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John Martin Fischer: Some scientists say we don’t have free will. As a philosopher I say, of course we do

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

A new book by a Stanford neurobiologist offers a jarring proposition: that humans do not have free will and thus cannot be considered morally responsible for our actions. In “Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will,” Robert Sapolsky contends that much harm comes from our belief in free will: needless anxiety and guilt, unjust and cruel penal institutions and so forth.Perhaps surprisingly, these views — which seem so unintuitive — have become more influential in contemporary philosophy and even legal theory. They are, nevertheless, a minority opinion. Although philosophy isn’t about majority rule (nor should it be!), many of us inside the field — and likely outside it, too — find this skepticism toward free will and moral responsibility deeply problematic.Sapolsky and others contend that we lack free will based on determinism. According to this doctrine, everything is fully caused and explained by the past and laws of nature, meaning ...

GroundBreak, Center for Economic Inclusion expand efforts to close wealth gaps

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

Two Twin Cities-based initiatives aimed at closing the stark wealth gap between Blacks and whites have announced major expansions.GroundBreak, a coalition of 40 philanthropic, private and public institutions located throughout the metro, announced it has amassed nearly $1 billion toward wealth-building initiatives, with a focus on creating more Black homeowners, entrepreneurs and commercial developers. The funding is the first step toward a goal of putting $5.3 billion into similar efforts over the next decade.The coalition, which launched in May 2022 with strong backing from the McKnight Foundation and the banking community, released a report Tuesday outlining its initial progress, including amassing $927 million for financial tools and products that are expected to be available by the end of 2024. A key strategy is to work with existing banks on financial products targeting Black homebuyers and entrepreneurs.The challenge is that Minnesota ranks sixth worst in the nation in terms ...

5 things to know this Friday, November 3

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Happy Friday! According to Meteorologists Jill Szwed and Matt Mackie, we can expect milder days ahead after some blistery temperatures to kick off the new month. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! There was a heavy police presence on Hill Street at around 6 a.m. on Thursday. The Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a second-floor apartment where they seized drugs and firearms. Meanwhile, officials are investigating an explosion in Dutchess County. They said that a struck gas line caused an explosion, a fire, and the partial collapse of a building in Wappinger’s Falls. These stories, and more, are covered in your five things to know this Friday morning. 1. Deputies seize drugs and firearms from Troy residenceThere was a heavy police presence on Hill Street at around 6 a.m. on Thursday. The Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a second-floor apartment wh...

Ask Amy: Nonbinary adult faces misgendering at work

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

Dear Amy: I’m a young professional in my second year at an office job that I love. I’m also nonbinary — neither a man nor a woman — and my pronouns are the gender-neutral “they/them.”My workplace is very accepting, and my pronouns are displayed on our agency’s website and on a nameplate at my desk.Most of my coworkers are mindful of how they refer to me, and correct themselves when they make mistakes. However, there are a few people in our small office who have trouble getting it right.I have to make choices every day between the discomfort of getting misgendered and the vulnerability of correcting others, and I accept this as part of my daily life as an openly nonbinary individual.But at a certain point, when someone I know well and see every day doesn’t even notice when they’ve gendered me incorrectly, it can be hurtful.I try to continue correcting people that slip up, but it gets more difficult as it becomes clear they aren’t ...

Human trafficking: The EU’s fight against exploitation 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

Learn how the EU is strengthening anti-trafficking rules to respond to changes in the way people are being exploited, Society.What is human trafficking? Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit Human trafficking factsEvery year more than 7,000 victims of human trafficking are registered in the EU, although the actual figure is likely to be much higher as many victims remain undetected.The majority of victims are women and girls, but the number of men is on the rise particularly as forced labour. Types of human traffickingReasons for human trafficking include:Sexual exploitation - victims are predominantly women and children.Forced labour - victims primarily from developing countries, forced to work in labour-intensive jobs, or kept in domestic servitude.Forced criminal activities - victims must carry out a range of illegal activities. Vi...

DePetris: Biden and Xi aim to meet as U.S., China try to get on same page

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

With all eyes on Gaza, a recent series of meetings in Washington between senior U.S. and Chinese officials was slightly overlooked by the news cycle. Those sessions, however, have the potential to bring President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping into the same room as soon as mid-November, when the U.S. is due to host an economic conference in San Francisco.The last time Biden and Xi met for in-person talks was during the November 2022 G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia. Those discussions were a seminal event, not because of anything the two agreed to but rather because the meeting happened at all.The previous month, the U.S. slapped strict export controls on advanced technology to China, which Chinese officials up and down the Communist Party bureaucracy strongly condemned as a transparent attempt to stifle the Chinese economy and undermine Beijing’s rise as a great power. Several months before that, in August 2022, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the House...

Word Game: Nov. 3, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — ARMORED (ARMORED: ARM-erd: Wearing a defensive body covering for combat.)Average mark 31 wordsTime limit 40 minutesCan you find 40 or more words in ARMORED? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — FORTHRIGHT fight firth fort forth fright frog froth rift right rigor riot roti thigh thrift tight tort trig trio trot troth high gift girth grift gritTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at [email protected].

Get a sneak peek of Intercontinental Miami’s 28th annual Make-A-Wish Ball

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

The 28th annual Intercontinental Miami Make-A-Wish Ball is a combination of art, fashion, music, and wishes. Every year tries to top the next and it’s going down this Saturday. Deco sat down with the brains of this creative night to hear all about it. Here’s an exclusive sneak peak with gala chair Shareef M. Malnik, with actress and filmmaker, Gabrielle Anwar.Wish to see Sting in person? Wish granted. He’s leaving his mark as the headliner for Intercontinental Miami’s Make-A-Wish Ball. Shareef: I’ve been asking Sting to perform for the last five years. Someone asked me this year, why do you keep asking him? I asked because one day he’s going to say yes and he did say yes this year. We have two missions here. One is that we want to raise as much money as possible, but the most important mission is that people have such a great time they want to come back next year.And this year’s theme is?Shareef: Oculus is the theme. So, think “James B...

Whipping Winds Set to Wane Soon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

It sure has been a windy past 24-36 hours across South Florida following a front that crossed through midweek and high pressure building in across the eastern US.The area will remain positioned in a windy setup again this Friday with not much of a change to the pattern, providing sustained winds of 10-30 mph out of the northeast and gusts up to 35 mph.A Wind Advisory does remain in effect for coastal Miami-Dade and Broward Counties until 8PM Friday for those stronger gusts.These winds will also continue to rough up the seas, with a High Surf Advisory in effect for the Broward beaches through Friday evening for breaking waves up to 6-8 feet.As far as the forecast is concerned Friday, the morning will feature brighter skies with a mix of sun and clouds, then more clouds start to move onshore from the east during the afternoon and evening hours. By sunset, areas of light rain could develop but the day overall should be dry.High temperatures will be a degree or two warmer than on Friday...

Youth tobacco use rates declined slightly in US, but ‘work is far from over,’ health officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

(CNN) — Overall tobacco use among youths dropped slightly, by about 1%, since last year, largely driven by declines in e-cigarette use among high schoolers, according to data released Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration from the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey.The new report finds that about 10% of students in those grades — or 2.8 million youth — reported using any type of tobacco product during 2022-2023.Overall current tobacco use dropped among high school students, from 16.5% to 12.6%, and about 580,000 fewer high schoolers reported currently using e-cigarettes.But among middle school students, overall tobacco use increased from 4.5% to 6.6%, and and use of multiple tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, increased from 1.5% to 2.5%. E-cigarette use among middle school students stayed about the same as last year, the report says.“E-cigarettes remained the most commonly ...