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By Sheila Carrillo Last week, I joined in the flurry of preparations for a full-on gourmet Thanksgiving meal at the free annual downtown Vet’s Hall feast, beautifully covered by Sentinel reporter Jessica York. One of dozens of volunteers, I parked my car in the adjacent bank parking lot and headed for the hall’s side entrance, surprised to encounter an outdoor kitchen set up by iconic chef Joseph Schultz, who was frantically scurrying amongst a steaming cauldron of boiling red-skinned potatoes and an enormous wok with vegetables being stirred with an oar-like paddle. Inside, room-length rows of tables were being adorned with fall colors while an assortment of tempting desserts — donated by the best of our outstanding bakeries — were portioned off onto real plates. I wound up stationed by the front entry door, assigned to wrap eating utensils in paper napkins, tying each bundle of silverware with gift ribbon. Awkward fingers and short patience found me up and stretching my legs as the first diners entered and approached a full-course Thanksgiving meal being served from warming trays brimming with turkey roasted by Beckman’s Bakery and mounds of luscious trimmings cooked by Joe from his van and parking-lot kitchen. Pacing, I heard a woman behind me — the first to enter the door— murmur that she didn’t know if she would be able to help herself to food. Turning, I saw a small elderly figure leaning on a walker and offered to fill a plate for her. After seating her with her plate, I picked up water and chocolate milk at the nearby drink table. When I turned back to bring her drinks, my heart sank. She sat softly weeping, head bent over her plate, food untouched. I leaned close to hear her whisper, “I haven’t eaten in three days. I am so grateful for the food.” I put my hand on her boney back, stroking her gently to soothe her. Recalling a past experience with someone who hadn’t eaten for days, I prompted the woman, who sat staring at her overflowing plate, to be careful to eat very slowly. Crying softly, she told me she had been sleeping in her car, that she had been in the hospital in Merced and when she returned to Santa Cruz, the door to her Grandview apartment was locked. Alarmed, my mind began racing for solutions, and I reassured her that I would find her some help. A woman sitting across from her put her hands together in prayer and thanks as I ran to the organizers, told them her situation, and asked if there was anyone present connected with social services who could help her. Shocked that I turned up nothing helpful, I ran back to tell her not to leave while I sought help. Sitting on a bench in a quieter corner of the entry hall, I made phone calls, starting with the nearby Salvation Army and Housing Matters, and then all the shelter phone numbers I could find. All I got was recorded messages saying to leave my name and number for shelter and safe parking wait lists. Not having taken her phone number, I awkwardly left mine. I never reached a live person, though one message said that my call would be returned within two hours. When I rushed back to the table, she was gone. Others at the table said that she had become cold, and there were no blankets around. She left to warm up and had taken her foil-wrapped plate with her. The woman who had shown me gratitude said she feared for the elderly woman’s life — that being that cold could be a sign she was dying. Kicking myself for not taking her name and phone number and not even remembering the name she had told me when I introduced myself, I alerted organizers to keep an eye out for her should she return. Reluctantly, I went to join family friends for dinner. As I walked out of Vet’s Hall, a tall man in a suit, said to me — as to everyone leaving — “Have you had your Thanksgiving dinner?” and then reached out to hand me a dollar bill. “Really?” I thought. P.S. Five days later, I got a response to my urgent messages regarding shelter. I learned that the shelter phone service is only available 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. Sheila Carrillo is a community activist and writer, octogenarian and 50-year resident of Santa Cruz County.In a world increasingly driven by technology, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool that is reshaping the way we work, communicate, and create. And now, with the launch of the first-ever MarsCode AI Programming Challenge by DouBao, individuals from all walks of life have the opportunity to harness the power of AI to unleash their creativity and programming skills like never before.
As the debate rages on, it is clear that the gaming industry is at a crossroads. The increasing monetization of games, through tactics like gacha mechanics and DLC packages, has raised important questions about the ethical responsibilities of developers and publishers. While the TGA Player's Choice Awards may have unintentionally sparked this controversy, they have also provided an opportunity for the gaming community to come together and demand change.3D printing has been a major leap forward in technology, allowing the creation of products with the press of a button. While hobbyists have definitely taken advantage of 3D printing to manufacture costumes and collectibles with something like a beginner-level Anycubic Photon M3 printer , professionals have been able to leverage it to cut costs, labor, and project's completion time. It's not just civilians benefiting from 3D printing. The Department of Defense refers to it as additive manufacturing, but the U.S. military is taking advantage of this technology in a number of ways. The Pentagon and every branch of the U.S. military is so invested in 3D printing that they're even developing larger than average printers. The U.S. Army is making strides in improving 3D printing technology, creating the world's largest metal 3D printer. It can manufacture hulls for ground vehicles left and right, potentially cutting production time in half. The U.S. DEVCOM Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) started the Jointless Hull Project in 2021. This project is being coordinated and led by prime contractor ASTRO America with several other subcontractors. Edward Flinn, director of the Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence at RIA-JMTC said (via U.S. Army ), "[The technology] opens up the aperture of our capabilities." Building vehicle parts is just one use for additive manufacturing in the military. According to Forbes , in 2022, the Defense Department wrote a report that recommended the military expand on its use of additive manufacturing because of how useful of a tool it is. Here are the many ways 3D printing is helping the United States military. Whenever there's a supply chain shortage, it's 3D printing the U.S. military turns to in order to keep operations running smoothly. When there's any kind of shortage, it can hold plans back and when that happens in the military, that could be the difference between life and death. There's a little device that gets mounted on vehicles that help soldiers see in low-light conditions called a hatch plug. The Army found themselves in a shortage in 2020 due to the manufacturer discontinuing it. In order to get a replacement order up and running with a different vendor, it would have taken three months and $10,000. With 3D printing, though, it took a couple of days at a fraction of the cost and the Army was able to print two versions of the hatch plug. In 2022, the U.S. Navy initiated a program that paired suppliers of submarine components struggling to meet demands with 3D printing companies to keep supply chains running smoothly. Of course, these 3D printing companies needed to be able to print with metal, otherwise the subs' integrity wouldn't hold. This is beneficial for submarine contractors by allowing them to share different workloads with another company. Many submarine contractors are the sole source of various components, which can add a lot of pressure when there are deadlines for new submarines on the books. Sometimes there are components in an aircraft or vehicle that manufacturers replace with more efficient parts, or the entire vehicle isn't made anymore. Every branch of the U.S. military faces issues with legacy components, and it can lead to delays in objectives timetable as well as inflated costs. The Defense Department has looked for methods to make this problem obsolete itself, and it looks like 3D printing is the best solution. It's not uncommon for the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center (AFLCMC) to use a 3D printer for parts found in older aircraft, including B-52s, C-5M Super Galaxy, and even the B-2 Spirit ( the stealth bomber ). The Air Force has been leveraging 3D printing for years and is now exploring methods that will increase the hardware's durability while simultaneously decreasing its weight, which could lead to better fuel economy for its aircraft. The U.S. Navy and Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) started looking into additive manufacturing for not only obsolete parts, but also the ability to print these parts on a vessel that's at sea. Robert C. Byrd Institute (RCBI) at Marshall University virtually taught sailors aboard the USS Tulsa to set up, operate, and maintain 3D printers, giving them the skills to build components on-demand rather than waiting to return to port or a supply drop. Soldiers and Marines have to regularly trek long distances across tumultuous terrain in any weather, and it's not uncommon for them to do this carrying hundreds of pounds of gear. Sure, this can arguably make a person a stronger physically and mentally, but it more likely tires them out before they've reached their destination. Nobody is good to anybody dripping sweat and breathing heavy. By 3D printing certain components, the military can lighten their load, letting them trek those same distances at a quicker rate with more energy in reserve. The Army Research Laboratory has partnered up with the University of Central Florida to improve the additive the military uses in its 3D printers. The goal of this partnership is to eventually manufacture lightweight mission components that U.S. Army soldiers use in the field. It's not just field equipment used by the boots on the ground being lightened. The Research Laboratory is also developing lightweight vehicle components, such as brackets, propulsion systems, weapons, and turret components. The Army's Next-Gen Combat Vehicles (NGVC) program is exploring titanium and other lightweight metals to use as additive. The Marine Corps has access to heavy-duty 3D printers significantly larger than something like the Bambu Lab X1-Carbon Combo printer that can use quick-drying cement to "print" bunkers large enough to contain a truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher system. Moreover, this construction-grade printer can build these bunkers in under 36 hours. It would depend on the size of the bunker, but using conventional means, it could take two days or more to build a bunker large enough for a single family. The Defense Department partnered with private businesses in 2022 and used similar technology to build three transient training barracks that are each more than 5,700 square feet. Army Lt. Gen. Doug Gabram, commander of U.S. Army Installation Management Command said (via Defense.gov ), "Constructing facilities using this cutting-edge technology saves labor costs, reduces planning time, and increases the speed of construction of future facilities." The material used in the construction process is proprietary to ICON, the construction technology company chosen for the project, called Lavacrete. It can withstand different forms of extreme weather and has the compressive strength of 2,000 to 3,500 pounds per square inch. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developed a 3D printer that can be brought into the field through its Automated Construction of Expeditionary Structures program, or ACES. One of its 3D printers, known as ACES Lite, lets the Army swiftly build structures to keep personnel safe from shrapnel. The ACES Lite can connect to any concrete mixer, fits in a 20-foot container, and can be loaded up and ready to move in 45 minutes, building another gatehouse or even bunker wherever the Army needs.
Archaeologists have found 28 graves of people who were enslaved by Andrew Jackson at his Hermitage plantation in Tennessee. At the time of his presidency, from 1829 to 1837, Jackson enslaved 95 people, and for nearly a century, more than 300 people were enslaved by the Jackson family. "It is historically significant, after decades of searching, that we are highly confident we have found the cemetery for people who were enslaved at The Hermitage," Jason Zajac, president and CEO of the Andrew Jackson Foundation, said in a statement . During the late 18th and early 19th century, Jackson trafficked people between his home in Nashville and other parts of the U.S. South, and slavery was a primary source of his wealth . When he became the seventh president of the U.S., he brought people he enslaved to the White House . In 1804, Jackson purchased 425 acres (172 hectares) of land in Nashville and named the property The Hermitage. By the time of Jackson's death in 1845, the plantation had grown to encompass more than 1,000 acres (405 hectares). Although the land has changed hands over the years, "nothing has ever been built on the [cemetery] site and crops have never been grown there," Tony Guzzi, chief of preservation and site operations at The Hermitage, said in the statement, "keeping it as undisturbed as possible over the last 180 years." Related: Coins worth over $1 million recovered from 1715 Spanish treasure shipwrecks in Florida While previous attempts to locate the long-lost graves of the people enslaved by Jackson were unsuccessful, technological advances and new funding led to the cemetery's discovery earlier this year. Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. Archaeologists discovered the cemetery in January about 1,000 feet (305 meters) from the main plantation house, on a slight hill at the edge of a creek, after experts used maps, surveys and aerial images to identify graves that were referenced in a 1935 report. The team cleared invasive plants from a 5-acre (2 hectares) search area, which allowed them to see rows of depressions that strongly suggested the presence of a cemetery. To avoid disturbing the graves, the archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar, which "is a crucial first step for characterizing unmarked burial sites such as this one," Steven Wernke , an archaeologist at the Vanderbilt Institute for Spatial Research, said in the statement, "as it identifies probable locations of the final resting places of the individuals buried at the Hermitage." — Long-lost homestead of King Pompey, enslaved African who gained freedom, found in colonial New England — Plantation slavery was invented on this tiny African island, according to archaeologists — Enslaved people were kidnapped from all across Africa, rare look at DNA from colonial cemetery reveals "Locating the physical remains of these individuals is a strong reminder of what this landscape was and what it represented — historically, an elite white space, a plantation and a place of enslavement sustained by arduous labor and sacrifice of Black bodies," Carlina de la Cova , a bioarchaeologist at the University of South Carolina who was not involved in the project, told Live Science in an email. Although the radar study identified 28 possible graves, "not all of them may turn out to actually be graves," according to Zajac, and additional graves may be found in the future. "Our work here is just beginning," he said. Pam Koban, the board chair at the Andrew Jackson Foundation, said in the statement that the cemetery "will become an educational staple that is central to the story of The Hermitage." The Foundation is working to assemble an advisory committee of historians and descendants of people who were enslaved on the property to help make decisions about how to preserve and present the site, Koban said.
Mike Lupica: Steve Cohen and the Mets can change the narrative by winning on Juan Soto
In conclusion, Real Madrid's £45 million investment in signing a Manchester United star demonstrates their ambition and desire to strengthen their squad for the upcoming season. The club's high-level management is leaving no stone unturned in their quest for success, and fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new recruit. With the transfer deal set to be finalized soon, all eyes will be on the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid prepare for a fresh start and a surge towards the top of the footballing world.