Red Sox

The Red Sox could have missed the playoffs the last three seasons, but during that very same period one in all their former sluggers was working hard to make an impact in October.

Kyle Schwarber played only half a season for the Red Sox in 2021 after acquiring him on the trade deadline, but Boston probably wishes it had kept the outfielder longer. Schwarber is quietly constructing his resume as top-of-the-line playoff hitters of the twenty first century, if not MLB history.

The current Philadelphia Phillies slugger hit a leadoff home run on Saturday that had a major impact on the record books. The long ball marked Schwarber's twenty first home run of the season. Fourth all-time behind Manny Ramirez (29), Jose Altuve (27) and Bernie Williams (22). It was also Schwarber's twelfth game with the Phillies, a brand new franchise record.

Unfortunately for Schwarber and Philadelphia, that home run was for nothing. The Phillies offense faltered the remainder of the sport and lost 6-2 to the New York Mets.

Still, Schwarber's individual postseason success provides a stark contrast to Boston's lack of success over the past three seasons. Schwarber's Phillies made the playoffs in each of his three seasons there. They earned a World Series appearance in 2022, lost within the NLCS in 2023 and are the No. 2 seed within the National League this season.

Schwarber then looked as if it would add much more oomph to his punches when it mattered most. He hit three home runs within the 2022 Series and a whopping five long balls within the 2023 NLCS.

Even though Schwarber only made one postseason trip in a Red Sox uniform, he still proved his postseason value by hitting three home runs for Boston within the 2021 playoffs.

The Red Sox, led by Chaim Bloom on the time, attempted to re-sign Schwarber after the 2021 season, but Bloom explained this on the time his contract had “reached a level that no longer made sense.”

Let's have a look at 2024: Schwarber has exhausted three of the 4 years of his $79 million contract. And it seems price every penny for Philadelphia.

At the primary public meeting since high lead levels were discovered at 22 Oakland Unified State College schools, district officials condemned the shortage of communication, pointed the finger at those responsible and asked for extra funding and resources.

“The delayed communication of lead test results was completely unacceptable. I sincerely apologize for the stress and anxiety this has caused to our schools, our students and their families,” said district schools Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “We take full responsibility, including a full personnel investigation, for the deficiencies and are committed to ensuring such failures do not occur in the future.”

The district made headlines last week when it announced that prime levels of lead had been present in nearly 200 faucets and fountains within the district's public schools.

Faucets in nearly two dozen schools contained lead levels above the state and federal limit of 15 parts per billion, the district said. And while the district said a lot of the 1,083 faucets tested met Oakland Unified's stricter limit — 5 parts per billion — 70 water coolers and taps also were above the state and federal limit.

A faucet within the cafeteria at Cleveland Elementary School had a lead level of 480 parts per billion, while a kitchen sink at Edna Brewer Middle School had a lead level of 540 parts per billion.

The district's results sparked outrage amongst community members, who expressed concern about how long it took officials to notify families and staff of the test results.

District leaders said at Wednesday's meeting that a median of 62 days passed between receiving water samples and notifying sites. They described the delay in communication as a confidential personnel matter that’s currently under investigation.

The meeting on Wednesday evening, attended by greater than 100 parents, students and staff, featured over an hour of vitriolic comments from the general public and at times downright chaos.

Board members struggled to manage the group, which shouted back during officials' statements and exceeded the one-minute limit per speaker – at the same time as district leaders moved to chop off their microphones.

Community members criticized the district for failing to deal with the “historic” problem of lead in schools' drinking water and for putting the blame on “lower-level personnel.” Yet that very same evening, the district was scheduled to renew the superintendent's nearly $400,000 contract.

“The most heartbreaking thing I had to tell my kids was that the water is not safe to drink,” said Chris Jackson, a special education teacher at Fremont High School. “The fact is, we don't just need good, clear communication. We need good, clear water.”

Board Vice President Mike Hutchinson said the elevated lead levels are attributable to the district's “aging infrastructure” and college facilities, which he said are on average 50 years old.

Hutchinson also called on the town and county to help the district in repairing and improving facilities.

“We need help from the state and federal government to improve our infrastructure,” Hutchinson said. “Our local infrastructure bonds can't get us out of this… We need everyone on board. We don't have the money… to fix this right away.”

Although soldiers know they’ll lose their lives fighting for his or her country, they don't necessarily expect to lose their lives – or those of their family members – to suicide. A 2021 study estimated that 4 times as many Active military personnel and veterans died by suicide, as have died in combat since 9/11.

Despite recent Calls to motion To improve suicide prevention throughout the military, suicide rates amongst military personnel remain elevated. In particular, the active-duty suicide rate within the Army was nearly twice as high as in others energetic military service and greater than two and a half times higher than the Average population. Estimates suggest that suicide rates amongst veterans are even higher 17 or more die by suicide in 2021.

My research The goal is to seek out out what results in high suicide rates in certain groups. Better understanding what causes energetic military personnel and veterans to take into consideration and plan suicide is important to efforts to stop suicide.

Risk aspects for suicide within the military

There are many reasons military members and veterans usually tend to take into consideration suicide and death. In particular, risk aspects could also be different for energetic military members than for veterans.

Some aspects attached to suicide in Active-duty service members experience loneliness, relationship problems, workplace difficulties, trauma, disrupted schedules, increased stress, poor sleep, injuries and chronic pain. In addition to the identical aspects, veterans may additionally encounter difficulties Transition to civilian life.

In addition, military personnel could have an increased propensity for suicide, i.e. a lower fear of death, a high tolerance for pain and familiarity with the use highly lethal agents like firearms.

Rethinking suicide research within the military

Rising suicide rates suggest researchers need to check suicide otherwise to save lots of more lives. Fortunately, several research advances are helping scientists rethink the best way people inside and out of doors the military study suicide.

In my laboratory In a recent study, we used a few of these innovations to What drives suicidal thoughts? amongst military personnel. We asked 92 participants to download an app on their cellphone and complete temporary surveys assessing suicide risk aspects 4 times a day for one month. Using a more moderen statistical method called Network evaluationwe were capable of determine exactly which symptoms related to suicide risk had the best influence on other symptoms at a given cut-off date and over time.

Overall, we found feelings of being ineffective or a burden to others, feelings of not belonging or feeling disconnected from others, and restlessness Important drivers the present and longer-term risk of suicidal thoughts amongst military personnel and veterans.

Increasing effectiveness and belonging

Based on our study results, considering how the military promotes and hinders a way of belonging and effectiveness could help address suicide risk aspects. This could develop into much more essential as technology creates requirements similar to: b. Drone pilots Deployment in isolated facilities can result in energetic military members being less well connected to at least one one other.

Additionally, some active-duty soldiers report task overload – feeling like they’ve an excessive amount of to do without enough time, resources or tools to finish the tasks. They also report an unbalanced variety of working hours prevents rest and reflectionGiving soldiers more time to do and reflect on their jobs could renew their sense of effectiveness and improve their understanding of how they contribute to overall goals.

Additionally, military leadership could find ways to prioritize and reward group-level successes over individual successes. This could lead on to each greater belonging and reduced feelings of ineffectiveness, which in turn could lead on to a discount in suicidal thoughts.

Finally, Relaxation techniquesincluding progressive muscle leisure, massage and mild exercise, could also be helpful in reducing agitation.

There continues to be much work to be done to show the tide within the fight against suicide and to assist those that serve and protect us. If you or someone you’re keen on is enthusiastic about suicide, know that you just will not be alone and that help is offered. For military-specific resources, call 988 then 1 or text 838255. You may also visit: www.veteranscrisisline.net.