All posts tagged: means

Shortage of Merchant Marines means big money for new grads : NPR

Shortage of Merchant Marines means big money for new grads : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Students on the aft deck of the Empire State VII preparing for this year’s summer cruise. They’ll sail to Charleston, S.C., Málaga, Spain and Belfast, Northern Ireland before returning to New York. SUNY Maritime College hide caption toggle caption SUNY Maritime College The gangway up to the Empire State VII slopes from the dock at Fort Schuyler in the Bronx, where the East River meets the Long Island Sound. The ship is massive — 530 feet, nine decks – and it’s being prepped for its annual summer teaching cruise. Tom Murphy, SUNY Maritime College’s Chief of Staff and a 1993 alumnus, has spent a lot of time on vessels at sea. But this one is different. “This is the first ship purposely built for training cadets,” he said. “This isn’t just a working ship, this is a school on water.” SUNY Maritime is one of six state-run maritime academies in the country. Most are run like quasi-military academies. Students wear uniforms, follow regimented schedules, and learn through a curriculum that blends traditional engineering and seamanship …

New rule means UK motorists could lose licence for this offence

New rule means UK motorists could lose licence for this offence

Published by Sam Flores

Drivers who have never broken a motoring law could still find themselves banned from the road under a tough new crackdown. Ministers are arming courts with the power to hand out penalty points to people convicted of illegally dumping rubbish – meaning persistent offenders could ultimately lose their driving licences altogether. Under the new rules, introduced through the Policing and Crime Act, courts will be able to impose between three and nine penalty points for fly-tipping offences. That puts offenders on a direct path to disqualification if they rack up 12 points within three years even though the crime has nothing to do with driving itself. In some cases, a single incident could result in as many as nine points, leaving offenders just one step away from an automatic ban. The measures form a key plank of the Government’s Waste Crime Action Plan, which aims to clamp down on the blight of dumped rubbish in streets, lay-bys and the countryside. Ministers believe targeting drivers is the most effective way to deter the crime, with most …

On Mother’s Day, being pro-life means helping babies in developing countries live

On Mother’s Day, being pro-life means helping babies in developing countries live

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — As a mom-to-be, this Mother’s Day feels different. Feeling my son’s little kicks, I already sense the deep, instinctual love for this life growing inside of me and the desire for him to flourish. I have always been a strongly pro-life evangelical Christian, but experiencing this bond between a mother and her unborn child has clarified what it truly means to value life. At our 20-week anatomy scan, my husband and I learned that our son would be born with complications that would require medical care. The weeks that followed were full of tears, doctor’s visits and consultations, but also deep gratitude for the treatment options that would allow our son to live a full life. What steadied us was access — specialists, options, follow-up care. That’s exactly what millions of moms don’t have. Through my work in global health, I know that many mothers across the world lack access to treatment for conditions that doctors know how to address. As I considered the little life in my womb, this stark reality clarified …

Prices are up, but Mother’s Day still means brunch : NPR

Prices are up, but Mother’s Day still means brunch : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A Society of American Florists survey found that many florists are “leaning into value-focused offerings,” including cheaper grab-and-go bouquets and smaller arrangements. Brandon Bell/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Brandon Bell/Getty Images Sign up for the Planet Money newsletter. The world is confusing. Economics can help. Economist Michael Swanson offers a tip for this Mother’s Day: “If you really want to show mom that love and TLC, you can whip up a pretty nice buffet at home for a lot less money” than going out for that classic brunch, says Swanson, who tracks food prices as the chief agricultural economist at Wells Fargo. His daughters apparently know this too: Their plan for Sunday is an egg bake for mom at home, with dad on flower-buying duty. But they are in the minority, even as the cost of going out to eat is rising twice as fast as the cost of groceries. Mother’s Day is by far the busiest day of the year for U.S. restaurants overall. It’s also one of the biggest days for florists, …

What India’s Diet Coke Shortage Means for the U.S.

What India’s Diet Coke Shortage Means for the U.S.

Published by Sam Flores

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. For true fans of Diet Coke, soda is sacrament, and reverence comes with strict parameters. The fountain version served at McDonald’s is thought to represent the peak of the form, but given the choice between plastic, glass, and metal vessels, conventional wisdom dictates that Diet Coke tastes best in aluminum cans. In recent weeks, those cans have reportedly been disappearing from shelves across India. Because the country’s Diet Coke comes only in aluminum-can form, Reuters notes, it’s at the mercy of ongoing supply issues stemming from the war in Iran. The Middle East has the capacity to produce 7 million metric tons of aluminum each year (75 percent of which is exported). That’s 9 percent of the world’s production capacity. And since the fighting began in late February, prices have continued to climb worldwide. The base price of a …

Fixing the teacher pipeline means looking at the joints

Fixing the teacher pipeline means looking at the joints

Published by skeptic

Each year in England, around a quarter of the people who qualify as teachers don’t go on to take up a post in a state school. They have invested a year of their lives in becoming qualified. And then they don’t teach. Why? This is one leak in what’s often called the leaky teacher pipeline. The metaphor is useful, but it can hide what’s actually going on. Sometimes the pipeline simply isn’t bringing enough people in at the top. Other times the leak is at the joints, where one stage hands off to the next They don’t all have the same cause. Across two new studies, funded by the Gatsby Foundation, we found leaks at different stages of the pipeline appear to need different fixes. Turning on the tap Teaching in England is a graduate profession, so undergraduates are the pool the next generation of teachers will come from. In the first study, we surveyed over 2,000 undergraduates in the UK and US, showing them pairs of hypothetical jobs that varied on things like salary, …

Body Language Experts Explain What The Most Commonly Misunderstood Sign Really Means

Body Language Experts Explain What The Most Commonly Misunderstood Sign Really Means

Published by Sam Flores

If you saw me at a work meeting, out with friends, or honestly anywhere in the wild, I almost always have my arms crossed. With that being my default stance, you would think I’m a miserable person with a bad attitude. But that is far from the truth (most of the time). I’m crossing my arms for two reasons: 1) I’m probably cold, and 2) it feels like I’m giving myself a hug, and it feels comforting.  As it turns out, crossed arms is the most commonly misunderstood body language sign, according to experts. “Most of the time, body language reading is quite accurate; we have to remember it’s only a part of the communication, like tone, choice of words, or, in some cases, touch,” as Stephanie Pappas, a licensed marriage and family therapist, told HuffPost. According to Pappas, our reason for judging a person for their body language is evolutionary. Body language was the prominent form of communication and a major survival skill for our ancestors thousands of years ago, she explains. “We were wired to …

What the Spirit Airlines Implosion Means for Your Vacation

What the Spirit Airlines Implosion Means for Your Vacation

Published by skeptic

Things have not been looking good for Spirit Airlines for years now. The budget airline known for its bare-bones approach to the sky filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and then again in 2025. And yet, its demise on Saturday felt sudden and shocking: Spirit said it would go out of business, canceling flights, shuttering its customer service lines, and laying off workers without warning. Why Is This Happening? Spirit’s demise was several years in the works. The company hadn’t made a profit since 2019. Other airlines, including larger and richer Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, invaded its low-cost turf by unbundling tickets and offering their own cheap, perk-free fares. In 2022, the US Department of Justice sued to block a proposed merger with JetBlue, arguing the deal would increase fares for all fliers. In early 2024, following a months-long trial, a federal judge blocked the merger. Then came two bankruptcies, one in early 2024 and one in summer 2025, with Spirit cutting staff, routes, and flights in an attempt to save itself. Finally, the …

Choice, Responsibility, and Meaning: What It Means to Be Human

Choice, Responsibility, and Meaning: What It Means to Be Human

Published by Jenni Sidey

I recently heard a Buddhist monk say that it’s important to realize that you, as a human, have choices. In the Buddhist tradition, which believes in reincarnation, being human puts you in a unique position: Compared to other forms of life, we alone have the freedom to choose, whereas animals—because of limited intelligence or limited control over their everyday lives—do not. But while the ability to choose may be a gift, it also comes with responsibility and meaning—you are the creator of your choices, and you alone decide their rationale or purpose. But this triad of choice, responsibility, and meaning is emphasized not only in the Buddhist tradition but also in Western thought, especially in the schools of existentialism and logotherapy, both of which define a path to a good life. Here are some ways to integrate these ideas into your life. Existentialism: Choice and Responsibility Jean-Paul Sartre, perhaps the most famous figure of existentialism, was also famous for declining the Nobel Prize in Literature. While he had several intellectual reasons for his decision, his …

Choice, Responsibility, and Meaning: What It Means to Be Human

Choice, Responsibility, and Meaning: What It Means to Be Human

Published by Jenni Sidey

I recently heard a Buddhist monk say that it’s important to realize that you, as a human, have choices. In the Buddhist tradition, which believes in reincarnation, being human puts you in a unique position: Compared to other forms of life, we alone have the freedom to choose, whereas animals—because of limited intelligence or limited control over their everyday lives—do not. But while the ability to choose may be a gift, it also comes with responsibility and meaning—you are the creator of your choices, and you alone decide their rationale or purpose. But this triad of choice, responsibility, and meaning is emphasized not only in the Buddhist tradition but also in Western thought, especially in the schools of existentialism and logotherapy, both of which define a path to a good life. Here are some ways to integrate these ideas into your life. Existentialism: Choice and Responsibility Jean-Paul Sartre, perhaps the most famous figure of existentialism, was also famous for declining the Nobel Prize in Literature. While he had several intellectual reasons for his decision, his …