maoz

velocityconf: RT @OReillyAnimals Advice, please! Elephant Listening Project asks for ideas/solutions/help with 3 practical problems http://t.co/Y90YP3maoz




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Channel24.co.za | Prince Harry reveals first new major project since leaving royal family

The Duke of Sussex recently launched a fitness online program for the military community.




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News24.com | Covid-19: Five new cases among prisoners, 3 officials recovered

Five new Covid-19 cases have been recorded among prison inmates and three Department of Correctional Services officials have recovered.




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News24.com | Netcare's St Augustine's, Kingsway hospitals to reopen after Covid-19 outbreak in April

Netcare St Augustine's and Netcare Kingsway hospitals have been given the green light to reopen.




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AT#210 - Travel to the Ancient Capitals of Thailand

Amateur Traveler talks to Matt Kepkes of NomadicMatt.com about his trip to the ancient capitals of Thailand: Ayutthaya, Lopburi and Sukhothai. Before the capital moved to Bangkok it was in each of these three cities as invaders came in from what is now Cambodia and Burma and then were subsequently repelled. Instead of taking the night train to Chang Mai as many tourists do, Matt and his traveling companions explored these cities on the way. In their travels they found ancient temples (some in ruins and some well preserved), wonderful night markets, troops of monkeys, friendly people and a slice of rural Thailand.




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AT#315 - Cruise Barge Canals in England and Wales

The Amateur Traveler  talks to Richard Graw about his experiences cruising the canals of England in a canal boat (or narrow boat). The canals traverse through tunnels, up staircases of locks and even up over aqueducts.




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AT#697 - Travel to the Alsace Region of France

Hear about travel to the Alsace Region of France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Brighde Reed from worldvegantravel.com about this lovely wine region.




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After Treating Barely Any Patients for a Massive $7.5 Million Each, 16 Emergency COVID Hospitals Are Standing Down

At a cost of $7.5 million a patient, they were 16 very expensive field hospitals. Yet, according to NPR, those hospitals are now “stand[ing] down.” You probably remember them from headlines early in the pandemic: makeshift medical centers being assembled at breakneck speed by companies contracted by the Army Corps of Engineers in anticipation of…

The post After Treating Barely Any Patients for a Massive $7.5 Million Each, 16 Emergency COVID Hospitals Are Standing Down appeared first on The Western Journal.