The Weekly Journal - Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Wednesday, June 15-21, 2022 - // no. 164

Investing in a Bear market P7 U.S. lifts Covid-19 testing requirement for travelers P8 You could receive Social Security benefits from your spouse P10

Puerto Rico and the Caribbean

www.theweeklyjournal.com

The new healthcare crisis:

Puerto Rico’s elderly may not be able to afford extended care As the population ages, more people will require specialized medical attention

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Enrique Muchacho, Special to The Weekly Journal

Can AI create art?

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he crisis in Puerto Rico’s healthcare system further increased after the disastrous effects of hurricane Maria in 2017, and the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.

While fears have begun to calm down with the arrival of vaccines and treatments for Covid, the risk of testing positive is still out there, and many are still at risk of falling victims to the disease. Perhaps the ones with the greatest risk is the older population, specifically those with pernicious

health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure emphysema, and others. All of these associated with aging.

As Puerto Rico’s population continues to age, more and more adults would require extended care and treatment in special facilities that can provide it, and many don’t have at their disposal the necessary resources to guarantee those services.

SSI Exclusion and High Prices

Because Puerto Rico is considered an GO TO PAGE 4

The Weekly Journal > Wednesday, June 15, 2022 >

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Auspiciador Flamboyán

La Junta de Síndicos y el Comité Organizador tienen el honor de invitarles a celebrar la

Auspiciador Heliconia

GRAN GALA MUSEO DE ARTE DE PUERTO RICO sábado, 18 de junio de 2022 8:00 p.m.

Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino

Auspiciador Amapola

Información de auspicios y boletos 787. 977.4449 / 787.376.4317

mperez@mapr.org

Auspiciador Helecho

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a week in review Nat Geo will tour the island Discover Puerto Rico is partnering-up with National Geographic to produce content about Puerto Rico’s tourism and community attractions that will be published in July on the organization’s global digital channels. Michael George, one of National Geographic’s top talents in photography and writing, will spend several days touring several towns, including Aguadilla, Utuado, Ponce, Guánica, Cabo Rojo, Lajas, and Luquillo, and will be publishing his experiences in Puerto Rico through the company’s digital platforms. “The production aims to immerse the audience in the culture, the history, and the people of Puerto Rico. This is aligned with our strategy of promoting our most distinctive attraction: the Puerto Rican culture,” said Leah Chandler, Chief Marketing Officer of Discover Puerto Rico.

Claro and Motorola launch new Moto G Stylus

Fathers’ Day solstice

Wireless communications company Claro and Motorola launched the latest version of the Moto G Stylus smartphone. The faster, more versatile phone sports a 50MP camera, a bigger screen and a battery that can last up to two days. The new Moto G offers increased control with its integrated optical stylus that allows note taking, photo editing, drawing and screen captures, among many other functions. Quad Pixel technology makes the phone’s camera four times more sensitive in lowlight situations to produce clear and brilliant pictures. The device operates with a powerful octacore processor, and 6GB of RAM and 128GB of integrated memory.

Powered BY El Vocero de Puerto Rico, 1064 Ave Ponce de León 2nd floor San Juan, PR Postal Address: PO Box 15074, San Juan, PR 00902

Mother Earth Organic Co-op is celebrating the beginning of summer with a Farmers Market event next Sunday, June 19 at the Placita Roosevelt in Hato Rey. The marketplace, commemorating the summer solstice and the changing of the seasons, will offer, aside from fresh produce, seedlings, compost, prepared food and juices, personal care products, books and art crafts. “We also want to provide an educational and cultural alternative to celebrate Fathers’ Day with a family event,” said the Co-op’s Board of Directors president, Dayna Rivera. Mother Earth Organic Co-op also sponsors farmers markets every 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sunday every month.

President Salvador Hasbún shasbun@elvocero.com

VP of Accounting Félix A. Rosa frosa@elvocero.com

Human Resources Director Arlene Rolón, PHR arolon@elvocero.com

Vp of Marketing and Business Operations Michelle Pérez Miperez@elvocero.com

VP of Production Eligio Dekony edekony@elvocero.com

VP of Editorial Content Juan Miguel Muñiz Guzmán jmuniz@elvocero.com

Multi-Platform Graphic and Technology Director Héctor L. Vázquez hvazquez@elvocero.com

Phone: 787-622-2300, 787-721-2300

Multi-Plataform Digital Director María Arce marce@elvocero.com

Customer Service: 787-622-7480

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Association (ECCOA). “There are many homes that are closing down because of the high cost of services. The price of goods and resources unincorporated territory of the United States, has increased, while the resources of the elderly it does not hold the same status as other adults has not. The cost for us to provide these American jurisdictions, so it is excluded from the services has risen.”

Supplementary Security Income (SSI) program, While the cost for services and the monthly which would “supplement” funds toward that rates for residents of these facilities vary from kind of care service. The elderly in Puerto Rico one institution to another, they only have access to the Aid to are still at an all-time high. the Aged, Blind and Disabled When the Covid-19 pandemic (AABD) program. While both hit, the need for masks, and programs are alike — in disinfectant increased, and so providing government funds did their prices. When it comes for the elderly — the AABD’s The increase in to paying for things such as funding offers only a fraction the population of gas, food, and medications, of the SSI compensation, adults 65 and older these patients, who live off according to a 2011 study by is mainly related their pensions, struggle to the Government Accountability to the medical make ends meet, and more Office (GAO). It must be said advancements that often than not their health that SSI is funded by federal have helped to needs go unfulfilled. income tax monies paid by extend their lives, “We do all that we can, but state governments. Residents but not their quality we need therapeutic resources in Puerto Rico do not pay of life. and more materials to ensure federal taxes for their income. their wellbeing,” Aponte added.

“Having SSI coverage for these facilities is important because it would help Problems with Investing maximize these for-profit While Puerto Rico’s home’s services and acquire resources that can’t population has significantly decreased in recent be acquired without the SSI,” said Juanita Aponte, years, and there was an exodus to the U.S. of President of the Extended Care Centers Owners health care professionals after hurricane Maria,

In fact,

The population pyramid has inverted, and we have a portion of our population that’s over the age of 50 and that’s going to keep growing in the foreseeable future.

Manuel Quilichini, CEO, Comprehensive Human Services

the extended care facility business is still needed.

Manuel Quilichini, CEO of Comprehensive Human Services, has been working with foreign investors to build a new facility that would provide the needed assistance and care services for that increasing population.

“Demographics show that the segment of the elderly is growing, and will continue to grow.

The population pyramid has inverted, and we have a portion of our population that’s over the age of 50 and that’s going to keep growing in the foreseeable future,” said Quilichini. “The problem is that you have young people leaving Puerto Rico and they are leaving their parents and grandparents behind. They don’t want to move,

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so there is less support for increase, and you have at the them.” same time serious difficulties The increase in the hiring people. If your cost population of adults 65 and increases, the bill will increase older is mainly related to the and some of the patients will Most independent medical advancements that be unable to pay,” Quilichini facilities in the island have helped to extend their said. are subsidized under lives, but not their quality of The rising inflation of the Section 8, and the life. Because of that, they are last few months has caused requirements for in greater need of assistance, investment funds to become admittance are not just hospice care. The insufficient for the required set very low – a elderly population is expected needs of the elderly, thus person must only to continue to increase in the making it difficult for them demonstrate he/she near future. to also be able to make the has a low income.

Before the pandemic, required payments.

Quilichini had been working in “In this market, there are designing a multi-tier facility three sectors: the upper that contained independent class, middle class, and lower living, assisted living and longclass. The upper class has an term care. Residents could move from one level advantage with facilities that are upwards to of care to another depending on their needs. The $4,000 a month in payments per patient. The problem is that that kind of facility “tends to be a lowest segment can’t pay a penny and mainly large one and requires a substantial investment.” depend on the Department of the Family to pay “What has impacted our plans is the supply for its needs. For the middle class, the cost for problems and rising costs of construction. Also, elderly care is broad, and unfortunately, they do there has been a significant change in the cost not qualify for federal assistance,” said Quilichini. of operation. Normally, you use caretakers that Most independent facilities in the island are you pay a minimum wage. But minimum wage subsidized under Section 8, and the requirements will grow 45% in three years. That is a substantial for admittance are set very low – a person must

In fact,

There are many homes that are closing down because of the high cost of services. The price of goods and resources has increased, while the resources of the elderly adults has not.

Juanita Aponte, President ECCOA

only demonstrate he/she has a low income.

“I think we have to recognize that most of our elderly are below the poverty line and this number will increase with the passage of time due to inflation, due to rise in costs, due to a loss of pensions, as people rely on the government, they’re not going to get the pension they were expecting,” Quilichini argued.

Despite the need for a greater number of extended care centers for the elderly, “several factors make it unwise to invest at this time.” So, for the time being, demand is going to exceed supply in this industry.

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Blockchain: a promising beginning or a passing fad?

The technological advancement has many wondering about how to incorporate cryptocurrencies

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Madison Choudhry, Special to The Weekly Journal

nce touted as an Utopian dream, the emergence of cryptocurrency has caused an insurgence of attention in recent years, making it a topic of discussion at the latest PRCC Bizcom conference.

Genaro Mojica, CEO of Blockchain Trade Center, introduced the topic of blockchain to assistants by questioning its value. “What is the business value of blockchain? How is it affecting commerce?

In a big way. Increased trust between business constituents. All information is secure, organized, and accessible in one place and provides a high level of data security.” Mojica argued. The explanation seemed to solidify the credibility the digital wallet concept had amassed. For Mojica, blockchain is the way forward.

“At the university, we have a lot of computer science and software engineering programs… but currently, there is very little experience in the area of blockchain.”

Prof. Ubaldo M. Córdova-Figueroa, UPR’s VP for Academic Affairs.

Nevertheless, this technological advancement has perplexed many about how to best incorporate cryptocurrencies into modern life. Such is the case of traditional academic institutions, and the potential role cryptocurrencies will have in their curriculum.

“At the university, we have a lot of computer to world technology standards, implementing science and software engineering programs at all it requires a transition,” former Puerto Rico academic levels – graduate, graduate certifications, Innovation and Technology Service (PRITS) etc. But currently, there is very little experience executive director Enrique A. Völckers said earlier in the area of blockchain. this year.

Universities are still reacting and The academic sectors are not trying to integrate it,” said Ubaldo the only ones frustrated over the M. Córdova-Figueroa, University changing landscape. Financial of Puerto Rico’s VP for Academic institutions are also seeking to Affairs and Research. come to an understanding on how The academic As with many institutions, to properly react to the changes. sectors are not the change happens slowly. However, When questioned about, how only ones frustrated at the accelerated rate that long will it be until banks accept over the changing blockchain has allowed crypto cryptocurrencies, answers are still landscape. Financial currency to take off, Figueroa vague and not unanimous. institutions are also noted an interesting trend. “I Only Fernando Velázquez, seeking to come to an have mentioned it before: there Finance Director at Blockchain understanding. are students at the University of Trade Center, and a certified Puerto Rico creating blockchain, public accountant (CPA), ventured creating their own system, a more or less: “Five to 10 years.” sometimes on topics that even the professor has Regardless of the speed the modern world not yet mastered.” reacts to the rapid growth of digital currencies For Figueroa, it would seem the excitement today’s entrepreneurs are convinced they have the blockchain has created with crypto currencies has ability to innovate a new path to their economic motivated students to seek information on their independence. It would seem that, through own. ingenuity and a profound desire to succeed, a new “Unfortunately, blockchain technology is still in a paradigm for monetary freedom is in the process stage of evolution and development. So, according of being created.

In fact,

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Should an Amateur Investor Buy into a Bear Market?

For most, investing is more than landing ‘a great deal’

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Zoe Landi Fontana, The Weekly Journal

f you’ve ever walked into a store, seen an item on sale, then bought it just because it was offered at a discount… congratulations, that was an impulse buy – a FOMO (fear of missing out) purchase.

In a bear market like the one we’re seeing now, an amateur investor might be tempted to impulse buy their way into the stock market. One expert says ‘don’t do it’.

A common phrase in investing circles, “buy the dip” explains this exact phenomenon as it plays out in financial markets. It sounds attractive - buy when markets are low, then when they bounce back up you’ll have a high ROI. Yet, “buying the dip” isn’t a realistic investment strategy for most.

How To Responsibly Invest As A Layperson

“Professional investors – some buy the dip, and some are holding really tight. The non-professional investor does not want to [try and] time the market. Their best investment strategy is to have a set amount to invest every month regardless of how the market is doing,” explained Mara Liz Meinhofer in an interview with THE WEEKLY JOURNAL. Meinhofer is a CPA and Personal Finances Expert at Financial Clarity Academy, the leading online financial academy in Puerto Rico.

The Financial Clarity Academy seeks to increase financial literacy on the island, where it is desperately needed. They focus on providing education around personal finance to average

people, so they can achieve financial stability, save Of the 450 participants surveyed, the 40-49 year more, and start investing smart. old age group was most worried about finances.

Of investing responsibly, Meinhofer noted, “It is “They’re right in the middle. They already have great to try to buy when stocks are low, but there are financial responsibilities (children, mortgage, car) some steps [people] need to take first.” That first step but they might not necessarily have a positive is to organize your personal finances. Have three to outlook on increasing their income. Contrary to six months of expenses in savings, eliminate any high the younger ones who believe they have time, and interest credit card debt, then choose a fixed amount have hope,” Meinhofer elaborated. to start contributing into a 401K. The study, conducted from 2020-2021 during If you’ve got your financial foundation together the pandemic, showed that 50% of participants and more than a few months’ worth of expenses had less than $1,000 in savings. Another 70% in savings, you might be ready did not have the equivalent to enter the market. “If you’re of three months’ worth of young, start investing ASAP. expenses in their savings account [Young people] have a longer - the minimum amount to be outlook, they can survive the ups considered a ‘safety net’. and down,” advised Meinhofer, About 95% of Puerto Ricans Credit card “We tell our students everything have some sort of debt, while debt makes up 68% happens in cycles. We are in a in the U.S. this number is 74%. of personal debt on challenging cycle at the moment, Credit card debt makes up 68% the island, whereas but don’t despair, in history of personal debt on the island, in the U.S. this everything eventually bounces whereas in the U.S. this number number sits at 45%. back up.” sits at 45%. “Living paycheck to paycheck, [they have a] cash flow problem. So, they balance their Financial Wellness In Puerto budget using a credit car. Getting Rico a financial education can guide Unfortunately, many people won’t have an them on how to better manage their cash flow,” easy time building a strong financial foundation, explained Meinhofer. which makes it more difficult to save, and almost Formal financial literacy classes are rare in impossible to responsibly invest.

Puerto Rico, and while Meinhofer admitted While the pandemic raged on, it was clear that that education isn’t the solution to all financial average people were suffering economically, but a problems, it is one effort that can reach many study conducted by The Financial Clarity Academy, people and impact them directly and immediately. revealed just how severe the situation actually was.

Currently, Congress is working on legislation to “We knew they were having a really hard time, but increase financial literacy amongst students and even in the Academy we didn’t know it was this to establish public policy that will provide financial bad. It was – and continues to be worse than – we education to workers in Puerto Rico. think it is,” said Meinhofer.

In fact,

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US lifts COVID-19 test requirement for international travel

The CDC will continue to monitor the state of the pandemic

Licensed vocational nurse Caren Williams, right, collects a nasal swab sample from a traveler at a COVID-19 testing site at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, on Nov. 23, 2020. > AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

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Zeke Miller and David Koenig –The Associated Press

ASHINGTON — The Biden administration lifted its requirement that international travelers test negative for COVID-19 within a day before boarding a flight to the United States, ending one of the last remaining government mandates designed to contain the Many other countries have lifted their testing spread of the coronavirus. requirements for fully vaccinated and boosted The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention travelers in a bid to increase tourism. announced last Friday that the requirement was to Some infectious-disease experts said they were end early Sunday morning. The health agency said it comfortable with the CDC’s decision, and that lifting will continue to monitor state of the pandemic and will reassess the need for a testing requirement if the the restriction is unlikely to cause further spread of the virus in the U.S. situation changes.

Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University said “This step is possible because of the progress we’ve made in our fight against COVID-19,” said U.S. Health the rule was designed to prevent importing the virus, “but we’ve got plenty of COVID here. It’s like telling Secretary Xavier Becerra. someone not to pour a bucket of water in their Airline and tourism groups have been pressing swimming pool.” the administration for months to eliminate the Dr. Peter Chin-Hong at the University of California, testing requirement, saying it discourages people San Francisco, said travel restrictions demonstrate from booking international trips because they could that officials are trying to keep be stranded overseas if they variants out, “but they haven’t contract the virus on their trip. really shown to be beneficial, Roger Dow, president of the ever.” However, he said, requiring U.S. Travel Association, called foreign visitors to be vaccinated lifting the testing rule “another makes sense to avoid straining huge step forward for the Many other countries the U.S. health-care system with recovery of inbound air travel have lifted their people who could develop severe and the return of international testing requirements disease. travel to the United States.” for fully vaccinated The requirement for a negative Airlines argued that the rule and boosted travelers COVID-19 test before flying to the was put into effect when few in a bid to increase U.S. dates to January 2021 and is Americans were vaccinated — tourism. the most visible remaining U.S. now 71% of those 5 and older are travel restriction of the pandemic fully vaccinated, according to CDC era. figures. They also complained In April, a federal judge in that people entering the U.S. Florida struck down a requirement that passengers at land borders are not required to test negative wear masks on planes and public transportation, for COVID-19, although they must show proof of saying that the CDC had exceeded its authority. The vaccination.

Biden administration is appealing that ruling, saying it While domestic U.S. travel has returned nearly to aims to protect the CDC’s ability to respond to future pre-pandemic levels, international travel — which is health emergencies. very lucrative for the airlines — has continued to lag.

The Biden administration put the testing In May, U.S. international air travel remained 24% below 2019 levels, with declines among both U.S. and requirement in place as it moved away from rules that banned nonessential travel from dozens of foreign citizens, according to trade group Airlines for countries — most of Europe, China, Brazil, South America.

In fact,

…we’ve got plenty of COVID here. It’s like telling someone not to pour a bucket of water in their swimming pool.

Dr. William Schaffner, Vanderbilt University

Africa, India and Iran — and focused instead on classifying individuals by the risk they pose to others.

It was coupled with a requirement that foreign, nonimmigrant adults traveling to the United States need to be fully vaccinated, with only limited exceptions.

The initial mandate allowed those who were fully vaccinated to show proof of a negative test within three days of travel, while unvaccinated people had to present a test taken within one day of travel.

In November, as the highly transmissible omicron variant swept the world, the Biden administration toughened the requirement and required all travelers — regardless of vaccination status — to test negative within a day of travel to the U.S. In February, travel groups argued that the testing requirement was obsolete because of the high number of omicron cases already in every state, higher vaccinations rates and new treatments for the virus.

U.S. airlines estimate that dropping the test requirement will mean 4.3 million more passengers in one year.

It is unclear, however, whether airlines can boost flights quickly enough to handle that kind of increase.

Airlines facing a shortage of pilots have already scaled back their original schedules for the peak summer vacation season.

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Airbnb guests created 416K jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean

generating $4.5 billion in wages, salaries, and other labor income across a range of sectors.

For each $10 spent on accommodations, Airbnb guests spent an additional $45 at other businesses, such restaurants, transportation, and other activities, during their trip.

The Weekly Journal “We wanted to explore the economic significance of Airbnb’s footprint in Latin America he Latin American tourism and the Caribbean. As cities, states and countries industry saw an unprecedented plan for the months and years ahead, this data comeback after the Covid-19 shows that Airbnb can be an important part of pandemic. their economic revitalization,” said Catherine Being an increasingly Powell, Airbnb’s Global Head of Hosting. important part of the Latin Powell argued that, while inflation is at its American and Caribbean (LAC) highest for the last 15 years, according to the economies, tourism began to rebuild last year, International Monetary Fund, hosting is a way to with the industry supporting 8.5 million jobs and cover the rising costs of living, with hosts being contributing over $180 billion to gross domestic able to keep up to 97% of what they charge for products (GDPs) throughout their listing. the region. In a recent report, “People are traveling again, but economic forecasting firm Oxford they’re traveling in a different way: Economics (OE) estimates visitor staying longer and exploring new spending in LAC could reach $500 places. More than 800 cities and For each billion by 2025, which would be towns throughout Latin American $10 spent on 16% above its pre-pandemic level. and the Caribbean received their accommodations, The online lodging platform first booking on Airbnb since Airbnb guests spent Airbnb led this recovery by the beginning of the pandemic,” an additional $45 increasing the number of hosts Powell said. at other businesses in its platform and diversifying Back in June 2020, Airbnb during their trip. destinations beyond the same launched an initiative to expand popular tourism circuit. Two key their work with destination factors for the economic activity marketing organizations, in the sector were having over governments, and nonprofits to support local 4.3 million more guest stays in 2021 than in economic activity. To date, they have participated 2019, and $8.9 billion in increased spending. OE in over 140 partnerships and collaborations estimated 416,000 jobs were created in the region, in more than two dozen countries, including

More guests are spending more money in their trips

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In fact,

People are traveling again, but they’re traveling in a different way: staying longer and exploring new places.

-Catherine Powell, Airbnb’s Global Head of Hosting.

recent campaigns with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Discover Puerto Rico, Mexico’s Jalisco State, and Brazil’s Sao Paulo State.

In a previous report, the company announced that long family weekend trips - lasting three to four days - increased by 70 percent in the second quarter of 2021. Moreover, last August, Airbnb reached the highest number of nights booked in the platform’s history in the United States since the pandemic began in March 2020.

In terms of sustainability, Airbnb has partnered with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to promote sustainable, safe, and responsible tourism in Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Brazil, with the alliance highlighting culturally authentic and biodiverse destinations as an alternative to mass and traditional tourism.

“The lines between travel, living and working are blurring and we are upgrading our service to make it easier for people to integrate travel into their lives and for more people to become hosts,” said Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky.

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Víctor Rodríguez

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Public Affairs Specialist (Puerto Rico and the USVI), Social Security Administration

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Do you qualify for spousal benefits?

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ocial Security benefits are a crucial part of millions of Americans’ retirement income. If you don’t have enough Social Security credits to qualify for benefits on your own record, you may be able to receive benefits on your spouse’s record.

Spousal benefits apply equally to both heterosexual and same-sex couples. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as most states, do not recognize consensual union as legal marriage. Therefore, to qualify for possible Social Security benefits as a spouse, the union had to be formalized with a marriage certificate. At the time of applying for benefits, the couple must have been married for at least one year, unless they have biological children

together. that the insured person receives To qualify for spousal benefits, from Social Security, unless there you must be: is a court order concerning child • 62 years of age or older. support or alimony. If you choose • Any age and have in your care a to receive your spouse’s benefits child younger than before reaching age 16, or who has full retirement a disability and is age, you will get entitled to receive a permanently benefits on your reduced benefit. spouse’s record.

If you wait until Your spouse’s you reach full Your spouse’s full benefit could be retirement age to full benefit could up to one-half the receive benefits, be up to one-half amount your spouse you’ll receive your the amount your would be entitled to full spouse’s benefit spouse would be receive at his/her full amount, which entitled to receive retirement age. is up to one-half at his/her full the amount your retirement age. It spouse can receive. is important for You’ll also get your people to know full spouse’s benefit if you are under that the possible benefit to the spouse will not reduce the amount full retirement age, but care for

In fact,

a child and none of the following applies: • The child is younger than age 16.

• The child has a disability and is

If you don’t have enough Social Security credits to qualify for benefits on your own record, you may be able to receive benefits on your spouse’s record. entitled to receive benefits on your spouse’s record.

If you’re eligible to receive retirement benefits on your own record, we will pay that amount first. If your benefits as a spouse are higher than your own retirement benefits, you will get a combination of benefits that equal the higher spouse benefit.

For example, let’s say that Sandy qualifies for a retirement benefit of $1,000 and a spousal benefit of $1,250. At her full retirement age, she will receive her own $1,000 retirement benefit. We will add $250 from her spouse’s benefit, for a total of $1,250.

Want to apply for either your or your spouse’s benefits? Are you at least 61 years and nine months old? If you answered yes to both questions, visit www.ssa.gov/ benefits/retirement, to get started today.

Are you divorced from a marriage that lasted at least 10 years? You may be able to get benefits on your former spouse’s record. You can find out more by visiting www.ssa.gov/ planners/retire/divspouse.html for more information.

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se olvidan de nosotros.

La verdad te necesita para reivindicar.

La verdad no tiene precio.

< The Weekly Journal > Wednesday, June 15, 2022

La verdad

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United Arab Emirates bans Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’

The decision comes as Malaysia also reportedly will ban the film

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Jon Gambrell – The Associated Press

UBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates on Monday banned the upcoming Pixar animated feature “Lightyear” from showing in movie theaters after its inclusion of a kiss between two

lesbian characters.

The decision by the UAE comes as Malaysia also reportedly will ban the film, raising the possibility other Muslim-majority nations could follow suit on one of Disney’s biggest animated films of the year as the film industry comes out of the depths of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Emirates, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, announced through its Media Regulatory Office of > Disney/Pixar via AP the country’s Ministry of Youth and Culture that the film would not be opening in the country this Thursday.

The film “is not licensed for public screening in all cinemas in the UAE, due to its violation of the country’s media content standards,” the office said in a tweet. “The office confirms that all films screened in cinemas across the country are subject to follow-up and evaluation before the date of screening to the public, to ensure the safety of the circulated content according to the appropriate age classification.”

Media Regulatory Office of the UAE The office did not elaborate on the tweet and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press. The tweet included inspiration for the Buzz Lightyear action figure an image of the film’s poster, with the profile from the “Toy Story” films, image of its main character Buzz includes a female character Lightyear with a “no” symbol over voiced by actress Uzo Aduba it in red. kissing her female partner.

Movie theaters in the UAE, a The UAE, many other countries federation of seven sheikhdoms Studios have in the wider Mideast, is a Muslimon the Arabian Peninsula, had allowed censors to led nation that criminalizes already advertised showtimes for cut films in global same-sex relationships. The U.S. the film. But over the weekend, distribution for State Department warns that a social media campaign with content in the past, Islamic, or Shariah, law in the UAE the Arabic hashtag “Ban Showing including in the can include the death penalty Lightyear in the Emirates,” caught Mideast market. for same-sex conduct, while the attention of conservative Dubai can levy a 10-year prison Emiratis. They described showing sentence and Abu Dhabi allows a lesbian couple on screen as for up to 14 years. being against their culture and However, such prosecutions religion. are rarely reported and LGBTQ individuals do live The movie, with actor Chris Evans voicing the

“[The film] is not licensed for public screening in all cinemas in the UAE, due to its violation of the country’s media content standards.

In fact,

in the skyscraper-studded city-state of Dubai, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates.

The $200 million “Lightyear” is expected to be a major draw for Disney, with analysts estimating it could gross over $100 million in its first weekend.

Studios have allowed censors to cut films in global distribution for content in the past, including in the Mideast market. Recently, Disney has faced protests from activists and its own staff over what they described as CEO Bob Chapek’s slow response in publicly criticizing Florida legislation that opponents dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in late March signed the bill, which forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

The moment had been earlier cut from the film but was restored after Pixar employees protested Disney’s response to Florida’s bill.

The movie also may be banned in Malaysia as well. The Star, the country’s top English-language newspaper, cited an anonymous, nongovernment source as saying that Lightyear will not be shown in Malaysian cinemas. No reasons were given. A newspaper in the Persian Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain similarly has speculated the film wouldn’t be shown there.

Officials from Malaysia’s Film Censorship Board and the Home Affairs Ministry, as well as The Walt Disney Co., could not be immediately reached for comment.

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In fact, Golf legend, Phil Mickelson, will be playing a major for the first time this year.

Jon Rahm, of Spain, watches his putt on the 13th green during the second round of the Memorial golf tournament last Friday, in Dublin, Ohio. >AP Photo/ Darron Cummings

US Open heads to MA amid revolutionary battle in golf Battle lines are unlike anything the game has experienced in its 162-year history

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Doug Ferguson – The Associated Press

t is one of the five founding clubs of the U.S. Golf Association. Its first U.S. Open in 1913 is what first put golf on the front pages of American newspapers when 20-year-old amateur Francis Ouimet took down a pair of British titans.

Beyond the ropes, it’s worth nothing the Boston area was the birthplace of the Revolutionary War, only fitting for these times.

That’s what it feels like golf is going through at the moment.

More than a dozen PGA Tour players, a few big names that include a trio of U.S. Open champions, are defecting to a Saudi-funded rival league and the PGA Tour is telling them they are no longer welcome.

The battle lines are unlike anything this genteel game has experienced in its 162-year history.

And it’s enough to steal some of the attention away from the U.S. Open, the second-oldest championship known as the toughest test in golf.

“It’s a weird time in professional golf,” Rory McIlroy said. “And I said it a couple weeks ago, we’re just going to see how this season plays out.”

The U.S. Open is in Brookline, Massachusetts, for the fourth time on June 16-19, and it already

features a few subplots that could be considered surprising.

Tiger Woods will be sitting this one out.

After making the cut in the Masters and the PGA Championship, Woods decided his right leg that was battered from a February 2021 car crash needs more time to heal and strengthen. He wants to be ready for the British Open next month at St. Andrews.

Phil Mickelson will be playing a major for the first time this year.

Lefty was recovering from a foot-in-mouth injury from published comments about the Saudi league that managed to offend both sides. He said he wasn’t ready to play the Masters or the PGA Championship, making his return at the LIV Golf Invitational outside London.

The USGA takes the name of its championship —“Open” — seriously enough to honor any player who earned his way into the field.

“Should a player who had earned his way into the

“Should a player who had earned his way into the 2022 U.S. Open be pulled out of the field as a result of his decision to play in another event?” / USGA, in written statements

2022 U.S. Open, via our published field criteria, be pulled out of the field as a result of his decision to play in another event? And we ultimately decided that they should not,” the USGA said in a statement.

Fourteen players who qualified for the U.S. Open were in the first LIV Golf event, a group that includes past champions Dustin Johnson and Martin Kaymer.

Another U.S. Open champion, Bryson DeChambeau, joined the Saudi league on Friday.

Mickelson, most famously, never has won the U.S. Open. Imagine if he were to finally win the major that has haunted him throughout his career, those record six runner-up finishes keeping him from the career Grand Slam.

“I don’t know how others will receive it but I would be quite favorable with it,” Mickelson said.

How others would perceive it is to be determined. For years among the most popular figures in golf, Mickelson has been viewed as the chief recruiter for Greg Norman and his LIV Golf series that has paid enormous sums just for players to sign up.

As for that pursuit of the career slam, Mickelson has had seven cracks at the U.S. Open since he picked up the third leg at Muirfield in the 2013 British Open. He has yet to finish among the top 25 in any of them, and turning 52 on the day of the opening round isn’t making it any easier.

Golf has been moving toward youth for some time now, and the recent majors are an example.

The last four major champions are in their 20s, dating to defending U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, who was 26 when he won at Torrey Pines last year.

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/ Wednesday, June15, 2022

Give this AI a few words and it produces a stunning image – but is it art?

A new neural network algorithm can create a picture from a short phrase

(T

Aaron Hertzmann, University of Washington

HE CONVERSATION) – A picture may be worth a thousand words, but thanks to an artificial intelligence program called DALL-E 2, you can have a professionallooking image with far fewer.

DALL-E 2 is a new neural network algorithm that creates a picture from a short phrase or sentence that you provide. The program, which was announced by the artificial intelligence research laboratory OpenAI in April 2022, hasn’t been released to the public. But a small and growing number of people – myself included – have been given access to experiment with it.

As a researcher studying the nexus of technology and art, I was keen to see how well the program worked. After hours of experimentation, it’s clear that DALL-E – while not without shortcomings – is leaps and bounds ahead of existing image generation technology.

It raises immediate questions about how these technologies will change how art is made and consumed. It also raises questions about what it means to be creative when DALL-E 2 seems to automate so much of the creative process itself.

A staggering range of style and subjects OpenAI researchers built DALL-E 2 from an enormous collection of images with captions. They gathered some of the images online and licensed others.

Using DALL-E 2 looks a lot like searching for an image on the web: you type in a short phrase into a text box, and it gives back six images.

But instead of being culled from the web, the program creates six brand-new images, each of which reflect some version of the entered phrase.

(Until recently, the program produced 10 images per prompt.) For example, when some friends and I gave DALL-E 2 the text prompt “cats in devo hats,” it produced 10 images that came in different styles.

Nearly all of them could plausibly pass for professional photographs or drawings. While the algorithm did not quite grasp “Devo hat” – the

strange helmets worn by the New Wave band Devo – the headgear in the images it produced came close.

Over the past few years, a small community of artists have been using neural network algorithms to produce art. Many of these artworks have distinctive qualities that almost look like real images, but with odd distortions of space – a sort of cyberpunk Cubism. The most recent text-toimage systems often produce dreamy, fantastical imagery that can be delightful but rarely looks real.

DALL-E 2 offers a significant leap in the quality and realism of the images. It can also mimic

specific styles with remarkable accuracy. If you want images that look like actual photographs, it’ll produce six life-like images. If you want prehistoric cave paintings of Shrek, it’ll generate six pictures of Shrek as if they’d been drawn by a prehistoric artist.

It’s staggering that an algorithm can do this.

Each set of images takes less than a minute to generate. Not all of the images will look pleasing to the eye, nor do they necessarily reflect what you had in mind. But, even with the need to sift through many outputs or try different text prompts, there’s no other existing way to pump

15

/ Wednesday, June 15, 2022 out so many great results so quickly – not even by hiring an artist. And, sometimes, the unexpected results are the best.

In principle, anyone with enough resources and expertise can make a system like this. Google Research recently announced an impressive, similar text-to-image system, and one independent developer is publicly developing their own version that anyone can try right now on the web, although it’s not yet as good as DALL-E or Google’s system.

It’s easy to imagine these tools transforming the way people make images and communicate, whether via memes, greeting cards, advertising – and, yes, art.

Where’s the art in that?

I had a moment early on while using DALL-E 2 to generate different kinds of paintings, in all different styles – like “Odilon Redon painting of Seattle” – when it hit me that this was better than any painting algorithm I’ve ever developed. Then I realized that it is, in a way, a better painter than I am.

“I don’t know in advance what I am going to put on canvas any more than I decide beforehand what colors I am going to use …” / Pablo Picasso

In fact, no human can do what DALL-E 2 does: create such a high-quality, varied range of images in mere seconds. If someone told you that a person made all these images, of course you’d say they were creative.

But this does not make DALL-E 2 an artist.

Even though it sometimes feels like magic, under the hood it is still a computer algorithm, rigidly following instructions from the algorithm’s authors at OpenAI. If these images succeed as art, they are products of how the algorithm was designed, the images it was trained on, and – most importantly – how artists use it.

You might be inclined to say there’s little artistic merit in an image produced by a few keystrokes. But in my view, this line of thinking echoes the classic take that photography cannot be art because a machine did all the work. Today the human authorship and craft involved in artistic photography are recognized, and critics understand that the best photography involves much more than just pushing a button.

Even so, we often discuss works of art as if they directly came from the artist’s intent. The artist intended to show a thing, or express an emotion, and so they made this image. DALL-E 2 does seem to shortcut this process entirely: you have an idea and type it in, and you’re done.

But when I paint the old-fashioned way, I’ve found that my paintings come from the exploratory process, not just from executing my initial goals. And this is true for many artists.

Take Paul McCartney, who came up with the track “Get Back” during a jam session. He didn’t start with a plan for the song; he just started fiddling and experimenting and the band developed it from there.

Picasso described his process similarly: “I don’t know in advance what I am going to put on canvas any more than I decide beforehand what colors I am going to use … Each time I undertake to paint a picture I have a sensation of leaping into space.”

In my own explorations with DALL-E 2, one idea would lead to another which led to another, and eventually I’d find myself in a completely unexpected, magical new terrain, very far from where I’d started.

drawings I make on my iPad. Indeed some artists, like Ryan Murdoch, have advocated for prompt-based image-making to be recognized as art. He points to the experienced AI artist Helena Sarin as an example.

“When I look at most stuff from Midjourney” – another popular text-to-image system – “a lot of it will be interesting or fun,” Murdoch told me in an interview. “But with [Sarin’s] work, there’s a through line. It’s easy to see that she has put a lot of thought into it, and has worked at the craft, because the output is more visually appealing and interesting, and follows her style in a continuous way.”

Working with DALL-E 2, or any of the new text-to-image systems, means learning its quirks and developing strategies for avoiding common pitfalls. It’s also important to know about its potential harms, such as its reliance on stereotypes, and potential uses for disinformation.

Using DALL-E 2, you’ll also discover surprising correlations, like the way everything becomes oldtimey when you use an old painter, filmmaker or photographer’s style.

When I have something very specific I want to make, DALL-E 2 often can’t do it. The results would require a lot of difficult manual editing afterward.

It’s when my goals are vague that the process is most delightful, offering up surprises that lead to new ideas that themselves lead to more ideas and so on.

Crafting new realities

These text-to-image systems can help users imagine new possibilities as well.

Artist-activist Danielle Baskin told me that she always works “to show alternative realities by ‘real’ example: either by setting scenarios up in the physical world or doing meticulous work in Photoshop.”

Prompting as art DALL-E 2, however, “is an amazing I would argue that the art, in shortcut because it’s so good at using a system like DALL-E 2, realism. And that’s key to helping comes not just from the final others bring possible futures to text prompt, but in the entire Many of life – whether its satire, dreams or creative process that led to that these artworks have beauty.” prompt. Different artists will follow distinctive qualities She has used it to imagine an different processes and end up that almost look like alternative transportation system with different results that reflect real images, but with and plumbing that transports their own approaches, skills and odd distortions of noodles instead of water, both of obsessions. space. which reflect her artist-provocateur I began to see my experiments sensibility. as a set of series, each a consistent Similarly, artist Mario dive into a single theme, rather Klingemann’s architectural than a set of independent wacky renderings with the tents of images. homeless people could be taken as a rejoinder to Ideas for these images and series came from all my architectural renderings of fancy dream homes. around, often linked by a set of stepping stones.

It’s too early to judge the significance of this At one point, while making images based on art form.

I keep thinking of a phrase from the contemporary artists’ work, I wanted to generate excellent book “Art in the After-Culture” – “The an image of site-specific installation art in the style of the contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. dominant AI aesthetic is novelty.”

Surely this would be true, to some extent, for After trying a few unsatisfactory locations, I hit any new technology used for art. The first films by on the idea of placing it in La Mezquita, a former the Lumière brothers in 1890s were novelties, not mosque and church in Córdoba, Spain. I sent the cinematic masterpieces; it amazed people to see picture to an architect colleague, Manuel Ladrón images moving at all. de Guevara, who is from Córdoba, and we began AI art software develops so quickly that there’s riffing on other architectural ideas together. continual technical and artistic novelty. It seems This became a series on imaginary new as if, each year, there’s an opportunity to explore buildings in different architects’ styles. an exciting new technology – each more powerful So I’ve started to consider what I do with DALL-E than the last, and each seemingly poised to 2 to be both a form of exploration as well as a transform art and society. form of art, even if it’s often amateur art like the

In fact,

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