Tag Archive for: Lives

City of Refuge offering training that is changing people’s lives – WSB-TV Channel 2


ATLANTA — The US Federal Reserve says Black and brown families earn about half of what white families earn. But there’s a local program that’s designed to change that.

The non-profit City of Refuge is looking for people who are interested in computers to come and take a coding class or a cyber-security class for free. When you’re done, you could get a job paying as much as $85,000 a year.

“I was actually the security guard at the front gate here,” Nicholas Jordan said.

Jordan was a security guard with no college education, but he heard about City of Refuge and its cyber security class.

He graduated in May, has a full-time job and his life is forever changed.

“I’ve doubled my income and I’m in a much more stable place. The things that I’m learning, I’m engaged mentally all the time,” Jordan said.

Harvard University said Black families make one-tenth the income that white families take home.

City of Refuge is trying to change that by offering computer coding and cybersecurity classes for free.

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“Our lowest paying jobs have been in the low 50′s and the highest has been 80, a lot of 65, 75′s in there, full benefit’s, full pay package,” City of Refuge employment specialist Ron Cofiled told Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston.

The department of labor has given City of Refuge a $2.5 million grant to train 280 under-employed or unemployed people. So far, 74 students have graduated. Some 35 people like Sharaima Colson are currently enrolled in the 9-month program.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Colson said.

She said if you want a better life there are opportunities out there.

“I feel very excited about the fact that, me being a middle-aged woman, and I’m able to go out pursue something new and encourage other women, and say, ‘Hey, you can do this too,’” Colson said.

City of Refuge is ready to sign up the next class. In fact, the grant is funded through 2025.

If you would like to enroll, City of Refuge said the next Cyber & Coding Class starts in mid-February 2023. There is an open house every Monday at 1 p.m. at City of Refuge, located at 1300 Joseph E. Boone Boulevard in their workforce hub.

CLICK HERE to apply or email City of Refuge’s lead…

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‘Only matter of time before lives are lost’


Another fire in another long-time vacant building in Cork City has prompted fresh calls for a joint Garda-council approach to tackle vacancy and dereliction.

There are also warnings that it is only a matter of time before lives are lost.

It has also been established that the owners of vacant or derelict properties where fires break out are not billed for the cost of extinguishing the fire — the cost falls on the taxpayer as part of the routine funding of the fire service.

It follows the latest blaze in an old vacant office building on Cork’s south docks in November, which had been secured, emptied of anything of salvageable value, and in an area which was being patrolled by security contractors.

Five units of the Cork CIty Fire Brigade responded to the blaze in the former R+H Hall offices. Picture: Cork City Fire Brigade Twitter
Five units of the Cork CIty Fire Brigade responded to the blaze in the former R+H Hall offices. Picture: Cork City Fire Brigade Twitter

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, who has seen several vacant homes in his constituency damaged by suspicious fires, has now written to city council officials, calling for an urgent meeting between the local authority, gardaí and the fire service to address the issue.

“I am very concerned that a failure to secure these sites, and indeed their vacancy, is adding to the pressure of the emergency services and ultimately putting lives at risk,” he said.

“I am formally requesting that Cork City Council convene a meeting with An Garda Síochána and the fire brigade to identify potentially dangerous derelict sites and put in place an action plan to quickly secure these but also to resolve dangerous dereliction across Cork City.” 

Mr Gould also pointed out that the estimated €3m owed in outstanding derelict sites levies could, if collected, be used to acquire some of these what are in many cases dangerous sites through compulsory purchase order powers, in the hope to transform them.

Suspected arson

It comes as gardaí continue their investigation into the latest fire in a vacant property in the city, which is believed to have been started deliberately.

While in some cases, the fires have been started by people who gain unauthorised access to the properties in a bid to find shelter and keep warm, in other cases, arson is suspected.

Just after 2am on Wednesday,…

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Iran says cyberattack on gas stations meant to ‘disrupt lives’


Massive cyberattack on Iran’s gas stations on Tuesday created shockwaves.

A day after a massive cyberattack disrupted the country’s fuel distribution system, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called for robust measures to “anticipate and prevent” such attacks.

Addressing a Cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Raisi said the aim of the attack was to “disrupt people’s lives,” adding that preventing such attacks is essential.

He also urged the Oil Ministry to take necessary action to “compensate people” for the disruption caused by the attack.

After the meeting, Raisi accompanied by other senior officials visited the ministry to review a probe into the attack and its causes.

The attack took place around 11 am on Tuesday, causing widespread disruption and chaos at gas stations across Iran. It targeted the software that supports a smart card payment for subsidized fuel, used widely in Iran.

Initially, officials attributed the malfunction to “technical glitches”, but hours later it was confirmed to be a high-intensity cyberattack.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for it. Importantly, the attack came on the heels of the anniversary of November 2019 protests in Iran over fuel price hikes.

Without naming anyone, Raisi said attempts are being made to make people angry by sowing disorder and disruption.

“The purpose of this action was to disrupt people’s lives so that they can achieve their specific goals,” he asserted, without elaborating.

Raisi said Iran must be “fully prepared” to deal with cyber warfare and to “prevent the enemy from creating problems” in people’s lives.

Iran has been hit by a series of cyberattacks in recent years, mostly targeting nuclear facilities, petroleum factories, railway stations, and ports.

Officials have on many occasions blamed Israel for the attacks.

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Black Lives Matter protesters say Seattle’s autonomous zone has hijacked message – Fox News

Black Lives Matter protesters say Seattle’s autonomous zone has hijacked message  Fox News
“HTTPS hijacking” – read more