Heat Wave in the Northwest, Flood Warning in the Northeast

Photo from Weather.gov.

A prolonged heatwave hit the Pacific Northwest last week and the Northeast is now in a flood warning situation. According to the national weather forecast from Weather.gov, the heatwave expanded into the Northern High Plains from the Northwest, and the Northern Rockies. In the Northeast, after almost 100 degrees temperatures with high humidity on the last day of June, severe weather with a flood warning is in effect for the evening.

National Weather service’s excessive heat warning is still in effect for the Pacific Northwest, from July 1st to the 4th of July. In the meantime, the weather forecast warns of rain all day long with cooler temperatures but severe thunderstorms capable of causing floods for the Northeast.

A cold front is moving slowly up the southeast coast of the U.S. into the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic. While the front will bring brief relief from the hot and muggy days, the air mass is so buoyant, it is likely to also bring severe thunderstorms. Both floods and high winds are risks, as they also have the capacity of knocking the electricity down. Storms may also produce rainfalls in excess of 1″ per hour leading to the risk for flash flooding. A Marginal Risk is in effect for the Southeast on Friday for rain totals in excess of 1″.

Folks living in areas from the Ohio Valley to the Southwest as far down as the Mid-Mississippi Valley to Southeastern Kansas may also see excessive rainfall as well as cold front heads in that direction. These would be flash flood warnings, as the soil conditions are also known to be saturated and would not absorb the rainfall as easily. Tropical Storm Enrique will be dropping some much-needed rain and thunderstorms into the Desert in the Southwest, although as always, excessive rainfall concerns are to be noted.

High temperatures will remain at or below normal for this time of year across the southern U.S., with daily highs mainly in the 80s.

The areas in much need of water, such as California and the Pacific Northwest will continue to experience sunny days, unfortunately.

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United Airlines To Expand, Buying 270 New Planes

United Airlines announced that it has ordered 270 new aircraft for domestic travelers. Since the pandemic, there has been a rebound of domestic travelers instead of international travelers. As a result, United Airlines will be replacing the older aircraft, improve seatback entertainment, and space for carry-on bags with new aircraft features.

According to United Airlines, this is the “the largest combined order in the airline’s history and the biggest by an individual carrier in the last decade,” and “The ‘United Next’ plan will have a transformational effect on the customer experience and is expected to increase the total number of available seats per domestic departure by almost 30%, significantly lower carbon emissions per seat and create tens of thousands of quality, unionized jobs by 2026, all efforts that will have a positive, ripple effect across the broader U.S. economy.”

“Our United Next vision will revolutionize the experience of flying United as we accelerate our business to meet a resurgence in air travel,” said United CEO Scott Kirby. “By adding and upgrading this many aircraft so quickly with our new signature interiors, we’ll combine friendly, helpful service with the best experience in the sky, all across our premier global network. At the same time, this move underscores the critical role United plays in fueling the broader U.S. economy – we expect the addition of these new aircraft will have a significant economic impact on the communities we serve in terms of job creation, traveler spending, and commerce.”

United Airlines received $54 billion in federal aids, and most of them were grants. The government gave aids to US-based Airlines in exchange for not cutting jobs or pay rates, though thousands of workers received furlough notice from the companies and received cut pay rates for certain periods of time.

For example, while American Airlines furloughed almost 20% of its workers, it also paid out $1.4 million bonuses for the CEO last year, drawing criticism.

However, many airline employees chose to move onto other jobs, and now, airlines are struggling to fill their rosters, although United is hiring again for the new aircraft operations in its 7 hubs. According to United Airlines, at least 25,000 jobs will be created with new aircraft orders. Currently, the airline supports about 68,000 union jobs, and 89% of jobs are mostly the airline’s total domestic workforce. Some of this hiring will be done at D.C.’s Dulles Airport hub.

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Condo Collapse in FL bring Safety Concerns

photo from Google Images

Missing people went up to 159 from 99 on Friday. At midnight, a part of the condo complex suddenly collapsed in Miami-Dade County on June 24. Uncounted people could still be buried under the rubble although rescuers have found three more people on Friday. As of Friday, 4 people were dead and more than 100 people are being considered dead.  Miami-Dade County Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava stated, “I want to be very clear about the numbers,” but “They’re very fluid, We’ll continue to update you as we have them.” at the press conference.

She added “As we work tirelessly and stand united-local municipal, county, state and now federal support we are going to work as hard as we can to continue our search and rescue effort,” and “That is our priority, that is where we’re focused and protecting our first responders who are on the scene.” The mayor said the people evacuated from the building are being provided food, shelter, cash to assist with their basic needs.

President Biden approved an emergency declaration on Friday morning authorizing the DHS and FEMA to coordinate disaster relief efforts as well. Florida rescuers try to hear sounds from under the rubbles to identify survivors. Condo owners are suing the building’s association. This 12-floor building was built in 1981, and the building safety issues surfaced for the public view after this disaster happened.

People are grieving the loss of their loved ones, while others are still waiting for their loved ones to survive and return safely.

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Pandemic Changes Peoples’ Preference

People in the U.S. are changing their minds about many things now that they’ve experienced a pandemic. They prefer to do more family-oriented things than spend that time at work. In April 2021 alone, 4 million workers quit their jobs. Since the pandemic hit, many people have been working from home or at places near their homes. As a result, more workers are hesitant to return to a life of extensive commuting time or to the office, where they have to spend needless hours engaging in things like work politics.

According to the Labor Department, the U.S. population wants more money, easier or no commute, and more flexibility in terms of their employment. People would rather spend the time to be with their family than spend it at the office. As corporations seek to bring people back post-pandemic, they are facing increasing hesitation and friction against returning to the office, especially now that many workers have finally adjusted back to working from home. Furthermore, many workers have also realized that they can perform their jobs at home, as last year is evidence of this.

People are reassessing what they value in light of the pandemic. That promotion doesn’t seem as attractive now as it might have been prior to the pandemic. Some people have realized that they earn more money from unemployment than from their minimum-wage jobs and are reevaluating their options. The fact is that the labor market is currently lacking incentives for people to want to return to the ways prior to the pandemic.

The shortage of workforce might lead to the end of the debate of raising the minimum wage; if no one wants to work at minimum wage, then those jobs will not be filled. Some companies requiring minimum wage workers are now attempting to lure in workers using “sign-up bonuses” and other incentives to get people back to the office.

However, most people are now demanding flexible work arrangements and higher pay, especially now that they know these things are possible. The labor market will have to meet the demands of its desired workers or not have the supply of workers they need. Simple economic concept.

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Britney Spears: Fighting For Her Life back!

Britney Spears (39), a singer, a songwriter, a dancer, an actress, and two teenage children’s mother has been struggling for her finance-free life back from her father, who holds a conservatorship for his daughter for at least a decade. In the 1990s and 2000s, Spears was the best-selling teenage artist, and an idol of teenagers in America and worldwide, with more than 15 million copies of her album sold. She started her career at 15 years old. Her father Jamie Spears took conservatorship of his daughter the entire time and had control over every earning Britney has ever made.

On Tuesday, The New York Times cited recently obtained confidential court records, which reported that Spears has been trying to fight her conservatorship for years.

“She articulated she feels the conservatorship has become an oppressive and controlling tool against her,” a court investigator wrote in a 2016 report. The system had “too much control,” Ms. Spears said, according to the investigator’s account of the conversation, “Too, too much!”

Ms. Spears informed the investigator that she wanted the conservatorship terminated as soon as possible. “She is ‘sick of being taken advantage of,’ and she said she is the one working and earning her money but everyone around her is on her payroll,” the investigator wrote.

In 2019, she had felt forced by the conservatorship into staying at a mental facility against her will. The pop star’s fans began to question the ethics and legality of the arrangement, and hashtag #FreeBritney in their social networks to support their heroine back to life without any financial obstacles that she has hardly earned for her life.

In South Korea, a singer, Chang Yunjung who had been one of the highest earners of the Korean Folk Industry, had also had been exploited by her mother, eventually leading her to break their relationship a few years ago.

Parents want their children to succeed but can force the child to bear the burden of success while the parents reap the fruits of that labor. It is simply a modified version of child labor. At certain points, the children should have control over their own lives, including the money they make.

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Delta COVID-19 Will Hit US HARD

Captured photo from Mayo Clinic

The U.K. and Europe are currently dealing with the sleuth of the very contagious Delta Variant of the Covid-19 virus, first found in India. The U.S. should expect to be hit hard by the Delta variant, federal officials and health officials have reported.

Dr. Fauci said, “20.6% of new cases in the U.S. are due to the Delta variant, and the Delta variant is currently the greatest threat in the U.S. to our attempt to eliminate COVID-19,” at a White House briefing on COVID-19 on Tuesday. He added that the Delta variant is the most contagious yet and among those not yet vaccinated, may trigger some of the most serious illnesses than other variants have done so far.

As the U.S. eases up on physical distancing and masking rules, many people are exposed to this rapidly spreading virus, especially the unvaccinated, the younger generation, and those under the age of 12.

According to Mayo Clinic, at least 92.4% (as of June 2, 2021) of the age group of 65+ and only 11.1% of the age group of 18 are vaccinated. Northeast, West, and Mid-Atlantic states are more vaccinated than the red states, but even then, these states do not report a vaccination rate higher than 70 percent.

“There are still big portions of the country where the rates of vaccination are quite low,” notes Dr. Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “And, in fact, the Helix paper shows that this Delta variant is increasing in frequency — the speed at which it’s increasing in frequency is greatest in those areas where vaccination rates are lowest.”

It is also important to note that even those who are currently vaccinated are not fully protected from the devastating effects of the Delta variant, which also includes the growth of the “black fungus,” a serious infection that usually is resolved by cutting out the infected body part. The unvaccinated are even more vulnerable, however.

If you have not been vaccinated, please do so as soon as possible, for your safety and others around you.

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Church Clinic: Need for Paradigm Shift in Ministry during a Pandemic

이제 선교도 “새 술은 새 부대에 담아야 할 때”

일 년 반이 넘는 시간 코비드19는  페데믹시대를 가져왔고, 이로 인해 세상은 달라졌다. 교회 또한 예외는 아니다. 이제 국가마다 차이는 있겠으나 백신의 보급으로 그동안의 비대면 사회가 대면으로의 회귀를 기대하고 기다리고 있다. 그러나 변해버린 우리 환경은 ‘펜데믹 이전으로 완전히 돌아갈 수 있을것인가?’라는 의문을 떨칠 수 없다. 실제 앞으로의 시대는 대면과 비대면의 공존의 시대가 될 것이라는 말이 지배적이다.

그렇다면 개인 일상이나 공동체의 변화 뿐 아니라 교회의 지상 명령인 선교는 어떻게 달라지고 변화해야 할 것인가를 고민해야 한다. 여전히 과거와 같은 방법의 선교 전략은 복음이 더욱 효과적으로 전파될 수 없기 때문이다.

‘교회 함게가자’ 처치클리닉(대표 손기성 목사)은 코비드19으로 인해 변화된 시대, 지역 교회와 선교 현장이 어떻게 변화하고 있는지 살펴보고, 교회의 위치나 크기가 아닌 다양한 방법과 지속 가능한 방법들을 모색하고 찾아가야 할 때라고 봤다.

처치클리닉은 6 28() 오후 7:30분 공개강좌를 통해 시대적 필요에 따른 “펜데믹시대, 선교동향과 Paradigm Shift”라는 주제를 가지고 강의를 진행한다. 강사는 전 총신대학교 총장을 지낸 김의원 박사다. 김의원 박사는 뉴욕대학교와 웨스트민스터신학대학에서 학위를 취득했으며, 뉴욕에서 이민목회를 경험한 이민교회 목회자이기도 하다. 김박사는 평생을 후진양성에 헌신했으며, 은퇴 후 수년 간 선교지와 선교사들을 돌아보며 현장과 만나왔다. 최근에는 ATEA라는 세계선교지에 세워진 학교와 선교단체들이 양질의 교육과 사역을 진행할 수 있도록 지원하는 단체의 대표를 맡아 헌신하고 있다.

손기성 목사는 “강사이신 김박사님의 삶과 이력들이 선교 현장의 동향과 변화를 더 생생하게 지역 목회자들과 성도들에게 전달 할 수있으며, 나아가 선교 현장과 지원 교회의 이분법적 관점이 아닌 새로운 관점의 선교 모델들을 제시할 수 있을 것이다. 이번 강의를 통해 선교는 특정 교회나 단체만 아니라 모든 교회, 누구나 함께 할 수 있는 방향과 방법을 찾아볼 수 있을 것으로 기대한다”고 전하며 선교에 관심 있는 분들의 참여를 권했다.

참여 문의는 703.334.7602나 help@churchclinic.net으로 하면된다. 온라인 강의로 진행되기 때문에 사전 접수가 필요하다.

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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission.

College Enrollment Declines in Spring 2021

The college enrollment rate dropped significantly in spring 2021. Compared with spring 2020, college enrollment declined almost 5%, and the data show from the National Student Clearinghouse, college enrollment saw at least 727,000 students less than expected. According to NPR, after the pandemic took hold last year, many students did not enroll in classes, and many of them were unable to afford to go to college.

Last fall semester, 3.6% of students didn’t take classes, and this spring semester, the rate dropped even more. “It’s really the end of a truly frightening year for higher education. There will be no easy fixes or quick [bounces] backs” said Doug Shapiro, National Student Clearinghouse.

The pandemic hit hardest on the students in minority and low-income families groups, and some of the students went back to the workforce to help with the maintenance of their household. Furthermore, as the housing market skyrocketed during the pandemic, the younger generation is choosing to engage in handyman or other trades jobs to earn higher income in shorter periods of time.

Surprisingly, graduate program enrollments went up to more than 120,000 students this spring. Nowadays, a college degree is not enough for most to obtain the job they want, especially due to the inflation of a college degree.

It now seems as Gen Z are choosing either to obtain a higher degree or to find stable employment through other means, one that doesn’t require a college education, in an uncertain era where college doesn’t guarantee a stable job.

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The Annual Solar Eclipse: Partial Solar Eclipse visible on the sky on June 10, 2021

Eclipse cartographer Michael Zeiler created this detailed visibility map for the June 10, 2021, annular solar eclipse. Skywatchers in much of central and eastern North America, as well as parts of Europe and Africa, will be able to enjoy this event as a partial solar eclipse; the full “ring of fire” effect will be limited to a narrow slice of land in central and eastern Canada. (Image credit: Michael Zeiler, GreatAmericanEclipse.com)

Early in the morning (about 4:40 AM ET) on June 10, we will see the annual solar eclipse which will appear as a partial solar eclipse. According to timeanddate.com, most Northeast U.S. and Canadian residents will see the sky darken after the Sun rises.

The residents will see the “Ring of Fire” like the shape of the eclipse, across central to eastern Canada for at least 390 miles.

“Because the moon will be just 57 hours past apogee, its farthest point from Earth during its orbit, it will appear somewhat smaller than usual – smaller than the apparent disk of the sun. It is for this reason that viewers in the shadow’s center will get an annular (partial) rather than a total eclipse: the sun will become a brilliant ring (annulus) of light encircling the moon’s dark silhouette for several minutes,” said Space.com.

Those living in the Lake Superior region will see the horseshoe-shaped Sunlight when the Sun rises for about 3.5 minutes.

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Virginia Democrats want McAuliffe as Governor Again

 

On June 8th, Virginia held the primaries for the Democratic Party and elected Terry McAuliffe one more time to take a seat for the race in Governor as the nominee. He had four Democratic opponents for the nomination, including the current Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. McAuliffe will run for the Governor against the Republican nominee, Glenn Youngkin, a former private equity executive.

The absolute voting majority (62.3% as of 10:23 PM ET) for Terry McAuliffe today means the Virginian Democrats favor his leadership.

The Lieutenant Governor nominees are still being counted, but Hala Ayala is (39%) is ahead, compared to Sam Rasoul (25.3%) or Mark Levine(11.8%) as of 10:37 PM ET.

Mark Herring (56.6%), the incumbent Attorney General was nominated again for a chance at one more term.

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