During an interview with CBS on Friday, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt stated that statements like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) equating Hamas and Israel give license to extremists on the left to say that “it’s open season to attack Jews.” Greenblatt said, “I’ve been very bold about this, calling out the extreme right and the normalization of a kind of inflammatory rhetoric from people on the extreme right like a Marjorie Taylor Greene that give[s] license to people, as we saw on January the 6 with the Camp Auschwitz sweatshirts, right? They feel emboldened in an environment where leaders give them free license. So, by the same token, when Congresswoman Omar equates Hamas and Israel, when Congresswoman Tlaib accuses the country of ethnic cleansing, right? Those statements are simply wrong on the facts, but it gives license to extremists of a different ideology to say, okay, if the Jewish state is committing genocide, then it’s open season to attack Jews. And I’m not … [Read more...]

A major sporting goods retailer is scheduled to launch an outdoors-focused retail brand in 2021, and has retained The Taylor Reach Group, Inc. (TRG) to support the setup, and implementation, for its ecommerce contact center operations. TORONTO, Ontario (PRWEB) June 18, 2021 A major sporting goods retailer is scheduled to launch an outdoors-focused retail brand in 2021, and has retained The Taylor Reach Group, Inc. (TRG) to support the setup, and implementation, for its ecommerce contact center operations. TRG’s consultants and partners have extensive experience in supporting customer experience (CX) operations in the retail and ecommerce spaces, having worked with many of the most successful brands in the marketplace. This experience will become a huge asset in the upcoming project. “Even though the retailer is very well-established, this is a new brand and a new system,” says Colin Taylor, CEO and Chief Chaos Officer at TRG. “In order to ensure the smoothest possible launch, … [Read more...]

Raising my mallet high, I bashed the green husk. Bam! Bam! Bam! The husk began to tear, and then flayed off, ripping through the newspaper I’d spread out on the concrete driveway. Brute force never felt so necessary or so therapeutic. My grief over the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined my rage after Republicans almost immediately maneuvered to fill the court’s vacancy. My mind turned to what would happen in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 3 election, how to fight voter suppression and how to flip seats in the U.S. Senate in races across the country. To clear my head, I went for a walk. As we’ve sheltered in place, our family has found solace outside, which made the recent sequestering due to poor air quality excruciating. We emerged in time for autumn. Everywhere you look right now, wild nuts have fallen, ready for harvest. I’ve been on the lookout for bay nuts, acorns and whatever else I may find. I discovered what looked like palm-sized … [Read more...]

There was no one moment when freedom came to the enslaved in the United States. When President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the clouds did not part, the sun did not shine beams of freedom, and the shackles of slavery locked for nearly 250 years did not magically fall away. And it doesn't diminish Lincoln to acknowledge that. "It's a pretty entrenched story in our national memory that Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and on Jan. 1, 1863, enslaved people were free," says historian Amy Murrell Taylor. "We need to puncture a big hole in this national mythology - without diminishing Lincoln." The truth is much more complicated. Millions of Americans gained freedom from 1861 to 1865 in a slow-moving wave that includes the Emancipation Proclamation, Juneteenth and the passage of the 13th Amendment. There are millions of stories to tell. Many ran across Union lines and emancipated themselves, flooding into hastily constructed "contraband" camps. … [Read more...]

6 LAKE OROVILLE, Calif. - The work had to be done quickly as water vanished to vapor in the early summer heat. Hauling giant houseboats, some 50 to 60 feet long, from this lake became urgent just a few weeks ago. In all, the Oroville Lake Marinas company removed 130 houseboats; floating recreation palaces such as the Monte-Carol and La Bella Vita now sit in a parking lot on stacks of pasteboard props. The lot stands where the lake's high water mark would usually be - 900 feet. It is now 700 feet and falling fast. The man-made lake, which helps to irrigate thousands of acres of crops through the elaborate State Water Project, is now so low that it is impossible for the marina to remove more of the large boats even as dun-colored islands begin to pop up. The launch ramp no longer reaches the water, which will keep disappearing amid a summer of record heat, including the "mega-heat wave" currently scorching much of the West. "I've … [Read more...]

A man who police said had a history of preying on older Asians is facing murder charges after a 75-year-old man who was robbed and shoved to the ground in Oakland died Thursday from a traumatic head injury that left him brain-dead. Alameda County prosecutors filed special circumstances murder charges against Teaunte Bailey, 26, of Oakland after Pak Ho died from injuries suffered in Tuesday’s attack, the latest case of violence against a person of Asian descent in the Bay Area. Police say Ho, an Oakland resident, was walking in the area of Jayne Avenue and Perkins Street just before 7 a.m. Tuesday when Bailey robbed him and caused him to strike his head on the pavement. Bailey, who police say has a criminal history dating to 2012, was booked into Alameda County jail Wednesday. His arraignment is scheduled for Friday morning. Prosecutors on Thursday also filed charges against Bailey in a separate February case also involving an older Asian victim. On Feb. 19, police … [Read more...]

3 Mikaela Shiffrin’s tentative plans on Father’s Day: Dinner with family. Perhaps a board game or a movie. Definitely some Jimmy Buffet or Paul Simon music. Because that’s the sort of celebration Jeff Shiffrin would’ve wanted. Rarely a day goes by when some image, moment or song doesn't remind the American skiing great of her dad, who died on Feb. 2, 2020, after an accident at his home in Edwards, Colorado. The two-time Olympic champion can still hear his calming words of advice (a simple “focus" was a biggie). Or see him drumming on the steering wheel to whatever tune was on the radio. Or envision those family dinners followed by a lively board game. “It’s not like this day, Father’s Day, is really anymore emotional,” Shiffrin said. “Because I can’t miss him more than I already do on a daily basis.” His legacy lives on through a fund set up in his honor. The Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund raised more than $3 million to help offset … [Read more...]

2 “Dear Mom, Dad, Uncle, Auntie, Grandfather, Grandmother: We need to talk. You may not have grown up around people who are black, but I have. Black people are a fundamental part of my life: they are my friends, my classmates and teammates, my roommates, my family. Today, I’m scared for them.” So begins a powerful letter involving hundreds of Asian American collaborators from across the country in support of Black Lives Matter, co-written in the aftermath of last week’s fatal shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and five Dallas police officers. On social media and in protests, people in the Bay Area and beyond have expressed their anger and anguish, asking what they can do individually and as a society to end police abuses, inequality and the cycle of violence. On July 7, Christina Xu, a Chinese American ethnographer in New York, put forth a call to action to thousands of her followers on Twitter. Within hours, hundreds began the painstaking … [Read more...]

Almost a year ago, Ahmad, his wife and their son and daughter celebrated their first Fourth of July in America by going to the parade in Pleasant Hill — a friendly small-town bash where cheerleaders caper, local dignitaries ride in classic cars, and spectators decked out in red, white and blue wave little flags. After applying for asylum, the Iraqi family was still getting its bearings. Somewhere in the crowd, Ahmad lost his wallet. He and his wife frantically searched for it; replacing his identification cards while getting settled in a new country would have been arduous. “Thankfully, some kind person found it and took it to the police station,” said the gregarious 42-year-old, who wore a polo shirt and stylish glasses. (He didn’t want his last name disclosed for fear of putting his family in Iraq at risk.) We were sitting in their cozy two-bedroom apartment while the children finished their afternoon snack of spaghetti. Despite rising anti-Muslim sentiment in this country, … [Read more...]

Every year, I still get excited when libraries start advertising their summer reading programs. The bright posters! The chart to fill out diligently! The certificates of completion pasted on the wall! The prizes! All through childhood, I whiled away the summer at the library, settling into a chair by the tall windows, inhaling the musty scent of paperbacks, and enjoying the shady cool on the hottest days. Sometimes I read until my eyes crossed from exhaustion. I tried to sneak in more reading after bedtime, getting caught when my father checked my lamp for the telltale heat. Since their inception in the mid-19th century, public libraries have made it one of their missions to educate and assimilate immigrant families, fostering literacy and helping them become responsible and informed citizens. Many libraries — which have long offered lessons in civics, naturalization and English, as well as assistance in filling out government forms — also provide community access to arts, science … [Read more...]