Thursday, May 13, 2021

Did Merriam-Webster Change Definition of 'Anti-Vaxxer' Amid COVID-19? - Snopes.com - Dictionary

As more than one year passes since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, Snopes is still fighting an “infodemic” of rumors and misinformation, and you can help. Find out what we’ve learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and “advice” you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.

In May 2021, a slew of social media posts and online articles made outraged claims that, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Merriam-Webster had changed and expanded its definition of the word “anti-vaxxer,” to now mean “a person who opposes vaccination or laws that mandate vaccination.”

On May 12, for example, Western Journal — a right-leaning website with a track record of distortion and misrepresentation — wrote that:

The Merriam-Webster dictionary apparently stealth-edited its definition of the term “anti-vaxxer” to now include people who are opposed to forced vaccinations, and presumably the coronavirus vaccine, in particular.

…Prior to this week, the definition for anti-vaxxer had never been used to smear people who are hesitant to take a hastily-created vaccine which many people want to be forced on everyone by the federal government. But with a few keystrokes, Merriam-Webster’s page on the anti-vaxxer is now implying that people who approve of the wonders of vaccines and medical science, but don’t want their neighbors forced to take shots under the threat their liberties will be taken away from them, are quacks in need of reprogramming.

While Western Journal claimed the purported change took place “this week” — that is, the week of May 12 — several others referred to the change as “new” or as being in effect or having taken place “now” — that is, very recently.

For example, the English conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson wrote: “The full definition of ‘anti-vaxxer’ now states, ‘a person who opposes vaccination or laws that mandate vaccination.'” On Twitter, @Breaking911 wrote: “NEW: The Merriam-Webster dictionary has changed their definition of ‘anti-vaxxer’…”

On Facebook, several others claimed that Merriam-Webster had “just” updated or expanded their definition of “anti-vaxxer,” or otherwise referred to a recent change, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Still others decried an update or change to the dictionary’s definition of the word, without explicitly stipulating that that change had taken place recently, though it would be perfectly reasonable for readers to presume as much. For example, English rapper and podcaster Zuby posted a widely-shared tweet which claimed that “The Merriam-Webster dictionary has changed their definition of ‘anti-vaxxer’ to include ‘people who oppose laws that mandate vaccination’. Welcome to 1984. This is The Ministry of Truth.”

Similar claims were made by the right-wing Young America’s Foundation, and in articles published by the Russian state-backed website RT.com, and the right-leaning website RedState.com.

In reality, Merriam-Webster’s definition of “anti-vaxxer” has remained unchanged since it was first introduced in 2018. As a result, the COVID-19 pandemic played no role in the formulation of the dictionary’s definition of that word, and no expansion, update or alteration took place in 2021, or at any time. Thus, we are issuing a rating of “False.”

As of May 13, 2021, Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “anti-vaxxer” as follows: “A person who opposes vaccination or laws that mandate vaccination.” The exact same definition was in place in April and January 2021, as well as in 2020, 2019, and 2018. 

Peter Sokolowski, editor at large of Merriam-Webster.com, confirmed for Snopes that the word was first added to the online dictionary in February 2018, and the wording of its definition has never been changed.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Israel dictionary | IJN - Intermountain Jewish News - Dictionary

This, from an Israeli Member of Knesset:

“Will they [opponents of Biden] continue to fight amongst themselves and in the process prop up a corrupt leader who puts his own interests ahead of his country, or will they join together to begin the difficult task of rooting out corruption and reinstating the rule of law?”

It is hard to imagine an act of foreign interference in internal American affairs more direct than this statement. It not only passes judgment on the current American administration but calls for its enemies to replace it! (to root out its corruption and reinstate the rule of law).

The alliance of interests and of values between Israel and the US does not bestow on any Israeli lawmaker the right to summon his or her ideological allies in the US to overturn an American election, in the name of the “rule of law,” no less! This is beyond the pale.

• • •

Beyond the pale — yes, if the gesture came from an Israeli Member of Knesset. But what if it didn’t? What if it came from a United States Senator, and the object of the hostility were an Israeli head of state? Would that still be beyond the pale?

In fact, in the quote of the Israeli Member of Knesset above, change one word. Change “Biden” to “Netanyahu.” Now you have the real quote, the accurate quote, the one that was stated, not by any Israeli Member of Knesset — that never happened; we made it up — but it did happen as a statement by an American member of the US Senate: Elizabeth Warren. That, we didn’t make up.

Addressing the (virtual) J Street national conference on April 19, 2021, Sen. Warren made the remarks precisely as reproduced above, with the sole exception of one word. She said “Netanyahu,”not “Biden.” Her remarks constituted an act of foreign interference in internal Israeli affairs, not only passing judgment on them but calling for the replacement of its current, elected leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.

This is the level of arrogant presumption about Israel on the part of one person in the leadership of the Democratic party. Keep in mind: Netanyahu was the elected leader of Israel when Sen. Warren made these remarks, and remains so today, despite the fact that he failed to form a new government and despite the fact that Yair Lapid has now been tasked with forming, but has not formed, a new government.

Keep in mind a lot more. In Warren’s speech, she not only called for Netanyahu’s opponents to “root him out.” She called on Palestinians to hold elections not just in the West Bank but also in Gaza, controlled by Hamas, even though such elections would ” (Warren’s word) add many members of Hamas to the Palestinian parliament. Warren herself characterizes Hamas as a “terrorist organization,” and says, one “cannot . . . reject democratic outcomes we don’t like.” This is how Warren adds up Palestinian elections: They would “likely” bring terrorists to political power; and, “we . . . need to support the Palestinians in their efforts to hold elections.” The best Warren can say is that if Palestinians elect members of Hamas — which has launched missiles at Israeli civilians for 16 years — Hamas will, to warrant US engagement, have to “renounce violence.” Fat chance.

In analyses of speeches such as these, the charge is often made that words are taken out of context. We have no hesitation in recommending to readers of this page  to look up the full text of Warren’s speech. We trust readers to decide for themselves whether any mischaracterization of her remarks is made here.

Keep this in mind: Warren supports restricting American military aid to Israel from being used in the occupied territories (again, her words). Observe: Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israelis originate in the territories and Gaza. Restrictions on the use of American military aid there would mean Israeli renunciation of stopping such terrorist attacks before they proceed (when Israeli intelligence is sufficient to achieve this) or responding to such terrorist attacks after they occur. According to Sen. Warren, Israel should sit back and let its citizens be slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists unless it can manage otherwise without American financed weaponry.

Lest Warren thinks this is some overwrought, hypothetical, paranoid way of looking at things, ask the family of 19-year-old Yehuda Guetta. He was shot dead (along with two other Israelis who did not die) for the crime of standing at a bus stop in the northern West Bank on May 2, 2021. Is the West Bank to be Judenrein, forbidden for Jews to ride buses there, in Warren’s vision of a two-state solution?

Alas, add to the death of Yehuda Guetta many prior deaths of unarmed Israeli civilians at the hands of Palestinians going back continuously, in the West Bank and not in the West Bank, even prior to Israel’s victory in the West Bank in 1967, prior to Israel’s creation in 1947, back to the 19th century. American military aid to Israel to help it fight terrorism is a pragmatic and a moral blessing, not subject to pragmatic or moral division by boundaries.

Keep this in mind too: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “has shown genuine commitment to non-violence” (Warren’s words; and again, feel free to check if we’ve cited her out of context). In what sense is a “commitment to non-violence” consonant with Abbas’ commitment to pay Palestinians “salaries” for killing unarmed Israelis and Americans and to pay “salaries” to the families of these Palestinian killers, too? Abbas, genuine commitment to non-violence — in what world is Sen. Warren living? In what dictionary does her definition of “commitment” and “non-violence” appear?

Keep this in mind: Sen. Warren states that “few Palestinians have any access to life-saving [COVID vaccination] shots” and that Israel “controls the West Bank and all movement of people and goods that go into and out of the Palestinian Territories.” Is Sen. Warren suggesting that Israel is intentionally preventing Palestinians from receiving vaccinations? Does this linkage of vaccinations and Israeli control not tread perilously close to the medieval canard that Jews causedthe plague? It is one thing to assert, as Warren asserts, that Israel has an obligation under the Geneva Conventions to vaccinate the Palestinian population; it is radically different to suggest that the reason why “few Palestinians” have access to shots is because Israel “controls all movement of people and goods” in and out of the Palestinian territories.

Keep this in mind: Sen. Warren regards the Trump administration as having “undermined 50 years of US leadership as an effective mediator by abandoning any pretense of neutrality and jumping directly into the peace process in a way that put a thumb on the scales by giving a green light to settlements . . . and publishing a one-sided peace plan.” This is a contradiction in terms. Whatever else one might say about Trump’s peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians, it called for a four-year settlement freeze by Israel — and Israel accepted it! Warren and her likeminded allies such as President Obama never achieved that. Similar to Warren’s call on Hamas to renounce violence,Warren’s plans for Israel have no traction.

When Sen. Warren states, “We [Israel and the US] share many common interests and common values,” we cannot see what, from her point of view, these commonalities are. They do not include the high value of peace as concretized in the four new peace agreements that Trump forged between Israel and four Muslim countries. About them, Warren said absolutely nothing. About Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital of Israel, Warren said she opposed the recognition.

What is Sen. Warren all about? “Tough love” (her words) for Israel. Her tough love would increase Hamas’ political power, open up Israel to even more terrorist attacks than it is already absorbing, overlook the Palestinian Authority’s financial support for terrorism, blame Israel for COVID among the Palestinians, ignore Trump’s successes in the Middle East, and keep Jerusalem in limbo until “the Israelis and the Palestinians . . . determine the final status of Jerusalem” — the same theoretical rhetoric that, as Warren writes, has failed over the past 50 years.

In Sen. Warren’s dictionary, “tough love” leapfrogs over realities on the ground while decrying others’ “empty rhetoric.” She is blind to her own.

Copyright © 2021 by the Intermountain Jewish News

Spatial Collaboration Platform Adds WebXR And Translation Features - Forbes - Translation

Cross platform virtual collaboration platform Spatial today announced the beta launch of its new Webgl feature, which means no more apps to download, and one click invitations, just like Zoom. “Webgl is deeper programming language than WebVR, which sort of sits on top of it,” explained co-founder and CPO Jinha Le. “This enabling you to build 3D experiences in the browser.”

Spatial, which was launched on stage by Alex Kipman with the HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress in 2019, has spent the past eighteen months adding more ways to collaborate across devices. The company just added Steam PC VR users to its platform. Today, users on HoloLens, Magic Leap, Quest 2, PC VR, desktop and mobile can share the same real time simulation. In addition to Webgl, Spatial is also adding a real time translation feature (for pro users), and more file formats for uploading 3D and other files. 

 The company thought remote work would be its most compelling use case and that does comprise a majority of Spatial’s users. But there is something else going on: social and leisure, world building, and art. People like hanging out there. OpenSea, a marketplace for art NFTs, opened a gallery in Spatial. “When we first saw what was going on,” said Jacob Lowenstein, head of business for Spatial, “we were both surprised and excited to find people making a home for themselves and their community on Spatial. Our private, persistent and free rooms make our platform very hospitable to these users.” 

“The new Spatial updates are pretty fantastic. They are pushing ahead pretty far. And giving users and creators what we really need,” said Michael Potts, founder and CEO of Dallas-based M2 Studios, which builds custom environments in Spatial, The Wild, Arthur, Mozilla Hubs, Altspace, and other platforms. “What they have done will enhance their solution even more.  These new features help keep them pretty far ahead of the curve.” 

MORE FOR YOU

Spatial’s system uses a proprietary AI algorithm to automatically create  fully dimensional, recognizable avatars for each participant from a simple 2D photo. Users can share web pages, media content, 3D objects, and create sticky notes as if they were all present in the same room. Spatial allows users to upload totally customized environments to use as your meeting room. The company also announced support for .obj, tiff, and dae files. Finally, there’s Live Translation in over thirty languages for the pro subscription. 

Spatial also allows users to share media, so a family throughout the world, on different devices could play a game, or watch a big one. Or simply play with their grandchildren in unexpected new ways. Think of it as Facetime in 3D with a much, much better form factor, and cross-platform. Anand Agarawala, CEO and Co-founder of Spatial. says that “We are moving from the era of personal computing to collective computing where people can share their space and ideas from anywhere, on any device.”

Spatial is now the only cross platform webgl 3D collaboration solution on the market, recently adding PCVR support for access through Steam on HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality headsets, Varjo and Oculus Rift/Rift S. Spatial also has integrations with existing work tools including Slack, Google Drive, Figma and Microsoft Office 365. Users can manipulate 3D objects, customize any environment through LiDAR scanning, and use instant translation features for global teams.  

Customers have logged over nine million minutes in Spatial to date, with companies such as Larvol, pledging to become fully VR-first within the coming year. As a remote-first company since 2004, they found the office space they never thought they needed in VR in Spatial.

Spatial has raised $22 M to date in several rounds, the last one led by White Star Capital, iNovia and Kakao Ventures with continued participation from Silicon Valley notables including Instagram Co-founder Mike Krieger, and Zynga founder Mark Pincus. Other Spatial investors include iNovia Capital, Expa (founded by Garrett Camp), Lerer Hippeau, Leaders Fund, Samsung NEXT, as well as angels; Mark Pincus, and Andy Hertzfeld (Co-Inventor of the Macintosh) are joined by new investors White Star Capital, Kakao Ventures, Baidu Ventures, and Mike Krieger.

Courtesy Translation: Plan for safe opening steps in Rheinland-Pfalz - DVIDS - Translation

Press Release from the State Government of Rheinland-Pfalz; from 11 MAY 2021

Courtesy Translation: Nadine Bower, Community Relations

Minister President of Rheinland-Pfalz, Malu Dreyer: Plan for safe opening steps give hope for May holidays and Pentecost holidays

"The pandemic is still under control, but it is encouraging that more and more people are being vaccinated and that the incidence levels are stable. All forecasts indicate that the situation in the corona pandemic is improving. In Rheinland-Pfalz, we are still below the national average. Not a single municipality exceeds the critical value of 165, which requires school closures according to the federal emergency brake. State-wide, the incidence level of Rheinland-Pfalz yesterday was 98. We have achieved this encouraging development together with the citizens, who have been very calm and united in their support. I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the fact that we have been able to break the third wave. This now gives us the opportunity to open up prospects for trade, gastronomy, tourism, culture and sports. Additionally, it is a very important signal to families and to our young people. We want to consistently get out of the lockdown with a step-by-step plan, but without risking what has been achieved so far. That is why, after consultation with DEHOGA, we have renewed the 'Alliance for a Safe Opening' with the local associations, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Retail Association," said Minister President Malu Dreyer after a Council of Ministers meeting.

Today, the Council of Ministers has looked at opening prospects for the coming weeks, focusing on the special situation in trade, gastronomy, tourism, culture and outdoor sports. In counties and district-free cities where the federal emergency brake does not apply, a gradual concept of opening strategies is to take effect starting on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 – just in time for the Ascension Day holiday. We are taking cautious steps towards a good summer," said Minister President Malu Dreyer.

Previously, the Minister President had agreed with the local associations, the chambers of commerce and industry and the retail representatives on the details of the three-step opening concept. All parties involved are aware of their high responsibility. They want to secure the opening strategy with the already tried and tested "Alliance for Safe Opening", which puts testing, hygiene requirements and controls in the foreground.
"The Corona pandemic puts our patience and endurance to a very hard test. This exceptional situation affects all of us, but for many families and children it is particularly difficult and threatens the existence of many sectors of the economy. The month of May brings bridge days and the Pentecost holidays. People are yearning for some normality and trade, hotels and restaurants urgently need revenue," said Minister President Malu Dreyer. This will be made possible by the Rheinland-Pfalz perspective plan in three cautious steps.

Ascension Day: Level 1 for trade, low-contact holidays and more sports

In counties and district-free cities, which have an incidence of less than 100 for five days in a row and where the federal emergency brake does not apply, all trade can reopen from Wednesday, May 12 on. The same conditions apply as currently in grocery stores. In addition, low-contact vacationing is possible again. Overnight stays in vacation apartments and in motorhomes and caravans that have their own sanitary facilities will then be allowed again. “Low contact” overnight stays in hotels are also possible again, for example, if breakfast is served in the room and if a private bathroom is available. However, a test is required on arrival and afterwards every 48 hours for the stay. In sports, too, contact-free sports are possible again. This also applies to areas of soccer training where distance can be kept. Indoor sports are possible within the scope of the contact restriction if minimum distances are kept and the person limit is no more than one person per 40sqm. In addition, a maximum of up to 20 children will be allowed to do sports together again.

Pentecost Holiday: Level 2 for hotel stays and cultural offers

Just in time for Pentecost, cultural events and sports with spectators will be allowed outdoors with a test starting on May 21. Here the upper limit is 100 people who must have assigned seats. Distance rules must be observed when assigning seats. Group sports can also be practiced outside with a maximum of five people from a maximum of five households, even under the guidance of a trainer. With an incidence of less than 50, indoor gastronomy and cultural offers inside are again possible with distance, test and mask.

Corpus Christi Holiday: Level 3 for outdoor pools, culture and indoor gastronomy

The third stage of the perspective plan for the Corpus Christi holiday will open hotels in general with test as well as outdoor pools starting on Jun 2. Inside gastronomy and indoor cultural offerings such as theaters, opera houses, movie theaters and museums are also open, wherever the Federal Emergency Brake does not apply, requiring a negative test result. In addition, hotels can also offer gastronomic offers again. Very important for young people: Youth offers with overnight stays can also be carried out again. For sports clubs and fitness centers, indoor and outdoor sports training is possible again for one person per 20 square meters. Adult groups can also exercise inside with five people, observing distance requirements. In case of an incidence below 50, group sports outdoors are also possible again with a maximum of 20 adults under distance requirements.

Model projects for sports, amateur music, theaters and events

"With our three-stage plan, we have adopted safe regulations in Rheinland-Pfalz that allow all municipalities with stable incidences below 100 to open in cautious steps. The concept of model municipalities has been superfluous due to the nationwide opening steps now envisioned," said the Minister President. For this reason, the state is now working on model projects with scientific support in the field of sports in Trier, amateur music and choral singing in coordination with the municipal top associations, theater operations in Mainz or events with outdoor spectators at the Nürburgring. Details will be discussed with local counties and non-circular cities in the coming days. "Of course, the opening stages only apply in counties and cities with a 7-day incidence of less than 100. Where this number is exceeded, the Federal Emergency Brake applies again. The danger from the virus has not yet been eliminated. We must therefore remain cautious and use strength and solidarity to overcome this crisis. But we can look forward to this summer with hope and confidence," the Minister President said.

Source: https://ift.tt/2RjOMuO

Date Taken: 05.12.2021
Date Posted: 05.13.2021 02:50
Story ID: 396190
Location: WIESBADEN, HE, DE 

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Courtesy Translation: Minister President Volker Bouffier on the step-by-step plan - DVIDS - Translation

Press Release from the Hessen State Government from 12 MAY 2021
Courtesy Translation: Nadine Bower, Public Affairs Specialist

Minister President Volker Bouffier on the step-by-step plan

In view of the declining infection numbers, the cabinet of the Hessen state government today discussed the next steps in the Corona pandemic and defined new regulations in a step-by-step plan. These will apply gradually as soon as the incidence levels drop below 100 on five consecutive working days in a county or a district-free city and the federal emergency brake measures no longer apply there. In the aftermath of the meeting, the Hessen Minister President Volker Bouffier and his deputy, Hessen's Minister of Economic Affairs Tarek Al-Wazir, informed about the decisions taken and presented the opening steps.

"The current developments give us reason to hope: the numbers have not exploded, the federal emergency brake is starting to act slowly, the incidence figures are falling – in many places even below 100. At the same time, the vaccination rate is steadily increasing. Although we are still in the middle of the pandemic, the current situation allows us to look to the future with confidence," said Minister President Volker Bouffier and his deputy Tarek Al-Wazir. "We have now vaccinated a third of the Hessen population at least once. In addition, three counties in Hessen have already ended the federal emergency brake and we can expect more areas to follow in the coming days. That is why we have adopted new measures today, which should take effect gradually as soon as the federal emergency brake in the respective counties or the district-free cities comes into force, where the incidence levels dropped below 100. With our step-by-step plan, we are giving the population concrete and important opening prospects for the coming months, especially in areas such as daycare centers, schools, retail, hotels, gastronomy, the cultural sector and sports. At the same time, we are showing that we continue to act responsibly and calmly, because of course we are aware that the third wave is not over."

New measures starting on 17 May

As the head of the state government explained, the new measures are to take effect in the first stage in the counties or district-free cities, which are no longer covered by the restrictions of the federal emergency brake on or from May 17. The investigation shall also take into account the days before the amendment to the regulation enters into force. A second stage provides for further easing if the incidence after levels are below 100 for an additional 14 consecutive days or if it is below 50 for five consecutive days.

The rules cover many areas of public and private life, such as daycare centers and schools. Starting with an incidence level of less than 100, classes 1 to 6 as well as the final classes could receive classroom lessons, and classes 7 to 11 alternating lessons. Level 2 provides for classroom lessons for all grades with a test requirement twice a week. "In this way, we are creating a bit of normal school life for students, which they have had to do without for so long. At the same time, this easing offers a great relief for parents," said Bouffier.

"In the context of the coming summer months, we are also particularly pleased to be able to make gradual relaxations in the area of gastronomy and tourism – as soon as the incidence levels allow it," the head of the government added. Previously, the state government had exchanged views on these steps in discussions with the German Hotel and Restaurant Association and the Trade Association.

Hessen's Minister of Economic Affairs, Tarek Al-Wazir, said: "After many months of closure, the first opening steps are a very important signal to the gastro industry and to tourism. And for the citizens, it means a bit of normality. One thing is clear: those entrepreneurs who have been particularly hit by the Corona restrictions have also contributed to the fact that the virus does not spread further. Let us not jeopardize what has been achieved, but with caution and distance, we will ensure that other areas of social life that have been forced to rest for months can gradually reopen, such as the cultural sector, the event industry and the leisure industry. We can all be happy about every possible opening step, but we must not be reckless. If the incidence levels were to rise again above 100 for three days, these openings would have to be reversed. This would be extremely regrettable for everyone, but particularly bad for the areas concerned. It still depends on the common sense of everyone, so that we do not experience setbacks again."

"The steps-plan also offers a good perspective for leisure and amateur sports, from which children and young people in particular, and especially the many sports clubs, benefit. They can continue their important work," Bouffier concluded.

Contact rules

Step 1: Two households (vaccinated/recovered do not count)

Step 2: Two households or 10 persons (vaccinated/recovered/children under 14 do not count)

Shopping / Retail

Step 1: Extended daily needs stores are open: as before

- Other retail: "Click and meet", medical mask, test is recommended

Step 2: All stores open with access restrictions and mask requirement, test is recommended

Gastronomy/Tourism

Step 1: Outdoor dining - with restrictions - open: test required, distance rules, seat requirement, contact tracking, etc.

Clubs & discos: Opening for outdoor gastronomy possible

Hotels, holiday homes, youth hostels, campsites, subject to conditions, open; in establishments with communal facilities such as breakfast rooms: capacity utilization max. 60 percent, test on arrival + 2 times testing per week

Step 2: Inside - with restrictions - open: test required, distance requirements, seat requirement, contact tracking, etc.

Outside - with restrictions - open: distance, seat obligation, contact tracking, etc. Current test recommended.

Clubs & discos: Opening as bar/gastronomy possible

Hotels, holiday homes, youth hostels, campsites, subject to restrictions, open; in establishments with shared facilities: capacity utilization max. 75 percent, test on arrival + 2x per week

Sports

Step 1: With contact rules possible. Gyms (with contact data collection, current test and appointment), swimming pools closed.

Group sports for children (up to and including 14): as before possible

Step 2: Team sports - with hygiene requirements - possible. Current test recommended. Swimming pools open.

Culture and leisure

Step 1: Outside (zoos, open-air museums, amusement parks): open with conditions and prior registration.

Indoors (museums, castles, zoos): with prior registration & medical mask, test recommended.

Step 2: open with restrictions (including interior areas of amusement parks). Current test recommended.

Events

Step 1: Indoors: Only possible for specific purposes, subject to conditions (particularly professional, worship, public interest)

Outside: Up to 100 (unvaccinated) people possible. Strict requirements: contact tracking, current test, etc. More participants possible in individual cases

Step 2: Indoors: Up to 100 (unvaccinated) persons - with restrictions - possible: current test, contact data collection, etc. More participants possible in individual cases.

Outdoor: Up to 200 (unvaccinated) people, current test recommended

Services / Personal Care

Step 1: Open with conditions: appointment obligation, contact data collection + current test

Step 2: Open with conditions: appointment obligation, contact data collection + current test recommended

Kita/Childcare

Steps 1 and 2: Regular operation under pandemic conditions

Schools

Step 1: Grades 1-6: In-person classes, Grades: 7-11 alternating classes, Graduation Classes: In-person lessons

Mandatory tests: Twice per week

Step 2: All grades: Classroom lessons, test obligation twice per week

For more information:

These areas are no longer covered by the Federal Emergency Brake:

Hochtaunuskreis
Vogelsbergkreis
Wetteraukreis

Under the following link, the Hessen Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration publishes which requirements of the Federal Emergency Brake apply according to the RKI. There, you will find all counties with their respective incidences and the corresponding regulations, including those that apply as a result of the cabinet decision of the Hessen state government in local authorities with an incidence of less than 100: https://ift.tt/3bmil5Q

The current vaccination status in Hessen:

In recent weeks, the federal government has delivered more vaccines than ever before to Hessen. Up to and including Tuesday May 11, 2021) exactly 2,711,174 million doses of vaccination were administered in Hesse. More than 2.1 million vaccinations were carried out in the vaccination centers, and more than 580,000 vaccinations were carried out by the family doctor. With a vaccination rate of 34.1 percent for the first vaccinations (2,145,081 million first vaccinations), Hessen is in 7th place in the federal ranking. Nine percent of Hessen’s population (566,093) has already received their second vaccination.

Vaccination progress in the vaccination centers:

Vaccination is progressing faster and faster in Hessen and more and more people can be vaccinated in the 28 Hessen vaccination centers. While in April more than 180,000 people could be vaccinated per week, in the past two weeks more than 200,000 people have already been vaccinated in the vaccination centers. 214,000 vaccinations last week are the previous weekly record. Within a calendar week, almost all the doses of vaccination that the state makes available to the vaccination centers were also given out. Specific provisions of the counties are not necessary. More than 30,000 people are now vaccinated every day in the vaccination centers.

Current vaccination numbers are published regularly on https://ift.tt/3bJ3ZgV or https://ift.tt/3aIVWyu

Testing
The legally required proof that there is no evidence of infection with the SARSCoV2 virus can be provided in several ways:
(a) a certificate on the basis of a molecular biological test (PCR test)
(b) a certificate on the basis of a rapid antigen test
(c) a certificate of a test carried out in the context of employment
(d) an on-site self-test or proof of complete vaccination protection (for 14 days) or a certificate of recovery
The test shall not be older than 24 hours before the beginning of the visit or the use of a facility, offer or service. An event-related self-test on site is suitable for negative proof if it is carried out in front of the employees immediately before entering the respective facility with a negative test result.

Source: https://ift.tt/3uJGrPJ

Date Taken: 05.12.2021
Date Posted: 05.13.2021 02:50
Story ID: 396213
Location: WIESBADEN, HE, DE 

Web Views: 11
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Partner with the Top Translation Companies - ABCmoney.co.uk - Translation

When your company needs professional translation services, you’re better off looking to the largest top translation companies for help. Bigger is better when it comes to the translation industry, especially if your company has a presence in several different countries.

One of the large top translation companies will have a much higher chance of being able to service your translation needs in all the countries in which you’re currently operating. This is important in ensuring your corporate or organizational message stays consistent throughout every nation to establish your brand with a particular image and reputation. 

This is vital whether you’re in the private business sector and just establishing your brand in a new market or are an NGO working to gain credibility with several governments around the world. Working with a large and coordinated translation company will help ensure that you’re delivering the same message to all your potential clients.   

Benefits of the Top Translation Companies

These top translation companies also can provide more resources than a local boutique translation agency. They have a broader scope of operations and can provide specialized services geared to their client’s needs. 

NGO’s offering services in a new country may need governmental and diplomatic translation services. Manufacturers may need translation specialists who understand the supply chain and logistics operations of their factories. Brands that specialize in online customer service may require machine translation technology to be integrated with their services in a new market. 

All of the top translation companies also offer localization services that help avoid all the cultural misunderstandings that can occur when a brand tries to translate its message too literally. Localization services also help a brand acclimate to their new surroundings, understand the cultural norms and ways of doing business in a new environment.  

Trend Towards Mergers and Acquisitions

These top translation companies get to their positions as leaders in the industry by continuously expanding and growing. They generally do this by merging with and acquiring smaller, regional translation agency’s in a country targeted by their clients as a desirable and viable new market. 

This business model promotes long-term relationships with their multinational corporate clientele. This method of operating also allows them to offer the latest in technology and services. Throughout their growth and expansion, it’s also crucial to maintain a highly developed communication network through all the international branches of these top translation companies. The key to their success is being able to remain consistent in their messaging in multiple languages around the world on behalf of the clients. And they’ve developed organizational systems that ensure that consistency. 

Slator is an online translation resource that offers newsletters and publications that track all the top translation companies in the world. They keep track of the mergers and acquisitions as well as the services provided by these companies. 

If your company needs professional translation services in a number of countries, why not use the resources that Slator offers to find the ideal translation company to suit your brand’s needs?

Can You Play the Word FART in Scrabble? - Book Riot - Dictionary

Can you play the word FART in Scrabble? The short answer calls on the old adage: your house, your rules. The long answer, investigating the question of exactly which words are valid, is much more interesting. Like language itself, Scrabble’s list of playable words is living and evolving, even branching into new subspecies if you extend that metaphor. Attempts to make hard rules about what’s allowed reveal myriad edge cases, inconsistencies, and contradictions. Of course, the real question isn’t about FART at all, but more offensive words. Ultimately, the history of the Scrabble dictionary and its most controversial entries is both twisty and still unfolding.

The Early Days of Scrabble

Scrabble arose in the wake of the crossword puzzle craze of the 1920s. If you were ever unsure that history repeats itself, here’s an example. There were people wringing their hands about crossword puzzles being the downfall of society 100 years ago. You can read about that quaint time in the delightful crossword history Thinking Inside the Box. Scrabble itself took off in the 1950s, and its relationship to crosswords is apparent not just in the conceit of intersecting words but in the game board itself, a 15×15 grid. That’s the same size as the standard daily crossword puzzles seen in The New York Times or USA Today.

Dic(tionary) Picks

The board game doesn’t include a dictionary in the box. Before starting, players are supposed to agree upon the dictionary to reference when challenging words. In the days before home computers, whatever print dictionary people had in their homes sufficed. The dictionary is there to adjudicate challenges. When a person plays a word, their opponent may believe it’s been misspelled, that it’s too slangy or too obscure, or that it isn’t a real word at all (see KWYJIBO). Or what if a player added an S to a word that can’t be pluralized that way? Speaking of plurals, my fellow word nerds might appreciate that the Scrabble officially allows OCTOPI, OCTOPUSES, and OCTOPODES.

A dictionary will settle all these problems and more. Note that the dictionary need not be consulted on every play. One of the joys of the game is pulling the wool over your opponent’s eyes and playing what’s called a phony. Naturally, being caught playing a phony, even unintentionally, can be disastrous, and I recommend The New Yorker video of players recalling memorable plays for an example of that.

So, could you play FART when Scrabble first came about? Any print dictionary from the 20th century ought to have the word FART; it’s one of these words that’s been around for many centuries. So yes.

Things Get Competitive

Scrabble is a special board game in that it offers limitless opportunity to improve one’s game. Like chess players who study and learn small subsections of the game (the titular Queen’s Gambit, for example), Scrabble players can study the useful quirks of the English language. The lists of two letter words (like AA, a type of lava rock) and words that contain a Q without a U (like the QWERTY keyboard) are the first things to learn if you’re getting serious about Scrabble.

Because Scrabble can be played at such a high level, competitions naturally arose. And with competition comes a need for standardization. Everyone might agree that basketball shots taken from farther away should be worth more points. But until you draw that line, everyone’s going to argue. Turns out, even when you do decide on a standard, people will still argue. In fact, if there’s one takeaway from this whole article, it’s “people will still argue.”

This happened with Scrabble in 1978. The National Scrabble Association had decided on the Funk & Wagnalls Collegiate Dictionary as the standard for play, but it proved inadequate. It lacked some common words in the lexicon. It also included non-English words that some players felt shouldn’t be played, such as OUI, the French word for “yes.” The Association formed a committee that teamed up with Merriam-Webster to create the Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary, henceforth referred to as the OSPD.

The OSPD

So who gets to decide what words are in or out? Merriam-Webster’s method involved comparing five different publishers’ collegiate dictionaries by hand. If a word was represented in all five, it went into the Scrabble dictionary. This method, for one, would catch any fictitious entries dictionaries used as copyright traps (the dictionary version of Paper Towns). It would also weed out the words so obscure that their dictionary presence had dwindled. Moreover, it would include the slang and neologisms that had legitimately caught on. FLASHMOB, for example, is not in the current OSPD. Maybe FLASHMOB is a flashmob of a word, briefly there and gone again.

The first edition of any book is going to have mistakes; that’s human endeavor for you. Somehow they missed the word GRANOLA. The second edition followed, correcting some of these oversights. But could you play FART with those editions? Sure thing.

The Third Edition

Merriam-Webster broke with the National Scrabble Association in publishing the third edition of the OSPD. As the results of a grassroots campaign, the Anti-Defamation League had contacted the chairman of Hasbro, Scrabble’s parent company, about offensive words in the OSPD, namely the presence of the word JEW. Capitalized words are not valid in Scrabble; therefore the only way the word was playable was to acknowledge its lowercase context as a verb. That usage is undoubtedly hateful and was indeed how the dictionary defined the word.

As a result, the third edition of the OSPD, published in 1995, took a very broad approach to what might be considered offensive. Racial slurs were removed, yes, but also words like BOOBIE, a word that could offend only the most delicate of sensibilities. And yes, goodbye FART. If you’re curious about the expurgated words, you can have a look at what’s colloquially referred to as the “Poo List.” Obvious warnings for offensive language apply.

A Slur Sidebar

Not all racial slurs were removed, however, in the publication of the third edition of the OSPD. Demonstrating just how difficult it is to wrangle language, some words that have a usage as a slur but another benign usage remain valid to this day. For example, a slur that used to be the name of Washington, D.C.’s football team is also a variety of peanut. 

That kind of usage, by the way, is how slurs still end up in crossword puzzles. A key difference between Scrabble and crossword puzzles is that crosswords have no standardized list of words. A person constructs their puzzle and submits it to an editor. That editor uses their own discretion to decide whether the given entries are acceptable. Additionally, crosswords welcome plenty of entries Scrabble never would, including phrases, capitalized words, abbreviations, prefixes, and suffixes.

Crossword editors frequently abide by something colloquially known as the “Sunday morning breakfast test.” This means puzzles rarely contain entries that would gross you out or bum you out. Does it bum solvers out to enter a word that is a slur but was clued with its innocent meaning? It did in January of 2019, when editor Will Shortz issued an apology for offending solvers with a racial slur clued with baseball terminology.

With the OSPD trying to institute something like a breakfast test for Scrabble, many competitive players were unhappy. Not only were they not consulted in the decision, but players were loath to limit their options by catering to someone else’s sensibilities. And it’s a pain to remember all the words that were previously playable but no longer are.

The Great Schism

The OSPD has marched on, continuing to update the dictionary with a fourth (2005), fifth (2014), and sixth edition (2018). The focus seems to be on adding words, with thousands of new entries over the years (Merriam-Webster did not respond to my requests about whether any words were removed from these subsequent editions). ZA, short for pizza, regrettably an addition to my own lexicon in my pandemic-induced dinner indecision, was added in 2005. MIXTAPE showed up in 2014, EMOJI in 2018.

Meanwhile, competitive Scrabble shunned the bowdlerized OSPD. The compromise the National Scrabble Association reached was to publish their own word list, the Official Tournament and Club Word List, that contained all entries from the second edition of the OSPD, including the offensive ones, but without any definitions. It’s sold only to members of the association. That word list continues to be updated, and is currently known as the North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA) Word List.

Going Global

That NASPA word list is valid for tournament play only in Canada, the United States, and Thailand. Fun fact: many of the world’s best Scrabble players are Thai. The rest of the world uses a list currently called Collins Scrabble Words. The Association of British Scrabble Players had been consulting different dictionaries as competitive Scrabble became popular there and a definitive word list became necessary. As a result, at the first World Scrabble Championship in 1991, an entry could appear in either of the two sources to be considered playable. Now, only the Collins Scrabble Words are playable at that championship.

How do players usually competing with the NASPA list adapt to the Collins list should they make it to the World Championships? For one, they can use some additional two-letter words. For another, they can now bingo, the Scrabble term for using all seven tiles in your rack on a single play, with ROASTIE, a British slang term for a roasted potato.

The Open Source Word List

Hasbro has given Merriam-Webster license to maintain the OSPD. The NASPA word list is proprietary to the players association, which is also beholden to Hasbro. That made me wonder what word lists other games, like Words With Friends, were pulling from. This popular mobile Scrabble copycat has no association with Hasbro; you’ll need the sanctioned app Scrabble GO for that.

The answer to where Words With Friends sources their words both delighted and saddened me. Everyone loves the story of someone going rogue, right? That happened in the Scrabble world as well, following the controversial release of the third edition of the OSPD.  Some enterprising Scrabbleheads set forth to make something great: comprehensive, authoritative, open-source. The result, first released in 1997, is called ENABLE, short for Enhanced North American Benchmark LExicon. It received a Y2K update (didn’t everything?) to expand its offerings to 173,528 words.

That might seem like a lot of words. For comparison, currently there are 279,496 words in the Collins Word List, over 187,000 words in the NASPA list, and “more than 100,000” in the OSPD. Among the differences from these lists, ENABLE isn’t meant to be Scrabble-specific. Therefore it didn’t constrain word lengths to fit on the standard Scrabble board. And you better believe it had all the offensive language.

Enablers

Because it’s free, ENABLE underpins a variety of computer and mobile word games, including Words With Friends. While WWF links to ENABLE from their rulebook, they say they’ve “added a few of our own words to [the] game such as ZEN and TEXTING, and more words may be added in the future.” Whether they’ve kept up with language with the same rigor that Merriam-Webster or NASPA has is questionable. Perhaps you were an early adopter of Words With Friends who found yourself frustrated by the game’s fuddy-duddy word list. If so, it’s because they were working from a list created 20 years ago and they’re not in the dictionary business. In 2017, however, they added about 50,000 words to their dictionary, largely based on player suggestions. New words include QUESO, TURNT, and, I’m mad I’m even typing this, COVFEFE.

I haven’t located anyone currently working to update ENABLE as an open-source document. Alas, another utopian effort gone by the wayside. In fact, the README file accompanying the original list, accessible via the Wayback Machine, gives some real Ozymandias vibes. To wit: “It is primarily the result of a single unifying vision, that of Alan Beale, who dedicated countless hours to research.  ENABLE therefore represents not merely a superior alternative to the OSPD/TWL, it threatens to supplant and replace it, to squeeze the very life out of it in a process of Darwinian selection.” Without anyone to shepherd the list through the language changes of this millennium, word nerds are left with games that add or subtract words from proprietary lists in a higgledy-piggledy way. Meanwhile, the ENABLE list stands there inert, two vast and trunkless legs of stone.

The Bee in my Bonnet

A side note about higgledy-piggledy word lists: I am frustrated every single day by words The New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle does not accept. I’m no herpetologist, but I know an ANOLE is a very common lizard! Still I continue to play the game, clown that I am. A technical specialist at the Times told me their word list was an “internal lexicon” that is occasionally amended. I gained no information about its origins. Guess I’ll just die mad.

So who is the OSPD for?

If the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary is not the word list for any competitive play, exactly who is it “official” for? Well, it’s just fine for use in schools or clubs that aren’t concerned with sanctioned competition. And it’s great for use at home; it’s simple to know a word is definitively playable, when other print dictionaries include capitalized words and abbreviations, etc. Moreover, the OSPD is searchable from the web. Let’s be real, we’re more likely to pull out our phones to settle a dispute than open a book these days. Just know that if you play FART and your opponent challenges, you will lose your turn if you consult the online OSPD!

A Change is Gonna Come

If the OSPD urges polite Scrabble games, the word lists compiled by players associations historically took a no holds barred approach. One can imagine players agreeing to take a dispassionate attitude toward using the vilest language English has to offer. It’s purely strategic, more mathematical than linguistic. The players have all perhaps mutually agreed that nothing is personal. Knowing and using offensive language in the game is not a reflection of character. One wrinkle comes, however, when people who didn’t enter into any such agreement end up seeing the games. Namely, when television stations air tournaments, prompting controversy for showing words you can’t say on television. Similarly, photographs of tournament game boards appearing in newspapers can require apologies after the fact.

The other wrinkle has come in the wake of the larger reckoning with ugly history that came to a head in 2020. While people around the U.S. have been deciding what to do about confederate flags, statues honoring perpetrators of genocide, etc., Hasbro brought down the hammer on the North American Scrabble Players Association. Internal polling indicated the majority of NASPA members wanted either no change to the word list or the removal of only the N-word. Nevertheless, in July 2020, Hasbro announced slurs are no longer acceptable in Scrabble play. The 2020 edition of the NASPA word list reflects this, with 259 words removed. Because I know you’re desperate to know: FART is still A-OK. A-OK itself is not valid; hyphenated words are a no-go.

The Saga Continues

For more extensive coverage, Stefan Fatsis, who wrote Word Freak, the definitive nonfiction work about Scrabble, also covers Scrabble news for Slate. As Scrabble word lists are forever fungible, debate is ongoing. It crops up in media coverage, including a recently aired segment on The Daily Show. In the end, there’s much to consider: what happens in tournaments overseen by NASPA, what happens in televised tournaments, and what happens in international Scrabble. In addition to distinct word lists, outside of North America, Mattel Inc. oversees Scrabble rather than Hasbro. There has to date been little movement to remove offensive language in that competitive sphere.

Poking Holes

For those who ruffle at the thought of limiting language usage to cater to a sensitive crowd, the question is this: why are slurs necessary to the game? If the argument is about limiting the possibilities of play, Scrabble already has one enormous and quite arbitrary limitation. Capitalized words make up a huge swath of our everyday lexicon, including names of people, places, brands, and more. What’s wrong with ruling out a much smaller category? Hasbro’s new guidelines, no capitalized words and no slurs, seem simple enough, right?

Of course it’s never simple. Poking around in the OSPD for words on the edge of that capitalization rule demonstrates this. Brand names frequently become genericized, when they take on the meaning of a whole category of product. For example, XEROX is playable in Scrabble, meaning photocopy, despite being a specific brand. Likewise, HOOVER, GOOGLE, THERMOS, and ASPIRIN. Words you might think have been sufficiently genericized, like DUMPSTER, FRISBEE, LAUNDROMAT, or KLEENEX, are not valid Scrabble words. What else can you even call a dumpster? Still, asking for perfect consistency when it comes to anything about language usage is a fool’s errand. 

Expert Opinions

Likewise, grappling with offensive language creates cascading questions. I consulted author Roxane Gay, who wrote about her experience in competitive Scrabble in Bad Feminist. Presenting some of these very questions, she said, “The reality is that offensive words exist. We cannot sanitize them out of our culture as much as we would like to. That said, it adds nothing at all to the game of Scrabble to keep terrible words in play. The challenge is, how far do we go into the realm of offensive? Racial slurs should absolutely have no place in the game, but do we also remove curse words from the game?”

In addition to the questions proposed by Gay, others require consideration. If people can agree racial slurs are out, what about gender and sexuality-based slurs, among others? And what to do with the slurs that have a second benign meaning, which are currently acceptable? Finally, there’s the question of authority. Who should be making these decisions, and who should they be listening to? Right now, for example, it’s Hasbro holding the reins and not the players themselves.

Can the tiles spell NUANCE?

Any game with broad appeal has to be adaptable to different contexts. Back to a basketball analogy. Whether it’s a pickup game on a public court, a middle school gym class, a Paralympic wheelchair basketball game, or the Final Four, the game isn’t going to look the same. And that’s a good thing: basketball is both a great game and an adaptable one. The same is true of Scrabble. The rules for international championships don’t have to apply to a youth tournament at a community center or family game night. Ultimately, no one is saying you can’t play FART when you play Scrabble at home.

A final thing to consider, for those who feel like editing words from a Scrabble word list is the slippery slope to banning the works of James Baldwin or Mark Twain. There are those whose job it is to preserve and document language history and usage. That is a separate endeavor from making the word list to accompany a board game. If a Scrabble player loses a game because staring at a hateful word their opponent played throws them off, maybe taking that word out is an act of justice. Maybe it makes the game a little more welcoming. A little more fun. It is, after all, a game.

The Last Tile in the Bag

I know someone who introduces the rules of any game the same way. “The object of the game is to have fun. One way to have fun is to win the game. To win the game…” Although this began as a way to explain game rules to children, it’s become a good reminder for everyone. It’s always good to acknowledge that games can and should retain a sense of fun even at elite levels.

Ultimately, my correspondence with Roxane Gay included hope for a path forward that could make the highest levels of Scrabble more inclusive: “These are questions the Scrabble community will need to grapple with in good faith. We all love words and I think there’s a way to keep offensive words out of play without diluting the beauty of the game.”