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  • Capture of Maduro and US claim that it will run Venezuela raise new legal questions

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    The Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s president and claims that it will “run” the country are raising stark new questions about the legality of the U.S. actions and its future operations in the South American nation.Related video above: U.S. strikes Venezuela, captures President Maduro in overnight operationThe middle-of-the-night seizure of Nicolás Maduro, who was transported with his wife on a U.S. warship to face narco-terrorism conspiracy charges in New York, is beyond even the most high-profile historical examples of aggressive American actions toward autocratic governments in Panama, Iraq and elsewhere, legal experts said. It came after a surprise U.S. incursion that rocked the Venezuelan capital with overnight explosions.”This is clearly a blatant, illegal and criminal act,” said Jimmy Gurule, a Notre Dame Law School professor and former assistant U.S. attorney.The stunning development caps months of aggressive U.S. military action in the region, including the bombing of boats accused of trafficking drugs and seizures of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela. The Trump administration has conducted 35 known boat strikes against vessels, killing more than 115 people since September, and positioned an armada of warships in nearby waters.The bigger debate than legality is yet to come, said John Yoo, an early architect of the George W. Bush administration’s policy in Iraq and now a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.”It’s easier to remove a dictator,” he said, based on his experience in the Iraq War. But ensuring the transition to a stable democratic government is “the harder part.”Maduro’s arrest on anniversary of Noriega’s surrenderMaduro’s arrest came 36 years to the date of the surrender of Panama’s strongman, Manuel Noriega, a notable milestone in American involvement in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. invaded Panama in 1989 to arrest Noriega on drug trafficking charges.In Panama, however, U.S. national security interests were directly at stake in the form of the Panama Canal as well as the safety of American citizens and U.S. military installations in the country.Video below: Former Alabama exchange student reacts to Maduro captureBy contrast, Congress has not authorized any American military strike or law enforcement move against Venezuela.”The President will claim that this fits within a vast body of precedent supporting broad executive power to defend the United States, its citizens, and its interests,” Matthew Waxman, a Columbia University law professor who was a national security official in the Bush administration, said by email. “Critics will charge that this exceeds the bounds of presidential power without congressional authorization.”While U.S. agents have a long history of snatching defendants abroad to execute arrest warrants without authorization, federal courts have long deferred to the White House in foreign policy and national security matters.For example, U.S. bounty hunters, working under the direction of the Drug Enforcement Administration, in 1990 abducted in Mexico a doctor accused of killing DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.”Courts give great deference to the president on issues related to national security,” said Gurule, who led the prosecution against Camarena’s killers. “But great deference does not mean absolute deference and unfettered authority to do anything.”Congress has yet to authorize or ban US actionsTrump’s administration has declared the drug cartels operating from Venezuela to be unlawful combatants and has said the United States is now in an “armed conflict” with them, according to an administration memo obtained in October by The Associated Press.The memo appears to represent an extraordinary assertion of presidential war powers, with Trump effectively declaring that trafficking of drugs into the U.S. amounts to armed conflict requiring the use of military force. That is a new rationale for past and future actions.Congress, which has broad authority to approve or prohibit the president’s war powers, has failed to do either, even as lawmakers from both political parties grow increasingly uneasy with the military actions in the region, particularly after it was revealed that U.S. forces killed two survivors of a boat attack with a follow-up strike.Congress’ Democratic leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, demanded immediate briefings for the “gang of eight” leaders on Capitol Hill, which includes top members of the Intelligence committees, as well as for other lawmakers. Congressional leaders were not notified of the actions until after the operation was underway.”The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans,” Schumer said. “The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price.”Michael Schmitt, a former Air Force lawyer and professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval War College, said the entire operation — the boat strikes as well as the apprehension of Maduro — clearly violates international law.”Lawyers call it international armed conflict,” Schmitt said. “Lay people call it war. So as a matter of law, we are now at war with Venezuela because the use of hostilities between two states clearly triggers an internal armed conflict.”War powers vote aheadHouse Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the administration “is working to schedule briefings” for lawmakers next week.Republican lawmakers in Congress largely welcomed the capture of Maduro as ridding the region of a leader they say is responsible for drug trafficking, but Democratic lawmakers warned that in veering from the rule of law, the administration is potentially greenlighting other countries such as China or Russia to do the same.”Beyond the legality, what kind of precedent does it send?” asked Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said in an interview that the rebuilding plan ahead has echoes of the Iraq War as the Trump administration promises to use Venezuela’s oil revenue to pay the costs.Waxman, the Columbia University law professor, said seizing control of Venezuela’s resources opens up additional legal issues: “For example, a big issue will be who really owns Venezuela’s oil?”The Senate is expected to try again next week to curtail Trump’s actions, with a vote expected on a bipartisan war powers resolution that would block using U.S. forces against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he is grateful for the armed forces “who carried out this necessary action.” He said he spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and wants more information.”I look forward to receiving further briefings from the administration on this operation as part of its comprehensive counternarcotics strategy when the Senate returns to Washington next week,” Thune said.Rubio said at a briefing Saturday with Trump that because of the nature of the surprise operation, it was not something that could be shared beforehand with the lawmakers.Goodman reported from Miami.

    WASHINGTON (AP) —

    The Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s president and claims that it will “run” the country are raising stark new questions about the legality of the U.S. actions and its future operations in the South American nation.

    Related video above: U.S. strikes Venezuela, captures President Maduro in overnight operation

    The middle-of-the-night seizure of Nicolás Maduro, who was transported with his wife on a U.S. warship to face narco-terrorism conspiracy charges in New York, is beyond even the most high-profile historical examples of aggressive American actions toward autocratic governments in Panama, Iraq and elsewhere, legal experts said. It came after a surprise U.S. incursion that rocked the Venezuelan capital with overnight explosions.

    “This is clearly a blatant, illegal and criminal act,” said Jimmy Gurule, a Notre Dame Law School professor and former assistant U.S. attorney.

    The stunning development caps months of aggressive U.S. military action in the region, including the bombing of boats accused of trafficking drugs and seizures of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela. The Trump administration has conducted 35 known boat strikes against vessels, killing more than 115 people since September, and positioned an armada of warships in nearby waters.

    The bigger debate than legality is yet to come, said John Yoo, an early architect of the George W. Bush administration’s policy in Iraq and now a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

    “It’s easier to remove a dictator,” he said, based on his experience in the Iraq War. But ensuring the transition to a stable democratic government is “the harder part.”

    Maduro’s arrest on anniversary of Noriega’s surrender

    Maduro’s arrest came 36 years to the date of the surrender of Panama’s strongman, Manuel Noriega, a notable milestone in American involvement in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. invaded Panama in 1989 to arrest Noriega on drug trafficking charges.

    In Panama, however, U.S. national security interests were directly at stake in the form of the Panama Canal as well as the safety of American citizens and U.S. military installations in the country.

    Video below: Former Alabama exchange student reacts to Maduro capture

    By contrast, Congress has not authorized any American military strike or law enforcement move against Venezuela.

    “The President will claim that this fits within a vast body of precedent supporting broad executive power to defend the United States, its citizens, and its interests,” Matthew Waxman, a Columbia University law professor who was a national security official in the Bush administration, said by email. “Critics will charge that this exceeds the bounds of presidential power without congressional authorization.”

    While U.S. agents have a long history of snatching defendants abroad to execute arrest warrants without authorization, federal courts have long deferred to the White House in foreign policy and national security matters.

    For example, U.S. bounty hunters, working under the direction of the Drug Enforcement Administration, in 1990 abducted in Mexico a doctor accused of killing DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.

    “Courts give great deference to the president on issues related to national security,” said Gurule, who led the prosecution against Camarena’s killers. “But great deference does not mean absolute deference and unfettered authority to do anything.”

    Congress has yet to authorize or ban US actions

    Trump’s administration has declared the drug cartels operating from Venezuela to be unlawful combatants and has said the United States is now in an “armed conflict” with them, according to an administration memo obtained in October by The Associated Press.

    The memo appears to represent an extraordinary assertion of presidential war powers, with Trump effectively declaring that trafficking of drugs into the U.S. amounts to armed conflict requiring the use of military force. That is a new rationale for past and future actions.

    Congress, which has broad authority to approve or prohibit the president’s war powers, has failed to do either, even as lawmakers from both political parties grow increasingly uneasy with the military actions in the region, particularly after it was revealed that U.S. forces killed two survivors of a boat attack with a follow-up strike.

    Congress’ Democratic leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, demanded immediate briefings for the “gang of eight” leaders on Capitol Hill, which includes top members of the Intelligence committees, as well as for other lawmakers. Congressional leaders were not notified of the actions until after the operation was underway.

    “The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans,” Schumer said. “The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price.”

    Michael Schmitt, a former Air Force lawyer and professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval War College, said the entire operation — the boat strikes as well as the apprehension of Maduro — clearly violates international law.

    “Lawyers call it international armed conflict,” Schmitt said. “Lay people call it war. So as a matter of law, we are now at war with Venezuela because the use of hostilities between two states clearly triggers an internal armed conflict.”

    War powers vote ahead

    House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the administration “is working to schedule briefings” for lawmakers next week.

    Republican lawmakers in Congress largely welcomed the capture of Maduro as ridding the region of a leader they say is responsible for drug trafficking, but Democratic lawmakers warned that in veering from the rule of law, the administration is potentially greenlighting other countries such as China or Russia to do the same.

    “Beyond the legality, what kind of precedent does it send?” asked Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said in an interview that the rebuilding plan ahead has echoes of the Iraq War as the Trump administration promises to use Venezuela’s oil revenue to pay the costs.

    Waxman, the Columbia University law professor, said seizing control of Venezuela’s resources opens up additional legal issues: “For example, a big issue will be who really owns Venezuela’s oil?”

    The Senate is expected to try again next week to curtail Trump’s actions, with a vote expected on a bipartisan war powers resolution that would block using U.S. forces against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he is grateful for the armed forces “who carried out this necessary action.” He said he spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and wants more information.

    “I look forward to receiving further briefings from the administration on this operation as part of its comprehensive counternarcotics strategy when the Senate returns to Washington next week,” Thune said.

    Rubio said at a briefing Saturday with Trump that because of the nature of the surprise operation, it was not something that could be shared beforehand with the lawmakers.

    Goodman reported from Miami.

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  • 6 Common Factors Behind All Successful Therapy

    6 Common Factors Behind All Successful Therapy

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    According to “common factors theory,” the essence of successful therapy lies in shared core elements, and the differences between therapeutic approaches are often less important than fulfilling these fundamental criteria.

    One frequent question people ask themselves when they first decide to seek therapy is, “What type of therapy should I get?”

    There are many different types of talk therapy to choose from. Often specific types of therapy are geared toward specific mental disorders. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is common for depression and anxiety disorders, Dialectic Behavioral Therapy is common for bipolar and mood disorders, and EMDR is common among those with PTSD.

    How much do these therapies differ? How much does it matter?

    One interesting idea in psychology is “common factors theory.” The basic premise is that effective therapy isn’t necessarily based on any specific type of therapeutic tool or technique, but rather there are underlying factors behind all therapies that make them successful.

    Many therapeutic systems have been invented over the past century. Today, every popular therapist or coach has their own trademarked brand that’s sold as the absolute best approach to mental health.

    The less glamorous truth is that most successful therapies aren’t special. There’s significant overlap between different approaches, with a couple extra bells and whistles. However, at the end of the day the biggest reason they are successful is because they all meet fundamental criteria.

    Below you’ll learn more about these “common factors” behind successful therapy, including: collaboration, empathy, alliance, positive regard, genuineness, and individual differences.

    6 Common Factors Behind All Successful Therapy

    One interesting study identified 6 common factors behind all “evidence-based” therapy. They also calculated estimates on how much each factor contributed to the overall variability of therapeutic outcomes.

    Here are the 6 common factors behind all successful therapy:

    • Goal consensus / collaboration (11.5%) – The most important factor is that both the therapist and client share the same goal and they’re willing to work together to achieve it. A goal can be anything from managing negative emotions, to stopping bad habits, to improving communication skills. If their goals mismatch (such as the client not wanting to change or the therapist wanting to go in a different direction), then it’ll be difficult if not impossible to make any progress. Both people need to be on the same page.
    • Empathy (9%) – The therapist must have a clear understanding of who their patient is and where they are coming from. This means being aware of their current thoughts and feelings, but also learning a comprehensive history of that patient’s past experiences and background. We build empathy by seeking knowledge and understanding about another person. Don’t try to guess, label, or project where someone is coming from. Ask questions and learn. A therapist must treat each person as their own individual case. A scientific study of n=1. Every person has a unique story and a therapist’s job is to learn each person’s story.
    • Alliance (7.5%) – Both therapist and client must see their relationship as a partnership where each puts in equal effort to realize their shared goal. For the therapist, this means providing advice, encouragement, compliments, and constructive feedback. For the client, this means putting in work outside of the therapy session (in everyday life) so they actually see changes and results. A healthy alliance requires three main components: 1) A shared bond between therapist and client, 2) Agreement about the goals of therapy, and 3) Agreement about the tasks to achieve it (practical advice, tips, suggestions, exercises, homework). Therapy has to be viewed as more than just talking once per week, but rather an impetus to work together, create a plan, and achieve real progress.
    • Positive regard / affirmation (7.3%) – It’s important that the therapist treats the patient with optimism, positivity, compliments, and encouragement. While a therapist sometimes needs to provide critical and constructive feedback, they should generally promote the patient’s self-esteem and core values. If a therapist tries to fundamentally change something about a person that they don’t want to, there’s naturally going to be conflict and difficulties. One idea known as unconditional positive regard was popularized by the humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers. He highlighted the importance of being agreeable and respectful toward the patient’s core beliefs, values, and goals (even if you disagree with them). Rogers saw therapy as a tool to encourage self-discovery and self-awareness, not tell a patient exactly how they should live their life.
    • Congruence / genuineness (5.7%) – Both the therapist and patient need to be open, genuine, and authentic. If the patient feels the therapist is just “putting on an act” or “pretending to be nice,” they are going to want to pullback and disengage from the process. A good therapist needs to be just as vulnerable as the patient. This means sharing relevant thoughts and feelings, being honest and matter-of-fact, and being willing to express emotions when appropriate. One telltale sign of incongruence is when there is a mismatch in body language (including posture, facial expressions, or tone of voice). If a therapist’s words don’t match their body language, the patient likely won’t develop any trust or rapport.
    • Therapist differences (5%) – The last important factor, which may be beyond our control, is personality differences between the therapist and client. Not everyone is designed to get along with everyone, and sometimes the therapist and patient are just too different when it comes to attitude, temperament, background, or lifestyle. Many therapy sessions don’t work out simply because the therapist/patient relationship doesn’t seem to mesh right. This is why it’s recommended that a person tries out multiple therapists when first starting out. Then they can find someone that fits with their personality and a therapist to commit to long-term.

    These are the 6 most common factors behind successful therapy. They account for ~50% of the total variability in therapeutic outcomes, so there are still many other factors at play.

    In truth, different types of therapies have their advantages and disadvantages, and certain approaches may work better for some and not at all for others.

    Regardless of the system, successful therapy often needs to meet the basic requirements listed above. Without these common factors being met, no technique or approach is going to work.

    A Warning on Overspecialized Therapy

    A therapist needs to be flexible in their approach and try not to force fit everyone into their preferred model.

    The more a person is trained and/or educated on a specific field in psychology, the more they seem to be “locked in” to only one way of observing the human condition. They don’t talk to people as human beings at face value, but instead think, “How does this person fit into my cognitive/behavioral/psychodynamic/evolutionary model?”

    Expertise (and overspecialization) can narrow vision. A certain element of beginner’s mind is the best approach to therapy. Start with the basic questions, “Who is this person? What do they care about? What makes them tick? What do they want to change?”

    Assume nothing and ask questions. Learn about the person from scratch. Connect to them human-to-human and see where it goes.

    More concerning, certain therapies have become popularized and over-hyped in recent years. They’ve turned into commercial brands. “Cognitive-behavioral therapy” has become a buzzword in many circles because the average person associates it with the only “evidence-based” therapy.

    Of course I’m not against specific therapies. I’ve learned a lot of helpful tools and techniques from various systems (including CBT) that I still practice today.

    At the end of the day, I’m a pragmatist, so there’s almost no therapy, treatment, medication, or technique I’m 100% for or against. If it helps just one person, then it’s that much effective.

    However, in general, a good therapist needs to have a comprehensive understanding of how humans work. Tools and techniques can be in your back-pocket, but first and foremost you need to approach people as individual human beings seeking growth.

    Successful therapy can’t be reduced to a checklist.

    The Gloria Tapes: 3 Therapeutic Approaches

    This topic reminds me of an old series of videos known as the Gloria Tapes.

    It was an educational film made in the 1960s to teach psychology students the differences between therapeutic approaches.

    The series follows a single patient, Gloria, who receives therapy from three distinguished psychologists of the time: Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls, and Albert Ellis.

    The therapy is limited since it’s only one session each, but you can get a good understanding of the radically different approaches by each therapist.

    You can watch each of the sessions here:

    Each of these videos reveals a different approach to therapy.

    Albert Ellis is most aligned with modern cognitive and rational-based approaches. Carl Rogers has a more gentle and humanistic approach. Fritz Perls has a direct and provocative approach (almost to the point of bullying).

    If I remember correctly, the patient Gloria felt the most comfortable with Rogers, but she actually went for a second session with Perls. I don’t know how to interpret that – it’s possible she felt “unfinished business” with Perls or she simply enjoyed arguing with him.

    None of this says anything about “successful therapy.” Just one session isn’t adequate to measure “success” vs. “failure” when it comes to a long-term process like self-growth. However, these examples will give you a taste for the different types of therapies out there.

    Ultimately, successful therapy depends on both therapist and patient. The most important factor is to have a healthy, working relationship and a “build together” attitude. Once you have that foundation, anything is possible.


    Stay updated on new articles and resources in psychology and self improvement:

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    Steven Handel

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  • Will COVID’s Spring Lull Last?

    Will COVID’s Spring Lull Last?

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    By all official counts—at least, the ones still being tallied—the global situation on COVID appears to have essentially flatlined. More than a year has passed since the world last saw daily confirmed deaths tick above 10,000; nearly a year and a half has elapsed since the population was pummeled by a new Greek-lettered variant of concern. The globe’s most recent winters have been the pandemic’s least lethal to date—and the World Health Organization is mulling lifting its COVID emergency declaration sometime later this year, as the final pandemic protections in the United States prepare to disappear. On the heels of the least-terrible winter since the pandemic’s onset, this spring in the U.S. is also going … kind of all right. “I am feeling less worried than I have been in a while,” Shweta Bansal, an infectious-disease modeler at Georgetown University, told me.

    That sense of phew, though, Bansal said, feels tenuous. The coronavirus’s evolution is not yet predictable; its effects are nowhere near benign. This might be the longest stretch of quasi-normalcy that humanity has had since 2020’s start, but experts can’t yet tell whether we’re at the beginning of post-pandemic stability or in the middle of a temporary reprieve. For now, we’re in a holding pattern, a sort of extended coda or denouement. Which means that our lived experience and scientific reality might not match up for a good while yet.

    Read: The next stage of COVID is starting now

    There is, to be fair, reason to suspect that some current trends will stick. The gargantuan waves of seasons past were the rough product of three factors: low population immunity, genetic changes that allowed SARS-CoV-2 to skirt what immunity did exist, and upswings in behaviors that brought people and the virus into frequent contact. Now, though, just about everyone has had some exposure to SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein, whether by infection or injection. And most Americans have long since dispensed with masking and distancing, maintaining their exposure at a consistently high plateau. That leaves the virus’s shape-shifting as the only major wild card, says Emily Martin, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the University of Michigan. SARS-CoV-2 could, for instance, make another evolutionary leap large enough to re-create the Omicron wave of early 2022—but a long time has passed since the virus managed such a feat. Tentatively, carefully, experts are hopeful that we’re at last in a “period that could be kind of indicative of what the new normal really is,” says Virginia Pitzer, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at Yale.

    Top American officials are already gambling on that guess. At a conference convened in late March by the Massachusetts Medical Society, Ashish Jha, the outgoing coordinator of the White House COVID-19 Response Team, noted that the relative tameness of this past winter was a major deciding factor in the Biden administration’s decision to let the U.S. public-health emergency lapse. The crisis-caliber measures that were essential at the height of the pandemic, Jha said, were no longer “critical at this moment” to keep the nation’s health-care system afloat. Americans could rely instead primarily on shots and antivirals to keep themselves healthy—“If you are up to date on your vaccines and you get treated with Paxlovid, if you get an infection, you just don’t die of this virus,” he said. (That math, of course, doesn’t hold up as well for certain vulnerable groups, including the elderly and the immunocompromised.) The pharmaceuticals-only strategy asks much less of people: Going forward, most Americans will need to dose up on their COVID vaccines only once a year in the fall, a la seasonal flu shots.

    Making sweeping assessments at this particular juncture, though, is tough. Experts expect SARS-CoV-2 cases to take a downturn as winter transitions into spring—as many other respiratory viruses do. And a half-ish year of relative quietude is, well, just a half-ish year of relative quietude—too little data for scientists to definitively declare the virus seasonal, or even necessarily stable in its annual patterns. One of the most telling intervals is yet to come: the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, says Alyssa Bilinski, a health-policy researcher at Brown University. In previous years, waves of cases have erupted pretty consistently during the warmer months, especially in the American South, as people flock indoors to beat the heat.

    SARS-CoV-2 might not end up being recognizably seasonal at all. So far, the virus has circulated more or less year-round, with erratic bumps in the winter and, to a lesser extent, the summer. “There is a consistency there that is very enticing,” Bansal told me. But many of the worst surges we’ve weathered were driven by a lack of immunity, which is less of an issue now. “So I like to be extremely careful about the seasonality argument,” she said. In future years, the virus may break from its summer-winter shuffle. How SARS-CoV-2 will continue to interact with other respiratory viruses, such as RSV and flu, also remains to be seen. After an extended hiatus, driven largely by pandemic mitigations, those pathogens came roaring back this past autumn—making it more difficult, perhaps, for the coronavirus to find unoccupied hosts. Experts can’t yet tell whether future winters will favor the coronavirus or its competitors. Either way, scientists won’t know until they’ve collected several more years of evidence—“I would want at least a handful, like four or five,” Bansal said.

    Amassing those numbers is only getting tougher, though, as data streams dry up, Martin told me. Virus-surveillance systems are being dismantled; soon, hospitals and laboratories will no longer be required to share their COVID data with federal officials. Even independent trackers have sunsetted their regular updates. Especially abysmal are estimates of total infections, now that so many people are using only at-home tests, if they’re testing at all—and metrics such as hospitalization and death don’t fully reflect where and when the virus is moving, and which new variants may be on the rise.

    Shifts in long-term approaches to virus control could also upend this period of calm. As tests, treatments, and vaccines become privatized, as people lose Medicaid coverage, as community-outreach programs fight to stay afloat, the virus will find the country’s vulnerable pockets again. Those issues aren’t just about the coming months: COVID-vaccination rates among children remain worryingly low—a trend that could affect the virus’s transmission patterns for decades. And should the uptake of annual COVID shots continue on its current trajectory—worse, even, than America’s less-than-optimal flu vaccination rates—or dip even further down, rates of severe disease may begin another upward climb. Experts also remain concerned about the ambiguities around long COVID, whose risks remain ill-defined.

    Read: Long COVID is being erased—again

    We could get lucky. Maybe 2023 is the start of a bona fide post-pandemic era; maybe the past few months are genuinely offering a teaser trailer of decades to come. But even if that’s the case, it’s not a full comfort. COVID remains a leading cause of death in the United States, where the virus continues to kill about 200 to 250 people each day, many of them among the population’s most vulnerable and disenfranchised. It’s true that things are better than they were a couple of years ago. But in some ways, that’s a deeply unfair comparison to make. Deaths would have been higher when immunity was low; vaccines, tests, and treatments were scarce; and the virus was far less understood. “I would hope our standard for saying that we’ve succeeded and that we don’t need to do more is not Are we doing better than some of the highest-mortality years in history?” Bilinski told me. Perhaps the better question is why we’re settling for the status quo—a period of possible stability that may be less a relief and more a burden we’ve permanently stuck ourselves with.

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    Katherine J. Wu

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  • Austin Pets Alive! | Special Thank You to All of Our APA! Volunteers!

    Austin Pets Alive! | Special Thank You to All of Our APA! Volunteers!

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    Apr 19, 2023

    As animal shelters all across the country head into “busy season,” the impact that volunteers make is often underestimated and sometimes overlooked. At Austin Pets Alive!, the people who donate their time and experience to the animals who are fortunate enough to get to APA!, are part of what I consider our “lifeblood.

    APA! volunteers are here because they love animals, but what sets APA volunteers apart is that while they are here they become experts in animal welfare. They become experts in neonatal kitten care. They become experts in giving dogs an enriching experience while waiting for a family in an extremely challenging shelter environment. They become experts in helping a high volume of animals recover from surgery. They become experts in helping dogs overcome behaviors related to puppyhood isolation and trauma. They become experts in treating cats for ringworm. They become experts in supporting others as they foster animals who need more than what a shelter kennel can provide. They become experts in high volume laundry support to ensure the pets in the shelter have something dry and comfy to sleep on. They become experts in parvovirus care and treatment. The list goes on and on (literally!).

    I hope that volunteers at APA! see that their actions make a difference and that they are not just an “add on” to staff–they are an integral part of what makes our organization able to accomplish so much. I’m a veterinarian so forgive the anatomy analogy, but if you think of staff as the vertebrae or backbone of the organization, the volunteers and fosters are the limbs that make it possible to walk and write!

    And when I say “accomplish so much,” I mean that APA! has been able to be one of the top adoption organizations in the country (apparently the 2nd highest in the US!); is the largest foster care organization in animal welfare; and has mentored many other organizations so they can save more lives. And it is all because of our collective work. Without volunteers, it would not be possible to envision a future that ensures all pets in shelters are given the individual support they need to survive AND that prevents pets who don’t need to be there from being subjected to a shelter kennel in the first place.

    When I look at one of my own APA! adoptees, Echo, I see all the hands that made her life possible. As a semi-paralyzed and incontinent survivor of distemper, her needs passed through the hands of volunteer data support to keep her lengthy records updated, volunteer long stay trackers to ensure she was headed toward adoption, other fosters who helped carry the burden in the early stages of her disease when I was out of town, the dog marketing volunteers who made sure that she was visible to adopters, and of volunteers in our foster adoption team who helped me make her stay at our house permanent.

    I’m so thankful for what volunteers do to support the people and animals we touch every day. I know it is a cliché, but it truly does take a village to intervene in the broken national system of animal sheltering and to care for the animals that are the collateral damage of that system.

    Thank you!

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  • 5 Effective Ways to Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader

    5 Effective Ways to Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Every leader knows a thing or two about the importance of establishing expertise in one’s field. From speaking in seminars, webinars and white papers, to convention interviews, the ability to express and convey informative and valuable insights in their respective area is a strong sign of a leader who knows the ropes.

    Being a thought leader is all about consistently connecting with your target audience. It’s a daily habit of the big players in any industry, and they make sure they’re always ahead of the game. But make no mistake: It’s not something you can fake. It takes time and effort to establish yourself as a thought leader and build trust and credibility with your audience.

    Thought leadership is about being a subject matter expert and providing valuable content that helps your audience make informed decisions, solve problems or stay up to date with the latest trends in your industry. What’s more, it’s not about promoting yourself or your brand but about providing valuable and relevant information to your following.

    With that said, here are five ways to practice effective thought leadership:

    Related: 50 Strategies for Becoming a Thought Leader in Your Field

    1. Create byline articles

    Be a contributor in leading publications: Writing byline articles for leading publications in your industry is a great way to establish yourself as a thought leader. It allows you to leverage the existing established audience from big media companies and be recognized as a reliable authority in your field. By contributing to reputable publications, you can reach a larger audience and gain credibility.

    In your daily newsletter: Sending a daily newsletter to your audience is a great way to directly communicate with your readers in a personalized way. By including byline articles in your newsletter, you can provide valuable insights and analysis to your audience regularly.

    LinkedIn articles: LinkedIn has become a powerful platform for thought leaders to share their insights and establish themselves as authorities in their fields. Keep in mind that it is the hub for all things business and technology. By publishing articles on LinkedIn, you can reach an audience that’s relevant to your niche.

    Open a new Substack: Substack is a platform that allows you to create a newsletter and reach your audience with your thoughts and ideas. This is a great way to build a loyal following and syndicate all your existing byline articles, allowing you to hit multiple birds with one stone.

    On your company’s blog: If you have a company blog, then you’ve already won half the battle. Not only does it guarantee a solid network of relevant following, but it’s also an instantaneous way of publishing content without going through the trouble of creating your own domain.

    Each of the above tactics has its own unique benefits and reach a different audience, so it’s important to consider your target audience and the message you want to convey when choosing which method to use.

    2. Provide commentary

    Offer insights to reporters: Reporters are the middlemen between you and your audience, as they are always looking for experts to comment on stories related to their industry. Journalists reporting about your opinions is a great testament that you are a trusted source and your thoughts matter.

    Constantly look for quote opportunities: Keep an eye out for news stories or events in your industry that you can comment on. This could be in the form of a quote in an article or a media appearance. By being quick to respond and offer your thoughts on industry developments, you can establish yourself as a go-to source for commentary on the latest trends and issues.

    Daily LinkedIn and Twitter posts about your industry’s latest trends: Social media is a great way to share your thoughts and insights on the latest trends in your industry. By posting regularly on LinkedIn and Twitter, you can keep your audience in the loop and up to date with the latest developments. What’s more, it’ll allow your content to be up to speed with Twitter’s fast-paced nature.

    3. Do interviews

    Doing interviews is an instantaneous way of connecting to an audience in a highly personalized and nuanced manner. One of the most common practices is doing podcast outreach, which has become a popular medium for thought leaders to share their insights and expertise. You can reach out to relevant podcasters, offer to be a guest on their show and connect to their network of listeners.

    Moreover, you can also turn the table by creating your own podcast and interviewing industry leaders. This will allow you to have full control over the content and have a platform to reach your audience more consistently and directly.

    Related: How to Showcase Your Expertise and Become a Thought Leader

    4. Attend events

    Participating in events as a host, guest, speaker or spectator is an effective way to build your network, establish your connections and display your prowess in your given field. Organizing keynote talks at relevant occasions is a great way to showcase your expertise, motivate aspiring entrepreneurs and share your bag of tricks with your peers.

    Moreover, hosting a weekly webinar or LinkedIn live event is equally efficient to connect with your audience in real-time. You can also use this platform to interview other thought leaders and industry experts and provide valuable information to your audience.

    5. Build a network of masterminds

    Lastly, build a network for masterminds by organizing a group chat on WhatsApp or Telegram with other thought leaders in your field. This allows you to share ideas, ask questions and gain insights from other experts in your industry. Keep in mind that the world of business and tech is a tight-knit community, and it’s paramount to utilize every platform to create ties and relationships — you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with.

    Building a LinkedIn or Facebook group is another great way to connect. By creating an online community, you can provide a platform for members to share ideas, ask questions and gain knowledge from others in your industry.

    Keep in mind that it is not just about having the tactics, it’s about executing them. You’ll want to pick the tactics that align with your strengths, interests and audience and then consistently execute them over time. Building a reputation as a thought leader takes time and effort, but by consistently providing value and insights to your target audience, you can establish yourself as a trusted expert in your field.

    Related: How to Position Yourself as an Expert Even If Nobody Has Heard of You

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    Omri Hurwitz

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  • Fifth Annual Pulse CPSEA Spring Symposium to Offer Patient Safety Opportunities to Long Island Nonprofits

    Fifth Annual Pulse CPSEA Spring Symposium to Offer Patient Safety Opportunities to Long Island Nonprofits

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    Event: Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy Annual Spring Symposium
    Date/Time: May 4, 2018 — 11:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
    Where: 1393 Veterans Highway, Hauppauge, N.Y.

    Press Release
    –


    updated: May 3, 2018


    HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., May 3, 2018 (Newswire.com)
    –
    On May 4, 2018, history will be made when almost fifty people representing thirty nonprofit organizations from Nassau and Suffolk Counties will be educated on patient safety and medical errors, which are the third leading cause of death in the country.

    Experts on patient safety will share their expertise on medical errors with the participants and will explain how the groups can help the communities they serve to achieve better treatment outcomes.

    Patient safety and medical errors are a critical problem in this country and we can’t leave it all up to the people who work in healthcare to get it right 100% of the time.

    Ilene Corina, President, PULSE Center for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy

    Robin E. Moulder, RN, BSN, MBA, CPHQ, Manager, Division of Quality & Safety at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is the Program Chair. Speakers include:

    · Michael R. Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD (hon), DPS (hon), FASHP President, Institute for Safe Medication Practices

    · Bruce E. Hirsch, M.D. FACP, AAHIVS, Attending Physician, Division of Infectious Diseases, North Shore University Hospital

    · Edward Pollak, M.D., Medical Director and Patient Safety Officer, Division of Healthcare Improvement, The Joint Commission

    · Anthony J. Santella, DrPH, MPH, Adv Cert, MCHES, Associate Professor of Public Health, Hofstra University

    Each speaker brings a wealth of information ready to share in small groups to answer participants’ questions.

    Some of the organizations attending include:

    National Coalition of 100 Black Women Long Island Chapter – which provides education, advocacy, and empowerment to African-American women and girls.

    Curvy Girls – An organization to reduce the emotional impact of scoliosis by empowering young girls through education and mutual support.

    Suffolk County Dept. of Health Services – which works to improve health outcomes and eliminate existing health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities in Suffolk County.

    This is the first Pulse Center for Patient Safety program Anthony Santella has attended and he puts it this way: “Patient safety is an issue of public health significance. In public health, our goal is to keep vulnerable communities free from disease, injury, disability, and death, so bringing health and human service professionals together to discuss critical issues in patient safety practice and research is important if we have hopes of advancing the field.”

    Ilene Corina, President of Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy and organizer of the event, says, “Patient safety and medical errors are a critical problem in this country and we can’t leave it all up to the people who work in healthcare to get it right 100% of the time.”

    This is the fifth Long Island Patient Safety Symposium organized on Long Island by Pulse but this time it’s different. “Only nonprofit leaders and decision makers have been invited to attend,” explains Corina.

    The Pulse Patient Safety Education Fund has been set up at the Long Island Community Foundation to distribute grants to participating, qualifying nonprofit organizations following the program.

    The program is hosted by The Nassau Suffolk Hospital Council.

    Sponsors include:
    Diamond

    Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
    Betty and Gordon Moore Foundation
    Northwell Health

    Bronze

    Blue Ocean Wealth Solutions, A member of MassMutual Financial Group
    Institute for Safe Medication Practices

    Additional support comes from The Lewis Blackman Foundation Family First Home Companions, and Bruce E. Hirsch, MD.

    Doors open at 11:30 A.M. for interviews, networking, and lunch. The program starts at 12:30 P.M.

    The event is fully booked and no further registrations are being accepted.

    Media contact: Ilene Corina (516) 650-2421 or e-mail icorina@pulsecenterforpatientsafety.org

    Source: Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy

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