Latest news with #Kristi
Canada News.Net
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Canada News.Net
Vanishing data in the U.S. undermines good public policy, with global implications
The recent tragic floods in Texas have focused attention on the human impact of the cuts to government infrastructure and services in the United States by Donald Trump's administration. Although initial analyses suggest that recent budget cuts and loss of staff played no role in the timeliness of the warnings, many are concerned that a lack of data used to make critical predictions and decisions will increasingly become apparent as a serious problem. As researchers focused on data management (Kristi) and behavioural sciences (Albert) and whose work tackles the significance of research with open access data, we have been concerned about how the data sets that scholars around the world rely on have been vanishing from U.S. government sites. Vanishing data is of dire concern far beyond the U.S., including for Canadians. Danielle Goldfarb, an expert on trade, real-time data, economics and public policy, notes that cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Arctic monitoring programs weaken Canada's ability to assess shared climate risks and global shipping impacts. The American dismantling of key weather reporting also threatens the availability of crucial data for Canada's disaster preparedness. The Canadian data community is watching U.S. events closely, and this has led to the recent founding of the Canadian Data Rescue Project. The project has a dual focus: to support data rescue efforts in the U.S. and to set up preventative life support for Canadian government data. The attack on knowledge in the U.S. began in January 2025 when Trump signed executive orders mandating the removal of information on topics such as diversity and "gender ideology" from government websites. Next, entire websites, data distribution systems and data collection systems began to disappear. The result was not only growing alarm over how the needs of marginalized populations are represented in democratic life and how public safety could be affected, but also concerns about a research and public policy crisis. Environmental data was a major target, with climate change tracking tools disappearing. And as part of the defunding of the Department of Education, nearly all of the staff, including the commissioner at the National Center for Education Statistics, were fired. Government data provides the most fundamental record of how a society works. Health, social, economic and education data collections show a clear picture of how people live, and allow researchers to track how public policy changes affect everyday lives. Government data is a unique resource because governments can require and enforce the collection of accurate information. This data also provides records of the activities of elected governments. Eliminating data collection breaks the system of knowledge that allows governments to work well, and lets the public transparently see how they are working well. Data and budget cuts are already undermining economic policy in the U.S. Inflation is a key indicator of economic health, and was an important electoral issue for Americans, with egg prices and other indicators coming up repeatedly in election campaigns. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics, responsible for monitoring price changes, has been forced by staffing shortages to rely on less accurate data-collection methods. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, economists are questioning the accuracy of the government's inflation data. Similar budget pressures hit climate science. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . This data tracked weather disasters where damages or costs reached or exceeded $1 billion and helped local and state governments plan, allocate budgets and advocate for funding. Employment losses are also expected. Internationally, shuttering the U.S. Agency for International Development has led to data losses that will severely hinder global development goals. The Demographic and Health Surveys program helped governments of many low- and middle-income countries collect health and service data. Losing aid funding will harm people directly. Losing the data will worsen that harm by preventing governments from making informed decision on allocating scarce resources, and it will hide how much harm is being done. Data destruction is a way to disrupt and control discourse by limiting what can be known. Without data, questions like "What impact are climate-related disasters having?" or "What's the inflation rate?" are unanswerable. It becomes harder to effectively critique government actions. If data destruction is an act of political suppression, then data preservation can be an act of political resistance. In February 2025, several U.S. academic and non-profit associations got together to form the Data Rescue Project. They have worked to download data files, create documentation and prepare the data for publication on donated platforms. While researchers are unable to change the termination of data collection programs, they are preserving as much data as possible so researchers and critics can at least access information. The Canadian Data Rescue Project has hosted three data rescue events to create documentation for rescued American data sets, and is setting up processes to download and archive Canadian government data as a safeguarding measure. Disappearing data could happen here, and similar events have. Stephen Harper's Conservative government cut data collection programs and issued gag orders to federal scientists. The federal government reduced funding for environmental data collection and eliminated the First Nations Statistical Institute. research on post-secondary education in Canada has been undermined by a systematic elimination of resources." With the termination of varied education bodies or councils also came a scarcity of data. resignation of Canada's national statistician and disrupting the baseline for all social and health data collection in Canada over the next few years. Subsequent governments restored the census and some other data-collection programs, but in the case of education, researchers say some of the pains now being felt in the sector can be traced back to this period. about what it values by what it chooses to count. health to climate and weather forecasting. We now need a national response to help mitigate the effects of data destruction.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Donald Trump Was Asked About His Message To Texas Families Who Are Angry About Late Flood Alerts, And His Response Is Going Viral For Being "Sick Beyond Belief"
At this point in Donald Trump's presidency, many people have given up hope of Trump behaving like a leader during a tragedy. Most recently, a bizarre moment from Trump's visit to Texas after the floods proves that he's not changing anytime soon. Related: A clip of Trump insulting a reporter for questioning Texas's late flood alerts on behalf of victims' families is going viral: Reporter: Several families are upset because they're saying the alerts didn't go out in time. What do you say to those families?Trump: I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances… Only an evil person would ask a question like that — Acyn (@Acyn) July 11, 2025 CSPAN / Twitter: @Acyn "Several families we've heard from are obviously upset because they say that those warnings, those alerts, didn't go out in time, and they also say that people could've been saved. What do you say to those families?" a reported asked. Related: "Well I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances. This was, I guess, Kristi said, a one in five hundred, one in a thousand years, and uh, I just have admiration for the job that everybody did." "Only a bad person would ask a question like that to be honest with you. I don't know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that." Related: "I think this has been heroism. This has been incredible, really. The job that you've all done. It's easy to sit back and say, 'Ooh, what could have happened here or there,' you know. Like we could've done something differently. This was a thing that's never happened before." As you can guess, this clip is not going over well online. "He fucked up. They fucked up. And the kids died. So he's trying to act like it's an offensive question because he thinks you are stupid," one person wrote. This person called Trump's comments "horrific." Related: "Showing concern for your family is evil to him because he despises his own family. This is sick beyond belief," another person wrote. "This is so so so pathetic. He's like a child who will do ANYTHING except admit a mistake and apologize. Clearly there were things your administration could do better moving forward. Talk about THAT to learn how we can better mitigate this in the future instead of being like." What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below. Also in In the News: Also in In the News: Also in In the News:
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Donald Trump Was Asked About His Message To Texas Families Who Are Angry About Late Flood Alerts, And His Response Is Going Viral For Being "Sick Beyond Belief"
At this point in Donald Trump's presidency, many people have given up hope of Trump behaving like a leader during a tragedy. Most recently, a bizarre moment from Trump's visit to Texas after the floods proves that he's not changing anytime soon. Related: A clip of Trump insulting a reporter for questioning Texas's late flood alerts on behalf of victims' families is going viral: Reporter: Several families are upset because they're saying the alerts didn't go out in time. What do you say to those families?Trump: I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances… Only an evil person would ask a question like that — Acyn (@Acyn) July 11, 2025 CSPAN / Twitter: @Acyn "Several families we've heard from are obviously upset because they say that those warnings, those alerts, didn't go out in time, and they also say that people could've been saved. What do you say to those families?" a reported asked. Related: "Well I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances. This was, I guess, Kristi said, a one in five hundred, one in a thousand years, and uh, I just have admiration for the job that everybody did." "Only a bad person would ask a question like that to be honest with you. I don't know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that." Related: "I think this has been heroism. This has been incredible, really. The job that you've all done. It's easy to sit back and say, 'Ooh, what could have happened here or there,' you know. Like we could've done something differently. This was a thing that's never happened before." As you can guess, this clip is not going over well online. "He fucked up. They fucked up. And the kids died. So he's trying to act like it's an offensive question because he thinks you are stupid," one person wrote. This person called Trump's comments "horrific." Related: "Showing concern for your family is evil to him because he despises his own family. This is sick beyond belief," another person wrote. "This is so so so pathetic. He's like a child who will do ANYTHING except admit a mistake and apologize. Clearly there were things your administration could do better moving forward. Talk about THAT to learn how we can better mitigate this in the future instead of being like." What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below. Also in In the News: Also in In the News: Also in In the News:
Hospitality Net
09-06-2025
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Kristi Grotsch has been promoted Hotel Manager at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto
Kristi joined Four Seasons in 2022 as Director of Food and Beverage at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, bringing more than 16 years of experience in luxury hospitality. Prior to Four Seasons, she held leadership roles in food and beverage and quality improvement at several luxury hotels, providing strategic oversight across various operational departments. Kristi has also served in a learning and development role in Dubai, overseeing 15 hotels across 10 countries in the Americas, Middle East, Europe and India, later returning to Toronto to focus on operational service excellence for the Americas. Known for her passion and drive, Kristi consistently elevates team performance and guest experience - values that align with Four Seasons commitment to excellence.
Local Norway
28-05-2025
- Local Norway
Norwegian word of the day: Kristi Himmelfartsdag
Kristi Himmelfartsdag literally translates as Christ's heaven travel day, which pretty accurately describes why the day is celebrated. It always falls 40 days after Easter, which also means that it's always on a Thursday. Like Easter, the date is decided based on the cycle of the moon, so the date varies each year. The etymology behind the name of the holiday is interesting, as the word Kristi is actually a unique genitive form of the Norwegian word for Christ, Kristus. Speakers of German and most Slavic languages will know that the genitive case is used when talking about possession. In English and in Norwegian, this is expressed by adding an -s to the end of the person or thing to who the object belongs to (e.g. the man's house or mannens hus ) – So Kristi Himmelfartsdag should be written literally as Christ's journey to heaven day or Kristus Himmelfartsdag . Advertisement However, in Latin, the genitive form of Christus is Christi. In religious contexts, Norwegian has imported this form of the word as Kristi. Himmel , the second bit of the word, is the Norwegian word for heaven, and fart means speed or motion. Finally, dag is the word for day. The day is a red day, or rød dag, and has remained so even after Norway split the church from the state in 2017. Ascension Day, therefore, means a day of work and school for most people in Norway. As the holiday always falls on a Thursday, Friday is an inneklemt dag , meaning it is squeezed between a public holiday and a weekend. This means many who have planned ahead will have also booked the Friday off to enjoy four days off.
