News Media’s Decline

By Javonn Edo

The article by “The new republic” about the failure of print and digital media resonated with me the most, it highlights the sole purpose for the decay of news media. Social media platforms, because of how big they are taking up most if not all of the advertising market. If people are on these apps every hour of the day that appeals to brands to market their products on these platforms.

With news outlets not bringing in much revenue eventually they’ll perish, with the failure of news media being public knowledge this might deter aspiring journalists. Alex Shepard gives some scenarios to where it would be possible to open the advertising market to others and end the strong arm of Facebook, Google, and Amazon. Ultimately, higher forces (federal government) would need to step in for a change to occur but that’s not likely.

The articles now will make me look at the news different, even though there’s an abundance of news on my phone, the news app has little to no ads as oppose to Instagram and Facebook. Overall the text from “The new republic” opened my eyes on the financial aspect of the news industry.

NYT Snowfall

By Javonn Edo

Only a horrific event could make your last breath cold. Avalanches are non-remorseful and unbiased; they are capable of sweeping away whole families. The avalanche at Tunnel Creek has many precedents, numerous avalanches occur here but none had more casualties than on the old railroad . Nationally it’s the deadliest avalanche to date, it occurred in 1910 in the Northwest of the United States. The deadly mountain housed sudden drop offs and risky corners.

The shifting weather effects the snow, which could make it dangerous at any point but it’s not a ski area so there’s no stress put on it. With numerous avalanche related casualties, maybe there should be more light put on the snow conditions. In 2012, top skiers and snowboarders saw themselves caught in an avalanche after an epic run, among them was pro skier Elyse Saugstad that barely escaped with her life.

The Bloomberg Effect

By Javonn Edo

The New York Times mentions that Bloomberg’s offensive past statements could possibly sabotage his campaign. Ed Emarrero a public safety officer said ” I feel like he will be another Trump… he won’t benefit the working class people”, from his perspective he felt no lure to Bloomberg’s campaign because Bloomberg doesn’t represent him the working class. With Bloomberg’s first debate this evening there will be many people like Ed that tune him out due to his past enforcement of stop and frisk and redlining. The 42 year old is backing Bernie Sanders. Regardless of the 50 million spent on his campaign according to the Washington post, if he doesn’t get the minority vote his presidential aspirations will be bleak.
Photo Credit: Javonn Edo

The NBA’s Era of the Chameleon

By Javonn Edo

March 10, 2020

Overview

Basketball is a global game and with that draws different influences of how people play, that’s why you see diverse systems of offense and defense in various leagues around the world.

Modern Day

In the past decade there’s been a shift in how the NBA game is played . Bigger guards(ball handlers) and long range snipers are more prominent now than ever. Malachi Cherry, 20, says “Curry changed the game, everybody (teams) is picking up shooters to add to their team.” With the exception of a few unicorns in the past, long ball handlers are the new normal with guys like Giannis Antetokunmpo, Paul George, and Anthony Davis taking over the league. Cherry also said “There are a lot of versatile bigmen Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid he can dunk on you and shoot the ball; Anthony Davis… changed the game before big guys just played their role now they can do everything.” These prototypical guys are the new draft model for teams, long athletic wings with a well rounded skill set and defensive ability.

The New Model

A team will take a 6’7 prospect that can handle the ball well and has a decent skill set coming into the league over the traditional 6’0 to 6’3 point guard that would get exposed on the defensive end of the floor. The Washington Post said in an article on the Wizards, “Drafting the same position in back to back years isn’t a concern since we put an emphasis on versatility, Satoransky and Brown are both players that fit the mold of our current team” The NBA will keep the model of versatile wings and three point shooters for awhile because results show it works, the warriors nearly had a three peat and they have two of the best shooters to ever live. Nobody forgets the dominating force Shaq and his colleagues were but the old style is dead although it did pave way for this new style to blossom. Washington Wizards, Modern Basketball, Playoffs

The Future

COVID-19 will be pushing back the 2020 NBA draft, despite that the following prospects are hopeful they can get on a roster soon Kaskey- Blomain. Lamelo Ball is a unique prospect with a flashy game. A 6’7 point guard with tremendous upside, he has the potential to go anywhere from 1 to 10 in the draft due to his hybrid play-style. His versatile skill set has him projected as the #2 pick, a guards skill in a wings body, that with some improvement in decision making and he will be trusted with running a teams offense in the league. Overseas prospects are usually a hit a miss making teams reluctant to draft european players in the lottery of the draft consistently however, Deni Avdija a 6’9 wing I liken his skill set to a less efficient Kevin Durant. Despite him shooting an atrocious 58 percent from the line in Israel he’s still projected to go Top 5 as of now. The league is set in its ways now, following a model that has been showing promise with wings in past drafts showing evolution in their games. Out of the top 5 prospects three of them are wings ESPN.

Art and Soul

By Javonn Edo

As soon as I walked into the exhibit I was captivated by this piece, not only did it resemble Frida Kahlo’s work which is interesting because the artist is Mexican similar to Kahlo, but the bright red contrasting with the forest green was another attractive layer to a complex piece. It also gave me a warm sense of family, the intimacy of this older couple on full display but in the subtlest form, hand holding. Chair Dr. Vendryes says “The Artist(Jessica Alazraki) Is speaking to relationships within family… In a party we all know an old couple like this that’s been together for 20 years”. The vulnerability of family made this piece resonate with me as well as the polka dot pattern along the background providing a symmetrical background to the main focus of the artwork.

To keep the theme of family like Jessica’s piece, artist Jinyu Li referenced the inspiration for this painting was her Chinese heritage and the practice of meditation a component of Falun Dafa exercise. The stillness of the women meditating in a beautiful meadow as the light shines on her majestically is intriguing because to me it perfectly captures the essence of meditation, peace of mind and focus. Li says “ I hope to spread the occurrence of Falun Dafa with my brush” the image itself gives me a sense of calmness.

Every piece in the gallery shared something, they shared a sense of self. Each artist reflected a piece of themselves within their artwork whether influence by culture like Jessica Alazraki’s  and Jinyu Li pieces respectively. Both pieces beautifully captured me in a way that I could feel what they were trying to convey. The biennial at York gives local artists like Jessica and Jinyu a platform to share their work with the community.

Photo Credits: Javonn Edo

5G the Greatest Innovation of the Information Age or it’s Trojan Horse

With the 5G rollout beginning in 2020, many are anticipating the power it possesses to make daily life easier for humans. Increased bandwidth allows people to access supreme internet speed in various forms drastically effecting day to day life. Navigation in areas where signal would usually be weak or nonexistent would be a thing of the past with 5G being a hundred times faster than the current 4G.

Changing the Interface

5G will extend the reach of the internet drastically according to CNN, A 5G society sounds scary at the least but in theory it could do more good than harm, but one must question. With more smart devices and potentially AI becoming more common place it could greatly increase the threat and lethality of a cyber-attack which is why a slow rollout of 5G is best in order to analyze data and manage security. A surgeon performing surgery for someone across the globe would be one of the many benefits, this would greatly impact less fortunate countries that are helped by organizations or completely change how medics in war interact with the wounded. AI’s used in the healthcare profession could ease the stress from doctors and nurses alike but concerns arise when you have to put your faith in a robot when receiving your diagnosis.

The Need to Know

Everyone is paranoid right now; we are fighting an invisible enemy. If only we could see things on a molecular level, we would be able to avoid being affected by this virus. Unfortunately, that is not the case and people begin to connect dots on their own. Many “Conspiracies” have arisen for instance the coronavirus is caused, or effects are accelerated by 5G. Although major news media have shot down these claims no evidence has been provided that say 5G is safe over long periods of exposure to living organisms Komando, Lee, Waterson? A lot of the theories are baseless talk backed with no evidence, but the real questions aren’t being asked, the fact that 5G works on a higher frequency than all the things we encounter daily should raise concerns among citizens.

Take Action

            A Sacramento woman started a petition to slow the rollout of 5G in local schools Wiley. Her concern is that it has not been proven safe, when exposing things to the next generation all the facts should be present. By 2026 , 800,000 5G small cell sites are to be installed all over the US according to the CTIA. Tariq Brown, a broward college student, 20 years old said “I won’t necessarily say I believe the conspiracies but I would like to see cold hard evidence that say otherwise in depth” the effects of 5G should be looked into privately. Taking a major corporation’s word for it is very naïve, they have millions invested in the success of 5G. Whether 5G is friend or foe has yet to be determined but it’s going to around for awhile so focusing on the positives will be best while gathering more info about the unknown

Resistance

The unknown can be frightening, but evolution could stem from an unknown variable. Despite lack of research the FCC has authorized a low scale 5G implementation in the US. The department of defense had to step in and voice their concerns for national security. The threat they speak of is a possible interference with government equipment. Now in Europe, specifically Brussels 5G startup has been denied by the Environment Minister due to the radiation standards there. The Planetary Association for Clean Energy gave a statement to the UN on 5G, the radiation limits would have to increase from 30 to 40% to properly implement it. Brussels is not willing to budge on their stance and refuse to subject their citizens to extra radiation.