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Did IBM Just Break Blockchain? | Crypto winter, which has produced a massive market correction on bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices, may now extend the big chill on blockchain as well. Beyond the rather convenient management consulting dismissals that blockchain hype has slipped into the valley of disillusionment, the worlds most resilient technology may face its first serious technological challenge with IBMs announcement of commercially ready quantum computing. While blockchain and distributed ledger technologies come in many shapes and sizes, proponents of the bitcoin blockchain and other public ledgers have long advocated for the property of resilience by design. Some going as far as claiming that the bitcoin blockchain is unhackable by todays technological standards, due in no small measure to the distributed, encrypted and consensus-driven mechanisms that require broad agreement among many systems to ledger a transaction. This hardened posture of blockchain has up until now and by todays technological standards proven to be very resilient indeed. One study claimed that to hack the bitcoin blockchain was as likely as winning the Powerball lottery 9 times consecutively. Those odds, which no betting person would wager on, have just received a considerable challenge with the advent commercially viable quantum competing as IBM introduces the first generation of the IBM Q System One the q standing for qubit, which is the basic unit of quantum information. The claims that true blockchains are unhackable or the more accurate designation hack resistant negates the reality that complex systems fail in complex ways. This much is true especially when you countenance an evolving cyber risk landscape that is propelled by Moores law, as much as the miniaturization and commercialization of quantum computing is now a market reality and several years ahead of schedule at that. The answer is a cautious no, at least for now. Any would-be exploit of true blockchains or a large-scale crypto heist exploiting quantum computing, despite IBMs announcement, can only be carried out by a nation state actor or a very determined enterprise with deep pockets and a lot of physical space. The 9 by 9 tower encasing IBMs quantum computer hearkens to the mainframes of the early days of computing, which filled entire rooms. But as a first foray into the democratization of quantum computing, IBM has made a considerable first move. This first version will of course continue to evolve apace with technological advancements and market adoption, which will then imply further miniaturization and, hence, proliferation of the computing power necessary to fall into nefarious hands. When this occurs, which may be as soon as 2020, true blockchain projects and large crypto nest eggs in the hands of even the most cyber mature digital asset custodians may face a hitherto unimaginable peril. Just as 51% attacks where once considered improbable, the prospect of quantum computing power being arrayed against blockchain and the valuable treasures and truths they hold have now entered the realm of possibility, albeit remote. Blockchain technology, like cloud computing or that other foundational technology the internet before it, is very much in its infancy, despite bitcoins tenth anniversary. Serious players, including IBM and other technology majors, are also evolving with blockchain and, critically, their management understanding of the underlying technology and how it can impact core functions of their business and the economy overall. To this end, blockchains evolution, efficiency and security are also not constants, but evolving at the rate of technology innovation as well. One crucial item to remember about blockchain, like all other technologies in the digital transformation toolbox, is that it is not to be used in isolation or as a constant, no matter how permanent data may be on its records. Like the migration to cloud computing, which is a largely uninsured and risk-prone option, blockchain and advanced technologies are infinitely better and safer than many of the legacy, honey pot systems and databases used today. These very legacy systems are easily broken by low-cost high-impact social engineering, phishing and targeted whaling scams, cyber extortion and comparatively unsophisticated ransomware attacks that do not require millions spent on quantum computing. So, despite IBMs impressive foray into leveling the quantum computing playing field, blockchain advocates and digital change leaders need not worry for now. They likely face greater risk from project selection and execution in educating their board rooms than from technological vulnerabilities. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/dantedisparte/2019/01/09/did-ibm-just-break-blockchain/ |
When And How Will Our Sun Eventually Die? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Viktor T. Toth, IT pro, part-time physicist, on Quora: The sun will not stop shining for a very, very long time. The Sun, along with the solar system, is approximately 4.5 billion years old. That is about one third the age of the entire Universe. For the next several billion years, the Sun is going to get brighter. Perhaps paradoxically, this will eventually result in a loss of carbon dioxide in the Earths atmosphere, which is not good news; it will eventually lead to the death of plant life. By 2.53 billion years from now, the surface temperature of the Earth will exceed the boiling point of water everywhere. The process continues; by about 45 billion years from now, the Earth will be in worse shape than Venus today, with most of the water gone, and the planets surface partially molten. Eventually, the Sun will evolve into a red giant star, large enough to engulf the Earth. Its luminosity will be several thousand times its luminosity at present. Finally, with all its usable nuclear fuel exhausted and its outer layers ejected into space, the Suns core settles down into the final stage of its evolution as a white dwarf. Such a star no longer produces energy through nuclear fusion, but it contains tremendous amounts of stored heat, in a very small volume (most of the mass of the Sun will be confined to a volume not much larger than the Earth). As such, it will cool very, very slowly. It will take many more billions of years for it to cool from an initial temperature of hundreds of thousands of degrees to its present-day temperature and below. But in the end, the remnant of the Sun will slowly fade from sight, becoming a brown dwarf: a cooling, dead remnant of a star. This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/01/09/when-and-how-will-our-sun-eventually-die/ |
Do Employers Really Want 'Gritty' Workers Who May Be More Inclined To Blow The Whistle? | Pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth, author of New York Times Bestseller, Grit, The Power of Passion and Perseverance, compelling presents her hypothesis that what really drives success is not genius but a unique combination of passion and long-term perseverance she calls grit. Im a firm believer that grit is the single most important quality to nurture in our youth. Absent surplus grit, I would never have enjoyed the success Ive had over the past 35 years investigating and blowing the whistle on corporate wrongdoing. However, celebrating the pinnacle of grit without addressing the dark side of the mountain is foolhardy. Workers with abundant passion and perseverance may, rightly or wrongly, be perceived by corporate employers as more difficult to manage or control. I question whether corporate employers, including high achievers such as J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, whom Ms. Duckworth interviewed for her book, really seek and eagerly hire gritty workers. Until the day integrity in corporate affairs is required, Americas corporations may be well-advised to stay clear of the principled and persistent. A personal story may illustrate my point. Decades ago, I received an offer to serve as Legal Counsel and Director of Compliance to a major money manager which was contingent upon passing a 12-hour personal interview with the corporate psychologist. (All senior managers were so required and regularly shared with one another their surreal, twisted, somewhat humorous experiences with the company shrink.) My interview took place in an extravagant suite in a luxury hotel from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with lunch and dinner, including drinks, served in the suite. The methodology employed consisted of intermittent relatively light-weight psychological/personality testing and lists of questions to be answered and subsequently discussed. Some of the questions were seemingly repetitive, only worded slightly different each time. For example, I was asked questions like: Whats the worst thing that ever happened to you? What was the most difficult time in your life? What was the greatest challenge you ever had to overcome? In my case, the answer to all of the above questions was the disappearance and brutal murder of my father by Idi Amin in Uganda, East Africa when I was barely 17 years old. In responding to the shrinks questioning, I related the circumstances surrounding my fathers disappearance and his involvement with American intelligence; the trauma of being orphaned and penniless at a young age due to the inability to legally probate his estate (without his body); the successful lawsuit against the Ugandan government which funded my undergraduate and legal education; and my accomplishments working at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulating the money management industry. In short, I related my personal story of persistence in overcoming extreme adversity to achieve some measure of justice, as well as early success in the business world. Grit. I thought I had done well in the psychological interview but toward the end, after the shrink had had a couple of vodkas, he blew the back of my head off with a zinger. He said, I think you enjoy talking about your fathers murder because it makes you seem more interesting. Wow. Regrouping, I sarcastically (thinly masking my anger) responded, So you think I had my father murdered to amuse you? Somehow, I passed the interview, got the job, was quickly given a substantial raise and promoted. Initially, all went swimmingly. A few years later, I blew the whistle on longstanding wrongdoing at the company. If the company wanted an unimpeachable watchdog to enforce compliance with the federal securities laws, then, I submit, clearly I had the right stuff. However, based upon my personal story, the company could have reasonably concluded I was a bad fit for a corporate culture that, at a minimum, tolerated lawlessness. The company could have predicted that, if I encountered wrongdoing in my work, I would report it to regulators. I believe that individuals who demonstrate great grit are probably more likely to diligently adhere to their own values and fight for them. As much as I hate to say it that probably makes these individuals more likely, in my opinion, to blow the whistle on corporate wrongdoing they encounter. A strong moral compass makes it more difficult to follow the corporate herd. In my career I have met and represented dozens of other whistleblowers, some of whom have been West Point and Ivy League graduates, seasoned multi-billion dollar portfolio managers, and other high achievers of the sort interviewed by Ms. Duckworth in her book. Other whistleblowers were perhaps less impressively credentialed or accomplished, diligently working in the trenches. For example, Chris Tobe, a former trustee of the Kentucky pension system who blew the whistle to the SEC about placement agent abuses at the pension. All of the successful whistleblowers I have encountered possessed passion and perseverance in the face of overwhelming organizational resistance. In a word, grit. So, like Duckworth, I believe we should celebrate and teach grit. But lets be realistic and warn that passionate and persistent people do not always receive the praise and rewards they deservein fact, they often are rejected and fail. And thats precisely why they need to passionate and persistent until they achieve success as they define it. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsiedle/2019/01/09/do-employers-really-want-gritty-workers-who-may-be-more-inclined-to-blow-the-whistle/ |
How Do We Define "Big Data" And Just What Counts As A "Big Data" Analysis? | I used to open my data science talks back in 2013 by saying I had just run several hundred analyses the previous day over a 100-petabyte database totaling more than 30 trillion rows, with more than 200 indicators incorporated into the analysis. When I would ask the audience whether this counted as a big data analysis, there was typically unanimous assent. However, when I noted that what I had done was run a bunch of Google searches and that every day people all over the world were running billions of identical analyses over Googles 100 petabyte index, suddenly the audience usually changed its mind and argued this was clearly not a big data analysis, it was merely search. Indeed, it seems hardly satisfying to argue that a 10-year-old running a Google search should count as a bleeding edge big data analyst. With just over a trillion tweets sent in its history as of Spring 2018 and growing at a rate of around 350 million tweets a day at the time spanning text, images, audio and video, Twitter would seem a nearly textbook example of the traditional three Vs of volume, velocity and variety of big data. The problem is that the overwhelming majority of all Twitter analyses look at just a microscopic subset of the full trillion tweet archive. Take a researcher who uses a keyword search to identify all tweets since Twitters founding that contained a certain keyword and comes up with a dataset of 100,000 tweets. If the actual analysis involves performing sentiment mining on the matching tweets, then at the end of the day the actual analysis itself is only being performed on 100,000 tweets. All of the resulting findings, patterns and results represent not the contents of a trillion tweets, but rather just 100,000 tweets. Moreover, many commercial social media analysis platforms that offer advanced tools like sentiment mining or topical tagging, apply their algorithms only to a random sample of the total results, sometimes as low as 1,000 randomly selected tweets out of the total search results. In 2013 Facebooks internal enterprise data warehouse held more than 250PB of data. Yet, according to the company just 320TB of that data was queried per day. In short, while Facebook held an impressive 250 petabytes of data at the time, just one tenth of one percent of that data was actually queried each day. The rest was merely archived at rest. In Facebooks case in 2013, having a 250PB warehouse was quite impressive and still is even by 2019 standards. From the standpoint of the size of the underlying dataset, Facebooks analyses are clearly big data if data size alone is our metric. Examining 320TB is still quite impressive. However, divided by the 850 employees per day conducting those 320TB of queries, this works out to just an average of 376GB per day per user, which, while still large, is far less notable. Saying your data mart runs hundreds of terabytes of queries per day may be impressive. Saying a small set of employees run a few hundred gigabytes of queries per day is not. Facebook is not alone in the fact that most analyses consider only a small fraction of the dataset they are examining. A month of the Twitter Decahose in 2012 contained 2.8TB of uncompressed JSON. Yet, most Twitter analyses are likely to focus only on the text of those tweets, which accounts for only 112.7GB, just 4% of the entire dataset. Indeed, this is one of the reasons production analytic platforms like Googles BigQuery utilize columnar storage formats. A massive neural network might take days to run on a multi-petaflop system and examine tens of petabytes of data but yield just a single go / no-go result. Does that still count as big data? Given that many "big data" analyses are designed to extract simple findings like timelines or "go / no-go" results from massive piles of input data, it would seem the size of the output data would be a less than satisfactory metric for assessing what precisely counts as a "big data" analysis. These feed into the larger question of big data management versus big data analysis. I once sat on an advisory board with a CIO of a Fortune 50 company that argued his company was at the bleeding edge of the big data revolution in its industry because it had petabytes of data. Yet, when I asked what accounted for all that data, he said it was all the backup images of its tens of thousands of desktop and laptop computers and that they almost never actually accessed the data. Maintaining an on-premises multi-petabyte storage infrastructure certainly can be a major endeavor and require specialized hardware and software engineering. At the same time, keeping a few petabytes in cold storage with just a handful of accesses per year involves very different engineering requirements than building a realtime analytic platform that can perform complex analyses over petabytes in minutes, thousands of times per day. Similarly, by 2013 CERN archived more than 100PB of data. However, only 13PB was stored on disk, with the remaining 88PB across eight robotic archival tape libraries. Does storing data on tape, where it must be staged back onto disk with extremely long latencies to actually use it, still count as big data? Again, the answer revolves around whether big data counts only analysis of large datasets or also the operational complexities of storing large datasets, whether or not they are actually accessed. By 2012 Facebook stored more than 100PB of photos and videos from its users in what amounted to a giant file server. Data on a file server is actually accessed, rather than sitting in cold storage, but somehow it doesnt seem satisfying to count a file server as big data analysis. Putting this into perspective, five years ago Google, Facebook and CERN all had 100PB datasets. Googles 100PB was used for keyword search. CERNs was majority cold stored on tape. Facebooks was on-disk but accessed as a fileserver. To put another way, if a Fortune 50 company builds an on-premise five petabyte tape backup system for its global desktop backup program, it at least can argue that it is managing a petascale storage fabric. On the other hand, if all those desktops simply upload their backup images directly to the public cloud, it is the cloud that is running the petascale storage fabric. Of course, this is the point of the commercial cloud, to outsource petascale storage and analytics to the companies that have pioneered it. In 2013 the Large Hadron Collider generated more than one petabyte of data per second, an immense volume even by 2019s standards. However, that data isnt actually stored. A specialized prefiltering process selected just 1/10,000th of that data stream, yielding just 100 gigabytes per second, which is still significant, but then that was reduced by a further 99% to just one gigabyte per second. From a petabyte per second of raw data down to just one gigabyte per second of actual data that was archived, only 25 petabytes per year was actually needed for long term storage. A company that instruments its vehicle fleet with GPS trackers could theoretically record the location of each vehicle millions of times per second and generate petabytes of data per day. In reality, GPS hardware simply doesnt update that fast and such high precision data would likely be of little use, so recording every few seconds or every minute might be a far more useful metric. Does data have to be stored in digital format for it to be considered big data? By 2012 Google had scanned and digitized more than 20 million books, producing an immense archive of scanned page imagery, OCRd text and search indexes. At the same time, the traditional academic library is more often associated in the public mind with dust and obsolescence than bleeding edge big data technology. In the end, there are no easy answers, but as we increasingly tout everything and anything as big data it is worth stepping back to ask what precisely we mean. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2019/01/09/how-do-we-define-big-data-and-just-what-counts-as-a-big-data-analysis/ |
What Is an ETF? | Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have taken the investing world by storm, and investors have piled into them to take advantage of the opportunities that they provide. All told, investors have put about $3.5 trillion into ETFs as of October 2018 according to the Investment Company Institute's statistics, and hundreds of different ETFs are available for purchase. The popularity of ETFs owes itself to their unique characteristics and features. We'll go into great detail below about what ETFs are and why they're useful for investors, but above all, ETFs have opened the door to a wide variety of investments to which many investors had never before been able to gain access. With their efficiency, diversification, simplicity, and broad focus, ETFs have benefits that no other investment vehicle can match. Exchange-traded funds are baskets of different types of investments that are pooled together into a single entity, which then offers shares to investors that are subsequently traded on major stock exchanges. Each share of an ETF gives its owner a proportional stake in the total assets of the exchange-traded fund. ETFs generally track various benchmarks, with each fund investing with the objective of matching the returns of the benchmark that the fund has chosen. There are a few ETFs that have portfolio managers that actively select their own investments, but because of the disclosure rules that require such funds to tell investors about their holdings on a daily basis, most managers who want to manage money using active management strategies choose vehicles other than ETFs. Image source: Getty Images. Most ETFs are considered to be registered investment companies for tax purposes. That means that they rarely pay any corporate taxes at the fund level, but any taxable income that they bring in is required to be passed through to their shareholders. For instance, ETF investors who focus on funds that invest in dividend-paying stocks are entitled to receive their proportional share of the dividend income that the ETF generates from its investment portfolio. Funds typically accumulate dividends over short periods of time and then distribute the total at regular intervals, such as quarterly or annually. One unique aspect of ETFs is how shares get created and redeemed. Rather than working directly with shareholders, most ETFs use special market makers to facilitate trade. These market makers can create new ETF shares by purchasing the underlying stocks or other investments held by the fund and delivering them to the ETF company, which in turn issues shares that the market maker can sell. Conversely, the market maker can deliver a large block of ETF shares to the fund company and get the corresponding investment securities back in kind. This structure ensures that the market for ETFs remains efficient, and it also contributes to some of the tax advantages you'll learn about in more detail below. The advantages of ETFs have contributed to their nearly ubiquitous use in the financial markets. The biggest benefit to investors of ETFs is that you don't need to have a lot of money to invest in exchange-traded fund shares, and each share gives you exposure to a well-diversified portfolio of investments. Most ETF shares trade for $100 or less, but even one share will give you a small fractional interest in dozens or even hundreds of different companies. By contrast, if those with limited money to invest instead decide to buy shares of just one or two individual stocks, then they risk losing everything if something bad happens to those particular companies. Of course, they also have the opportunity to see dramatic returns if those individual companies do particularly well, which is less likely with a well-diversified ETF. Nevertheless, most investors are more comfortable with the steady profit potential that exchange-traded funds offer. Besides their ease of access, you can find ETFs that cover almost the entire range of available investment assets in the financial markets. Stock ETFs are by far the most common, but you can also find funds that target other asset classes. Bond ETFs, commodity ETFs, foreign exchange ETFs, and hybrid ETFs that mix and match multiple types of assets are readily available if you want exposure. In addition, the way that ETFs target those asset classes differs. Some ETFs aim to give you the broadest possible swath of investments in a given asset class, seeking to offer an entire market in a single fund. Other ETFs drill down on particular subsectors of an asset class, letting you benefit from trends that favor one industry or type of company over rivals or companies in completely different areas of the market. Given that there are so many ETFs on the market, the odds of finding one that matches up with your particular desires for investing are better than you might think. For budget-conscious investors, ETFs also offer a fairly cost-effective way to invest. Most ETFs don't charge extremely high management fees, because the responsibilities that the fund manager has are limited to doing whatever's necessary to track the performance of the index that the ETF has chosen as its benchmark. That saves ETFs the cost of paying investment professionals to pick certain investments over others in the hopes of outperforming the market. When you compare the typical fees that ETFs charge to those of similar options for diversified exposure to a particular asset class, you'll often find that the ETF offers the lowest-cost option available. The only thing to keep in mind on this final point is that there are some costs that are unique to ETFs. Because ETF shares trade on exchanges, you'll usually have to pay a commission to your brokerage company in order to make purchases and sales of given ETFs. Yet in part because of their popularity, many ETF providers that also have affiliated brokerage companies allow their own brokerage customers to buy and sell ETF shares at no commission. That gives both the ETFs and the brokerage division a competitive advantage over their rivals. Yet even if you do end up paying a commission, the rise of discount brokers has made it a lot less painful to bear that cost than it was in the distant past. Many investors who are just getting acquainted with ETFs already have some experience with mutual funds. That makes sense because the mutual fund market is older and quite a bit larger than the ETF market. Even with the rise of ETFs, mutual fund assets dwarf them, with more than $18.4 trillion in assets as of October 2018. However, the mutual fund market has grown less than 1% over the past year, compared to nearly 7% growth for ETF assets, so ETFs are closing the gap. Mutual funds have a lot of similarities to ETFs. They're pools of investments that match up with a given investment objective, and investors can buy shares of mutual funds in small dollar amounts to get access to a diversified portfolio of investment holdings. Index mutual funds track specific benchmarks just like most ETFs do, but there are more actively managed mutual funds than there are actively managed ETFs. Mutual funds are also treated as regulated investment companies in determining income tax liability, and you can find a wide variety of mutual funds that cover asset classes including stocks, bonds, and cash as well as certain other types of investments. Like ETFs, mutual funds pass their costs through to their investors, and the expenses for index mutual funds are fairly similar to what an ETF investor would pay. Yet that's where some of the similarities end, because actively managed mutual funds are in a completely different league in terms of cost. Typical actively managed mutual funds charge roughly 1% of investors' assets every year. That compares to less than a tenth that much for a wide swath of ETFs, as well as index mutual funds. The drain on your investment returns that the fees for active management represents is one of the biggest contributors to the relative growth of the ETF industry compared to mutual funds. One key difference between mutual funds and ETFs is when you can trade shares. For mutual funds, you're only able to buy and sell fund shares as of the close of regular trading on weekdays. Even if you enter an order first thing in the morning, nothing happens until the end of the trading day. That can create huge lags that in turn can cause you to get a much different price for your mutual fund shares than you had initially expected at the time you entered your purchase or sale order. By contrast, because you can trade ETFs any time the market's open, you're able to react quickly to news that moves the market. Sometimes, that can mean capitalizing on a favorable opportunity that might well have disappeared by the time the market closes. Also, mutual funds have some negative tax attributes that most ETFs are able to avoid. Especially for mutual funds that are actively managed, when the fund sells shares of its holdings at a profit, it has to distribute the resulting capital gains tax liability to its shareholders. These distributions typically happen at year-end, and if you hold your mutual fund shares in a regular taxable account, then you can end up having to pay substantial amounts of capital gains tax as a result. This is true even if you automatically reinvest the distribution into additional fund shares. The IRS won't hesitate to tax those mutual fund capital gains distributions -- even if you never touch the cash. As you'll see in more detail below, ETFs are able to avoid some of these tax pitfalls, allowing investors to keep more of their hard-earned money. Less well-known than mutual funds or ETFs are closed-end funds. This relatively small $270 billion market mixes some attributes of mutual funds and ETFs. Closed-end funds are structurally similar to mutual funds, and they've been around a lot longer than ETFs. However, closed-end fund shares trade on stock exchanges, giving you the same advantages of immediate trading access that ETFs provide. The big difference between ETFs and closed-end funds is in the number of total shares outstanding. Exchange-traded funds have mechanisms whereby certain market participants have the ability to create or redeem large blocks of ETF shares with the financial institution that manages the ETF. As a result, when there's high demand for ETF shares, these market participants can go to the ETF manager and make a block purchase of shares that it can then turn around and sell to individual investors on the exchange. By contrast, with closed-end funds, there are only a fixed number of fund shares available at any given time. The company that manages the closed-end fund does not have the ability to issue new shares at will. Instead, any subsequent offerings of shares have to be handled in the same way that a publicly traded company issues new stock in secondary offerings, with registration and regulatory requirements. Because closed-end fund companies rarely choose to do that, supply and demand considerations among investors seeking out a fund play a huge role in the price of closed-end shares. If everyone's interested in a particular fund, then those shares might well trade at a premium above what the proportional value of the fund's underlying assets would suggest is the appropriate number. If a particular fund falls out of favor, then the shares can trade much more cheaply than the value of the assets held within the fund. Because fund investors can't demand that the fund turn over its underlying investments, these premiums or discounts can persist for years. Closed-end funds have mostly fallen out of favor, because they tend to be actively managed and have fees that are even higher than their traditional mutual fund counterparts, let alone typical ETFs. Nevertheless, there are some areas of the financial markets in which closed-end funds continue to prosper. ETF investors can usually get a better deal by seeking out exchange-traded funds with similar investment objectives. As mentioned above, ETFs typically pass through the tax attributes of the income their investments generate. If an ETF holds stocks whose dividends qualify for favorable tax treatment, then shareholders will get the benefits of that treatment. Similarly, holders of ETFs that invest in tax-free bonds don't have to pay income tax on the interest payments they receive from the ETF. ETFs have some key tax advantages over mutual funds. ETFs and mutual funds are both required to pass through any tax liability to their shareholders on an annual basis, but mutual funds tend to make trades in their investment portfolios more frequently than ETFs. That results in greater capital gains tax liability that gets passed through to mutual fund shareholders year after year. Conversely, ETF investors are largely able to avoid having to pay taxes related to capital gains during the period as long as they hold on to their ETF shares. ETFs are broken into various categories: Stock ETFs focus on owning individual stocks. Bond ETFs primarily own bonds. Commodities ETFs put their money into various commodity-linked investments. By far, the majority of assets in ETFs are invested in stock funds, with less than 20% going into bonds, commodities, and hybrid-style ETFs. There are further subdivisions in these categories. For stock funds, nearly three times as much money is invested in U.S.-focused stock ETFs than in international or global stock ETFs. Out of almost $2.1 trillion in money dedicated to U.S. stock funds, about $1.7 trillion is in broad-based ETFs that seek to cover wide swaths of the entire stock market. By comparison, only about $375 billion is invested in more focused ETFs that drill down on specific sectors or industry groups within the market. Most stock ETFs weight their holdings by the market capitalization of the companies they hold, so a fund's position in a stock with a market cap of $10 billion would be twice that of another stock with a $5 billion market cap. However, there are notable exceptions to this rule, with some using equal-weight strategies while others use different fundamental business metrics like earnings or dividends to decide how much of each stock to own. In addition to these categories, there are some other kinds of ETFs you should be familiar with: Leveraged ETFs offer returns that are some multiple of the return of the underlying index. For instance, one popular leveraged ETF is set up to generate daily returns that are equal to twice the return of the S&P 500 index. If the S&P climbs 1% in a day, then the ETF should rise 2%. If the index falls 1%, then the ETF will lose 2%. Inverse ETFs are set up to move in the opposite direction of the underlying index. For instance, an inverse S&P 500 fund would rise 1% if the S&P fell 1% on that day, but the ETF would lose 1% if the S&P rose 1%. Inverse ETFs can also be leveraged to produce some multiple of the inverse of the daily return of the index. There are also some exchange-traded products that aren't funds at all. Some financial companies structure products as debt, with exchange-traded notes being available on major stock exchanges just like ETFs. ETNs share a lot in common with ETFs, but one key distinction to understand is that ETNs represent debt obligations of the company that sponsors them. There's therefore credit risk involved, and unlike how most ETFs work, an ETN doesn't actually have to hold any assets related to the index that it tracks. 4 simple tips to find the right ETF for you With hundreds of different offerings to choose from, there's no perfect set of ETFs that's right for everyone. However, in order to come up with a customized list of ETFs that fit your own particular investment strategy, you'll want to consider following this four-part plan: First, decide how much of your money you want to allocate very broadly across asset classes. For instance, investors seeking a balanced investing approach with a slight bias toward faster growth might decide to put 60% of their money into stock ETFs and 40% into bond ETFs. More conservative investors would likely put less money into stocks, while those seeking more aggressive growth could reduce their bond ETF allocations. Second, figure out whether you're comfortable with broad exposure to the entire stock or bond market, or if you'd prefer to have a more discerning approach to investment selection. It's easy to find broad exposure through ETFs that track some of the most popular stock and bond market indexes in the market, such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Picking individual sectors or industry groups gets a lot more customized, but you can generally find ETFs that will get the job done. Third, unless there's a compelling reason to do otherwise, eliminate any ETF that charges more than 0.10% in expenses. It might seem overly miserly to insist on this step, but once you build up a sizable nest egg, even small percentages going to expenses add up to a lot of money. Having $1 million invested in an ETF can save you a boatload of money compared to the $10,000 per year that a mutual fund with a 1% expense ratio would charge -- but even 0.10% means $1,000 going out of your hands into the pockets of your ETF provider each and every year. As you'll see below, there are some circumstances in which it's impossible to find a good ETF with that low an expense ratio that covers the specific area you're interested in, but even then, finding the lowest-cost provider available is a valuable exercise. Last, once you've identified low-cost ETFs that match up with the investment objectives you think will do best over the long run, see if you can score any deals that will reduce your fees even further. If you like ETFs from a particular family of funds, see if there's a way to get access to those funds without paying commissions. Especially if you want to make regular additions to your investment account, finding a commission-free option can save you thousands over the course of your lifetime. Obviously, where you end up going through these steps will be a lot different from what another investor might choose. But neither of you is wrong. As long as you're comfortable that the ETF you've selected will give you exposure to investments you think will do well, then following the simple four-step process above should give you good candidates. To help give you a sense of which ETFs are most likely to fit with these criteria, you'll find four solid choices below. ETF Assets Under Management Expense Ratio 5-Year Total Return SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEMKT: SPY) $240 billion 0.09% 52% Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (NYSEMKT: VWO) $56.1 billion 0.14% 12% iShares Core MSCI EAFE (NYSEMKT: IEFA) $52.8 billion 0.08% 8% Vanguard Total Bond Market (NASDAQ: BND) $36.6 billion 0.05% 13% Data source: Fund companies. Each of these ETFs covers a different part of the investing universe. The SPDR S&P 500 was the first major exchange-traded fund available to investors. It aims to match the return of the S&P 500 Index by owning all 500 of the U.S. companies that are its components. By contrast, the Vanguard and iShares ETFs listed above focus on international stocks, with the Vanguard fund looking at emerging market economies while the iShares fund owns shares of companies based in established developed-market economies. Note that the emerging markets ETF has an expense ratio above the 0.10% threshold mentioned earlier -- that's because investing in these small international markets is more expensive than making similar investments in the U.S., but rest assured that the Vanguard ETF's expenses are among the lowest available in this category of ETFs. Finally, the Vanguard bond ETF owns a broad swath of fixed-income securities. These include Treasury bonds, debt issued by various government entities, and corporate bonds representing company borrowings. Don't let their returns trick you: despite being a tough time for international stocks and the bond market, these funds have held up well compared to their peers. Take a closer look at ETFs ETFs are a great way to invest for the long run, and their combination of long-term growth and low costs can make them a valuable tool in anyone's investing strategy. Going through the universe of ETFs can seem like a daunting task, but, in reality, there are dozens of great ETFs that can all help you reach your financial goals successfully. More From The Motley Fool Dan Caplinger owns shares of iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF and Vanguard International Equity Index Funds. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/etf-184600298.html |
Can Macron's 'great national debate' calm yellow vest protesters? | French President Emmanuel Macron ay said he wants to discuss the 'essential questions' (AFP Photo/Ludovic MARIN) Paris (AFP) - Emmanuel Macron swept away France's traditional parties in 2017 with a grassroots campaign that promised more participative democracy. He is hoping the same tactics will now defuse the biggest crisis of his presidency. The centrist leader is gearing up what he has termed the "great national debate", a public consultation to discuss the "essential questions" facing the nation after nearly two months of violent so-called yellow vest protests. The debate is the third prong of the 41-year-old's strategy for ending the demonstrations, which erupted over high fuel taxes but ballooned into a widely supported revolt over living standards.65+ Macron has already opened the state's purse strings, scrapping fuel tax hikes as part of a 10-billion-euro ($11.5-billion) package of wage boosts and tax relief for low earners. At the same time, the government has vowed to crack down on the Saturday protests in Paris and other cities since November, with their now-routine scenes of burning cars, smashed up shops and clashes with police. The "great national debate", which will see town-hall meetings held around the country, is Macron's attempt to satisfy yellow vest demands for a greater say in the running of the country, amid accusations that he is too high-handed and distant. "We believe in this debate, we think it's essential," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Wednesday. "We think that in the current period for our country, we need to be extremely open to having a productive debate, while also being very firm on the functioning of our institutions," he added. - Popular frustration - Macron's office is trying to corral the discussions into four overarching themes: taxes; France's transition to a low-carbon economy; democracy and citizenship; and government organisation and public services. But political scientists warn such consultations can easily be swayed by a small, motivated number of citizens, bringing "results that aren't at all representative of the majority of the French," according to Luc Rouban, an academic at the Cevipof political science institute in Paris. Some MPs in Macron's own party also fear the consultations will spur a cascade of extravagant or nebulous demands, or calls for an outright repeal of existing laws. And in France's right-wing Republicans party, many have painful memories of a debate about "national identity" organised in 2009 under their former leader Nicolas Sarkozy -- which led to more divisions. Ending same-sex marriages, which were approved by the Socialist government in 2013 in the face of massive protests, is at the top of the list of demands made on a website which is compiling the grievances of yellow vest protesters. Another is overturning the lower 80 km/h (50 mph) speed limit imposed on secondary roads last year, which furious rural drivers have assailed as symbolic of elite Parisians' disregard for the provinces. The government has ruled out any backtrack on existing laws, prompting some yellow vest protesters to deride the debates as a smokescreen aimed at smothering the movement. - The debates, to run from January 15 to March 15, are already off to a less-than-auspicious start after the head of France's national debates commission, Chantal Jouanno, withdrew her participation amid outrage over her 14,666-euro ($16,800) monthly salary. Mayors are supposed to be organising the public meetings, and local officials will receive documentation kits with economic and statistical talking points to avoid endless shouting matches. Macron will also publish a personal letter next week to households spelling out his goals for the debates before participating in one of the first, at a gymnasium in Bourgtheroulde in northwest France. The stakes are high as the president prepares to push through reforms of the retirement and unemployment systems, and streamline public services while cutting thousands of civil servant jobs. Many ministers in the government, particularly right-wing Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, are pushing to use the crisis as an opportunity to slash taxes and public spending. France's public sector is one of the biggest in the world relative to the size of its economy, but successive governments have struggled to contain spending despite promises to do so. | https://news.yahoo.com/macrons-great-national-debate-calm-yellow-vest-protesters-183623256.html |
Can the University of Cincinnati Bearcats bounce back against Tulsa Thursday? | CLOSE UC's Mick Cronin, Keith Williams talk about another road tilt in Tulsa with Scott Springer Scott Springer, [email protected] Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Mick Cronin argues with an official in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday against the UCLA Bruins, Dec. 19, 2018, at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. (Photo: Kareem Elgazzar) University of Cincinnati basketball coach Mick Cronin has been a little under the weather this week. Whatever the ailment may be, neither hot soup, Halls Mentho-Lyptus nor Vicks Vapo Rub is likely the answer. On the other hand, a road win might help him mend and make for a cheerful ride home on the charter from Oklahoma. The Bearcats are in Tulsa Thursday trying to remove the stench of Saturday's road defeat at East Carolina. Tulsa, on paper, should be a tougher match-up. The Golden Hurricane finished 2018 10-3. Thus far in January, they lost to No. 19 Houston decisively, 74-56 and beat South Florida on a buzzer-beater trey from guard Curran Scott. They've also won 15 straight at the Reynolds Center and 24 of their last 26 home games. "Tulsa is brutal at home now," Cronin said. "They've already beat two Big 12 teams (Oklahoma State, Kansas State) in their building. They've got tournaments aspirations, they've got a good team and their front line (DaQuan) Jeffries and (Martins) Igbanu are playing as good as anybody in our league. We always struggle with them." UC under Cronin has won six of seven against Tulsa and defeated them last season at BB&T Arena 82-74 thanks to a 24-4 stretch run. One cause for alarm may be the three-point line based on recent experiences. UC gave up a season-high 14 treys to Tulsa, but also made a season-high 15 of their own. The Golden Hurricane shoot 33 percent from the arc this season compared to UC's 35, but the Bearcats aim was drastically off at East Carolina to the tune of 3-for-19 (15.7 percent). Practice reportedly was fierce and spirited coming back from East Carolina. Giving up a season-high 73 points to ECU and allowing them to shoot 51 percent sat well with nobody. "We don't give them much choice in practice," Cronin said. "We just keep doing it over and over. We'll see. Winning on the road in conference play is a new frontier for this team." Keith Williams chalked it (the loss) up to a lesson learned. Williams has started every game outside of Ohio State and Tulane and is the only Bearcat averaging in double figures besides top scorer Jarron Cumberland. The sophomore remains confident. "You just have to try and stay composed on the road," Williams said. "I feel like that loss against ECU was a learning experience for us, that's all. Tough loss, it is what it is. You really can't do nothing but learn from it. We just lost. So I feel bad for those guys." : As of Wednesday, Cronin was undecided. "I have no idea who's starting," he said. "The way we played defense at East Carolina, everything's up for evaluation." Stop the skid: Obviously, UC would prefer not to lose two in a row. Of UC's five losses last season, they lost back-to-back to Xavier and Florida in December and Houston and Wichita State in February. The Bearcats haven't lost three in a row since Feb. 2015 when they fell to Temple, Tulane and Xavier within eight days. No Moore: 6-7 sophomore guard Zeke Moore of Tulsa has left the team and asked for a transfer according to coach Frank Haith. He had played in 14 games averaging just 2.6 points per game. Greece is the word: UC's second all-time leading scorer (2,145 points) Sean Kilpatrick is back at work, this time overseas. Kilpatrick, who just turned 29, is expected to sign with Panathainikos who will be coached by former college and NBA coach Rick Pitino. Since 2014-15, Kilpatrick has played in the NBA for the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Nets, Bucks, Clippers and Bulls and averaged 10.3 points per game. In the 2016-17 season with Brooklyn, he started 24 out of 70 games and averaged 13.1 points. Last season in nine games for Chicago he averaged 15.4 points. The series: The Bearcats and Golden Hurricane have played 38 times dating back to 1946 with UC winning 26. Tulsa and UC were formerly league mates in the Missouri Valley Conference and now are reunited in the AAC. Under Mick Cronin, UC is 6-1 in the series and on a four-game win streak. The lone loss came in overtime in Tulsa in Feb. 2016, 70-68. SCOUTING REPORT The Game Tipoff: Thursday, Jan. 10 7 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) TV/Radio: ESPN2/700WLW Tulsa Record: 11-4 Offense: 71.6 ppg Defense: 67.9 ppg Projected lineup Player Pos Ht Key stat DaQuan Jeffries F 6-5 13.8 ppg Martins Igbanu F 6-8 13.3 ppg Sterling Taplin G 6-1 9.7 ppg Curran Scott G 6-4 7.0 ppg Lawson Korita G 6-5 6.1 ppg Player to watch Senior 6-5 swingman DaQuan Jeffries leads Tulsa in scoring at 13.8 points per game and is second in rebounding at 5.7 per contest. Jeffries also has a team-high 15 blocks and 18 steals and is their second-leading three-point marksman at 37.5 percent. He began his career at Oral Roberts, then went to junior college before coming to Tulsa last season. Cincinnati Record: 12-3 Offense: 75.1 ppg Defense: 59.2 ppg Projected lineup Player Pos Ht Key stat Justin Jenifer G 6-0 8.0 ppg Keith Williams G 6-5 11.0 ppg Jarron Cumberland G 6-5 16.7 ppg Trevon Scott F 6-8 9.7 ppg Nysier Brooks C 6-11 8.7 ppg Noteworthy Cat chat: UC has played two ranked teams and lost to both, Ohio State and Mississippi State. Tulsa has played three ranked teams and has come away 1-2. They lost to Nevada (the mere mention makes UC fans cringe) 96-86 and recently to Houston of the AAC 74-56. Tulsa did defeat then-No. 16 Kansas State 47-46. The Wildcats are no longer ranked. As for common opponents, Tulsa downed South Carolina State by 22 and UC beat them by 21. It makes for a nifty preview note, but rarely does it translate to what actually occurs on the floor. KenPom.com: UC at 12-3 is No. 30, Tulsa at 11-4 is No. 129. | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/university-of-cincinnati/2019/01/09/2019-cincinnati-bearcats-basketball-uc-vs-tulsa-aac-action/2509022002/ |
Should Trump declare a state of emergency over the border wall? | President Donald Trump has wide latitude by Congress to declare states of emergency -- with terrorism, national security, and public health often cited as a rationale. The president, however, threatened to declare a state of emergency because the legislative branch is exerting its constitutionally provided powers against his expressed wishes. He's within his rights to declare an emergency and build a wall along the border. But others argue this is a dangerous misuse of presidential powers. PERSPECTIVES When a president declares a state of emergency, they are immediately provided 136 statutory powers. According to The Atlantic, these powers range from allowing "the secretary of transportation to requisition any privately owned vessel at sea" to "unilaterally suspend[ing] the law that bars government testing of biological and chemical agents on unwitting human subjects." The president claims the situation at the border is so dangerous that the need for a wall is immediate. With emergency powers, The New York Times identified two ways which could provide President Trump the power to use the military to begin construction on a border wall. The Trump administration could point to two laws and say they allow officials to proceed with building a border wall without first obtaining explicit authorization and appropriations from Congress, according to Elizabeth Goitein, who oversaw the Brennan Center's study and is a co-director of its Liberty and National Security Program. One of the laws permits the secretary of the Army to halt Army civil works projects during a presidentially declared emergency and instead direct troops and other resources to help construct "authorized civil works, military construction and civil defense projects that are essential to the national defense." Another law permits the secretary of defense, in an emergency, to begin military construction projects "not otherwise authorized by law that are necessary to support such use of the armed forces," using funds that Congress had appropriated for military construction purposes that have not yet been earmarked for specific projects. Congress gave the president such broad powers in good faith that they would be used in the best interest of the country during times of crisis. While there is little evidence to support the president's claims of terrorists flowing in through the border, there are very few ways to challenge the legitimacy of a declared state of emergency. [A]s a matter of legal procedure, facts may be irrelevant. Before a court could decide that Mr. Trump had cynically declared an emergency under false pretenses, the court would first have to decide that the law permits judges to substitute their own thinking for the president's in such a matter. The Justice Department would surely argue that courts should instead defer to the president's determination. "If any court would actually let itself review whether this is a national emergency, he would be in big trouble," Ms. Goitein said. "I think it would be an abuse of power to declare an emergency where none exists. The problem is that Congress has enabled that abuse of power by putting virtually no limits on the president's ability to declare an emergency." The Los Angeles Times reports Democratic lawmakers are already making it clear any attempt by the president to declare a state of emergency on the border would be met with swift legal action. Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday also warned of a legal challenge if Trump uses a national emergency declaration to pay for a wall. "I can just tell you, I don't know what he's basing this on, but he's faced so many lawsuits when he ignores the law and ignores tradition and precedent and just goes forward without any concern," Durbin said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "He'll face a challenge, I'm sure, if he oversteps what the law requires when it comes to his responsibility as commander in chief," Durbin added. Lengthy legal challenges on such a declaration would mean the president is merely delaying the government from actually dealing with the humanitarian crisis unfolding at the border. There are also concerns the erroneous declaration of a state of emergency could have a dramatic destabilizing effect on the government, coalescing power around the president to the detriment of other branches. Andrea Pitzer, the author of "One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps," writes in The Washington Post that a declaration of emergency at the border would differ dramatically from other such declarations in the past. Two key differences make Trump's plan particularly risky. The first is that no actual emergency exists -- no equivalent to Pearl Harbor, 9/11 or even economic collapse. Instead, Trump threatens an emergency to punish another branch of the government for constitutionally exercising its authority. The second difference relates more directly to the president himself. U.S. courts have often left space for presidents to respond quickly to events threatening the country's stability, with the assumption that the executive branch is considering all the available intelligence and will have the most informed perspective, a premise that simply does not apply to Trump. Totalitarianism rises out of a process, not a single event. Declaring a state of exception in response to a political impasse would be a big step toward degrading an already vulnerable system. A fake emergency could trigger a real catastrophe -- one that a split Congress would be unlikely to resolve and that a Supreme Court sympathetic to an imperial presidency might even worsen. We have more than a century of precedents at home and abroad to demonstrate all the ways things could go wrong. Even those who support the construction of a border wall have not fallen in line behind the president's claims of an emergency. David French, a senior writer at the conservative National Review, writes: We should be vigilant about controlling access to our country. I believe that more border barriers are an important aspect of border security. But words mean things, and the idea that a border wall is so "essential to the national defense" that it "may require the use of the Armed Forces" to deal with a national emergency is to stretch the plain meaning of the statute past the breaking point. Critically, we cannot forget that in a time of peace, border security is a civilian function, and the penalties for unlawful crossing are matters for civilian law enforcement. Illegal entry is only a misdemeanor under federal law, and there are profound legal limits on the use of the armed forces in a law-enforcement capacity. The law, however, does allow the president to both declare an emergency and use the provided powers to their fullest extent. Many arguments against his ability to move troops to the border to begin construction of the wall hinge on the principle of "posse comitatus." Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, writes in The Atlantic: The principle that the military should not act as a domestic police force, known as "posse comitatus," has deep roots in the nation's history, and it is often mistaken for a constitutional rule. The Constitution, however, does not prohibit military participation in police activity. Nor does the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 outlaw such participation; it merely states that any authority to use the military for law-enforcement purposes must derive from the Constitution or from a statute. The Insurrection Act of 1807 provides the necessary authority. As amended over the years, it allows the president to deploy troops upon the request of a state's governor or legislature to help put down an insurrection within that state. It also allows the president to deploy troops unilaterally, either because he determines that rebellious activity has made it "impracticable" to enforce federal law through regular means, or because he deems it necessary to suppress "insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy" (terms not defined in the statute) that hinders the rights of a class of people or "impedes the course of justice." The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2019/01/should_trump_declare_a_state_o_1.html |
Are the Lightning the NHL's super team? | Though its extremely difficult to quantify or define exactly what a Super Team is in professional sports, the NHLs Tampa Bay Lightning are probably pretty close to being labelled as such no matter how you slice it. Boasting a lethal group of forwards complimented by an elite defence corps and arguably the NHLs top netminder, there arent many, if any, holes to be found throughout the NHL leaders lineup. That, like whether or not to classify the Bolts as the NHLs Super Team, isnt an easy question to answer as NHL writers Justin Cuthbert and Andrew Zuber discussed on the latest episode of The NHL Spin. (Getty) A great goalie (Vasilevskiy) on a great team is a scary thing to think think about, said Zuber. So you know what, I will take Tampa Bay you can have the field. I will take the field. I do think there is immense pressure on the Lightning coming in, Cuthbert said. Theres going to be pressure because they havent done it yet. And were getting to the end of their window because they have three unrestricted defencemen. They have Brayden Point, whos a tremendous player but his salary is going to multiply next year because hes performing on a bargain bin salary. Its too tight to pick one team over the rest because theres a lot of talent in the league. Whether or not you think the team as a whole should be considered a super-team juggernaut and the hands-down favourite to lift Stanley in June, the halfway-mark numbers are pretty sensational. The Lightning are on a 15-0-1 run in their last 16 games on pace for 132 points which would be the most weve ever seen in an 82-game season. More NHL coverage on Yahoo Sports: | https://sports.yahoo.com/lightning-nhls-super-team-045951077.html?src=rss |
Should The Mets Extend Jacob DeGrom? | Certainly not. DeGrom, two years away from free agency, is the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, a huge fan favorite, and one of the few reasons to watch the Mets in 2018. In Queens, and maybe even in all of New York baseball, he is the man right now. Heck, the Mets GM is his old agent. Perhaps, but not so fast. First off, the Mets have him for two more years anyway. And as with anything else, there are potential pros and cons to committing big dollars and multiple years to any player, even that one who stands as your current franchise face. Remember, de Grom is 30, close to the age when many pitchers, even aces, begin a decline. He's never going to be as good as was in 2018 again. Theres also some injury history deGrom had Tommy John surgery in 2010 and minor surgery for elbow nerve damage in 2016. None of this means that the Mets shouldnt sign him, but theyre factors. Modern baseball history is filled with cases of big money free agent deals for 30-somethings that dont work out. And thats essentially what the Mets would be doing with deGrom. Even though hes their own player, the team needs to view him as a 30-year-old free agent its considering signing (that whole hes shown he can handle New York thing is overrated skills are skills). Its pretty much a mixed bag. Johan Santana and Tim Lincecum didnt do it. Neither did Josh Beckett or Roy Oswalt. Felix Hernandez, whom the Mariners signed to a $135 million contract in 2013, hasnt been much good since his age 29 season in 2015. Tim Hudson, Pedro Martinez and Roy Halladay went a bit longer but still petered out by 34. Still, the list of those pitchers who did continue to shine well into their 30s (or beyond 40 in a couple of cases) is impressive too. It includes Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown. Also Mike Mussina, Zack Grienke and Greg Maddux. Youve got Justin Verlander, a power pitcher like deGrom, who looked to be slowing down a few years ago but who then came back about as strong as ever the past two years at the ages of 34 and 35. Then there are those in-between cases like CC Sabathia, a dominant pitcher through age 30 who fought through a big two-year downturn before salvaging a decent second career as a junk baller for five additional years (and counting). So whether deGrom continues to mow down hitters for a couple of more seasons or for ten more seasons is anyones guess, the most likely outcome being somewhere in the middle. The good news is that he has the all the makings of a young 30 after converting to the mound from the infield in college, minimizing the mileage on his right arm. For the Mets, signing deGrom would please the fans and win raves from the press as a bold, decisive move. Baseball wise, its more complicated, but still a worthwhile five or six-year risk in the $150 million neighborhood. Beyond that, you need to treat player shopping like car shopping set a limit and be prepared to walk away. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2019/01/09/should-the-mets-extend-jacob-degrom/ |
Could the Oakland Raiders end up playing in Tucson next season? | An Oakland Raiders fan holds a sign reading "Oakland is home" during the third quarter against the Denver Broncos at Oakland Coliseum. (Photo: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports) The Oakland Raiders need a place to play next season. Maybe they could share a stadium with a college football team like the Rams do with USC. Maybe they could do that in Tucson at Arizona Stadium. The Arizona Daily Star has a story about a Tucson attorney trying to make it happen. Greg Hansen writes: "Ali Farhang recently phoned Oakland Raiders president Marc Badain, introduced himself and pitched a plan for the Raiders to play their 2019 home schedule at Arizona Stadium. Badain listened. Farhang planted the possibility of the Raiders relocating to Tucson for a year. They agreed to talk again." Hansen wrote that Farhang got approval from Arizona President Robert C. Robbins and Athletic Director Dave Heeke to pursue the Raiders, and also got the blessing of Arizona Cardinals President Michael Bidwill and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. Id like to give it the best shot possible, Farhang told The Star. What do we have to lose? Id really like to bring our Tucson leaders to Oakland, meet with the Raiders brass and show them why this is the perfect Raiders move, Farhang added. It would be totally unexpected and out of the box. It would be visionary in a lot of ways, like their late owner (Al Davis) was in so many ways." RELATED: Raiders win possible final game in Oakland CLOSE Raiders fans celebrated before Monday night's game against the Denver Broncos, enjoying what could be the team's final game in the Oakland Coliseum. The Raiders are set to move to Las Vegas in 2020. It's undecided where they'll play in 2019. (Dec. 25) AP The Raiders are set to move to Las Vegas in 2020, where they will play in a new $1.8 billion, 65,000-seat stadium that will make the old Oakland Coliseum look like a relic. But, the franchise is still looking for a home in 2019. The City of Oakland sued the Raiders over the move earlier this month, leading the team to pull its lease offer to play there next year. The Raiders have reportedly been in talks with the San Francisco Giants about playing in AT&T Park and could even be looking to share Levi's Stadium for a year with the 49ers. Another option is moving outside of their market for a year before landing at their "forever home" in Las Vegas. MORE: Oakland sues NFL, Raiders over move to Las Vegas Returning to Oakland, where crazily dressed fans have filled the Black Hole for the past 24 seasons, is also a possibility. A decision likely will come sometime before the Super Bowl. In the story, Farhang said Tucson would be a win-win situation for the Raiders. We could make this a win-win for the Raiders, Farhang told The Star. They could begin building their Las Vegas fan base in Tucson. They would be welcome with open arms, an instant hit in Tucson. And it would bring a tremendous amount of tourism and commerce to Arizona. MORE: From the Heidi Game to the Holy Roller, these are the 10 greatest Oakland Raiders moments The Associated Press contributed to this story. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nfl/cardinals/2019/01/09/oakland-raiders-play-tucson-arizona/2528365002/ |
Are We Ready For A Recession? | Listen 9:59 9:59 The economy is in good shape, but some people say we could be heading towards a downturn. A number of recession indicators are beginning to flicker, such as a flattened yield curve, strong demand for treasuries and wild swings in the stock market. The U.S. economy has some very particular tools to deal with recessions, but Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics says the usual monetary and fiscal medicine may not be as effective this time around. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: Twitter/ Facebook. Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, PocketCasts and NPR One. | https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/01/09/683696538/are-we-ready-for-a-recession?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr |
Did John McCain and Jeff Flake spoil Arizona media? | CLOSE azcentral media critic Bill Goodykoontz helps plan out the media strategy for Arizona's two new senators. Brian Snyder, Arizona Republic Sens. Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP; Jack Gruber/USA TODAY) Weve been spoiled in Arizona. Those of us in the media, particularly. For years now, weve been covering Sen. John McCain and Sen. Jeff Flake. Others can debate their effectiveness as lawmakers, their party loyalty and whatever other political calculus you employ to decide whether you liked them. But from a media perspective, they were godsends. And for different reasons, which is even better. Now Arizona has two new senators historic ones, at that. Sen. Martha McSally and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema are the first women to serve in the U.S. Senate from Arizona. Thats great and its news. But its only news once. What media have to hope for is that McSally and Sinema will continue to make some headlines. Yes, theyre just settling in now, still getting their Senate sea legs. And theres this little matter of a partial government shutdown over President Donald Trumps insistence on funding for a border wall Hey wait. THEY REPRESENT A BORDER STATE. Surely they have something to say about this. Meanwhile we read tea leaves from previous votes and statements to try to figure out exactly where they stand. Theyd have been chasing down the microphones and cameras from the get-go. Both McSally and Sinema are experienced legislators, having been members of Congress. And they engaged in a really high-profile, bruising election campaign. McSally ran by talking about her support for Trump, which may not have been the best strategy. Sinema won by saying not much. PHOTOS: ARIZONA'S NEW U.S. SENATORS SWORN IN Lets hope that doesnt continue. Look, its understandable. McCain was a presidential candidate, a long-serving senator, a war hero, a loquacious guy, a constant thorn in Trumps side. Flake, particularly in his last months in office, also made a lot of headlines criticizing Trump and then, to the consternation of some, voting to support his policies. (Somehow people were constantly surprised that Flake is actually quite conservative, and voted like it.) Like what he did or not, Flake was basically unavoidable for comment and nothing gets you trending on social media like ticking off large numbers of people. PHOTOS: JOHN MCCAIN: A STUDY IN CONTRADICTIONS McCain died in August; his death received massive coverage, and many of the reporters and pundits talked about him like a friend. Flake seemed to go out of his way to court cameras on his way out of office. If youre looking for popular-culture barometers, Flake was parodied on Saturday Night Live. McCain had hosted Saturday Night Live. No, being in the news all the time doesnt make you a good senator. Serving your constituents effectively does. Time will tell, but there is no reason to think that McSally and Sinema wont do that. It would be nice, though, if they made a few headlines along the way. Absolutely. But McCain and Flake kept Arizona in the national conversation. Itll be interesting to see if McSally and Sinema keep us there. VIDEO: SEN. JEFF FLAKE'S FAREWELL REMARKS TO THE U.S. SENATE CLOSE Sen. Jeff Flake reads his farewell speech in the U.S. Senate on Dec., 13, 2018. U.S. Senate, Arizona Republic Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Go to connect.azcentral.com for a staff list, for more information about the newsroom and for details about upcoming events. FOLLOW AZCENTRAL'S THINGS TO DO Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/media/2019/01/09/did-john-mccain-and-jeff-flake-spoil-arizona-media-column/2528489002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/media/2019/01/09/did-john-mccain-and-jeff-flake-spoil-arizona-media-column/2528489002/ |
What if Arizona misses a Jan. 31 deadline to join the drought contingency plan? | Rep. Russell Bowers (left) and Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis talk about the Colorado River drought plan, during a meeting at the Central Arizona Project Headquarters in Phoenix. (Photo: Nick Oza/The Republic) The federal Bureau of Reclamation has set Jan. 31 as the deadline for states to sign drought contingency plans, which aim to keep lakes Mead and Powell from falling to catastrophically low levels. If states fail to meet that deadline that means Arizona, since everyone else claims theyre ready to sign Reclamation will dictate how much less water everyone will get. But some Arizona lawmakers have balked at that deadline, saying they wont be rushed into signing such a monumental deal. Not when so many questions surround the plan to implement its cuts in Arizona. Some are convinced that the feds are simply using a scare tactic to keep Arizona at the table. They did the same thing, after all, in the lead up to Arizona signing its monumental Groundwater Management Act of 1980. But there is good reason to think Reclamation will do what it said if there are no deals in hand by Jan. 31. Reclamation has made clear that the risk of Mead tanking is simply too high and that more needs to be done to shore up water levels. It's unlikely that the bureau, which oversees lake operations, will wait to act on a Plan B because Mead's first-ever shortage is expected to be declared in August. CLOSE Arizonas top water managers continue to meet to create a drought contingency plan for Colorado River water supply. David Wallace, The Republic | azcentral.com It's better for everyone if states work this out voluntarily because imposing additional cuts would almost certainly result in a costly, lengthy legal battle. If Arizona signed DCP in March or even May it's likely that Reclamation would drop its plans to impose cuts and abide by the terms of DCP. But consider what that Jan. 31 deadline also means. Reclamation has said if we miss it, it will give basin states 30 days to comment on how Reclamation should dole out the cuts. This is where it gets dicey for Arizona. The other six basin states are already frustrated with us for not signing DCP. And Arizona has junior rights to the water. There's a good chance those comments will also contain things that cant be unsaid arguments about who is or isnt entitled to water that could sour the process when larger operations guidelines for the Colorado River reopen for debate next year. A lot more than the cuts in DCP will be on the table then. And, again, Arizona has junior rights in this debate. I cant say this strongly enough: We do not want to be seen as the problem child as we enter those negotiations. It will only end badly for us. California and Nevada are already beginning to withdraw the water they've voluntarily stored in Lake Mead, should DCP fail. They don't want to leave their water in the lake without the agreement because they'll lose it once a shortage is declared. That will tank the lake even faster. Meanwhile, Arizona would lose all of the water it has previously stored water it now plans to use to bail out farmers without DCP because 1) unlike the other states, we're limited in how much we can withdraw from the lake, 2) no one ordered that water for 2019, in part because we have no place to store all of it, and 3) we're not fully sure our canals could handle that much water, even if users had ordered it. Under the current rules and without DCP, Arizona also would be only one on the hook to shoulder cuts during shortages. And that's not counting whatever else Reclamation makes us do. Obviously, this is a worst-case scenario for Arizona. Because of the short time frame, some have suggested that lawmakers authorize Arizonas participation in DCP separately from a plan to implement DCPs cuts in Arizona. This implementation plan aims to spread the pain across more users, instead of letting Pinal County farmers and housing developers bear the brunt of the cuts under the existing priority system. But its also exceedingly complex with a bunch of interrelated parts (thats why cities call it a Jenga tower). Farmers and homebuilders still arent fully on board with some parts of the plan. And there are a lot of details to work out many that wont be finished anywhere near Jan. 31. So, that's the gamble: Either we take our time to make more people happy inside Arizona and risk angering everyone outside of it, or we speed through something that might tick off more people here to make life better for us regionally. Reach Allhands at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. 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Are players thinking about outside factors as Flyers sink near bottom of NHL? | originally appeared on nbcsportsphiladelphia.com WASHINGTON - Two weeks from now, the Flyers will be on a beach, a mountainside chalet or in a remote area where they can't be contacted. Scroll to continue with content Ad Wherever they venture off during their league-mandated bye week, it will likely be far from hockey to escape the spiraling abyss that has become their nightmarish season. Then again, one can argue this team has yet to return from a three-day holiday break as it has failed to win a game during the post-Christmas portion of its schedule, now 0-6-2 following Tuesday night's 5-3 disappointment to the Capitals (see observations). What appeared to be a solid start in Washington quickly evolved into a disastrous second period, when the Flyers have now been outscored 15-1 over those past eight games. Against the Caps, it was their dreadful downfall as they surrendered three unanswered goals. "Second period came and we just stopped skating," Jakub Voracek said. "They locked us in the zone a couple of times, which is going to happen. They're one of the best teams in the league. Absolutely takes the wind out of us. Too many times." Before Tuesday's game in Washington, interim head coach Scott Gordon indicated some players appeared to be thinking about issues not related to the game itself or the job in hand. "There's a lot of things going on in a lot of heads," Gordon said. "Sometimes it's their own personal successes and failures. Sometimes it can be contracts, sometimes it can be who you are playing on any given night." Story continues Afterward, Sean Couturier was asked about Gordon's quote and while Couturier didn't agree with the coach's assessment, he didn't dismiss the idea either. "I don't know. I can't really talk for other guys," Couturier said. "I don't know if it is, or if it's not. It seems every night we have some guys off or we don't have everyone going at the same time. We need to start looking at ourselves in the mirror. Maybe some guys are thinking about it. I don't know." If the Flyers can't find 60 minutes of undivided focus between Thursday's home game against the Stars and that final game in Montreal on Jan. 19 heading into the bye week, this team will establish a new standard for winless hockey. Five more regulation/overtime/shootout losses will surpass the franchise's all-time winless standard set by the 1998-99 Flyers, who went 0-8-4 from late February to late March. Of course, the Flyers likely wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for the NHL record they matched Tuesday night as they started their seventh different goaltender - a dubious accomplishment established by the 1989-90 Quebec Nordiques. Mike McKenna had a front-row seat to what Flyers meltdown mode really looks like. "You just try to get your bearings a little bit and sort things out, but hockey is hockey," McKenna said. "It definitely wasn't my best game." Welcome to the club, Mike. You're already fitting right in. Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device. More on the Flyers | https://sports.yahoo.com/players-thinking-outside-factors-flyers-054726993.html?src=rss |
Is James Harden setting himself up for another postseason failure? | Spacing the Floor | Part I: Why dual front-office job/coaching role has ran its course The Beard is on a mission. Scroll to continue with content Ad With each passing game, the Houston Rockets are climbing out of the abyss and into respectability, headed toward contention in the Western Conference. And James Harden, last seasons wire-to-wire Most Valuable Player, is openly stating his case for a repeat, bending the will of defenses with relentless 3-point attempts that stretch beyond todays cultural norms, while sprinkling pinpoint passes for layups and dunks that keep defenses honest. (Getty) I need it [another MVP]. I need it for sure. And Im going to get it, Harden told TNTs Rosalyn Gold-Onwude before a breathtaking performance against Golden State last week in which he hit a game-winning 30-footer over Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in overtime. It seems like hes either getting to the free-throw line by inducing defenders to hack him or launching from 30 feet simply because he feels like it. He comes in and does extra work, Rockets coach Mike DAntoni said. He knew he had to take his body to one more level up. He had to get into a better rhythm. The numbers are staggering: Hes averaging 40.2 points in the last month with 9.6 assists and 6.8 rebounds. Hes launching nearly 15 triples a game and looks no worse for wear. A second MVP will elevate him historically, likely into one of the top five shooting guards in history and hes not yet 30. (Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo illustration) The Rockets have needed every last one of Hardens scoring barrages, and Harden has been more than happy to oblige. Story continues For the last three seasons, Harden has played at this pace and has even ramped it up this season with the absence of Chris Paul and the departures of some key veterans who helped the Rockets get within a sniff of the NBA Finals last May. Hes leading the league in minutes per game, and over the last three years, only Minnesotas Andrew Wiggins has played more regular-season minutes, with Hardens playoff minutes putting him over the top. Hardens regular seasons have been filled with great stats, ankle-breaking moves and hilarious moments that have been turned into GIFs, and theres something to be said about a player who takes 82 games so seriously. But his postseason endings have left plenty to be desired. His 2012 NBA Finals showing 12.4 points per game on 37.5 percent shooting as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder is still a head-scratcher. In 2015, he had 12 turnovers for the Rockets in Game 5 of the West finals as the Golden State Warriors advanced. In Game 5 of the 2017 semis, ancient Manu Ginobili swiped a potentially tying triple from behind as Harden barely had any lift on his jumper. That was followed by a 2-of-11 showing in a 39-point beatdown at Houston that ended the series in six games. When youre going for history, these one-offs will be more scrutinized. His final three games in last years West finals showed a tired player, and the Warriors knew Hardens tank was on E in Games 6 and 7. Harden shot just 36 percent and went 6-of-36 in those final three games the biggest of his career while turning it over nearly seven times a night. A big part of that is DAntonis system, keeping the ball in Hardens hands more than the average ball-dominant star. But Harden doesnt seem to mind and hasnt altered enough of his game during the slow months of December and January to leave enough juice for May and June. James Harden squares off against Stephen Curry last week. (Getty) LeBron James and Dwyane Wade once sat in a locker room after an easy win and discussed how playing 30 or 35 minutes is different for everybody. All 35 minutes aint the same, Wade said that night. You pick your spots, you play hard but you dont wear yourself out. You know its something greater down the line. James is a bionic man, able to carry more of a load than even the average great player, but the regular seasons have only been a precursor to the playoffs. He had the same energy in carrying his then-Cavs through an East finals Game 7 in Boston and nearly upsetting the Warriors in Game 1 of last years Finals as he wouldve if those games were played in November. But still, he knows how to pick his spots and he hasnt been afraid to take rest games in recent seasons. Wade used to joke that going full bore for 82 games only got him a first-round knockout and front-row seat for the rest of the postseason, so he learned how to conserve his body even before his knees began to fail him in the latter stages of his prime. It doesnt look like Harden is throttling back as hes focused on claiming his place in history. But if history is our guide, Harden could be ultimately pursuing another empty postseason run. Buzzer-beaters 1. We get what Derrick Rose was trying to say when he said (and repeated) the phrase kill yourself in reference to his doubters. It wasnt literal and common sense should apply. But he makes it hard on himself when he knows the public is hanging on every word he says. He just doesnt care to be anything but himself. 2. Who knows what to make of Enes Kanters back-and-forth with former NBA player-turned-Turkish adviser Hedo Turkoglu, but its messy. And if a player believes that by going to London hell be putting his life in danger, we should all take that seriously. 3. Vince Carter can probably play until hes 45. And as long as he wants to play and can still throw one down, make a place for him on a roster and at All-Star Weekend. 4. Donovan Mitchell is going through the sophomore blues. But something tells me hell be fine in the long run. Hes too good to stay in this rut. More from Yahoo Sports: Cowboys owner spends more for yacht than he did for team Florida man arrested after late superfans family threatened Driver in hockey tragedy pleads guilty Cardinals hiring move: What is pro football coming to? | https://sports.yahoo.com/james-harden-setting-another-postseason-failure-182126725.html?src=rss |
Where Can Apple's Growth Come From Now? | With Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) recently saying that its revenue for its important holiday quarter is going to be significantly below management's initial guidance for the period, some investors may be worried about the company's long-term growth potential. After all, the shortfall in Apple's revenue for the quarter is due to declining iPhone sales, management said. While it won't be easy for Apple to make up for weakness in a segment that currently represents 63% of the tech giant's trailing-12-month revenue, there are two segments with potential to be meaningful catalysts. Indeed, over the long haul, these two segments could become integral to Apple's growth story. These segments are services and "other products." A woman uses Apple Pay to buy a coffee More Image source: Apple. Services Apple's most important catalyst is arguably its services business, which includes revenue from iTunes, the App Store, and licensing, as well as revenue from services like Apple Music, AppleCare, iCloud storage subscriptions, and Apple Pay. As the company's second-largest segment, it accounted for 14% of fiscal 2018 revenue -- up from just 11% of revenue two years ago. Highlighting the segment's strong growth, trailing-12-month revenue for the segment is up 24% year over year. Importantly, Apple has said its services revenue isn't as easily influenced by volatility in emerging markets or the ebbs and flows of product launches as its iPhone segment is, making it a steadier and more reliable catalyst for Apple. In addition, management asserts that its services revenue growth is more closely related to the size of Apple's installed base of active devices, not quarterly sales. Fortunately, Apple's installed base is growing rapidly, up by about 100 million units over the past 12 months. "There are more Apple devices being used than ever before," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in his recent letter to shareholders about the company's lowered outlook for its first quarter of fiscal 2019, "and it's a testament to the ongoing loyalty, satisfaction and engagement of our customers." In a recent interview with CNBC's Mad Money host Jim Cramer, Cook said Apple is poised to announce more new "services" this year. While the CEO didn't describe the services, Apple is rumored to be working on a streaming-TV service and a news subscription service. Other products Looking beyond Apple's services business, another key catalyst is Apple's "other products" segment. The segment, which includes sales from Apple Watch, AirPods, Beats products, Apple TV, HomePod, iPod touch, and other accessories, is the company's smallest segment. But it's also Apple's fastest-growing segment. The segment's revenue climbed 35% year over year in fiscal 2018 and accounted for 7% of the year's total revenue. | https://news.yahoo.com/where-apple-apos-growth-come-220600432.html |
What is Titans GM Jon Robinson looking for in Matt LaFleur's replacement? | CLOSE Titans players discuss 33-17 season-finale loss against the Colts at Nissan Stadium. George Walker, Nashville Tennessean Jon Robinson (Photo: AP) Jon Robinson hoped the Titans would have more time with Matt LaFleur. But hes not surprised they dont. LaFleur, the former Titans offensive coordinator, was formerly introduced Wednesday as the Green Bay Packers' new head coach. His stay in Nashville lasted just one season, the risk of bringing in a young, offensive-minded coach who, by the way, also interviewed for the Titans head coaching position a year ago before Mike Vrabel won the role. Knowing his lineage and kind of the coaching tree that he came from, kind of knew that he was going to be (a) candidate (for head coaching positions), Robinson, the Titans general manager, said on Wednesday. Thought we would have him for another year or two, but Id say I wasnt surprised." In the wake of LaFleur's departure, the Titans are left to grapple with their unfortunate reality: a search for a new offensive coordinator means quarterback Marcus Mariota will have a fourth OC (and fifth play-caller) in five seasons. As coaching vacancies across the league continue to be filled, Robinson said his team wouldnt prioritize speediness over finding the right fit. Theres been several meetings throughout the course of the last two days, three days here with Vrabel and I about the direction that were going to go with the football team, Robinson said. Well, continuity. Among the potential candidates who could offer that trait are Titans quarterbacks coach Pat O'Hara and Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor, who coached under LaFleur in Los Angeles in 2017. Robinson compared learning a new offensive play-caller to learning a foreign language. For Mariota and the Titans, the less foreign, the better. Absolutely, Robinson said. I think if that can happen so that there is some carry-over, some familiarity there, so that not just Marcus but all of our players on offense, whether its line protections, whether its formations, the less that we have to put on their plate to learn the different terminology, the different concepts, if theres carry-over, then I think they can build upon what theyve kind of gone through the last year. So well do our best to try to keep as much continuity as possible carrying over into the offseason and certainly into next season." Sizing up Marcus Mariota's 2018 Mariota threw for only 2,528 yards with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season, though his 68.9 completion percentage set a franchise single-season record. But he suffered three nerve-related injuries over the course of 2018, which meant time away from the field (he failed to start on three occasions), which made things harder on his GM. "It definitely makes my job tough to really evaluate any of our players when theyre not 100 percent healthy, whether its Marcus or any other position group," Robinson said. "But I know that he is a tough football player. He cares about this team. He cares about his teammates. And hes made some good plays for us. Hes helped us win a lot of football games in my time here. "Im glad hes here and look forward to him taking some down time, getting healthy and getting back to work whenever that day rolls around in April." As for the decision to not play Mariota in the final game of the season, a winner-take-all scenario against the Colts on Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium, Robinson reiterated points that both Vrabel and Mariota mentioned in the aftermath. "Knowing how much his teammates and this team and winning means to him," Robinson said, "yet trying to weigh in the health concerns from the opinions that we had gotten and kind of having a collaborative conversation about all that, at the end of the day, the players safety, regardless of who the player is, thats of paramount important to us. So yeah, it was a tough decision for us. It was a tough decision for him. But its one that we thought was best for everyone moving forward." Titans hire new strength and conditioning coach The Titans on Wednesday announced the hiring of Frank Piraino as their new strength and conditioning coach. Piraino replaces Tom Kanavy, who held the role for one season. Piraino joins the Titans after spending the past six years as the head strength and conditioning coach for football at Boston College, where Vrabel's son, Tyler, is a freshman offensive lineman. Piraino also spent time as the head strength and conditioning coach at Temple (2011-12) and Marshall (2010). Reach Erik Bacharach at [email protected] and on Twitter @ErikBacharach. More: 9 potential candidates to replace Matt LaFleur as Titans offensive coordinator Rexrode: Matt LaFleur to Packers: Green Bay's (possible) gain, Titans' (definite) loss | https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nfl/titans/2019/01/09/titans-offensive-coordinator-matt-lafleur-jon-robinson/2528210002/ |
How can the Coyotes cope in wake of Nick Schmaltz's season-ending injury? | Arizona Coyotes center Nick Schmaltz (8) scores a goal against San Jose Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell, left, during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) (Photo: Ross D. Franklin, AP) Stop me if youve heard this one before: A key member of the Coyotes is expected to be out for a significant amount of time with a knee injury. Its a statement the Coyotes have had to make on several occasions this season, the most recent being center Nick Schmaltz, whom the team announced Tuesday will miss the remainder of the season. Other key players in the organization such as Antti Raanta, Jason Demers, Jakob Chychrun, Alex Galchenyuk and Nick Merkley have missed a significant amount of time due to knee injuries this season. Three of those players (Chychrun, Galchenyuk and Merkley) have since returned to game action, but Raanta and Demers are out indefinitely and neither are guaranteed to return this season, though Demers is more likely. Christian Dvorak (torn pectoral) and Michael Grabner (eye) are also both out indefinitely. Arizona Coyotes center Nick Schmaltz (8) is congratulated after scoring a goal against the Nashville Predators in the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (Photo: Mark Humphrey, AP) Schmaltzs absence hurts just as much as any of them and could represent the nail in the coffin that holds the Coyotes already-slim playoff chances. Since being acquired in a trade with the Blackhawks that also sent Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini to Chicago, Schmaltz has amassed 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 17 games serving as a top-six center with the Coyotes. Not only did Schmaltz serve as a ballast for the teams lineup during 5-on-5 play, but the 22-year-old was a dangerous presence on the Coyotes top power-play unit and displayed palpable chemistry with Clayton Keller on the man-advantage. Schmaltz is likely the most versatile forward in Arizonas fold, possessing speed, skill, creativity, intelligence and defense, among other things. (Schmaltz) came in and was basically what we had hoped for, Coyotes President of Hockey Operations and General Manager John Chayka said. He was a difference-maker. He made high-end plays, came with speed and made plays down the middle of the ice. That combined with his ability to be an elite half-wall guy and bring that dynamic, it really gave us a boost. Its a tough loss, but weve now experienced a few of these injuries and guys have stepped up and done a nice job." ANAHEIM, CA - DECEMBER 29: Arizona Coyotes rightwing Conor Garland (83) on the ice during warm-ups before a game against the Anaheim Ducks played on December 29, 2018 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (Photo: Icon Sportswire, Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Chayka mentioned rookie Conor Garland as a player who has seized the opportunity presented with so many regulars out of the lineup. The Coyotes have, perhaps surprisingly, managed to tread water in the Western Conference playoff race. They enter play Wednesday just six points off the playoff pace and at least one game in hand on most teams in front of them in the standings. Every team faces some sort of adversity throughout the year and ours just seems to be injuries, Coyotes assistant captain Derek Stepan said. Its the world we live in right now. Weve got guys banged up, but I feel like weve left points out there. As we sit now, were in the hunt. Realistically, weve got to win a lot of hockey games. Its not easy to make the playoffs, and Im not saying its impossible, but you never know what will happen. I think our group has faced the adversity extremely well and has had that hard-working mindset. Those things are a good formula. According to @ManGamesLostNHL, a Twitter account that tracks the amount of total games lost by injury for each team, the Coyotes currently rank second behind the Anaheim Ducks for the most man-games lost to injury this season. Forecasting suggests the Coyotes will likely surpass the Ducks in a few weeks for the NHL lead. While the Coyotes are trying to control what they can, its becoming more and more challenging each day to ignore the growing list of players on the injury report. For Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet, the simplest approach seems to be the appropriate one. Dec 6, 2018; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet looks on during the first period against the Washington Capitals at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports (Photo: Matt Kartozian, Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports) I think, as a coach, weve taken the approach a little while ago where if you think about other stuff you lose focus as a staff, Tocchet said. If somebody says, This guy cant play, then (Michael) Bunting comes in and weve got to make sure Bunting does the stuff we want him to do. You have to have that approach as a coaching staff otherwise youll drive yourself crazy. If both Kevin Connauton, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and Josh Archibald, whose wife is days away from giving birth, are forced to miss Thursdays game against the Vancouver Canucks, the Coyotes will be without eight regulars from their 23-man roster. As Christian Fischer said after a recent game, the Coyotes are at a point where we need every point. As the injuries continue to pile up on this team, those points will get tougher and tougher to come by. Coyotes' Christian Fischer (36) misses a chance to redirect a shot on Canucks' goalie Anders Nilsson (31) during the first period at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. on October 25, 2018. (Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic) Still, the Coyotes arent hanging up the skates just yet. Each injury is a bigger chunk and a bigger chunk and a bigger chunk, Stepan said. Obviously Schmaltzy really balanced out our lineup really well and added an element that we didnt otherwise have. With all that going on, its next man up. It seems like the cliche thing to say, but we dont have a choice. This is our situation and we have some big roles open. If were going to compete for the playoffs, everyone needs to grab a chunk of the rope and pull. READ MORE Richard Morin covers the Coyotes and Diamondbacks for azcentral sports. He can be reached at [email protected] and by phone at 480-316-2493. Follow him on Twitter @ramorin_azc. Thursdays game Coyotes at Canucks When: 8 p.m. Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver. TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7). Outlook: The Arizona Coyotes (18-21-3) begin a three-game road trip when they visit the Vancouver Canucks (20-21-4) on Thursday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The games will all be against Pacific Division rivals in western Canada, also featuring games in Edmonton (Saturday) and Calgary (Sunday). The Canucks, who have lost two of their last three games, will begin a six-game homestand with Thursdays game against the Coyotes. This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season, with the Coyotes taking a 4-1 victory over the Canucks on Oct. 25. The Canucks are led in scoring by rookie Elias Pettersson with with 42 points (22 goals, 20 assists) and center Bo Horvat with 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists). | https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nhl/coyotes/2019/01/09/how-can-arizona-coyotes-cope-wake-nick-schmaltzs-season-ending-injury/2530457002/ |
Would Mexico "indirectly" pay for the wall? | Mexico made it clear it won't pay for the border wall promised by President Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign. Yet Mr. Trump keeps repeating the notion in various forms, most recently tying it to his newly renegotiated trade agreement with Mexico. The latest utterance came in his speech from the Oval Office last night. "The wall will also be paid for indirectly by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico," Mr. Trump said. Fact check: False. The new trade agreement reached last year, called the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA, would replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA, which has been in effect since the early 1990s. NAFTA eliminated most tariffs between the three signatories, with a few exceptions. USMCA, which does little to change those eliminations, isn't yet in effect. That's because Congress still needs to ratify the deal (as do legislative bodies in Mexico and Canada). In the U.S., USMCA ratification is far from certain and isn't likely to be taken up soon, given Democrats now control the House and the government remains partially shut down. Even if the new trade deal is enacted, it's not clear how funds in the U.S. Treasury would be earmarked to build Mr. Trump's wall. Congress controls the purse strings The president has previously implied that tariffs paid on Mexican imports could be used to bolster U.S. coffers and, in turn, be eventually allocated to pay for wall construction. That's also problematic: Congress drafts budgets and must approve any government spending. "Donald Trump keeps repeating the ludicrous claim that somehow the revised NAFTA will fund his wall even though it remains unclear if the deal will be enacted," Lori Wallach, director of trade policy for advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement. "And if it is, the text does not include border wall funding directly nor would it generate new government revenue indirectly given it cuts the very few remaining tariffs, not raises them." Tariffs are taxes paid at the border to the government in order to import goods and services into the U.S. for sale inside the country. Any taxes collected into the U.S. Treasury that could be allocated for wall construction would still have to be approved by Congress, which at the moment remains at an impasse with Mr. Trump on that very topic. It's why the government is partially shut down. Reminder: Companies, not countries, pay tariffs Importers like Ford or Walmart pay these duties. They either swallow the cost or pass it along to consumers. That means it's often ordinary Americans who foot the bill for tariffs. Mr. Trump's trade levies are designed to make certain goods more expensive for U.S. consumers, who in turn are likely to seek out lower-cost items made in the U.S. or from countries that aren't facing the higher tariffs. For U.S. manufacturers, purchases are often raw materials, like steel, or finished and semi-finished parts, like seats for automobiles. The U.S. also imports food and commodities like grain and meat. Take steel and aluminum. Mr. Trump's White House imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum last year. Because prices for imported metals are now higher, domestic producers have also been able to raise prices. And it's those increases that can get passed onto consumers for the finished goods. When it comes to the USMCA, Mexico generally doesn't pay taxes on goods imported into the U.S. If there are tariffs, U.S. companies pay them. Higher tariffs can force a company to pass on that extra cost to the consumer. Another theory is that the U.S. economy will be so good under the new agreement that the U.S. Treasury's coffers will swell, providing enough funds to pay the billions for Mr. Trump's wall. That's a lot of ifs, given the current impasse, experts have noted. Bottom line: No matter how many times Mr. Trump says it, Mexico probably isn't paying for the wall, directly or indirectly, anytime soon. As things now stand, U.S. taxpayers would wind up with the bill. | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/border-wall-trump-claim-mexico-will-pay-for-the-wall-indirectly-usmca-nafta/ |
How have Seguin, Benn responded since being called out? | Less than two weeks ago, Dallas Stars president Jim Lites called out superstar forwards Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn because they werent getting it done. The hockey community was stunned when those comments came to light. Even the NHLPA jumped in to stick up for two of their own. Immediately, many began to speculate that this was going to be the end of one or both players in Dallas. The Stars have said that they wont be trading either player, so a divorce probably isnt imminent. So Seguin and Benn had to find a way to get through all the noise. Lets take a look. Benn played only 15:07 in a huge, 5-1, win over the Detroit Red Wings. He had just two shots on net and didnt collect a point in the victory. But he followed that up by scoring in back-to-back games against Montreal and New Jersey. Unfortunately for him, he was knocked out of the game against the Devils after he took a questionable hit from forward Miles Wood. The 29-year-old missed the following game against the Washington Capitals, but he was able to return the following game against Winnipeg. He finished minus-2 but didnt register a shot on goal. He was plus-2 in last nights win over St. Louis but, again, no points and just one shot on goal. Benns possession numbers havent been good at all since he came back to the lineup. His CF% was a team-low 31.82 during the game against the Jets. The possession numbers were worse last night (27.59), as he and the rest of the Stars were outshot by the Blues. The injury clearly came at an unfortunate time, but most of the Stars havent posted good numbers over the last two contests. Story continues As for Seguin, hes managed to be incredibly productive since being called out. He started out by picking up an assist in back-to-back games against the Wings and Habs. In that game against the Canadiens though, he managed to fire eight shots on goal. He took another eight shots on net against the Devils and scored twice. With Benn out of the lineup against Washington, Seguin managed to put together another two-goal effort in a 2-1 win against the defending Stanley Cup Champions. The 26-year-old registered an assist on Dallas only goal against Winnipeg, and he followed that up with a three-point effort (two goals, one assist) versus the Blues last night. So overall, hes picked up six goals and 10 points in his last six outings. Its good to get him on a roll because scoring has been a problem for us and hes our best natural scorer, head coach Jim Montgomery said of Seguin after last nights win. Prior to the teams poor possession numbers in the last two games, Seguin managed to put together CF% performances of 53.85, 59.52 and 44.44 (he scored both of Dallas goals in that game). All-in-all, even though the possession stats dont necessarily show improvement, Seguins put up some positive offensive numbers. And in six games since Lites comments, the Stars have gone 4-1-1. Those nine points have allowed them to climb into third place in the Central Division. Theyre two points up on Colorado, five points up on Minnesota. Whether or not this is sustainable remains to be seen, but it appears as though the comments have given the Stars a short-term boost. Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri. | https://sports.yahoo.com/seguin-benn-responded-since-being-155721916.html?src=rss |
Will Trumps State Department push religious freedom to center stage? | One of the most underestimated movements in Washington today started with a man and a vacuum sweeper. It was 1999, and Robert Seiple had just been named Americas first ambassador at large for religious freedom, a position created by Congress the year before. An escort ushered him to his new office in the State Department, and left him at the door; the room was so small that no one else could fit in it. It was just me and a vacuum sweeper, Mr. Seiple recalled recently at a conference commemorating the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). I was grateful for that vacuum sweeper, because that office needed it. Recommended: The Monitor's View Religious responses to religious persecution Indeed, the title Office of International Religious Freedom was more grandiose than the space. Today, however, it is held by veteran politician Sam Brownback, who heads up a team of more than 30 people and has millions of dollars at his disposal. And he has powerful political allies in Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, fellow Christian conservatives who speak passionately about exporting what they see as a hallmark American value and defending it abroad. We think its true in this administration that [religious freedom] is a God-given right, says Mr. Brownback in an interview. As a God-given right, then no government has a right to interfere with it. In the two decades since Congress passed the IRFA, an often-overshadowed movement in Washington has pushed to make religious freedom a key plank of US foreign policy. Now, in a move many see as driven by domestic politics, the Trump administration is trumpeting religious freedom promotion as a signature issue. I think theres been a sense among conservative religious groups that recent administrations have just ticked the box of the IRFA rather than genuinely embracing the agenda and investing in it, says Peter Mandaville, who served as senior adviser of the State Departments Office of Religion and Global Affairs from 2015-16. I think its felt that with this administration, theyve had an unprecedented opportunity to push this issue. In July, the State Department convened a first-ever ministerial on religious freedom, a three-day event attended by representatives from more than 80 countries, which culminated in the Potomac Declaration and Plan of Action. Several months later, after an unusually high-profile intervention by President Trump, the administration celebrated the release of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been imprisoned in Turkey. Brownback says the administration is raising Chinas persecution of Uyghur Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians at the highest levels, and he and Mr. Pence have issued strong statements in support of Rohingya Muslims. Such actions are boosting a growing enterprise that stretches across government, academia, and Washingtons think tank world. Religious freedom promotion encompasses an unlikely set of bedfellows, riven by internal divisions and bedeviled by wildly different perceptions of their character and intent, from saintly to insidious. In particular, critics question whether the Trump administration supported by many white conservative Christians, for whom religious oppression abroad has long been a concern will put equal effort into non-Christians causes. As the movement gains momentum, it is stirring vigorous debate about just what it means to protect religious freedom, if and how the issue should be incorporated into US foreign policy, and whether the efforts are bearing fruit. Advocates dont have as much power in a realpolitik sense, but I think they have the power to frame the narrative that is also very powerful and gets underestimated, says Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, author of The Politics of Secularism in International Relations and a professor of politics at Northwestern University in Chicago. She is critical of religious freedom promotion, describing it as an imperial project that presumes that the US has figured out how people of many faiths can coexist and is now teaching others about it. But, she adds, to just demonize it as just a Christian power play is way too simplistic. EXPANDING MOVEMENT PUT TO THE TEST What started decades ago as a largely white, male, conservative Christian movement has grown to include Sikhs and Scientologists as well as more liberals, women, and people of color including Suzan Johnson Cook, whom former President Barack Obama appointed in 2011 to head the Office of International Religious Freedom. Her successor, Rabbi David Saperstein, was the first non-Christian to hold the office. | https://news.yahoo.com/trump-state-department-push-religious-freedom-center-stage-223116485.html |
Is Procter & Gamble a Millionaire-Maker Stock? | The recipe for generating massive long-term shareholder returns is simple, if not a little boring. Just invest in companies with durable competitive advantages and hold on for decades. Your gains are frequently supercharged by dividend reinvestment with stocks that regularly boost their payouts, so a seven-figure portfolio is achievable over a typical investing lifetime. Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) seems to check all of those important boxes. It owns a collection of some of the most dominant consumer product franchises around, and its dividend growth streak, at over 60 years, is one of the longest on the market. But those impressive assets don't necessarily ensure market-beating investor gains, as shareholders have learned over the last few years. A person measures out laundry detergent in front of a washing machine. More Image source: Getty Images. A multiyear funk P&G's operating strategy involves using its premium positioning in consumer staples niches like diapers, paper towels, and razors to outgrow the wider industry. Its global scale and world-class supply chain, meanwhile, help produce even faster profit growth. Combine these trends with rising cash returns in the form of dividends and stock buybacks, and you have the potential for modest, but persistently strong total returns that can snowball into life-changing gains for investors over decades. That formula has broken down in recent years, though. P&G missed its growth targets in each of the last two fiscal years, even after having wrapped up a portfolio reboot that saw it remove 100 weaker brands from its operations. Sure, cost cuts and restructuring initiatives have kept earnings rising lately, and cash returns have soared. But without that fundamental market-share boost, the stock has lagged the broader market for most of the last decade. Signs of a rebound The good news is the tide could finally be turning back toward accelerating growth. P&G recently posted its fastest organic sales pace in years, with revenue rising 4% after accounting for foreign currency shifts and brand divestments. That result outpaced peers like Kimberly Clark (NYSE: KMB) by a wide margin. It was driven by a healthy balance of rising sales volumes and higher pricing, too, which implies plenty of room for additional gains ahead. Still, P&G has gone through optimistic periods like this in the recent past only to disappoint investors by reducing its growth forecast because of demand struggles in franchises like Gillette razors. That's why it's critical that the company meet its fiscal 2019 prediction of sales gains that range between 2% and 3% to at least double the prior year's expansion pace. P&G's return to market darling status would have to start with management demonstrating that it has a good reading on its growth opportunities, and that those gains can come in the context of steadily rising prices. Bottom line Assuming the business can get back on track in terms of growth, P&G has all the right firepower to ensure that earnings keep climbing and that shareholders are richly rewarded for their patience. The company's 20% operating margin makes it an industry leader with respect to profitability, and it remains one of the most efficient stocks on the market at converting profits into free cash flow. That financial prowess, in turn, gives management plenty of funds it can direct toward growth initiatives and those direct shareholder cash returns. | https://news.yahoo.com/procter-gamble-millionaire-maker-stock-233200182.html |
Who was playing Mario Kart on Kauffman Stadium's giant video board? | A local news stations helicopter, scoping out the site of Saturdays NFL playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Indianapolis Colts, somehow caught an altogether different game in progress at the neighboring stadium. KCTVs helicopter was gathering aerials of Arrowhead Stadium on Tuesday when it noticed that a super-size game of Mario Kart was being broadcast at neighboring Kauffman Stadium, less than half a mile away. Mystery solved. Turns out it was Royals Charities, the franchises own foundation. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP This is a part of a @Royals Associates fundraiser with us to kick off the year! the team wrote on Twitter. You may even see a video game party on CrownVision as an auction item in 2019. The foundation provides grants to support childrens programs and military families. | https://www.foxnews.com/tech/who-was-playing-mario-kart-on-kauffman-stadiums-giant-video-board |
Should live mascots be banned from sporting events? | A near disaster at the Sugar Bowl between Bevo and Uga, the live mascots for Texas and Georgia respectively, called into question the necessity of having living mascots at all. Some want the practice to end because it puts unnecessary stress on animals in a loud, chaotic environment. Others think live mascots are cute, treated well and worshiped by millions of fans. PERSPECTIVES As cute as live mascots are, the stress they go through dealing with thousands of screaming fans at athletic events is something they should not have to endure. The incident between Bevo and Uga was a warning. Any further escalation and animals are getting hurt. Here is PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange with more: It's indefensible to subject animals to the stress of being packed up, carted from state to state, and paraded in front of a stadium full of screaming fans. It's no surprise that a skittish steer would react to a perceived threat by charging, and PETA is calling on the University of Texas and the University of Georgia to learn from this dangerous incident, retire their live-animal mascots, and stick to the talented costumed mascots who can lead cheers, react to the crowd, and pump up the team. Animal rights activists need to save their outrage for issues that are actually problems. Live mascots are harmless traditions and these beloved animals get the care they need to be happy and healthy. There is no need to end the practice when lovable animals bring joy to millions of fans. Live mascots are great ambassadors for their respective schools and they should be allowed to be honored at games. Top 25 live animal mascots in college football The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2019/01/should_live_mascots_be_banned.html |
Can K.J. Santos help solve some of MUs scoring problems? | There werent many positives takeaways from Missouris 24-point loss to No. 3 Tennessee on Tuesday, but if there was one, it would be sophomore K.J. Santos. The 6-foot-8 forward logged career-highs in minutes (26) and points (seven) and showed flashes of being able to help a Missouri offense that ranks last in the Southeastern Conference in points per game. Santos had missed most of the nonconference slate to a fractured right foot that he injured in the preseason and didnt return until MUs game against Oral Roberts on Dec. 7. While he only scored three baskets for MU on Tuesday, it was the ways Santos scored that are encouraging for Missouri. He hit a deep three early in the game and had another basket in the paint. Digital Access For Only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. He also showed some athleticism by getting the ball at the key and then driving to the basket before scoring on a floater that kissed the backboard on its way down. Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin thought the eight-day break between games helped Santos rest his foot and get more acclimated into the offense, but things hes far from full strength. Hes continuing to get his conditioning down., Martin said. Hes continuing to get his feel. I think he can post up, it was good to see him make a three point shot. I think he can score around the rim. He has good athleticism I think hell continue to display that. I think hes getting there. As a freshman at Illinois-Chicago, Santos averaged 7.1 points and 42 rebounds per game before transferring to a junior college, where he sat out last season. Santos admitted after the game that he wasnt expecting to play 26 minutes last night and thought Missouri got fatigued towards the end of the first half, when Tennessee went into halftime on a 24-4 run. We do need to do a better job of fighting through fatigue, Santos said. I think our offense got pretty stagnant. We need to work on putting a full game together, a full 40 minutes. With Missouri thin on post options after Jeremiah Tilmon, who is prone to foul trouble, the Tigers are going to lean on Santos a lot now that hes healthy as the team tries to make a run at a postseason tournament. That starts with South Carolina on Saturday, which has Chris Silva, who is one of the toughest forwards in the conference. Puryear was happy to see Santos out there Tuesday and is ready to see more. He brings a lot to the table, Puryear said. He showed a little bit of it. A physical presence down low. Im looking forward to having more of him on the floor. | https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/sec/university-of-missouri/article224196610.html |
Why Are We Still Using Keyword Searches Half A Century Later? | One of the most remarkable but forgotten stories of the digital revolution is that for all the incredible change wrought by the digital world and the incredible transformation of the computing world from the early room-sized primitive calculator machines of old to our mobile supercomputers of today, at the end of it all, we still access the world around us through the lowly keyword search. More than half a century after the widespread introduction of keyword search of large textual databases, we are still forced to wrangle our complex questions into strings of simplistic keywords that we repeatedly plug into search engines, find no results, refine, try again and finally either give up or find some links of interest. As I noted in my 2015 NFAIS keynote address, it was just over half a century ago that keyword search as we know it today came into being. The earliest origins of the Dialog system coalesced in 1966, following in the footsteps of Doug Englebarts work at SRI two years prior and related developments at MIT, Harvard, SDC and elsewhere. It was an exciting moment in computing history as the idea of what a computer could be was rapidly transforming into the human-centered metaphors we know today. What makes this story so amazing is that other than better interfaces, faster results and larger indexes, the world of search today is little changed from that of its predecessors half a century prior. After more than 50 years we are still using keywords to interact with the worlds information. After a quarter century of the modern web in which more and more of the worlds information is available online and our past is increasingly being digitized into internet existence, we still access all of this information by keyword. Finding a video on YouTube, a movie on Netflix, a painting on Google Images, a doormat on Amazon, a meme on Twitter, an article on CNN or a page on the web, everything we do revolves around keyword searches. Of course, beneath that venerable keyword lies an array of hidden improvements. Modern search engines can leverage knowledge graphs and language models to reach beyond our exact keywords closer towards what we mean, while search histories, location tracking, the search histories of others and other external knowledge can be brought to bear on a search session to help the machine better understand what were looking for. Yet, despite all this power, machines are little better at understanding us today than they were half a century ago. Beyond the parlor tricks of voice search, templated bots and creative interfaces, machines still operate at the level of words rather than ideas. Synonyms and knowledge graphs can help connect slight word differences and dictionary relations, but even the most powerful AI systems of today are a far cry from systems that can truly understand information in the way we do, abstracting from words to the ideas, events and emotions they convey. Even as our world becomes increasingly visual, we access our newfound riches of imagery, audio and video through the same familiar interface of textual keywords. Amidst a deep learning revolution, we still largely access the non-textual world through the metaphor of text, rendering it into searchable captions, index keywords, tags and metadata. This is also perhaps the area with the greatest potential for improvement from deep learning. Todays algorithms are capable of robust cataloging of visual information into textual topical tags and transcriptions of audio into searchable captioning. Yet, here again deep learning is used merely to automate the process of rendering the visual world into the textual. Instead of searching for cooking images using predefined topics like broccoli and frying pan we could ask for images depicting vegetables being prepared a certain way and let the machine make the leap towards identifying precisely which image is most relevant to our needs for that search, even if it has no topics relating specifically to our query. Even our much-vaunted smart home assistants with their voice interfaces can still only answer the most basic of questions that have been predefined and templated by their creators. Change your question by just a word or two and your formerly loquacious assistant is suddenly stymied. Outside of their handful of built-in answers, even these bleeding edge examples of applied deep learning are still dependent on that historic keyword to find the answer to your question. The idea of unnaturally expressing our informational needs into the keyword language of machines has become so ingrained in society over half a century that it is almost difficult to imagine a world in which we can converse so fluently with machines that the keyword becomes an obsolete relic of the bygone era from whence it came. In the end, it is truly remarkable that half a century after its widespread introduction, we are still using keywords to navigate the digital revolution. Despite incredible deep learning systems capable of making sense of images and audio for the first time, we use these new tools merely to render the audiovisual world back into the familiar world of text so they can be keyword searched. As voice interfaces gradually supplant the keyboard, the keyword itself remains. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2019/01/09/why-are-we-still-using-keyword-searches-half-a-century-later/ |
Could Sierra Wireless Be a Millionaire-Maker Stock? | According to tech research group IDC, global spending on the Internet of Things -- the movement to hook up all sorts of devices to the internet and connected networks -- will reach $745 billion in 2019. That's a 15% increase over 2018, and research forecasts double-digit expansion through 2022, at which point global spending would exceed the $1 trillion mark. That's a huge opportunity that has caught the attention of many investors. Enter Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR), a semiconductor and service company focused exclusively on the IoT. The pure-play stock on device connectivity could be part of a strategy to ride the IoT to big investment gains. Rising sales, stagnant profit The rise of the IoT has helped Sierra consistently increase sales the last few years, and the company has been notching new all-time high revenues of late. Management has forecasted that trend to continue for the immediate future. Overall, that has resulted in the stock more than doubling in value over the last decade. SWIR Chart More Data by YCharts. However, bottom-line profits have been more inconsistent, which has kept Wall Street unwilling to push the stock higher. 2018 to-date results are indicative of that fact: great sales momentum but lower overall profits offsetting any optimism on the company. Metric Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Estimate Revenue $186.9 million $201.9 million $203.4 million $200 to $208 million YOY change 16% 16% 18% 9% to 13% Adjusted earnings per share $0.09 $0.27 $0.29 $0.22 to $0.30 YOY increase (decrease) -63% -10% 21% (21%) to 7% Data source: Sierra Wireless. YOY = year over year. The good news is that Sierra is on a path to move to a more consistent and profitable business model. CEO Kent Thexton said on the third-quarter earnings call that the company sells 17 million devices a year -- still a small fraction of the global market share -- and while device sales should continue to increase, adding recurring service revenue is also a priority. The company's service sales have more than doubled since 2017, which is a welcome addition as gross profit margins on that business segment were 52% through the first three quarters of 2018, compared to a gross margin of 31% for devices. Product sales are on the rise, but they are nevertheless a variable source of income, so as the IoT gets bigger over time, it could provide more higher-profit service business for Sierra. That alone could be a good reason to buy into the company for the long term. An artist's rendition of the IoT; pictures of common everyday items like appliances, cars, and watches are displayed in honeycomb shaped cells, signifying connection to the internet. More Image source: Getty Images. Part of an IoT motif In spite of Wall Street's underwhelming support of Sierra's sales advance, now could be a good time to buy in. Though the stock has been inconsistent at best for the last few years, shares look like a good value after the most recent pullback. Price to trailing-12-month free cash flow (money left over after operations and capital expenditures are paid for) is currently at 25.9. However, 12-month forward price to earnings is just 11.7, implying that profits will rebound in a big way in the year ahead. | https://news.yahoo.com/could-sierra-wireless-millionaire-maker-032000046.html |
Why is Canada continuing to fight for fossil fuels? | First nation mood tense following standoff, Jan. 9 We have had plenty of bad news lately, but news that the might of the Canadian state is being brought to bear against these pipeline protesters gave me a sense of despair, and brought tears to my eyes. It is so simple, really. If humanity worldwide produces more carbon dioxide than nature can absorb, we face disaster. And yet we are burning more, not less, fossil fuel. We are already at the point where unstoppable feedback loops are taking over. And yet, the Canadian government seems to want to produce and export as much fossil fuel as we can. For money, most of which will go to people who already have too much. We can use the workers involved to help build our sustainable world. Even the traditional resistance to environmental destruction by Canadas Aboriginal people is beginning to erode, as money is dangled in before their eyes. | https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2019/01/09/why-is-canada-continuing-to-fight-for-fossil-fuels.html |
Why did Secret Escapes say it hadnt received my booking? | I spoke to the company on the phone, but they told me they had no record of the reservation We booked a holiday to Iceland with Secret Escapes and paid with Barclaycard. We received an emailed confirmation of the itinerary. Three months later, we called with a question about the holiday and were told there was no booking in our name and that no payment had been made. We contacted Secret Escapes multiple times asking what was being done and had to relay the events every time as no information was showing on its system. Every time we were told someone would ring back but they never did. I began pricing up alternative packages to Iceland only to find they were either a lot more expensive or fully booked. YS, Grantham Secret Escapes says that yours is a unique case because the booking was made over the phone rather than online, and the agent misheard the email address and so entered it incorrectly. This, explains the company, meant that the booking was not visible in your account. Tracking this down took a little time and, as a result of this case, we have made changes to our call-handling, it says. This does not explain how the company was able to email the confirmation to the correct address. You have since been refunded after raising a dispute with Barclaycard which retrieved the money from Secret Escapes. The company has now added 100 in goodwill and says it wanted to provide you with complimentary tours of Iceland to make amends, but you have booked a holiday elsewhere with another provider. If you need help email Anna Tims at [email protected] or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Submission subject to our terms and conditions | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/10/secret-escapes-iceland-booking-lost |
Do legal fees apply if a house sale falls through? | Q My daughter is in the process of buying a house, but has not yet exchanged contracts. However, she is thinking of pulling out of the purchase because the surveyors report says the property will need a lot of repairs as well as the removal and disposal of asbestos found in the structure of the garage walls. This is the quote that my daughter received from her solicitor back in October: Fee in relation to your 330,000 leasehold purchase would be a fixed fee of 1,160 plus VAT plus 75 plus VAT for completion of the Stamp Duty Land Tax Return and a fee of 25 plus VAT per bank transfer that we make. The anticipated costs associated with your purchase would be; 30 plus VAT for electronic conveyancing; Stamp Duty Land Tax as set out in the attached client registration form; 135 payable to the Land Registry for registering you as owner of the property at the Land Registry. Please note that this fee will double if the property is a new build; 500 which we will request from you on account of identity checks required against you in order for us to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering legislation and property searches. NB searches in the Local Area usually cost around 375 and any credit will be applied against your bill on completion. GM A The fact that your daughter has not yet exchanged contracts means that she has not yet paid a deposit to the seller of the property, so she is not at risk of losing that money if she does pull out of the purchase. She would not have to pay all the fees detailed in the solicitors quote as all but the last 500 for identity checks and property searches assuming that these have already been done wont apply if she pulls out. However, her solicitor may make a charge for informing the sellers solicitor of her decision not to go through with the purchase. She will also have to pay for the surveyors report, although it may be possible for her to recoup her costs. It has been known for an estate agent to arrange for the surveyors report to be sold to the next prospective purchaser of the property, if one is found relatively quickly so that the report is still up to date. | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/10/do-legal-fees-apply-if-a-house-sale-falls-through |
Which is the best laptop for music production? | I am a musician and software developer who wants to get into live coding and electronica using software like Sonic Pi and maybe, in the future, Max/MSP from Cycling 74. Most people seem to use Apples MacBook Pros, but I have always been a Windows user, and develop software on Windows using Visual Studio, so I am reluctant to switch to a Mac. However, every time I have tried to get a good music-making setup on Windows, I have been beset by latency problems. From what I have read online, it seems the Windows audio drivers, though improved with Windows 10, are still way behind those on MacOS. I have a Roland Duo-Capture EX and an older Novation X-Station, and I am happy to use one of these as part of my set-up, but I would like a system that is sufficiently portable to make performing with it straightforward. Finally, a touch screen would make a lot of sense for less code-based interactions ideally one where the screen can be laid flat, such as the Lenovo Yoga series or Microsoft Surface Pro. Miles Your best bet would be to find and cultivate some of the people who compose and/or perform using Windows laptops there are some! and ask for advice. Areas like this usually involve tacit knowledge that you only learn by doing stuff for some time, and I have not done it at all. Failing that, there are probably some websites or online communities that specialise in this topic. I didnt find any, but people who are heavily involved in the field will know where they are. Its another question that readers may be able to answer in the comments below However, perhaps you should think about your overall strategy. As I understand it, you want to do everything on one laptop, which could mean taking your work machine into hazardous nightclub-style environments. This gives you the worst of both worlds. Laptops are not the best choice for sustained work such as coding, because they have poor ergonomics. You should be using a desktop which will run faster and last longer for less money with an ergonomic keyboard and a big screen. For the price of a MacBook Pro with a suitable specification, you could probably buy a desktop PC for programming and a second-hand MacBook for performances. Using a desktop PC would enable you to add a suitable soundcard and avoid most if not all of the Windows driver problems by using kernel streaming, or Steinbergs ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) as supplied with some devices, or ASIO4ALL. Of course, you could also replace your old Roland with an external USB sound card. This should provide better audio quality with a laptop, as well as I hope reduce the risk of latency problems. Sonic Pi to the Max Sam Aarons open source Sonic Pi program was written for the Raspberry Pi, so any PC or Mac ought to be able to run it well enough. Its a very simple system where you specify a note just by typing a number, but it becomes very powerful when the note is a sample. It reminds me of the Logo language where you can loop simple instructions to create attractive patterns. I bet Terry Riley would have loved it. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Aerodynamic by Daft Punk played live using Sonic Pi demonstrates what the software is capable of. Max/MSP (Max Signal Processing, and/or Miller Smith Puckette) from Cycling 74, which is now owned by Ableton, is a different kettle of bouillabaisse. Its a visual programming language where you can connect objects (program routines) together to create giant data-flow diagrams. Cycling 74s website recommends an Intel Core i5 or faster processor and 8GB or more memory for running Max 8, which includes MSP, Jitter, Gen and support for Max for Live. (Interestingly, the ASIO-compatible sound card recommended for optimum audio performance with Max 6 has been dropped.) Most DAWs (digital audio workstation programs) really require 16GB of RAM, and some work best with 32GB (Pro Tools). However, Max 8s Jitter graphics seem to be the main challenge, and Cycling 74s helpful user forum has at least one example of someone running Max on a tiny 4GB Core m3-based Intel Compute Stick. Possible options Facebook Twitter Pinterest Apples MacBook Pro or Microsofts Surface Book or Surface Pro might be good options, but none of them are upgradeable after purchase. Composite: Samuel Gibbs You havent mentioned a budget, but the best value MacBook option at the moment is the 13-inch MacBook Pro with a seventh-generation 2.3GHz Core i5, 8GB of memory and either 128GB (1,249) or 256GB (1,449) of SSD storage. A system with 16GB of memory and a 256GB SSD would therefore cost 1,629. Adding three years of AppleCare a good idea in view of previous keyboard failures bumps that up to 1,878. One of the major problems with current MacBook Pros is that you cant upgrade them: you have to buy everything you will need at the beginning, and pay Apple prices. If you buy a Windows laptop, you can choose one with more configuration options that you can also upgrade later. My current pick is the 14in Lenovo ThinkPad T480S with an eighth-generation 3.4GHz Core i5-8250U processor. A basic system with 8GB of memory, a 128GB SSD, Windows 10 and three years of carry-in service would cost 1,189.99. Expanding that to 16GB of memory and a 256GB SSD pushes the price up to 1,279.59, but there are many more options. In fact, you have a choice of four processors, going up to a Core i7-8650U, four RAM capacities going up to 24GB, four sizes of SSD going up to 1TB, and four different displays, going up to WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels). If you want a touch screen, thats an extra 46.80. One option I would definitely take is to upgrade the warranty to three years of on-site service for an extra 63.60. Lenovo offers up to five years on-site service for 225.60. Theres also a slightly cheaper, slightly larger version, the ThinkPad T480, which starts at 949.99. This offers even more options. It has a traditional 3.5in drive bay the base model has a 500GB hard drive so you can have two drives. It also has two memory slots instead of one, so you can have up to 32GB of memory. These are real advantages when you can take the back off and upgrade parts later. The T480 and T480S do not have 360-degree hinges to work as tablets, but they do rotate to 180 degrees, so you can lie them flat. The Lenovo Yoga range is not built or tested to the same standards as the ThinkPad T range, but then, prices start at 199.99. However, the top-of-the-range Yoga 920, currently on offer at 999, only has 8GB of memory and it isnt expandable. Microsofts Surface Pro 6 only lets you have 16GB of memory if you buy a 512GB SSD and a Core i7, which comes to 1,723.99 including Type Cover keyboard. That would be silly. Latency tests You can check a PC for latency problems by running Resplendences Latency Monitor for at least 15 minutes. This can help you identify whats causing problems, though running SiSoftwares Sandra Lite will provide more helpful advice for optimising your system. However, the fact is that Windows is a general-purpose program, not a real-time operating system. Leave it running long enough and it will eventually find something that, for a few milliseconds, is more important than delivering your audio bits. You can reduce the odds by not running other software, stopping non-essential background tasks, disconnecting from networks and so on, but you cant eliminate the risk entirely. How much any transient glitches matter is another question. Only you can decide. Email it to [email protected] This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative. The links are powered by Skimlinks. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that Skimlinks cookies will be set. More information. | https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2019/jan/10/which-is-the-best-laptop-for-music-production |
Will Matt Reeves' The Batman save DC's cinematic universe? | With so many past often flawed takes on the Dark Knight, no wonder fans are nervous about meeting his next incarnation A lot is riding on Matt Reeves The Batman, which a new report suggests is due to begin shooting in November - with or without Ben Affleck as the tortured Dark Knight. Warner Bros struggling DC extended universe of superhero movies currently lacks a central pivot, despite decent enough solo outings for Wonder Woman and Aquaman. The studio would love to see Reeves somehow come up with a movie that repositions the caped crusader at the heart of the DC world. And yet it is difficult to see how the main creative thrust behind the successful Planet of the Apes remake trilogy can carve out his own vision without taking Batman out of the Justice League, and potentially the DCEU itself, altogether. Bruce Wayne surely needs to be given the chance to breathe the foul Gotham City air once again, free of responsibility for fending off attacks from bad CGI alien interlopers or resurrecting Superman due to his own foolhardy behaviour. Everything weve heard about Reeves plans suggests he will take a back-to-basics approach, restoring the furrow-browed superhero to his roots as a sleuth-some Gotham City vigilante. This has to be a good thing. For the last three years, ever since Zack Snyders ill-fated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice failed to wow anyone outside a hardcore of DC fans, Warner has been trying and failing to convince the world that Batfleck was a good idea poorly managed. It did this by tweaking the movies sequels and spin-offs to rid them of the worst knuckleheaded excesses of Snyders films. But the truth is that casting Affleck was a terrible idea carried out terribly, and no amount of shoehorned comedy one-liners was going to save films such as Justice League from being roundly dismissed. The temptation must surely be for Reeves to make with the Lazarus Pit, and resurrect a new and more workable Batman preferably played by anyone but Affleck. Perhaps DC needs two cinematic universes: one based on the grimy Gotham underworld and its cavalcade of leering freaks and deviants; the other filled with sci-fi-tinged superheroes who wouldnt look out of place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as Aquaman, Wonder Woman and the Flash. For the Batman of Christopher Nolans Dark Knight trilogy, or the TV series Gotham, has often seemed about as likely to meet Superman or the other members of the Justice League as Luke Skywalker is to encounter Genghis Khan. It is quite possible to imagine the worst big-screen caped crusaders, George Clooney or Val Kilmer, meeting just about anyone in the DC verse even the buffoonish Shazam! Thats because there is nothing stylistically singular about them at all, unless one is counting the Batnipples. Where other superheroes seem to grow as part of the ensemble, Batman certainly based on our experience with the last few DC movies only seems to diminish. Perhaps Gothams dark knight is simply too weird, too idiosyncratic a superhero to ever play nicely with others. The only question is why DC wasnt well aware of this, given that its own Lego Batman Movie mined Bruce Waynes extreme narcissism and inelegant misanthropy for comedy gold so successfully. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Narcissist The Lego Batman Movie, 2017. Its possible Warner simply doesnt have the confidence in its own plans, particularly after the lukewarm reactions to Justice League, to manage the movie in any other way. Its entire approach to the DCEU seems to have been a case of one step forward, six tentative steps back, so were about as likely to see a considered, Marvel-style route to world-building at this late stage as we are to see the Joker giving up his life of crime and embarking on a new career as a supermarket shelf stacker. Perhaps this is for the best. If Warner Bros is not naturally tuned to the the slow-burn, producer-led cinematic universe frequency, the studio would be well-advised to avoid hamfistedly trying to keep on fitting square pegs into round holes. In that case, the only solution is to take the whole thing one movie at a time. Maybe, just maybe, we need to take a long hard look at Reeves solo Batman outing before anyone can really imagine what shape the wider DC universe should be. | https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/10/will-matt-reeves-the-batman-save-dc-cinematic-universe |
When job one is making humans look like trolls or was it making trolls look human? | Goldammer: I wonder if he really spent time in the mirror working out different expressions. Because in the beginning, when I was applying the makeup on my own, Eero had to be done either before Eva, and then wait for the next three hours in this makeup, or we would apply the prosthetics on him, then wed do Eva [and Eero would have to finish his process after that]. So then either way, he had three hours [to wait with his makeup at least partially on] where he would then go back in the hotel room or in his apartment, and he would just hang out. So Im really curious because the moment his makeup and the paint was finished, hed just get up and he would have changed his expression, have this cheeky twinkle in his eyes. It was really fantastic, and it was very creepy at times. | https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-craft-border-makeup-20190109-story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29 |
Whos Afraid of Automation? | People are worried that robots will take our jobs. Some 60% of American adults think robots, automation, and artificial intelligence will put many jobs at risk, even though expert predictions about job losses are all over the map. These fears are a rare example of bipartisan agreement about the labor market concerns cross demographic and geographic lines, according to a September 2018 Indeed survey of 2000 American adults. People who say they are pessimistic about Americas economic future tend to be more concerned about automation. So are people with less education and rightly so since their jobs are more at risk. At the same time though, young working-age adults and women are worried about automation even though theyre less vulnerable than other groups. Support for many labor market policies runs hotter for people more concerned about automation. Surprisingly, the policy that automation worriers lean toward most strongly is restricting legal immigration even though todays immigrants often work in professional and technical occupations that arent especially at risk from automation. Other policies, like worker training or a universal basic income, might help those affected by automation more directly. Automation worries are widespread Three out of five adults who responded to our survey think robots, automation, and artificial intelligence will put many jobs at risk. These concerns are far more widespread than worries about other factors only half as many adults think environmental regulations, legal immigration, or trade hurts jobs. Furthermore, worries about automation cross partisan lines. Among both Democrats and Republicans, 60% think these technologies will put many jobs at risk. In contrast, Republicans are more concerned than Democrats that environmental regulations, legal immigration, and trade will hurt jobs. Worries about robots and AI are bipartisan More Still, automation worries some people more than others. Two-thirds of people with a high-school degree or less agree that these technologies will threaten many jobs, compared with half of those with at least a bachelors degree. Younger prime-working-age adults, 25 to 44, are more concerned than 18 to 24 year-olds and older adults. Women are more concerned than men, as are people who are more pessimistic about national economic conditions today. But as well see in the next section, those most worried about automation arent always those most at risk. Automation worries higher among less-educated More Even people not personally at risk are worried about automation Although worries about automation are widespread, the pain is likely to be more concentrated. The types of jobs potentially most at risk from automation and AI are routine expressed as a set of rules and therefore potentially replaced by algorithms. These include manufacturing and other goods-producing jobs, as well as sales and clerical roles. Professional, technical, and personal-service jobs are less vulnerable. According to Census data, 62% of people with only a high-school degree work in routine jobs, versus just 28% of those with a bachelors and 11% of graduate-degree holders. The education gaps in whose jobs are at risk are much wider than the gaps in how worried people are about automation. Workers in routine occupations, by education More | https://news.yahoo.com/afraid-automation-073403454.html |
Why did it take Susan Zirinsky 46 years to become president of CBS News? | It didn't take Zirinsky 46 years to become qualified. The news industry needs to recognize and promote female leaders before they reach retirement age. Susan Zirinsky (Photo: John Paul Filo/CBS) When producer Susan Zirinsky was tapped as the new president of beleaguered CBS News, the media industry cheered. I was doing the happy dance. She is a badass in every sense of the word, announced a gleeful Gayle King on CBS This Morning. Zirinsky, the first woman ever to head up CBS News, is 66 years old. She has been working at the network for 46 years which means she started a year before the executive shes replacing, David Rhodes, was born. While its great news that CBS finally chose a woman, Im frankly bewildered by why she wasnt handed the reins long ago. Or why none of the other immensely talented women at the network were given a shot. Read more commentary: #MeToo next step: We owe it to our daughters to raise them as warriors Gretchen Carlson: To succeed, #MeToo must target America's laws, not just a few powerful men Slow #MeToo down: Julie Chen Moonves isn't accountable for her husband Perhaps I shouldnt have been surprised. The news industry, for all of its admirable reporting on the #MeToo allegations that felled these and other men, has been woefully lacking in female leadership. And way too slow to understand its own shortcomings. The Times has had a single female leader in its 167-year history; The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal are at zero. Television is no better. Zirinsky told The Times that she had never sought the job before, though it had been offered. NBC News and Fox News have each had one female news leader, with Foxs Suzanne Scott named recently after the networks own #MeToo scandals. (USA TODAY has had three female top editors, including myself and current Editor in Chief Nicole Carroll). All-male media leadership creates blind spots The industrys overwhelmingly male leadership has repercussions well beyond the newsroom. It infects what we believe is important, which issues we dismiss as trivial, and whom we consider powerful and authoritative. A British analysis concluded that more than 75 percent of experts quoted in digital news accounts are male. In America, more than 70 percent of Sunday morning politics and policy talk show guests are male. Just one example: Think about how you first learned, four or so years ago, that Bill Cosby had allegedly drugged and sexually abused dozens of women. Most likely you saw it in a tabloid, or heard about it from late-night comics. Yes, there was some serious reporting on the case, but for the most part it was considered a salacious diversion from real news. It wasnt until the Harvey Weinstein allegations several years later that the #MeToo movement exploded, and the news media belatedly realized that sexual harassment is a systemic problem infecting society, not a juicy scandal about a lone pervert. Yet in its contours, the Weinstein saga was identical to the Cosby story: a powerful man accused of sexually abusing dozens of women while being protected by his industry and his influence. In short, we in the news media blew it. Cosby, like Weinstein, was a symptom of a far larger societal crisis impacting millions of women. We should have known better and perhaps with a few more women in news leadership roles, we would have. CBS News is in precarious shape Its a heavy burden to expect that Zirinsky, or any one newsroom leader of any gender, can correct all of these ills. But another piece of research gives us a hint of what Zirinsky is up against. It turns out that women are far more likely to get the top job when an organization is in precarious shape and if they cant turn it around they are marched right off the dreaded glass cliff, a phrase coined by University of Exeter researchers Michelle K. Ryan and S. Alexander Haslam. CBS News certainly fits the precarious bill: In addition to its string of #MeToo dismissals, it has suffered ratings declines at "CBS This Morning," "Face the Nation" and "CBS Evening News" over the past year. Coverage of Zirinsky, especially given that she is the first woman in the role, isnt likely to make her job any easier. The news industry itself treats female leaders far more harshly than male leaders. A Rockefeller Foundation study found that when a company is in crisis, 80 percent of news reports will blame a female CEO but if the CEO is a man, only a minority of news reports will blame him. There is a solution to this, and a fairly straightforward one: Bring more women into news leadership. Identify promising women in media. Develop them. Promote them. And recognize when they have earned the right to ascend to the top job. Certainly, it didnt take Susan Zirinsky a full 46 years to become qualified for the presidency of CBS News. And just as surely, there are other women waiting in the wings with the potential to lead. Lets find them, and not wait until they hit retirement age to acknowledge their talents, their skill and their vision to lead the news industry into the future. Joanne Lipman, author of "That's What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together," is a former editor in chief of USA TODAY and chief content officer of Gannett. Follow her on Twitter: @joannelipman You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to [email protected]. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/01/10/news-media-more-women-leaders-susan-zirinsky-cbs-news-president-column/2523913002/ | https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/01/10/news-media-more-women-leaders-susan-zirinsky-cbs-news-president-column/2523913002/ |
Can Private Industry Solve Our Climate Crisis Where Governments Fail? | Extreme weather. Drought. Massive fires in California. The effects of climate change are on the rise and California is front and center. Climate change has been a remarkably difficult challenge for people because the psychology is so different from what we've evolved to cope with as threats. We respond to immediate threats and to threats with a face. Climate change is just too diffuse, too slow and too large it covers the whole world. Its like fighting with air. Since governments havent done a great deal - global carbon emissions are still increasing - perhaps private industry can facilitate people stepping in themselves. There are many companies that are trying to figure out how to do just that. Some are well-known and established, like Lockheed and Tesla, or brand new ones, like Beyond Meat that had a recent IPO filing or Impossible Foods, both as a way to decrease the large emissions from Americas obsession with eating meat. Airbus designed its A380 passenger aircraft to be the most ecofriendly in the industry. For the energy sector, there are two end members to addressing climate change: replace fossil fuels with non-fossil fuels become more efficient and conserve energy as much as possible The first strategy seems to be undermined by the fact that we have more fossil fuels than ever before and its gotten even cheaper to get them out of the ground. Our carbon emissions began climbing again after a 25-year low in 2015.This Administration has also decided they dont care about climate change, so are no help there. The second strategy is where companies like OhmConnect come in increasing efficiency, emplacing a smart grid, and balancing the grid overall to make the most out of the growing chunk of renewables. It was founded in 2014 in California to take advantage of their huge build-out of solar energy and the necessity for smart usage strategies. But its now spreading to markets like Texas and Toronto. This is possible because Californias state energy authority prefers to pay people to save energy instead of paying power plants to produce more. The huge amount of solar that the state has installed is causing some major issues with their grid and with reliability. The states commitment to achieving 100% clean energy use in the coming decades will not be possible without some clever strategies and without everyone being on board. So incentivizing people to act locally is essential. OhmConnect does this by enabling hundreds of thousands of energy customers to earn weekly payments for timely, smarter, home energy use when its cleanest (non-fossil) and reward them for not using energy when its dirty (fossil). Anyone who uses any of the three major California energy suppliers -- Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric -- can sign up for free. Coordinated through smart meter data, the service encourages households and small businesses owners and renters to take specifically targeted OhmHours without energy use, enabling individual users to move as a coordinated group to balance the grid in real time. This removes the need for inefficient or dirty fossil power plants to fire up intermittently. OhmConnect contacts the user when power from fossil plants are dominating the grid. The user can manually or automatically reduce their energy use, e.g., not charge their electric vehicle, dont wash their clothes, turn off their water heater for a few hours. Many users have connected their smart home devices to OhmConnect, including wifi thermostats, electric vehicles, and smart plugs, in order to automate their participation. The users are paid with cash for saving energy during those peak times, and the reductions are sold into the grid. Thats a strong driver. The grid generates just enough power to meet the demand of all its users. Every user on the grid has a forecasted consumption profile, which is calculated by averaging their energy consumption during the previous 10 similar days on an hourly basis. For instance, a users forecast for 5 to 6 PM on a Tuesday would be calculated by averaging their energy use from 5 to 6 PM on Monday, Friday, Thursday, Wednesday, etc. For the weekends, the previous 4 weekend days are used to forecast use. Occasionally, the sum total of these baselines doesnt give a complete picture of expected demand and additional power plants need to fire up. Turning these marginal power plants on is expensive and can increase the wholesale cost of energy from four cents to a dollar per kWh. These power plants are called peaker plants and typically emit two to three times the CO2 emissions as other power plants using the same fuel. The social cost, both economic and environmental, is lower to pay users to reduce their usage instead of paying a dirty power plant to fire up to meet unforecasted demand. Thats how Ohmconnect works. The energy savings are purchased in the California ISO, just as a power plants electricity generation would be purchased. When a user signs up for OhmConnect, they connect their utility account, so we can have access to their smart meter data. Users are then paid for the participation, depending upon how much energy they individually save. During the companys recent summer challenge campaign, for example, when temperatures in the state were at their highest, OhmConnect paid customers $2.5 million for their energy saving tactics, with users saving a total of 500,000 kWhs of power in the three month period. The U.S. Market certainly justifies this strategy - 140 million homes, 80 million smart meters, 28 million Connected Energy Devices (smart thermostats, smart plus, etc.) totaling about $500 billion. Worldwide it could total over $2 trillion. But its this magnitude of effort thats needed to address such a global issue. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/01/10/can-private-industry-solve-our-climate-crisis-where-governments-fail/ |
Are the Rich Killing Social Security? | Social Security is our country's most important social program. It's also a program that has a worrisome and uncertain future. According to the latest Social Security Board of Trustees report, released this past June, the program that's currently paying out benefits to nearly 63 million people, of which roughly 70% are retired workers, was set to expend more than it collects in 2018. The last time Social Security endured a net cash outflow was 1982, the year before the Reagan administration passed the last major overhaul of the program. However, this forecasted $1.7 billion net cash outflow in 2018 is simply a precursor for bigger problems to come. Beginning in 2020, every year is expected to bring a significant jump in net cash outflow as a result of ongoing demographic changes. Social Security might appear perfectly fine with close to $2.9 trillion in asset reserves in its coffers right now, but the existing path the program is on would completely exhaust this excess cash by 2034. Should this happen, then-current and future beneficiaries would be subject to an across-the-board reduction in their monthly payouts of up to 21%. Note that Social Security won't go bankrupt, but those people who are heavily reliant on the program would certainly feel this benefit cut. A half-dozen Social Security cards messily stacked on top of each other. More Image source: Getty Images. A lot of finger-pointing is typically given to baby boomers who are guilty of nothing other than being born during a time of heightened fertility rates. But boomers are far from the only reason Social Security is struggling. Increased longevity and the inaction of the federal government are two examples of factors that deserve far more finger-pointing than boomers. With people living longer, they're able to pull in a benefit for perhaps two-plus decades from a program that was initially designed in the 1930s to be a financial foundation for years, not decades. As for the federal government, the longer it waits to act, the more painful the fix will be on American workers. Another factor that generally flies under the radar, but that is nevertheless very much responsible for Social Security's issues, is growing income inequality. In 2016, the Social Security Administration found that $1.2 trillion in earned income was exempt from the 12.4% payroll tax, which, in 2019, is capped at $132,900. In plainer terms, it means that more than 90% of working Americans (i.e., those making less than $132,900 a year) are paying into Social Security with every dollar they earn. Meanwhile, the remaining percentage of well-to-do workers are being exempted on every dollar earned above $132,900. As you can imagine, that's a lot of money escaping the Social Security program, and it's raised the idea that the rich are actually what's killing Social Security. The answer is both yes and no. A smiling businessman in a suit lying atop a bed of cash bills. More | https://news.yahoo.com/rich-killing-social-security-120600548.html |
Is 'The Drake Curse' real? | Before the national championship, superstar rapper Drake was seen rocking an Alabama sweatshirt. The game did not go well. The Crimson Tide was blown out by Clemson, making Alabama the latest in a long line of teams to fall after getting a nod from Drizzy. Many are saying the Drake Curse is a real thing and a death sentence for teams and athletes. Others don't think any negativity should be attached to Drake's name. PERSPECTIVES Much like a plague, a Drake endorsement haunts teams and athletes with a lethal dose of L's. Every squad he has repped (Alabama, Conor McGregor, the Toronto Raptors, Kentucky and Serena Williams) have taken a beating in their respective sports after his ringing endorsement. Dizzy may be king of the charts, but he's a curse in sports. The 'Drake curse' continues after Alabama's loss to Clemson Put some respeck on Drake's name. This is one of the best rappers of this generation. He should not be associated with anything nearly as negative as a curse. It's not his fault the teams or athletes he supports can't handle their businesses on the court. He is no Kardashian. There is no such thing as the Drake Curse. There's no drake curse lol clemson just a little better on both sides -- Bmb (@bmb_honesty) January 8, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.oregonlive.com/tylt/2019/01/is_the_drake_curse_real.html |
Will 2019 Be The Year Clothing Subscription Takes Over? | Uber and AIRBNB have reshaped their respective industries in the UK through their use of sharing and have driven the explosion weve seen in the sharing economy. For the majority of us, until very recently, the thought of staying in someones spare room instead of a hotel whilst on holiday, or getting into a strangers car was an alien concept and not something we would consider but today many of us do both without a second thought. When it comes to clothes, the idea of wearing something owned by someone else is a line many of us still wont cross but with an explosion in options, 2019 might be the year this all changes. Gen Y has been at the forefront of the growth in re-sale and second-hand clothing apps such as Depop over the past couple of years but its clothing subscription models that might finally encourage the mainstream retail market to embrace the sharing economy in regards to clothing in the UK. The idea of renting clothes has caught on in a big way in the US with Rent The Runway raising $210m since 2009 enabling female consumers to rent up to 4 pieces at a time for $159 a month whereas here in the UK, the market is still developing, despite services such as Girl Meets Dress having been around for the same length of time. New entrants such as WearTheWalk and FrontRow are betting on this changing in 2019 and are focusing on very specific customer groups to begin challenging Girl Meets Dress and securing UK market share before Rent The Runway makes an inevitable push into the UK market. FrontRow focuses on renting high-end designer pieces for short periods of time, for example, a pair of Lambskin Chanel gloves for 5 days will cost you 150 if theyre being delivered in Central London. This process is clearly designed to appeal to the Instagram generation and the desire to be seen in the latest trends. WearTheWalk, on the other hand, is more in line with the Rent The Runway model, with its monthly subscription offering it gives members access to a number of pieces from emerging designers throughout the month, having 5 pieces at any one time costs 120 a month. This approach focusing on the volume of products is clearly designed to capture the active young professional market. Both of these companies and their respective focus is underpinned on the emergence of a new type of consumer - the sustainably focused millennial who has now been conditioned by other sharing services to value access over ownership - and believe this evolution of consumer behaviors will ultimately take their offerings mainstream. Amongst millennials, we are seeing an emphasis on access over ownership, which is what makes the market conditions so ripe for a rental model. Secondly, and most importantly is the sustainable fashion movement, which has gained significant momentum over the past year and now dictates one of the primary buying motivation of Gen Y and millennials. Outlines the CEO and Founder of WearTheWalk, Zoe Partridge. The sharing economy facilitates the growth of smaller brands through the access it provides to consumers, its our belief that the sharing economy democratizes a once heavily elitist industry and enables the everyday girl, and the next generation of luxury consumers to consume brands that were once the preserve of the catwalks, photo shoots and those with big enough bank balances. She also highlights that despite the uncertainty facing the economy their customer research tells them that 73% of millennials are willing to pay more fashion with a sustainability slant to it. One barrier that all clothing rental companies need to overcome though is the idea that youre wearing a piece of clothing that has been worn by others before you, the idea of cleanliness in this sector is clearly a higher priority than with ordering a taxi. With this in mind, its no surprise that such companies are creating promotional videos to show behind the scenes of their clothing rental businesses, especially highlighting how the clothes are cleaned to the highest of standards. The most recent example of this being the video campaign undertaken in China by YCloset with a leading Chinese influencer Jiang Chacha. The video ends with her being offered a glass of water to drink from one of the steaming machines used, clearly implying the cleanliness of the whole process. The increased spending power of Gen Y and Millennials in the retail market and the desire for experience over ownership mean that the stars may just have aligned for the clothing rental market to move mainstream in 2019 in the UK, although it might need a bigger retail name to enter the space to really help shape consumer conscience around the trend and overcome the mental challenges still clearly facing the emerging sector. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/callyrussell/2019/01/10/will-2019-be-the-year-clothing-subscription-takes-over/ |
Are we in for a bumpy 2019 in Sacramento real estate? | After seven years of price increases, Sacramentos housing market hit a plateau in 2018. Prices flattened in the second half of the year. The number of homes on the market decreased. Those that were on the market took longer to sell. Our team: Dean Wehrli is an analyst for John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Erin Stumpf is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. Greg Paquin heads The Gregory Group, a real estate research and data firm. Pat Shea is president of Lyon Real Estate. And Ryan Lundquist is an appraiser and author of the Sacramento Appraisal Blog. Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. (We edited their comments for brevity and to avoid duplication.) Lundquist: In one word, the market has been in a slump. Sales volume was down 11 percent from the last year. There have been (homes) on the market that havent sold. Prices have been more flat. We had the lowest December in sales volume in the last 11 years. Stumpf: I think the market was just so crazy in the spring of 2018 that many buyers gave up after being beaten out in competitive offer situations. Interest rates ticked up slightly though they have fallen back a bit now so buyers could not afford quite as much as before. Paquin: Even though we have a strong economy that includes wages beginning to increase more significantly, there has been a faster increase in home values as compared to incomes. (Since late) 2011 new-home values have increased 71 percent and median incomes have increased approximately 15 percent. Shea: Trade war commotion, elections, interest rate movements, tax considerations and market fatigue all likely contributed to sales tapering off at year end. Wehrli: Construction and labor costs continue to push pricing (up) in the new home sector. This exacerbated already-high prices which are probably the biggest reason for the slowdown. Stock fluctuations havent helped, particularly for buyers with jobs based in the Bay Area. Many potential home buyers figured prices were at a peak, or about to peak. These buyers are trying to time the market. They ... are willing to wait to see how low sellers can go. Stumpf: I believe Sacramento will see a slight increase in home prices in 2019. I foresee a balanced market between buyers and sellers, and that is great news as far as I am concerned. The number of homes available on the market will be slightly higher than in past years, and homes will take slightly longer to sell on average. Appealing homes that are appropriately priced ... will still see competitive multiple offers and sell quickly. Wehrli: Home prices are likely to be pretty stable, rising modestly by year end. I expect a decent spring selling season, particularly if mortgage rates remain lower as they have been very recently. Inventory is likely to rise a bit, but, remember, we are coming from a few years now of extraordinarily low levels of inventory. Shea: Look for a very predictable sales pattern once again in 2019. One can expect (house price) appreciation to (be in) the 4 percent to 6 percent range. Continued job growth and upward pressure on employee compensation appear to remain in play for the foreseeable future in Northern California. Mortgage rates remain incredibly favorable. Lundquist: If buyers put their foot back on the gas pedal, with mortgages rates going down now, there is room in the market to see values increase. It all boils down right now to what buyers are going to do. Its a blank canvas. Paquin: We are optimistic for sales and pricing in 2019. There is a real possibility that sales will equal and perhaps exceed 2018 numbers. (Newly constructed homes) should see a modest increase of between 2 percent and 3.5 percent. All five experts: No Wehrli: The factors that led to a bubble last time easy money boosting demand artificially and very high levels of supply are not present now. That is not to say we are not in for a slowdown when the economy cools, but it should be nothing like last time. Shea: A respectable number of homes in greater Sacramento are free and clear, and the majority with mortgages have significant equity. Payments are very manageable, due to low interest rates and salary escalations. Stumpf: Previous buyers (a decade-plus ago) hyper-extended themselves and could not actually afford those homes, and when the market declined many had to short sell or were foreclosed. We just do not have those lending products anymore, and buyers have to qualify for loans. Your average buyer today cannot get a loan without a skin in the game down payment, good credit, and verifiable income and employment. Paquin: As compared to the last housing boom-bust cycle of 2008, there has not been the rapid or significant price increases, the artificial lending that helped facilitate the rapid price increases and lenders have become much more diligent in who can or cannot receive a new-home loan. Wehrli: Be patient. Buyers can wait for great offers, but maybe have to be more realistic at times. The same goes for sellers. The market is what it is and no buyer cares that your costs have gone up or what you paid for your home. But there is still not a lot of inventory out there so sellers have not lost all leverage. Lundquist: I say to anyone not to get trapped into thinking buying is about where prices are at. Just know the market, be in tune with interest rates, the neighborhood and the schools. For anyone considering selling, if youre are going to buy again, prices are also high. Thats the struggle many people face. Be aware the rental market has been tight, so if they plan on renting, they better line up a rental in advance. Stumpf: Sellers should be carefully reviewing the most recent, relevant, like-kind comparable nearby home sales and set their listing prices in line with those properties. If a home sits on the market with no offers after a few weeks, your price is probably too high. Sellers should also carefully consider pre-listing repairs, cosmetic improvements, and staging to present their properties in the best possible light. Buyers should get pre-approved for their home financing, and stay in touch with their lender and Realtor in case there are any changes in interest rates. And while overall buyers may have a little more time on their side for decision-making, the good properties will go quickly, so be prepared to pounce. Paquin: We have seen a strong influence of Bay Area buyers to Sacramento that has been increasing during the past 12 to 24 months, with some projects (depending on the location) achieving between 40 percent and 60 percent of their buyers from the Bay Area. (Paquins data shows that, in 2003, new home prices in the Sacramento area were 64 percent of Bay Area prices. Now theyre just 49 percent of Bay prices.) Sacramento provides a significant opportunity for Bay Area refuges who desire to stay close and connected to the coast, but choose a more affordable and, perhaps, better quality of life. Stumpf: I get inquiries from people wanting to relocate to Sacramento from the Bay Area every week, fueled by the desires for a better quality of life and more affordable housing costs. This additional demand is part of the reason why I just do not see any real estate bubble in Sacramentos immediate future. I think many of those households will look to relocate to the greater Sacramento area. Lundquist: This is not a new phenomenon. Weve always been less expensive. Weve been getting cooler lately and getting more notice. There will be heightened focus on our market. (But) we dont have a market where rich cash buyers are buying everything up. Shea: Those with equity (in the Bay Area) can sell and find tremendous home values in our region. They can often place a nice chunk of residual equity in other investments for a more secure retirement. Many, many others must simply find employment in Sacramento, commute, tele-commute, etc. to have any opportunity for home ownership in Northern California. They are priced out of their current housing markets and that will not change. The population is certain to grow in the Greater Sacramento region and housing will not be able to keep up thus, prices will continue to rise. Lundquist: I think the market is poised for buyers to gain more power than sellers. But not total control. Buyers are making the mistake that sellers were making. Sellers thought they could command whatever price they want. Buyers are making an equal mistake of saying I can offer whatever I want. Wehrli: Smart home technology is going to continue to grow. It will become less something to impress a potential buyer and more something a potential buyer expects. Google Home and Amazon Echo will be in more homes, but it will also be smart locks and smart security and, yes, smart toilets, but, no, I dont want to go into details on that. Also, factory-built homes will gradually become a bigger part of the market though maybe more over the next five or 10 years than the next year. Factory-built can cut costs and time lines. Shea: Upper end sales, $750,000 and above, have increased measurably over the last few years. Look for that trend to continue considering the persistent migration patterns from our coastal regions. Paquin: There are several developers that are trying to provide more affordable housing in the Sacramento Region. These homes are generally smaller, situated on smaller lots and offer basic features and amenities; however, sales have been strong at pricing that is generally less than $450,000. Secondly, there is a lot of conversation about ... development of single-family homes as rental units. It is worth keeping an eye on, as it provides a way for people to live in single-family homes without the added costs (down payments, taxes, etc.). Stumpf: Gov. Gavin Newsom has some lofty goals for housing production during his administration. I would like to think that the legislature will take up housing as a key issue during this session, and we should hopefully see some new policy that enables builders to build, creates zoning that permits dense housing construction near transit, allows more existing property owners to construct accessory dwelling units, and creates funding mechanisms to finance affordable housing. | https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article224041900.html |
What If Huge NASA Mars Rover Crashes Sunday Night? | If NASA's newest Mars rover doesn't touch down safely Sunday night (Aug. 5), the future of Red Planet exploration could be thrown into serious doubt. The 1-ton Curiosity rover's main goal is to determine if Mars can, or ever could, support microbial life. But the huge robot is also carrying the hopes and dreams of NASA's venerable Mars program on its back to some extent, so a crash Sunday night could be devastating. "It could take the entire Mars program down with it," Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society, which pushes for human settlement of the Red Planet, told SPACE.com's Leonard David. "It is victory or death." Big funding cuts President Barack Obama's 2013 federal budget request, which was released in February, slashes NASA's planetary science program funding from $1.5 billion to $1.2 billion, with further cuts expected in the coming years. Much of the money will come out of NASA's robotic Mars exploration program, which has enjoyed a string of successes in the past decade. After landing in January 2004, for example, the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity discovered plenty of evidence that Mars was once warmer and wetter than it is today. And the Phoenix lander found subsurface water ice near the planet's north pole in 2008. Nevertheless, the White House budget proposal cuts NASA's Mars funding from $587 million this year to $360 million in 2013, and then to just $189 million in 2015. [NASA's 2013 Budget: What Will It Buy?] As a result, NASA was forced to drop of out the European-led ExoMars mission, which aims to deliver an orbiter and a rover to the Red Planet in 2016 and 2018, respectively. And the agency is fundamentally restructuring and downscaling its Mars program, in an attempt to figure out how to make the most out of every precious dollar. But NASA planetary science officials still hold out hope for a funding comeback, with the help of Curiosity. They think the rover's discoveries could loosen politicians' pursestrings and reinvigorate the agency's robotic exploration efforts. "What a tremendous opportunity it is for us," Jim Green, head of NASA's planetary science division, said at a conference in March. "I believe [Curiosity] will open up that new era of discovery that will compel this nation to invest more in planetary science." Sticking the landing So a successful landing on Sunday night is of paramount importance to the space agency, officials have said. Curiosity's touchdown "could arguably be the most important event most significant event in the history of planetary exploration," Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, said last month. But success is not a given. Landing a robot on another planet is never an easy task, and Curiosity's touchdown will perhaps involve more hand-wringing than usual. Because it's so heavy, engineers had to devise an entirely new landing method for the rover. A rocket-powered sky crane will lower Curiosity to the Martian surface on cables, then fly off to intentionally crash-land a short distance away. Such a maneuver has never before been tried on another world. If success over the course of the mission could bring great dividends to NASA's Mars program, then failure Sunday night could have a chilling effect. [How Curiosity's Nail-Biting Landing Works (Pictures)] "I think if we are fatal on landing, that will have a very negative influence," said Caltech's John Grotzinger, lead scientist for Curiosity's $2.5 billion mission, which is officially called the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). "It's going to force people to look back and ask if it's possible to achieve these very complex, more demanding missions from a technological perspective," Grotzinger told SPACE.com. "How can you talk about sample-return if you can't do MSL first?" Keeping the program vital NASA has one more Mars mission firmly on the books beyond MSL, an atmosphere-studying orbiter called Maven that's due to launch next year. The agency plans to launch another mission in 2018 or 2020, partly to keep the program vital. But a Curiosity crash could persuade some talented scientists and engineers that there's not much of a future at Mars, at least not for a while, researchers say. "If this thing were to fail, I think a lot of people would trickle away and do other things," said Ken Edgett, of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. Edgett is principal investigator for Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager instrument, or MAHLI. He added that a crash might spark discussions within NASA about shifting resources from Mars to other promising destinations, such as Jupiter's moon Europa, which harbors a liquid-water ocean beneath its icy shell. "I don't like that either-or scenario, but I think that's where we're headed," Edgett told SPACE.com in April. Mars keeps calling us Edgett stressed, however, that he didn't think a landing mishap would be the end of the Mars program. Other experts echo that viewpoint, saying that Mars will continue to hold our interest and draw our scientific explorers back. "It's one of the most scientifically compelling objects in the solar system perhaps in terms of ease to get to, the most compelling," said Scott Hubbard of Stanford University. "And it's the place, ultimately, for human exploration. So I think Mars exploration will continue." Hubbard speaks from experience. He's the former "Mars Czar" who restructured NASA's Red Planet program after the agency's Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter both failed in 1999. Still, success would definitely be preferable for those who care about Red Planet exploration. A strong showing by Curiosity could lead to bigger things down the road at Mars, Hubbard said. "There's a window, I feel, with a successful mission particularly if it finds evidence of organics to give the scientific community even more stimulus and ammunition to ask for a re-look at the budget," Hubbard said. SPACE.com columnist Leonard David contributed to this story. Visit SPACE.com for complete coverage of NASA's Mars rover landing Sunday. Follow senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. | https://www.foxnews.com/science/what-if-huge-nasa-mars-rover-crashes-sunday-night |
Will Berkeley take back Marine snub? | This is a rush transcript from "The Big Story With John Gibson and Heather Nauert," February 12, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. JOHN GIBSON, CO-HOST: New developments now in a big outrage. Many of us could not believe it when we heard a city in our own country elected to vote against our United States Marines. The liberal Mecca of Berkeley, California, send a note to members of our Armed Forces last month, telling them they were, quote, "Uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in Berkeley if they tried to enlist citizens in that city. KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, GUEST CO-HOST: It's shocking all right. Tonight: Berkeley's is reconsidering it the anti-Marines stance after the brazen snob ignited an outcry across the nation. BIG STORY correspondent, Douglas Kennedy has been following this controversy closely and he joins us now with the very latest. DOUGLAS KENNEDY, BIG STORY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John and Kimberly, the city council will decide tonight whether the Marines are welcome or not welcome. It's a controversy that has sparked a major controversy across the country. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KENNEDY (voice over): In 2006, Navy SEAL, Mark Lee lost his life while fighting in Iraq. DEBBIE LEE, MOTHER OF FALLEN NAVY SEAL: He did that to save his buddies. He did that for you and for me. KENNEDY: But his mom says, Mark's ultimate sacrifice is now being dishonored by the city of Berkeley, which recently told the Marines, they're recruiting office was not welcome within city limits. D. LEE: For years, you know, the city of Berkeley and the crowd here have been saying that our troops are not welcome in Iraq, that they don't belong there. That's disgusting. KENNEDY: The city council is now reconsidering that controversial proclamation that called the Marines, quote, "Unwelcome intruders". They put the bayside city once again at ground zero in a war between pro-war and anti-war ideologies. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm against war but I think, if we didn't have any Marines, we'd probably all be speaking German. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a symbolic representation of a criminal and illegitimate war. And we're saying that it actually needs to leave and the whole war needs to stop. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, Marines you can get out of Berkeley now. We don't need you anymore. KENNEDY: California's anti-war group, CodePink wants Berkeley to go even further, prohibiting any military recruitment offices near schools or residential areas. Still, the group maintains the controversy has sparked a much-needed debate. MEDEA BENJAMIN: We're delighted. We're excited about the whole thing. It just shines a much-needed light on the issue of the war. KENNEDY: Debbie Lee says, debate is fine, her problem, she says is with the government group going after the very people who are protecting the government. D. LEE: So, I'm here today to confront the city council, to stand in honor of our troops and that they also need to publicly apologize to our troops, to the Marine recruiting office here and to all our men and women who have served in the military. (END VIDEOTAPE) KENNEDY: The vote tonight will remove the language about unwelcome intruders, at the same time, it will say that the city of Berkeley emphatically opposes the war in Iraq. So, clearly, John and Kimberly, they are trying to walk a fine line. GIBSON: All right. KENNEDY: Obviously, they think so, because they wouldn't be taking a second vote. But you know, clearly, if you oppose the war in Iraq, you should not be going after the Marines, you should be going after the decision makers. The Marines are out fighting for our country. They're dying. They're just following orders. I think they realize they made a mistake. GIBSON: We will follow this and see what happens tonight. Douglas Kennedy, thank you, Douglas. Content and Programming Copyright 2008 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2008 Voxant, Inc. (www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon FOX News Network, LLC'S and Voxant, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation. | https://www.foxnews.com/story/will-berkeley-take-back-marine-snub |
How Are Senior Care Communities Caring For Couples? | Senior housing developers and designers are working to expand the housing and care options enjoyed by the oldest Americans, including couples. Demographics explain why. Only about 100,000 Americans lived to be 85 or older in 1900. Projections indicate there will be more than 19 million Americans 85 and older by 2050. People 85 and older will make up 24% of older adults and 5% of the overall American population. Providing couples multiple options and approaches within the same senior living community is important. Thats because many couples have acuity and other challenges that make it difficult if not impossible to remain living together in the same quarters. Among the companies at the forefront in affording different alternatives are Pathway to Living, CA Senior Living and KTGY Architecture and Planning. Different needs, different times At Pathway to Living communities, couples can share assisted living apartments. They can opt to each have their own assisted living apartment at the same community. They can have individual assisted living apartments in a companion suite. Or one spouse can remain in assisted living in the same community where another is in memory care. Couples have different needs and often at different times, so we try to offer as many flexible options and alternatives as possible to help them choose the right home for them, said Maria Oliva, COO of Chicago, Ill.-based Pathway to Living, with 32 Midwestern senior living communities. Often, spouses also have widely different socialization and activity needs, and these too can be accommodated at Pathway to Living communities. A case in point is provided by Anne Schmid and her husband Allan, who recently celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary. The Schmids live in separate assisted living apartments connected within a companion suite at Pathway to Living-operated Alexian Village in Elk Grove Village, Ill. Our family thought it would be smart for us to live somewhere with medical staff on site, Anne says. The community is great for us because Im very social and Allan is a hermit. Ive met a lot of new friends, enjoy all the music programs, go on the outings and attend the exercise classes every morning. Allan likes to watch TV and rest in his apartment, and prefers to come down mainly for meals. Duplex cottage option Keeping couples together is a priority at CA Senior Living, the senior housing investment and development division of Chicago-based CA Ventures, with 22 U.S. senior communities operating or under construction. CA Senior Living offers traditional independent living, assisted living and memory care studios. In its communities in Lynwood, Wash. and Mayfield Heights, Oh. it also offers a new duplex cottage option. Togetherness for couples has been proven to boost quality of life, in part through the alleviation of stress associated with separation, said CA Senior Living president Ben Burke. While many couples want to continue living together, they often require varying levels of care, which prevents some from even considering alternative housing options despite the health benefits they provide. Weve made it our mission to educate older couples and in many cases their adult children about the various options that allow couples to live in the same community and, whenever possible, the same unit. Staying together through rehab The life plan communities (LPCs) designed by KTGY Architecture + Planning are expressly laid out to enable spouses to remain together as long as possible in the same place, surrounded by the same familiar friends. In the event of one spouse requiring rehabilitation, the designs enable movement between independent and assisted living areas. After the rehab is concluded, couples can reunite in their independent living apartments. The soon-to-open, KTGY Architecture + Planning-designed Reata Glen in South Orange County, Calif., for instance, will permit residents to transition from independent living to memory care and skilled nursing on the same site. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffsteele/2019/01/10/how-are-senior-care-communities-caring-for-couples/ |
Can Science Save the Tasmanian Devil? | The Tasmanian devil is known for its powerful jaws, frightening screeches and foul temper. Lately, though, it has earned a more dubious claim to fame: A strange and devastating disease is ravaging its population, pushing the world's largest meat-eating marsupials to the edge of extinction. Now, an international team of scientists has sequenced the Tasmanian devil genome. The results of their study appear this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Tasmanian devils once roamed Australia, but died out across most of their territory at least 400 years ago, probably due to changing local weather conditions and the spread of the dingo. Today the creatures survive only on the south Australian island of Tasmania -- for now. Since 1996, a new disease has decimated the devil population. As a result, Australia deemed the devil an endangered species in 2008. Known as DFTD, devil facial tumor disease causes cancerous tumors to sprout on the animals' mouths and heads. DFTD is no ordinary cancer. Unlike almost all other forms of cancer, DFTD is highly contagious. Deadly tumor cells are passed from animal to animal when they come together to mate or fight. Over the last 15 years the disease has spread across Tasmania. In the hardest-hit areas it has claimed as much as 90 percent of the devil population, according to Australian government estimates. "If nothing is done, the species will easily be wiped out within the next 10 years," said Stephan Schuster, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University and a co-author of the new study. Schuster and colleagues deciphered the full genomes of two Tasmanian devils: a female that contracted DFTD in the wild, and a male that proved resistant to two strains of the cancer before dying from a third strain last year. The researchers also reviewed the DNA of 175 other devils to find out how much variation exists from animal to animal. They confirmed that genetic diversity was extremely low. "They're highly inbred," said Webb Miller, co-author of the study and professor of biology and computer science engineering at Penn State. That makes it all the more important to get a handle on the devils' genetic heritage, he said. The Australian government has already begun breeding healthy devils in captivity, keeping them in "protective custody" while the disease burns through the wild population. "Once there are no more carriers in the wild, you could repopulate Tasmania from this breeding stock," Schuster said. But instead of randomly choosing animals for protective custody, Schuster and Miller say, conservationists should test animals' genes to ensure the captive population contains as much diversity as possible. The more genetic diversity there is in the population, Miller said, the better the animals will withstand new diseases and other new threats in the future. George Amato, a conservation geneticist at the American Museum of Natural History, notes that it's not necessary to sequence an entire genome to preserve genetic diversity. Identifying key gene sequences -- rather than decoding the entire DNA of an endangered species -- is typically a better use of conservation dollars, Amato said. "Just because you can sequence a whole genome doesn't mean you should," Amato said. On the other hand, Amato said, the Tasmanian devil and its bizarre cancer are a special case. Having its entire genome sequence will be valuable for scientists working to understand DFTD. In fact, Miller said, his team has already identified spots on the genome that might be involved in resistance to DFTD. "We have lots of clues," he said. Genetics offers a powerful tool for understanding endangered animals and preserving their diversity. "In almost every case in conservation, there's an important role for genetics," Amato said. | https://www.foxnews.com/science/can-science-save-the-tasmanian-devil |
Where Have All the Kirks Gone? | By Heather SmithRadio and Documentary Producer Don't beam me up, Scotty. The Capt. James T. Kirk in the new "Star Trek" film is proof of how much ground men have lost in today's culture. Before you tell me it is just a movie, recall the words of series creator Gene Roddenberry: "I have no belief that Star Trek depicts the actual future," Roddenberry said, "it depicts us, now..." And right now, the latest Star Trek depicts men as insecure, impulsive lechs who need women and aliens to keep them out of trouble. Consider four attributes of the ideal man: self-control, bravery, confidence and sex appeal. In the original series, Kirk has supreme self-control. He sacrifices himself for the safety of his crew and, in more than one episode, even chooses duty over true love. In the latest "Star Trek," Kirk is Peter Pan, an irresponsible, reckless man-boy. (Warning: plot spoilers ahead.) The new Kirk tears down an empty Iowa highway in a stolen hot rod and drives off a cliff, jumping out to save himself, not the car. He gets into bar fights to serve his vanity, not some higher cause like rescuing the crew from aliens. While the original Kirk used reason, the new one mostly leaves that to Spock. To read Ms. Smith's complete post on Big Hollywood.com, click here. | https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/where-have-all-the-kirks-gone |
Is the hype about CBD, or cannabidiol, real? | You're not alone. Not that long ago, I would not have been able to tell you what the acronym CBD stood for, let alone what it was used for. CBD, or cannabidiol, is most commonly extracted from hemp, but it can also come from marijuana plants, which is why it is sometimes confused with its trippy chemical cousin THC. Unlike CBD, THC produces a high when smoked or eaten. Today, we are living in a CBD world, with tinctures, ointments and vaping oils popping up everywhere. Celebrities from Gwyneth Paltrow to Willie Nelson are CBD believers, and if you frequent the right coffee shops, you can even get a shot of cannabidiol in your latte. In my small North Carolina town, a flier at the local convenience store exhorts me to experience the phenomenon of CBD products, promising it can provide relief from diabetes, alcoholism, schizophrenia, back and knee pain, and other conditions. Everybody who buys the product comes back and raves about it including my mother, the enthusiastic checkout clerk says. And, I must add, including me. I am now taking a CBD tincture daily. After all the hype, I wanted to see whether it might have a positive impact on my lifelong struggle against depression. (To be clear, the tincture I use is based on hemp-derived CBD, which contains less than 0.3 percent THC, which is short for tetrahydrocannabinol. Thats not enough to get high even if I drank the entire bottle, several experts explained.) A rapidly growing industry Despite the growing popularity of CBD, the science supporting the claims remains pretty slim at this point. Id say hype, hope and big bucks. To date, the Food and Drug Administration has approved only one drug containing CBD, Epidiolex, for previously uncontrollable pediatric seizures. (To get the FDAs OK, a new drug must be rigorously studied in clinical trials.) The Hemp Business Journal estimates that the hemp CBD market totaled $190 million last year in a category that didnt exist five years ago. By 2022, the Brightfield Group, a cannabis and CBD market research firm, says sales are expected to reach $22 billion. The December passage of the 2018 farm bill will certainly help; the measure amended the term marihuana to exempt hemp as a controlled substance as long as it contains no more than 0.3 percent THC. Laura Freeman, chief executive of Homestead Alternatives, a Kentucky maker of CBD products, told me that this is the first bright spot weve had in farming in a long time. We finally have a crop that has potential. With that kind of enthusiasm, as one CBD-user asked me, Whats the harm? The research so far Thats an excellent question, says Donald Abrams, an oncologist and professor of clinical medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. In fact, he says, we really dont know anything about CBDs. Abrams is a member of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee that issued the most comprehensive report to date on the evidence related to the health benefits of cannabis and cannabinoids. That report did not include hemp-based CBD; it covered only CBD products that included THC derived from marijuana, also known as medical marijuana. (Remember: its the THC that makes users high and its why medical marijuana is still illegal in many states.) Abrams says, however, that in vitro and animal studies do suggest many potential therapeutic applications for hemp-based CBD. Several studies have found CBD to be harmless, which is to say safe, but thats very different from proving its effectiveness. Abrams told me there have been only five randomized clinical trials that have looked at CBD, until the Epidiolex studies. The largest of those studies was a 24-person trial. Yep, thats small. A need for transparency Even if there were more evidence that CBD works wonders, we would still have the question of what CBD-based products actually contain. Not all states require CBD manufacturers to accurately label their products. With scant regulation, consumers should be skeptical. The source matters, too, since heavy metals or other contaminants have been found in some hemp grown in China or Eastern Europe. People who are buying them on Amazon, or at their local health food store, are really working without a (safety) net, says Michael Backes, author of Cannabis Pharmacy: The Practical Guide to Medical Marijuana. In a 2017 study, Marcel Bonn-Miller, an adjunct assistant professor in the psychiatry department at the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine, said his team found that nearly 70 percent of CBD products they analyzedwere mislabeled. About 40 percent of the 84 items were under-labeled, meaning they had significantly more CBD than indicated. In addition, approximately a quarter were over-labeled, meaning consumers not only are paying good money for an ingredient they are not getting but also may not be getting a large enough dose to achieve any potential therapeutic benefit. The recommended serving size on my bottle of CBD tincture is 1 milliliter a day. I think I speak for most consumers when I say serving size is the way to measure chocolates, not medicines. But the FDA wont allow CBD producers to make any marketing claims which includes recommended doses. Other brands may recommend a greater or smaller daily dose because doses arent standardized and because CBD products come in different strengths. As Abrams told me, its really the wild west out there. A lot of promise Despite these concerns, Ziva Cooper, an associate professor of clinical neurobiology at Columbia Universitys Irving Medical Center, who is doing research with CBD, says based on animal studies, there seems to be a lot of promise for a number of disease states, including its potential effects on inflammation, which could make it effective against multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disorders and addiction. More important, she told me, CBD may be therapeutic for ailments for which there arent necessarily great medicines such as those pediatric seizure disorders and many others. About three months ago, I added a CBD tincture to the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medication I take for depression. My psychopharmacologist told me there was no specific contraindication or reason against taking both, but stressed that theres no data on how the two behave together. There are some known contraindications with other medications, including Warfarin, codeine and oxycodone, but not SSRIs. Its not that theres no contraindication, Cooper said. We just dont know. Taking Bonn-Millers advice, I found the batch number on the bottle of my tincture and called the manufacturer in Kentucky to verify whats in it. Fortunately, the label was exactly on the mark in terms of CBD content. The testing lab also confirmed there were no heavy metals in my product. The answer: We wouldnt. Since Ive been using CBD, my mood has been significantly elevated and stable, although I understand my experience proves nothing. The placebo effect can be strong, especially for health symptoms modulated by the brain. Cooper encouraged me to continue talking with my doctor because these powerful stories, as well as evidence from preclinical or animal studies, help drive the basis for rigorous studies. Such rigor is whats needed to prove or disprove the anecdotal information about CBD. A market this size, with such enormous health consequences, should be based on more than hype and hope. | https://www.seattletimes.com/explore/shop-northwest/is-the-hype-about-cbd-or-cannabidiol-real/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Why the rush to name a New Orleans police chief? | With the sudden departure of New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison, Mayor LaToya Cantrell will finally get the chance to name her own top cop, which is likely what she wanted all along. Be careful what you wish for. There is nothing unusual or wrong with Cantrell wanting to name her own police chief. In most cities, its the most important and high-profile appointment that a mayor makes, sending a message about a commitment to public safety and taking ownership of the crime stats. But after the sudden announcement Monday (Jan. 7) of Harrisons resignation, Cantrell appears to be rushing to fill the gap with little or no public input or transparency. The process painfully brings to mind Cantrells still inexplicable decision to hire former NOPD Superintendent Warren Riley as the citys director of public safety and homeland security. She backed down reluctantly only after what she called an uptick in community resistance from those who criticized Rileys leadership following Hurricane Katrina and questioned his diligence in investigating accusations of police violence, including the shooting deaths of unarmed citizens after the storm. Searching for motives in the NOPD chiefs disappearance Naming a new police chief could be a defining moment for Cantrell. It could be argued that the greatest success of Mayor Marc Morials two terms was the hiring of Richard Pennington in October 1994 to take over an NOPD riddled with corruption and incompetence. New Orleans had the highest per capita murder rate in the country 424 homicides in 1994 alone and the highest rate of civil rights complaints against officers when Pennington took charge. Five years later, the number of murders was down to 158 and Pennington had instituted policies to clean up the internal malfeasance and to begin restoring public confidence in the force. Nothing would have redeemed Ray Nagins criminally dysfunctional time in office, but the performance of his NOPD superintendents, Eddie Compass and Riley, certainly didnt help. Compass lost control of the NOPD during the Katrina disaster and Rileys tenure was marred by continued chaos. Mayor Mitch Landrieus first choice for superintendent, Ronal Serpas, stepped down in the midst of controversy over a two-day delay in publicly disclosing an officer-involved shooting during an Algiers traffic stop. An inspector generals report also had criticized his department for the widespread misclassification of sexual assault reports. That led to the rise of Harrison, who is widely praised for boosting morale within the department and increasing confidence with the public in guiding the NOPD under a federal consent decree. He also is leaving after New Orleans made it through 2018 with 146 murders, the lowest number of homicides in the city since the early 1970s. But Cantrell never seemed to fully embrace Harrison. Throughout her campaign, she said she would mount a national search for a new chief and coldly allowed that Harrison could apply if he was so inclined. Even when she reversed course and kept him on, Cantrell said Harrison would be evaluated quarterly by a set of metrics she never made public. We may never know. The question now is how Cantrell moves forward. She has said she will announce her new chief Monday, just a week after the job came open. Perhaps she was prepared for this moment, either because she knew he was leaving or was planning to replace him. This Louisiana Republican could face tough votes in shutdown battle Either way, it would help if the public were better informed by how the decision was being made and an assurance that the candidate has been properly vetted. Act in haste, repent at leisure rarely works in politics or public policy. Sometimes you are fortunate to land a Pennington (think Sean Payton) and sometimes you get a Compass or a Riley (think Mike Ditka or Hank Stram). Tim Morris is a columnist on the Latitude team at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Latitude is a place to share opinions about the challenges facing Louisiana. Follow @LatitudeNOLA on Facebook and Twitter. Write to Tim at [email protected]. | https://www.nola.com/opinions/2019/01/why-the-rush-to-name-a-new-orleans-police-chief.html |
Can Celtics' draft picks top the Lakers in Anthony Davis trades? | If the New Orleans Pelicans decide to trade Davis this summer, most of the interested parties will be limited to offering their own draft picks. The Celtics' options are different by design. Boston has stockpiled future picks for a situation like this, and it could have as many as four first-round picks in the 2019 NBA draft. Let's take a look. How Boston can trade this year's first-rounders First, let's reconsider an important caveat for the Celtics with regard to Davis. The NBA's collective bargaining agreement prevents teams from acquiring more than one player currently signed to a designated rookie extension, which means Boston can't have both Davis and Kyrie Irving this season. That will change come July 1, when Irving is all but certain to decline his player option and become a free agent. Hypothetically, the Celtics could trade for Davis before the Feb. 7 deadline if they included Irving in the deal. Realistically, pairing Davis with Irving is a large part of the appeal of a trade. So a Boston deal for Davis would almost certainly not happen until after the July moratorium -- after this year's draft. However, the teams are free to negotiate and agree on terms before that, meaning the Pelicans could get their choice of picks at the draft and then complete the deal once Irving is officially a free agent. With that in mind, let's go through the picks the Celtics could have, using projections based on ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI) to estimate their value. Projecting Boston's picks Boston first-round pick Chances: 100 percent | Most likely position: 28th The Celtics will, of course, have their own first-round pick. The bad news -- which is probably actually good news -- is that it's likely to fall at the end of the round. Because Boston should win more games in the second half of the season by living up to its strong point differential, BPI projects just two teams (the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors) with better records on average. That would mean picking 28th for the Celtics, who used the 27th pick in last June's draft to take Texas A&M center Robert Williams. Sacramento first-round pick (top-1 protected) Chances: 97 percent | Most likely position: 11th Entering the season, the Kings' first-round pick looked like the crown jewel of Boston's trade coffers. The Celtics get the pick unless it's No. 1 overall, in which case the Philadelphia 76ers would keep the pick (from the Markelle Fultz trade) and Boston would get Philadelphia's first-rounder instead. Alas, Sacramento has made its pick far less valuable by exceeding expectations and staying in the Western Conference playoff race. Because of the Kings' poor preseason projection -- which still retains predictive power this deep into the schedule -- and their relatively weak point differential (minus-1.4 points per game), BPI gives Sacramento little chance of making the playoffs in the West (the Kings do so in 1 percent of simulations). Nonetheless, Sacramento's pick is still most likely to land at the bottom of the lottery, and that's even without considering that the Kings will have no incentive to lose games late in the season. So while this is still a useful pick to trade, it's no longer the blue-chip trade piece it once appeared. Philadelphia first-round pick Chances: 3 percent | Most likely position: 23rd Again, the Celtics get the Sixers' pick only if Sacramento wins the lottery. That happens in just 3 percent of BPI simulations, which is good for Boston because swapping picks would mean a huge tumble. With Philadelphia firmly entrenched in the East's top five, this pick will most likely fall into the 20s. Memphis first-round pick (top-8 protected) Chances: 64 percent | Most likely position: 10th Having slumped since a strong start, the Grizzlies have fallen behind Sacramento in BPI's projections, meaning amazingly this could be the best pick the Celtics get this year. At the same time, there's a narrow window for Boston to get a top-10 pick because Memphis keeps it if it lands in the top eight. If they can no longer realistically make the playoffs, the Grizzlies might try to fall in the standings to improve their chances of keeping the pick. The good news for the Celtics is twofold. First, no matter how hard Memphis tries (or doesn't try), there will almost certainly be a chance for Boston to get the pick this year. Because the top four picks will be chosen by lottery under this year's changes, up from the previous three, only a team with a bottom-four record will be assured a top-eight pick. Given how bad the NBA's bottom five teams (Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Phoenix) have been, it will be difficult for the Grizzlies to enter the lottery any higher than sixth. Second, if Memphis' pick rolls over to 2020, the protection drops to top-six before becoming unprotected in 2021. Given the age of Grizzlies stars Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, the 2020 or 2021 Memphis pick would probably be even more valuable as a trade chip than a pick in the back end of this year's top 10. Having that pick in reserve could become especially handy if Davis negotiations drag on past July 1, meaning the Celtics would have to draft this year instead of the Pelicans getting to control the picks. LA Clippers (top-14 protected) Chances: 73 percent | Most likely position: 18th The Clippers' pick, originally sent to the Grizzlies in exchange for Jeff Green before being rerouted to Boston during a 2016 draft-night trade, is lottery-protected each of the next two years before converting to a far less valuable 2022 second-round pick if not conveyed. Given the reasonable possibility the Celtics will never see the first-round pick, it's exciting for Boston that the Clippers are on track to likely make the playoffs this season. BPI projects them doing so nearly three-quarters of the time. Although the Clippers will probably fall near the bottom of the West playoff standings, they're not likely to pick any higher than 18th because of the weaker projected records of the East's last three playoff teams. Even if Boston doesn't get the top-five pick from the Kings that fans were dreaming of entering the season, the Celtics' extra first-rounders are still an edge no other team could match in dealing for Davis. After all, most teams have only their own first-round picks, which are likely to fall near the end of the round if they add the superstar big man. At the same time, it's unclear just how much New Orleans would covet draft picks in a possible Davis deal. Given their small market and poor ticket sales (they currently rank 26th in home attendance), the Pelicans might prioritize players who can keep them competitive even after Davis' departure. That's the approach that would open the door for a team like the Lakers, with its unusual cache of recent first-round picks on rookie contracts: Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart and Moritz Wagner, plus early second-round pick Ivica Zubac. Consider the original incarnation of New Orleans' Chris Paul trade, which brought back veterans Goran Dragic, Kevin Martin, Lamar Odom and Luis Scola in lieu of picks. Only after NBA commissioner David Stern vetoed that deal in his role as the Pelicans' owner rep did New Orleans instead get a quality draft pick (which ended up 10th overall, used on Austin Rivers) in the eventual trade sending Paul to the Clippers. While Davis is surely even more coveted, we've also seen recent trades involving star players entering the final year of their contract offer little in the way of draft picks. The Indiana Pacers got young players Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis instead of picks when they sent Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and players DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl were more important to the San Antonio Spurs' return for Kawhi Leonard than the Toronto Raptors' top-20 protected 2019 first-round pick. From that standpoint, Boston's own young talent might be the key in potential Davis trade negotiations rather than the Celtics' draft picks. Jaylen Brown is the kind of young player with playoff experience the Pelicans might target, while Boston agreeing to deal Jayson Tatum would presumably trump any other offer that could be made for Davis. So although the Celtics' draft picks can be useful sweeteners, they might not prove to be the core of a Davis deal. | https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/celtics-draft-picks-top-lakers-anthony-davis-trades/story?id=60285206 |
Why Did AT&T Shares Lose 22% in 2018? | AT&T (NYSE: T) faces a fairly hostile and highly competitive market for its wireless, broadband, and pay-television services. The company has not lost ground in all of those segments, but it's struggled as DirecTV has cast a shadow over the entire company. What happened While AT&T has added wireless customers and its overall outlook remains positive, the company has no answer for stemming the declines in its satellite television business. In the third quarter alone, DirecTV lost 359,000 customers while its DirecTV Now streaming service added 49,000 and AT&T U-verse increased by 13,000. That's not an AT&T problem but, rather, a satellite television one. Satellite used to be the main competitor to traditional wired cable. Now, with streaming services and cord-cutting as lower-cost options, consumers have no reason to opt for satellite. In addition, DirecTV does not offer bundled broadband service and AT&T's U-verse (which does) lost 23,000 video customers in the third quarter. Again, that's due to customers shifting away from phone company-based internet preferring cable-based service and not a problem specific to AT&T. A person pointing a remote control at a television. More Cord-cutting and customers dropping satellite have become a problem for AT&T. Image source: Getty Images. So what AT&T faces problems with DirecTV and pay television in general that it has no answers for. The company will continue to lose satellite customers in large number,s and it's not going to make that up in streaming customers. It should, however, remain a strong player in wireless, but it will face pricing challenges in that market assuming the Sprint and T-Mobile merger gets approved. Concerns over the pay-television business were a drag on the shares of the company in 2018. After closing 2017 at $36.11 before closing the year at $28.07, a 22% drop, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Now what It's really a question of how AT&T manages its declines in satellite television and how it leverages its various assets. CEO Randall Stephenson understands that ongoing success will involve more than just providing services. "We are well positioned for success as the lines between entertainment and communications continue to blur," he said in a press release. "If you're a media company, you can no longer rely exclusively on wholesale distribution models. You must develop a direct relationship with your viewers. And if you're a communications company, you can no longer rely exclusively on oversized bundles of content." AT&T, of course, owns content through its acquisition of Time Warner. In theory, that content could be used to entice more customers to buy DirecTV Now or some sort of streaming service using the company's programming library. That's a possible but very challenging proposition for a company that's facing significant competition and changing consumer demand. More From The Motley Fool Daniel B. Kline has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends T-Mobile US. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/why-did-t-shares-lose-150500442.html |
Will Delta (DAL) Retain its Beat Streak in Q4 Earnings? | Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2018 results on Jan 15, before the market opens. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in the last reported quarter. In fact, it boasts an impressive earnings history, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 4.2%. Things seem to be looking up for the company this soon-to-be-reported quarter as well with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings being revised 2.5% upward over the last 60 days. Our proven model shows that Delta is likely to beat on earnings in the fourth quarter of 2018 as well because it has the perfect combination of the following two key ingredients. Earnings ESP: Delta has an Earnings ESP of +1.26%, representing the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate (poised at $1.27 cents per share) and the Zacks Consensus Estimate (pegged lower at $1.25). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: Delta currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Note that the stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 have a significantly higher chance of beating estimates. Conversely, the Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) should never be considered going into an earnings announcement, especially when the company is witnessing negative estimate revisions. Thus, the above combination makes us reasonably confident of a likely earnings surprise in the impending reporting cycle. Delta Air Lines, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Delta Air Lines, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Delta Air Lines, Inc. Quote Factors Likely at Play The current law, which cuts the corporate tax rate significantly, is anticipated to aid Deltas bottom-line growth in the fourth quarter. Notably, the carrier expects earnings per share between $1.25 and $1.30 in the period to be reported, much higher than 96 cents in the fourth quarter of 2017. Additionally, high passenger revenues owing to solid demand for air travel are anticipated to boost the companys top line. Delta expects total revenues to grow approximately 7% excluding third-party refinery sales in the quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue growth is pegged at 5.7%. Additionally, the pre-tax margin is predicted between 10% and 11%. Moreover, total revenue per available seat mile (TRASM: a key measure of unit revenue) is envisioned to increase approximately 3% on a year-over-year basis. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter TRASM stands at 17.22 cents compared with 16.40 reported in the third quarter of 2018. Notably, the company has been reporting a healthy TRASM growth over the past few quarters. On another positive note, non-fuel unit costs are likely to slip approximately 0.5% in the to-be-reported quarter. This is another catalyst for bottom-line growth. However, high fuel expenses might partly offset earnings growth in the quarter. Fuel prices, although at a low level since the past few months, is still much higher when compared with the year-ago figure. The company forecasts fourth-quarter fuel cost per gallon in the range of $2.38-$2.43, much higher than $1.93 in the year-ago period. Other Stocks to Consider Investors interested in the broader Transportation sector may also consider American Airlines Group, Inc. AAL, ArcBest Corporation ARCB and JetBlue Airways Corporation JBLU as these stocks too possess the right mix of elements to beat on earnings in the next releases. American Airlines has an Earnings ESP of +6.73% and a Zacks Rank of 2. The company is expected to release fourth-quarter earnings on Jan 24. ArcBest has an Earnings ESP of +0.14% and a Zacks Rank of 1. The company will report its fourth-quarter financial numbers on Jan 30. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. JetBlue has an Earnings ESP of +2.86% and is a Zacks #2 Ranked stock. The company is expected to announce fourth-quarter results on Jan 24. Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> | https://news.yahoo.com/delta-dal-retain-beat-streak-145302994.html |
Is China scouting for inter-planetary fuel on the far side of the moon? | China landed a probe on the far side of the moon on Thursday with remarkably little fanfare, yet the feat is one giant leap for a nation thats long been regarded as an also-ran in the space race. With Elon Musk tweeting pictures of starships and NASA targeting a manned mission to the Mars one day in the distant future, the moon might seem a less exciting destination. But space experts quickly applauded Chinas technical mastery in the probe landing, and said that while short-term opportunities to mine the moon for minerals might be minimal, long-term implications for space exploration are real. China thinks in decades, said Clive Neal, a lunar expert at the University of Notre Dame. The U.S. thinks in presidential terms. Last year, for the first time, China passed the U.S. in orbital launches, most of them for satellites. With the moon landing, its now positioned as a contender for exploration, communications and space commerce. The stated goal for the Change-4 sitting on the dark side: Collect samples and identify what minerals are there. Space observers said humanity was more likely to find gold, silver, iridium and platinum on asteroids. That doesnt rule out a moon-mining endeavor in the far future that could serve as a lunar gas station to the stars. The primary material on the moon is helium-3, which for now is too expensive to haul back to Earth. In theory, the non-radioactive isotope could be used as fuel for the next generations of spacecraft to explore deeper into space. Imagine driving from NYC to L.A. without gas stations along the way, said Peter Diamandis, the entrepreneur who founded the XPrize to encourage private spaceships. If you can get the fuel from space, it reduces the cost. As for those whod mine asteroids, the moon may be the better option if materials are discovered under the surface. Alex Ellery, of Carleton University, says the moons treasures are easier to retrieve because it has gravity and is close to Earth. The next step is bringing mankind back to the moon. Theres debate in the U.S. over whether to do a direct landing as soon as possible, or build a lunar base that takes longer. NASAs top administrator has committed to the latter option. Some people in the U.S. are saying, We want to get humans back there before China, according to David Todd, of space research firm Seradata. Other people are saying weve already run that race, and America needs to be careful of rushing up alleys. Todd said he expects there will be a genuine market for space tourism, and that the moon may win out. Elon Musk senses there could be government money involved and commercial opportunity, Todd said. I can see people going to the moon on a two-week holiday, but not to spend two years on Mars. China may be testing its ability for more sophisticated missions, according to Neal of Notre Dame. That poses the question of why China chose its particular landing place, at one of the moons oldest and deepest craters. The answer could be simple, he said. From the far side of the moon, Chinese scientists can see farther into space because Earths radio waves cant get in the way. | https://nationalpost.com/news/world/is-china-scouting-for-inter-planetary-fuel-on-the-far-side-of-the-moon |
Why Is the National Enquirer So Obsessed With Jeff Bezos? | Read: Saturday Night Lives confusing celebration of Jeff Bezos Then, a few hours later, in barges the National Enquirer, asserting that Bezos had a long-running affair with Lauren Sanchez, which they knew because they tailed them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates, and quality time in hidden love nests. Somehow, they claim to have come into the possession of messages that Bezos sent to Sanchez. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail claims that a source close to the Bezos family says that his relationship with Sanchez began after the couples separation. Entertainment Tonight claims two sources who say the same of Sanchez and her marriage to the Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell. The different versions are all grimly believable. It is a celebrity divorce, with the gleeful crowd and toxic cloud that entails. But it is the 2010s, and the National Enquirer is not just any old news outlet. And Jeff Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post, which frequently draws ire from Donald Trump, who dislikes its coverage of his presidency. Theres more. American Media, the Enquirers parent company, under its CEO, David Pecker, admitted that it worked with the Trump campaign to pay Karen McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story about an affair with Donald Trump, which it then killed. At times, it seemed like the Enquirer operated as a de facto arm of the campaign, wrote Gabriel Sherman in Vanity Fair. So, its not surprising that the MSNBC host Chris Hayes pointed out another angle on Twitter. Given everything we know about how Peckers National Enquirer has functioned as essentially an arm of Trumpworld, [the story] prompts some questions, Hayes tweeted. The implication, it would seem, is that Trump or Trumps team hit Bezos, a perceived rival, through his longtime friends paper, the National Enquirer. Which: Who knows, and I wont speculate. But lets just say that it is not outside the long-established character of the National Enquirer to attempt to out a possibly cheating celebrity. Read: The other way the National Enquirer helped elect Trump In Leon Neyfakhs Slow Burn podcast series on how Watergate happened, his sixth episode traces how conspiratorial thinking came to dominate the early 70s. The details of Nixons downfall made Americans more suspicious than theyve ever been and more desperate to uncover the secrets their government was keeping from them, Neyfakh says. Basically, Watergate turned everyone into a conspiracy theorist. In our times, the same disease has taken hold, but through the million muted post horns of the internet. For every theory thats spittle flecked with Alex Jones conspiracism, theres another one that connects it to an extended diagram of the Mueller investigation. Not even a dirtbag celebrity tabloid can publish regular dirtbag celebrity things without somehow touching a federal investigation. | https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/01/anatomy-of-a-gross-media-moment/579967/?utm_source=feed |
What are social media companies doing about suicidal posts? | Rapper CupcakKe was hospitalised this week after worrying tweets, highlighting the increasing frequency of posts that need urgent responses The Chicago rapper CupcakKe prompted alarm this week after tweeting that she was suicidal. Fortunately, the 21-year-olds followers were quick to spot the tweet and inundated her with messages of concern while authorities were alerted. She thanked them for their support the following day, writing on Twitter that she was finally getting the help that I need for depression after being taken to hospital. Social media and celebrity culture 'harming young people' Read more It follows a similar incident in December where authorities were alerted after Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson posted a worrying message on Instagram. These high-profile cases raise the challenges social media companies face when a post suggests someone could be a danger to themselves. Studies have linked social media to worsening mental health among young people, and it has even been blamed for an increasing rate of teen suicide in the US. But mental health charities say that as people spend more and more time on social media, people are increasingly turning to the platforms as a place to go for help. People are living their lives out online and thats true for their mental health as well, Dr Daniel J Reidenberg, executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (Save), told the Guardian. Incidents of people sharing their suicidal thoughts online are becoming far more frequent, he said. Protocol for reporting potentially at risk users varies between tech companies. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram all have reporting mechanisms that differ slightly. Twitter has a team that assesses the self-harm reporting forms sent by people worried about someones mental health. They then contact the reported user and let him or her know that someone who cares about them identified that they might be at risk, according to the companys blog. The Twitter team then provides the reported user with available online and hotline resources [the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the US] and encourage them to seek help. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Twitters page for reporting self-harm. Photograph: Twitter Other measures include a prompt encouraging people to seek help if they search for terms associated with suicide or self-harm. A Twitter spokesperson said: Our priority is ensuring our service is healthy, and free of abuse or other types of content that can make others afraid to speak up, or put themselves in vulnerable situations. Facebooks protocol involves the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to scan Facebook posts, comments and videos for suicide risk. Content linked to immediate self-harm or imminent risk of killing oneself is reviewed by Facebook employees. Users can also file reports which will be prioritised using AI before being reviewed by their community operations team, which includes specialists trained in suicide and self-harm. Facebook says it prompts people who have expressed suicidal thoughts to contact a friend and even offers them suggested words to help them to start a conversation. If they detect a potential imminent risk or harm, a special team trained to liaise with first responders will review the situation and decide whether to refer the user for a wellness check. This is not an option it uses often: among Facebooks 2.2 billion users, AI has been used to help first responders reach around 3,500 people worldwide. A spokesperson for Facebook and Instagram said: Facebook and Instagram are in a unique position to help because of the friendships people have on our platforms we can connect those in distress with friends (and also organisations) who can offer support. Instagram, owned by Facebook, also has teams that review and respond to reports and a support page that users will be directed to if they search for hashtags relating to self-harm. Hannah Kwawu, engagement coordinator at Crisis Text Line, which offers free counseling by text message, said social media can be used positively to help peoples mental health. She cited Davidson who received a wellness check last month after raising alarm on Instagram and the Twitter movement #MyMentalHealthIn5Words as examples. But, she said, sometimes it backfires. Despite all the progress weve made, mental health is still a taboo topic for many people. Celebrities like [singers] Kehlani and Demi Lovato have been viciously attacked online for the ways theyve dealt with their mental health. Reidenberg recommends that in the first instance, if anybody sees a post theyre worried about a fellow social media user they should contact the person in question immediately offering them your time and listening and to be there for them. People should then alert the technology company, so that they can offer their support and their connections to that person. | https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/10/cupcakke-hospitalised-twitter-social-media-suicidal-posts |
Why must the NFL continue to sell lame womens clothing? | Just as soon as the final minutes ticked away on the clock for the New Orleans Saints 28-14 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 9, the celebratory hats and T-shirts came flying out for the cameras. Reppin the South! the shirts declared. Naturally, I immediately looked online for where to buy one of my own. Yall, its a good line, and the marketing worked on me. But then, as soon as I queued up the website, I was bummed to see every shirt option that declared the Saints champions of the NFC South was covered in unnecessary logos and block letters explaining the title. It was a little over the top, so nah, hard pass for me, thanks. The disconnect on the Saints Reppin the South shirt is the same as the one thats led the NFL to continue producing gear thats, well, uncool for women for years. While weve mostly moved on from the leagues pink it and shrink it mentality, there are still better ways for the NFL to connect with women, who comprise nearly half its audience and its most attentive one. (During the last Super Bowl broadcast, 49 percent of the audience was female but, according to metrics reported by Forbes, women were 27 percent more likely to keep their eyes on the game. They were also more likely to pay attention to the commercials and the halftime show.) The few minutes I went looking for and discarding an NFC South shirt was not my first visit to NFLShop.com this year. In case youve been living under a black and gold rock, the Saints are pretty darn good right now and, earlier in the season, I hoped to have some new swag to underscore my fandom, even if I do watch most games at home alone on the couch. Thanks in large part to actress Alyssa Milanos unfortunately named Touch line of clothing thats been officially licensed by various pro sports leagues, including the NFL, much of whats available in womens clothing is kind of ridiculous. There are curlicue fonts, excessive lace-ups, too many logos or just boring designs. Thankfully, the NFL in recent years has partnered with other brands to help bring some design diversity to its roster. Those partnerships have included Old Navy, Levis, Forever 21, Junk Food and Victorias Secret (not that this is exactly the brand you go to for an under-abundance of rhinestones and pink hues). The NFL started rethinking how its shop appealed to female fans around 2000, which, as of 2013, had resulted in multiple years of double-digit growth in womens apparel sales, according to Fashionista. And things are better: Its actually possible to find a womens sized jersey in the teams colors and without extra ribbons or baubles. Trouble is, overall, the NFL is still not nailing it. While the name brands offering officially licensed gear are helpful when youre looking for something thats relatively affordable and actually fashionable if you know to look for it I just dont get why the NFL Shop itself is so devoid of hipness. Youd think the league could make some serious cash off fans if it had a little more ingenuity when it came to creating clever shirts and gear. Obviously, the NFLs attempt at claiming it owned Who dat was ill-advised and generally kind of nuts, but coming up with something that appeals to how we actually celebrate our team makes sense. It is how beloved local companies are able to have their clothing as much a part of game-day tradition think of Dirty Coast and Fleurty Girl as tailgating. The league itself could use some of that vibe, too. The league would do well to think of Coco Chanels famous quote, which she said while draped in black and gold on her way into Tulane Stadium: Before you finalize a T-shirt design, take one thing off. (I think thats how it went.) Well, I know Id buy that. Chelsea Brasted is a columnist on the Latitude team at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Latitude is a place to share opinions about the challenges facing Louisiana. Follow @LatitudeNOLA on Facebook and Twitter. Write to Chelsea at [email protected]. You can also call or text with story ideas, tips and complaints 225.460.1350. | https://www.nola.com/opinions/2019/01/why-must-the-nfl-continue-to-sell-lame-womens-clothing.html |
Should the NFL allow one-and-done players? | NFL dreams are going to come true in the NFL Draft, but studs like Clemson freshman Trevor Lawrence have to wait. Many people think it's unfair that the NFL requires athletes to be three years removed from high school before they're eligible to play. We let people over the age of 18 join the military and work anywhere else without restrictions. But pundits argue we are still talking about young adults who are not prepared for the physical and mental toll of the NFL. They should stay in college instead. There's something wrong with that. Some freshman football players are ready to make the jump to the NFL. Even if they aren't starting, they can hone their craft in a professional setting without the distraction of schoolwork they have no interest in. Forcing players to play three years in college only hurts NCAA schools that have to deal with student-athletes who have zero interest in the student part of student-athlete and have proven themselves ready for the big stage. Even if they aren't ready, freshman players who feel they're ready should be able to make that mistake as an adult. They should be able to go straight to the NFL if they want. Freshman footballers who think they can hang in the NFL will get beaten down by both the real world and grown men at the same time. No matter how big or strong freshmen are, they are nowhere near ready to take on the physical toll of an NFL schedule. Not only do they have to condition and work out constantly, but opponents are also looking to hurt them with more force than they have ever encountered. Mentally, NFL athletes have to memorize huge playbooks, analyze tape and deal with failure on a professional level where there are no excuses. There's a reason the NFL only allows players three years removed from high school to play in the league. Kids that young just aren't ready. Much as I would like to see Trev Lawrence in the NFL next yr,not prudent,2 yrs is cool. One and done ain't happening,and probably shouldn't!Lol -- dean smith (@deansmith729) January 8, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.nola.com/interact/2019/01/should_the_nfl_allow_one-and-d.html |
Do Costco's December Comps Indicate a Solid Run in 2019? | Favorable job scenario, increasing disposable income and improved consumer confidence are responsible for a favorable retail environment. And Costco Wholesale Corporation COST has been a beneficiary of the same. Certainly, the companys better price management, strong membership trends and increasing penetration of e-commerce business are also leading to impressive comparable sales (comps) run that may continue in 2019. This operator of membership warehouses reported comps for the month of December. The metric increased 6.1% for the five-week period ended Jan 6, 2019. This follows an increase of 9.2% in November, 8.6% in October, 8.4% in September, 9.2% in August and 8.3% in July. Comps for December reflect an increase of 7.5%, 2% and 2.8% in the United States, Canada and Other International locations, respectively. Excluding the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, gasoline prices and accounting change concerning revenue recognition (ASC 606), comps for the month rose 7%, while the same increased 7.1%, 8.1% and 5.7% in the United States, Canada and Other International locations, respectively. Meanwhile, net sales improved 7.8% to $15.42 billion in the month under review, following an increase of 9.8%, 10.6%, 10.3%, 12.2%, and 10.1% in November, October, September, August and July, respectively. For the 18 weeks ended Jan 6, 2019, net sales came in at $52.99 billion, up about 9.5% from $48.39 billion reported in the year-ago period. Comps for the period grew 7.9%, while the same increased 10%, 2.1% and 3.3% in the United States, Canada and Other International locations, respectively. Costco is also steadily expanding e-commerce capabilities in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea and Taiwan. E-commerce comparable sales rose 13.6%, 46.1%, 20%, 28.6%, 23.8% and 20.9% in the months of December, November, October, September, August and July, respectively. Costco, which shares space with Walmart WMT, Target TGT and Ross Stores ROST, continues to be one of the dominant warehouse retailers based on the breadth and quality of merchandise offered. In fact, its strategy of selling products at heavily discounted prices has helped it to remain on growth track. In a year, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have increased 10.8%, outperforming the industrys rise of 9.3%. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST) : Free Stock Analysis Report Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) : Free Stock Analysis Report Target Corporation (TGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/costcos-december-comps-indicate-solid-161304639.html |
Should Hyping Edible Bugs Focus On The Experience Instead Of The Environment? | Enlarge this image toggle caption Oliver Brachat/for NPR Oliver Brachat/for NPR Farming insects may be more sustainable than raising meat, but so far that hasn't been quite enough to convince most Westerners to eat them. That might do the trick. The global demand for meat drives environmental decline, from forest depletion and soil erosion to increased water use and the release of greenhouse gases. Insect farming is easier on the environment, says Joost Van Itterbeeck, visiting scientist at Rikkyo University in Tokyo and co-author of the book Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security. And, he adds, "The nutritional benefits are very obvious in terms of proteins, minerals and vitamins." But as nice as that all sounds, Westerners are just plain disgusted by bugs on the dinner plate. And save-the-planet discussions don't seem to be changing their minds. Current marketing tactics for eating insects tend to point out environmental and health benefits. But a new study published in Frontiers in Nutrition suggests it might be better to focus on taste and experience, such as highlighting how much dragonflies taste like soft-shelled crabs. Hiding crickets in cookies This doesn't come as a surprise to Kathy Rolin, who knows something about getting people to try edible insects. She and her husband, James, originally started their business, Cowboy Cricket Farms, to sell whole frozen crickets to food manufacturers. After finding that more first-time bug eaters opt for cookies baked with cricket flour instead of a whole cricket, they decided to expand their business to sell Chocolate Chirp Cookies directly to consumers. They found the Chocolate Chirps had better profit margins. "We mainly market the cookies, because who doesn't like a chocolate cookie?" says Kathy Rolin. There have been calls to appeal to consumers' tastes before, but now there is evidence that appealing to the senses might actually work. The study shows that a willingness to try edible insects in this case, a chocolate-covered mealworm depends on what advertisement a person reads before deciding whether to eat it. When the ad focused on taste and experience, rather than environmental or health claims, more people would try the worms. In the study, 180 volunteers reviewed informational flyers on an edible insect start-up company. The wording differed only in one sentence: "Eating meat has never been so _______," meat referring to the meaty part of the insect in this case. The sentence ended with either "good for the environment," "good for the body," "exotic" or "delicious." The latter two were considered by the researchers as hedonic marketing that appealed to the senses. After reflecting on the ad, participants were then given the option to try a chocolate mealworm truffle, which contained whole and visible worms. Participants who read the hedonic marketing claims were more likely to try the truffle, which the researchers attributed to higher-quality expectations suggested by the advertisements. Fighting disgust Promoting taste may convince more people to try insects because it veers our reaction away from disgust. "It's not a rational response," says Val Curtis, a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and author of the book Don't Look, Don't Touch, the Science Behind Revulsion. "We have an innate response to things that might make us sick by feeling disgusted and, therefore, don't want to consume them." Disgust can be easily generalized, and bugs on the dinner plate trigger the "ick" reaction because we associate them with the cockroach scurrying across the floor. A ruined appetite. Telling people to eat insects for the sake of the planet, the researchers argue, won't convince a stomach that has already said "no." "Saving the planet is not something we've evolved to do," notes Curtis. Instead, the researchers suggest that hedonic advertising is a better way to entice would-be diners to eat bugs, because it helps prevent the disgust response. The cockroach rises If we can clear that hurdle, insects could potentially become as common as lobster which was once referred to as the "cockroach of the sea" and fed to prisoners and servants. But when railways began to spread across America and lobster was served to unsuspecting travelers who didn't know that the crustaceans were considered "trash food" the passengers took a liking to the taste, and lobster began to soar in popularity. A related story surrounds sushi, which didn't start gaining widespread acceptance in the U.S. until the mid-'60s. When high-end restaurants started serving raw fish, it went from unpalatable to popular. Now, both lobster and sushi are considered delicacies, a trend that was propelled by another effective form of advertising: status appeal. Rolin thinks insects could follow the same trend. "We've noticed that there's been quite a few celebrities that have endorsed the idea of [eating] insects." Recently, actress Nicole Kidman revealed her "secret talent" of bug consumption in a Vanity Fair video by eating a four-course insect meal complete with fried grasshopper dessert, and singer Justin Timberlake served up bug dishes at a recent album release party. Marketing campaigns that focus on a favorable bug-eating experience, perhaps by showing celebrities eating them, might be enough to distract people from the disgust response long enough to get them to try it. Reframing the bug "I would say if you're going to market insects, you take them as far away from anything slimy or crawling or creepy or too leggy," says Curtis. "Meat is sold as a tasty product, and all pictures of animals have been taken off the packaging. I would say just do exactly the same with insects." One way to do this is by changing the name of the dish. We've done this with other foods: We eat pork, not pig; and beef, not cow. When serving ant larvae, it may be better to use their alternative food name: escamoles, a delicacy served in Mexico City. While taste and experience may prove to be a good way to promote eating insects, that shouldn't discount environmental claims. Eco-friendly campaigns do get people to think more about food sustainability; they're just not quite enough to get most people to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. It just might. Berly McCoy is a freelance science writer living in Northwest Montana. Follow her on Twitter: @travlinscientst | https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/01/10/677826823/should-hyping-edible-bugs-focus-on-the-experience-instead-of-the-environment?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr |
Will Swedish furniture retailer IKEA be able to operate iconic business model in New Zealand? | IKEA is known for its enormous store footprints, huge car parks and endless options of furniture but that may not be the case for its New Zealand presence. While there are locations that can house such stores, such as Westgate or South Auckland, New Zealand's population size means it is unclear whether the Swedish furniture retailer will replicate its big-box stores, albeit what Kiwis are expecting. Later this morning, IKEA will reveal details of its planned entrance into the New Zealand market. RCG associate director Andy Florkowski said Kiwis would be expecting IKEA to launch its classic big-box style stores. Advertisement "There is a lot of expectation around their arrival so they need to ensure that customers expectations are met, while ensuring that their entry is commercially viable within an already competitive market," Florkowski said. "This may mean a smaller concept model that is tailored to the New Zealand market, whilst providing access to a much larger range of goods - making effective use of their digital channels. "This would definitely open up a lot more opportunities with locations, and would be more risk-adverse for them to test the waters - although may not be what Kiwis would be anticipating." Both are critical to a successful entry into the market, Florkowski said. "There are a large number of expats and travelled Kiwis who are already brand champions for IKEA, and whom will be the percentage looking for the replicated model in New Zealand with the food hall and all. However, a large number of new customers for IKEA here, will not have had this exposure, so simply offering furniture at competitive price points, albeit with a smaller flavour of the larger model, may be enough to convert them." John Polkinghorne, another associate director at RCG, said he believed there was space for IKEA to operate its big-box style stores in New Zealand. The retailer's stores in Europe and North America are hundreds of square metres in size and most house an in-store restaurant. "There's definitely a big enough market for IKEA to succeed with a large format store here, even notwithstanding that they are several times bigger than most Warehouse stores - double the size of even the largest ones," Polkinghorne said. IKEA has three types of store: big-box, mid-range and the small concept store. Auckland is touted for the first IKEA store, with analysts split between West or South Auckland for first the location. "The market size in Auckland is definitely comparable to some of the markets they operate in Australia so that's a good entry to New Zealand," Polkinghorne said. "It's good timing in terms of we've got strong population growth and housing growth and those are all things that relate back to them from a furniture and homeware perspective." Long term, Polkinghorne believes IKEA would introduce "click and collect points" which it already operates across the Tasman. "It's a good way for them to get access to towns that are too small for a store. Across Australia, they have 10 stores and 40 'click and collect' points." IKEA global CEO Jesper Brodin during the IKEA launch in India in August. Photo / AP Retail analyst Chris Wilkinson said he believed IKEA would enter New Zealand with a large format store. "A large format store would need to anchor their entry. And it won't necessarily need to be in a traditional location either," Wilkinson said. "There's been a lot of speculation that it will be in one centre because that area is already populated with retail but the reality is that IKEA overseas has been able to establish themselves pretty much anywhere there are good road connections." South Auckland was the most logical location for its first store because of its reach to the Waikato market and within a comfortable driving time of the Bay of Plenty, Wilkinson said. "IKEA will be a destination in its own right and you will find that those people from the Bay of Plenty, Tauranga drive across." Wilkinson said he expected IKEA to bring its restaurant feature to New Zealand stores. IKEA global CEO Jesper Brodin will announce the first details on the arrival of IKEA to New Zealand at 9.30 this morning. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12188207&ref=rss |
Is it time to eliminate 'Kiss Cam' at sporting events forever? | Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Cooler, where nobody likes unwanted attention. Lets get to it: *If youve been to a few sporting events this century, theres a very good chance youve seen a timeout promotion called Kiss Cam. For the uninitiated, the premise is simple: In-arena camera operators zoom in on two people in the stands, and they are encouraged to kiss while being shown on the big screen for tens of thousands of other fans to see. There are probably three basic camps when it comes to Kiss Cam: Those who go to games excited by the prospect of being on the Kiss Cam and/or watching it on a Jumbotron; those who go to games actively seeking to avoid being on the Kiss Cam and who are uneasy just watching the stunt unfold even without them; and a likely majority of people largely ambivalent about it ranging from vaguely annoyed to vaguely amused who probably dont give it much thought either way. In a long story published Thursday, The Ringers Britni de la Cretaz takes a deeper look at the in-arena promotion and builds a case for whether it needs to be eliminated or at least re-examined. This has the potential to be a very 2019 argument I have a right to be offended vs. I cant believe this small minority of people is offended and could affect change but it doesnt have to be. The piece brings up several good points via anecdotes from fans horrified to be put on the spot particularly those who wind up on the big screen next to someone who is not a date or partner (like, say, a sibling or other relative). Theres even a local angle! Minneapolis own Dan Wade is quoted from an experience he had at a Twins game several years ago at the Dome; the Twins still did Kiss Cam at Target Field in 2018, by the way. The piece also delves nicely into the subject of the heterosexual norms often perpetuated by Kiss Cams. It might not be the most pressing thing for us to think about this year, but its worth reading and considering. *If youre looking for a more lighthearted read, ESPNs Emily Kaplan takes on the task of hockey players having a hard time finding pants that fit because of they have big butts and thighs. Wild center Eric Staal says he gets custom jeans. *These feel like oddly specific benchmarks specifically tailored to statistical minimums achieved by Kirk Cousins this season, but the Vikings tweeted out that the QB in his first year in Minnesota became the first QB in NFL history to have a season with at least 30 TD passes, 10 INTs or fewer, 4,000 yards passing and at least a 70 percent completion mark. *Basketball Reference and Hockey Reference currently project the Wolves and Wild to each finish with 41.1 victories (lets round down to 41, exactly half of both 82-game schedules). But the Wolves have just a 16.6 percent chance of making the playoffs, while the Wild are at 59.9 percent. | http://www.startribune.com/is-it-time-to-eliminate-kiss-cam-at-sporting-events-forever/504162242/ |
What is a national emergency and could Trump use one to build his wall? | Over the past week, Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to declare a national emergency if he does not get funding for his US-Mexico border wall. As the president set off for Texas on a visit to the border, he made a series of typically garbled statements on border security, but the message was clear: if Democrats dont agree to give Trump $5bn for the wall as part of a deal to end the partial government shutdown, he could invoke emergency powers. It is typically described as a crisis, such as a national security issue, which threatens the safety of the country. The National Emergencies Act of 1976 allows presidents to redirect government money without approval from Congress. The act also allows a president to circumnavigate some laws while the emergency is addressed. If Trump does declare a national emergency he would have to specify exactly which powers he intends to use, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. He has threatened to declare the national emergency to build a wall along a stretch of the US-Mexico border, and has provided no further detail. Currently the president and Democratic leaders are at a standoff over funding for the wall, which has shutdown 25% of the government for 20 days. More than 800,000 federal workers have either gone without pay or been put on unpaid leave. Trump says he will not sign a congressional budget proposal to reopen the government unless it includes $5bn for the wall. In his first televised address to the nation from the Oval Office this week, Trump gave a speech full of false claims and misleading statistics to paint a portrait of a crisis at the US-Mexico border, even as the rate of illegal immigration has steadily fallen over the years and in 2018 reached its lowest point in more than a decade. The president says the wall is needed to prevent drug trafficking and undocumented immigration, but most drug trafficking and migration into the US occurs at legal points of entry not across unwalled parts of the border. Six key things to know about Trump's border wall speech Read more Democrats say the wall is a waste of money, and have accused Trump of using rhetoric full of misinformation and even malice. Probably from funding set aside for military construction projects such as building army barracks and other improvements to bases used by the armed forces. Bruce Ackerman, a Yale law professor, wrote in the New York Times that Trump would likely use money from the military budget for the wall, and use military personnel to build it. Possibly not. There is widespread doubt over whether the situation at the border can be classified as an emergency. That means any declaration could become mired in months-long court proceedings. Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed skepticism about whether it would work. The House armed services committees Democratic chairman, Adam Smith, told ABC that the president would be wide open to a court challenge saying, wheres the emergency? Republican Senator John Thune echoed that on CNN. Congress would also be able to pass a resolution blocking the emergency declaration. Yes. There are actually 30 national emergencies currently in effect. But the national emergencies have not been used for what some would say is a politically-motivated wall. George W Bush declared a national emergency after the 9/11 attacks, and Barack Obama did the same during the swine flu outbreak in 2009. The majority of the other emergencies suspend or withhold money from foreign nationals or countries. | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/10/national-emergency-trump-shutdown-q-and-a |
What was hold-up in playing Justise Winslow at point guard? | The weekly Miami Herald Heat mailbag is here to answer your questions. If you werent able to ask a question this time, send your questions for future mailbags via Twitter (@Anthony_Chiang). You can also email me at [email protected]. Anthony Chiang: Because the Heat also has Goran Dragic, who was an All-Star last season. It took an injury to Dragic, who is Miamis usual starting point guard, for Winslow to get extended court time at the one. Yes, Winslow was also playing some minutes at point guard before Dragics right knee became an issue, but it wasnt for extended stretches like he is now. Plus, there were also moments that Dwyane Wade, Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson and James Johnson initiated offense with Dragic on the bench. Digital Access For Only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. But with Dragic out until the mid-February All-Star break, its allowed Winslow to play as the Heats primary point guard and hes excelled in the role. Hes averaging 14.1 points on 45.9 percent shooting from the field and 37.5 percent shooting from three-point range, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals in 17 games since the start of December. Its undoubtedly the best stretch of Winslows career. Remember, Winslow is only 22 years old. Hes in his fourth NBA season, but its almost like his third because his second was ended early after just 18 games due to a shoulder injury. Winslow is still learning and growing his game, and the Heat is still learning how to use him. Anthony: With Waiters at 27 years old, sure. But to be considered a part of the Heats young core, he has to stay healthy and remain a part of the teams long-term plans. For so long, Waiters was unavailable because of ankle surgery. For so long, we saw this team without Waiters in the picture because of his injury. Theres still a question of how he fits in after recently returning from a year-long absence. Waiters has a chance to reestablish himself as a part of the Heats future, though, with his contract running until the end of the 2020-21 season. Only thing I can figure. Anthony: I mean, theres something to that with others now incorporating three-point shooting into their games. But it also just has to do with the Heats crowded rotation. Erik Spoelstra can only play so many guys, and Waiters return adds another option who needs minutes. Last season, Waiters was unavailable, Derrick Jones Jr. wasnt as good and Rodney McGruder missed a huge chunk of games. There are just more players to play this year. Ellington still has a unique skill set thats useful, so I wouldnt be surprised to see him play in spots moving forward. | https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article224220070.html |
Will Yasmani Grandal lose big after turning down $60 million offer? | The Milwaukee Brewers found a bargain Wednesday night, and in the process landed the best catcher available on the open market. Yasmani Grandal, the switch-hitting veteran who slugged 73 home runs over the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, reached a one-year agreement to join the defending National League Central champions. Scroll to continue with content Ad As Yahoo Sports Tim Brown first reported, the deal is worth $18.25 million. Grandal deal with Brewers worth $18.25m. One year. Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) January 10, 2019 Its no small chunk of change by any stretch. However, it represents a steep decline in Grandals market value just in the last few weeks. On Dec. 28, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reported that Grandal turned down a four-year, $60 million contract from the New York Mets earlier in the offseason. His deal with Milwaukee does barely exceed the $17.9 million qualifying offer he turned down from the Dodgers, which we suppose is a silver lining. If nothing else, its rare under the circumstances. On Grandal's $18.25 mil with Brewers, very few players have rejected QO and then gotten more than QO in a one-year deal. Bautista and Kuroda come to mind. Grandal may be only one to get more on a one-year deal with new team. Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) January 10, 2019 But it is fair to question if Grandals decision during a time when teams are taking a more tight-pocketed approach to free agency will end up costing him. The potential upside of Yasmani Grandals decision Story continues Theres no way to sugarcoat it: Grandals market didnt develop as he anticipated. There would be no shame in admitting that either, because no one on the outside looking in figured hed end up with a one-year deal. However, that doesnt necessarily mean hell lose big. The gamble he took on himself could still pay off, but that could largely hinge on his production in Milwaukee. On the plus side, the opportunity will be there. The recently turned 30-year-old will serve as a notable offensive upgrade for a Brewers team that relied on a Manny Pina and Erik Kratz platoon last season. Over the last three seasons, Grandals averaged a .239/.332/.467 slashline. More importantly, hes averaged 24 homers and 21 doubles. Thats excellent pop from the catchers position. Something the Brewers havent had since trading Jonathan Lucroy in 2016, and something that will make it easier for Milwaukee to overlook his at times sloppy defense. More on that later. A strong season could find Grandal right back on the market staring at several multiple-year offers. The big difference next winter would be the lack of a qualifying offer attached to his name. To sign Grandal this winter, the Brewers are giving up a compensatory draft pick. Its well worth it to them considering they are postseason contenders. Other teams were surely more reluctant to spend the money and part with a draft pick. All Grandal would need next winter is a three-year offer worth around $14 million per season to make up the reported Mets offer in full. Its not unreasonable to think he could surpass that with an All-Star caliber season and a handful more teams involved. After passing up $60 million offer from the Mets, free agent catcher Yasmani Grandal signs one-year, $18.25 million deal with Brewers. (AP) The potential downside of Yasmani Grandals decision Its baseball. Nothing is guaranteed. Injuries happen. Performance declines, sometimes quickly and without warning. A good bet on ones self today can look completely different one week from now. Beyond that, Grandal isnt without his flaws. While he provides top-level power and run production from his position, and while hes viewed as one of baseballs best pitch framers, there are still moments when his defense is a liability. Then there are moments when his defense is a disaster, which was displayed during the last postseason. Grandal led the league in passed balls during the 2017 season. He allowed nine more in the 2018 regular season, and then an additional three in National League Championship Series alone. The Dodgers managed to overcome it, and while the Brewers had a front row seat for the meltdown, they clearly werent spooked by it. Grandals offense should still trump the defensive concerns next winter. That is, unless he continues bottoming out in October. His career playoff batting average sits at .107 after he went 4-for-29 during the 2018 postseason. The poor postseason performance could give potential suitors reason for pause. What Yasmani Grandals deal says about baseball When we look back at the free agent signings from this offseason a few months down the line, Grandals contract could be the most interesting to examine. It may also be the most telling in regard to a free agent system that is clearly crumbling more each year. Yes, Grandal left a lot of money on the table. That was his call, and it could end up costing him a lot of money. But its still difficult to understand or justify the top free agent at any position, let alone a top-10 free agent on nearly everyones board, having to navigate such a limited market. More from Yahoo Sports: Cowboys owner spends more for yacht than he did for team Florida man arrested after late superfans family threatened Driver in hockey tragedy pleads guilty Cardinals hiring move: What is pro football coming to? | https://sports.yahoo.com/will-yasmani-grandal-lose-big-turning-60-million-offer-060107945.html?src=rss |
Will Apple Succeed In The Video Streaming Business? | With sales of iPhones and other hardware cooling off, Apple has been turning to its Services business to drive growth. The company is expected to launch its own streaming video service this year, taking on the likes of Netflix and others. In this note, we take a look at what the service could mean for the company. We have created an interactive dashboard analysis on Breaking Down Apples Services Revenue. You can modify the various drivers to arrive at your own estimates for Services revenue. Services Business Has Largely Been Commission-Driven Thus Far While Apples Services business has recently been the biggest driver of the companys growth, growing at about 20% over the last few years, we estimate that about two-thirds of Services revenues come in the form of commissions from third parties, for app sales, licensing and other services. However, this business faces some challenges as some developers and digital service providers are pushing back on the cut Apple takes. For instance, Netflix indicated that it would be stopping in-app subscriptions on Apple devices, as it looks to bypass the commission that Apple charges on subscriptions made via iOS apps (related: How Much Does Apple Stand To Lose As Netflix Stops In-App Subscriptions?). Apple typically takes a 30% commission from subscriptions initiated on its platform over the first year, with the number dropping to 15% from the second year onward. The company takes a 30% cut on app sales. While we dont see a decline in these commission-based revenues, Apple could be looking to hedge its bets by providing more of its own services along the lines of iCloud and Apple Music. Content Will Determine The Uptake Of The Service While Apple has a large installed base and the technology required to drive its streaming foray, the quality of content will ultimately decide the uptake of the new service. Competition in the streaming market has been heating up; while over half of U.S. households have a Netflix subscription, Disney has plans for its own streaming service and AT&T is also prepping to launch its own offering. These companies are likely to significantly outspend Apple in terms of content. Netflix spent upwards of $8 billion over the first 9 months of 2018, compared to Apples estimated $1 billion in content spending last year. However, Apple is apparently looking to create a niche for itself, sticking to family-oriented fare, focusing on high-quality shows with a broad appeal. While original content could make up a large part of the titles, we believe that Apple may have to leverage programming from other media players as well. For instance, the company could buy content from the likes of MGM, Paramount or Lionsgate. Apple Is Opening Up To Providing Its Services On Other Platforms Apple has shown some signs that it was open to expanding its Services business via partnerships over the last few months. In November, the company announced that its Apple Music service would be available on Amazons Echo devices. The company also recently said that Samsung would start including an iTunes app in its Smart TVs, allowing users to buy and rent movies and videos. These moves could indicate that the company is setting the stage for its streaming business, which could be hampered if it were limited to just the Apple TV device, which still has relatively low penetration. Its not clear what business model Apple will follow for the streaming service. While its most likely that the company will make it a paid service with a monthly subscription, we also believe that Apple may begin by offering it as a free perk that comes with its devices or with Apple Music subscription. Apple could also opt for an ad-supported model, although this is less likely. To be sure, it could take a few years for the service to scale up meaningfully. If we assume that the company is able to garner 50 million subscribers (under 5% of its total device installed base) who pay on average about $7.50 per month, the streaming service could add about $4.5 billion to the companys top line by 2022. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/01/10/will-apple-succeed-in-the-video-streaming-business/ |
What Would Be The 49ers' Breaking Point In A Trade For Antonio Brown? | Now that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown will likely find himself on the trade block when the new NFL year begins in March, were starting to hear rumors about a potential landing spot. Brown didnt quiet these rumors with recent social media activity linking him to the San Francisco 49ers. For their part, the 49ers would certainly entertain the idea of adding one of the games most-productive receivers at the right cost. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has said in the past that if a team can add a receiver of Browns ilk, it does everything possible. There arent many (elite guys), Shanahan said back in March, via the 49ers official website. If theres a Julio (Jones) available and you have the opportunity to get him, you go get him. Its worth it. Whatever the price is, whatever the draft pick is, go get him. There arent too many Julios on this planet. But you dont have to have that to be successful. Brown certainly qualifies as a receiver in the same group as Jones. While Shanahans statement is ambiguous in the grand scheme of things, these 49ers have proven to be proactive on the trade market under Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. This included trading out of the No. 2 spot in the 2017 NFL Draft, dealing for Jimmy Garoppolo that October and offering more for then-Raiders pass rusher Khalil Mack than the Chicago Bears prior to this past regular season. If the 49ers recent MO is any indication, theyll be engaged with Pittsburgh in talks about the boisterous and often enigmatic Brown. The idea of adding Brown to the mix with record-breaking tight end George Kittle and talented youngster Dante Pettis has to be enticing for the 49ers. It would create a tremendous trio at the skill positions, and set the 49ers up with a likely top-five offense over the short term. Brown, 30, has legitimately been the most-productive receiver in the NFL since jumping on to the scene back in 2013. During that span, hes hauled in 686 receptions for 9,145 yards and 67 touchdowns en route to earning Pro Bowl honors all six seasons. To put this into perspective, Browns reception and yardage totals over these past six years would rank second in 49ers franchise history behind the great Jerry Rice. Thats some incredible stuff. Despite all of this, Shanahans stance of doing whatever it takes to land a receiver of Browns ilk cant be taken literally. For example, theres absolutely no way San Francisco yields the No. 2 overall pick in this years NFL Draft for a receiver entering his Age-31 season. In fact, the 49ers wouldnt even bite if Pittsburgh offered up its first-round pick (20th overall) as part of the package. This leads us to our overriding point. As noted above, the second pick is strictly off limits. Following Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins decision to declare for the 2019 NFL Draft, San Francisco is set up well in terms of a potential trade down with quarterback-needy teams. Should Arizona stand pat at No. 1 and select a defensive linemen, Lynchs phone would then be ringing off the hook. Even if its Nick Bosa as the top available player at second overall, he would draw a ton of interest in trade-down scenarios for the 49ers. This is the easiest path for San Francisco to add Brown without exhausting too much capital as the team looks to further its rebuild. The 2018 NFL Draft could very well act as a case study here. The Jets moved up from No. 6 overall to the third selection in order to select USC quarterback Sam Darnold. It did so without a guarantee that Darnold would even be available with the third pick. In the process, New York yielded three second-round picks to the Colts. Of the teams selecting in the top 10 of the 2019 NFL Draft, the New York Giants (sixth), Jacksonville Jaguars (seventh) and Denver Broncos (10th) are all in need of franchise quarterbacks. A scenario that includes the 49ers moving down to one of these spots would still enable them to add the edge pass rusher they desperately need while building up the draft capital to both expedite their rebuild and add Brown without much of a long-term draft cost. In a draft where the drop off between Haskins and other quarterbacks is pretty darn steep, teams will pay a premium to add the record-setting former Buckeyes quarterback. In a vacuum, San Francisco should jump on that possibility. Now take into the account the possibility of being able to add a player like Brown or New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. with some of the stockpile of picks, and thats magnified further. Lets spell it out for you in hypothetical terms. San Francisco deals the second overall pick to Jacksonville for the seventh pick, a second-round pick and third-round pick in 2019 and a first-round pick in 2020. Again, this is hypothetical and not based on anything weve heard. A package of selections similar to this would set San Francisco up well to win a potential Brown sweepstakes. Similar deals with the Giants and Broncos would do the same. Outside of that convoluted possibility, a straight-up trade for Brown with picks San Francisco either possesses in 2019 or down the road could also be in the cards. Under this scenario, San Franciscos limit would likely have to be two second-round picks one in 2019 and another in 2020. Given that its pick this year is 36th overall, that would allow the Steelers to feel like they received the value of a top-20 pick in return for Brown. Its probably the best they can do for a guy thats been a headache this season, is on the trade block and will be entering his Age-31 season. Draft picks and value are the only things that will matter to San Francisco in likely negotiations for Brown. Signed to a four-year, $68 million extension back in February of 2017, Browns contract wouldnt hinder the 49ers cap or rebuild plans. Hes set to count a combined $35.2 million against the cap over the next two seasons with an out that includes a $12 million cap savings in 2021. Set to be north of $70 million under the cap once everything is concluded heading into March, San Francisco has the financial resources to add Brown without even blinking. Theres not a lot of teams that can say that. So its now all about what the 49ers cap is when it comes to offering a bounty for Brown. Thats where this will get interesting in the coming months. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/vincentfrank/2019/01/10/what-would-be-the-49ers-breaking-point-in-a-trade-for-antonio-brown/ |
Can Federal Workers Collect Unemployment During the Shutdown? | As the government shutdown wanes on, federal employees that have been furloughed are dealing with their first missed paycheck. While for some that might not be a tremendous problem, for others that money is much needed to cover their mortgage, electricity, food, and other household bills. Now, some federal workers are filing for unemployment as a way to make ends meet. Around 380,000 federal workers are currently furloughed, and 420,000 employees are working as essential personnel without pay. While only a small percentage of those workers have filed for unemployment thus far, the number is expected to grow as the shutdown continues. For instance, in D.C, 3,745 federal workers and an estimated 822 federal contractors have applied for benefits, and in Maryland 1,328 workers have filed an unemployment claim, The Huffington Post reports. CNBC says that more than 4,700 federal employees filed for unemployment in the last week of December, compared with 929 the week prior. But not everyone qualifies. In order to qualify for unemployment, a federal employee has to be one of the 380,000 employees that are currently furloughed, not one of the 420,000 working without pay. Those working without pay are still considered employed even though they arent seeing a paycheck. And workers who do receive unemployment will be required to pay that unemployment back when theyre granted backpay after the shutdown. If they dont, their future wages could even be garnished. And to receive unemployment federal employees have to prove theyre applying for jobs while theyre receiving payments, jobs that they theoretically dont need or want. | http://fortune.com/2019/01/10/can-federal-workers-collect-unemployment-during-the-shutdown-some-of-them/ |
Is Saudi Arabia on the road to ending child marriage? | BEIRUT (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Saudi Arabia is trying to ban child marriage through new regulations, but loopholes are leaving young girls in the deeply conservative kingdom unprotected, campaigners said on Thursday. The Shura Council, a top advisory body to the government, approved regulations on Wednesday to prohibit marriage for girls and boys under 15, and those under 18 will need approval from a specialized court, according to council member Lina Almaeena. Currently, the conservative Muslim country does not have a minimum legal age for marriage, and women live under a guardianship system where they must have permission from a male relative to marry, work and travel. Almaeena said the approval by the council, which does not have legislative powers but can propose laws to the king and the cabinet, is a great accomplishment for the kingdom in protecting its young citizens. There were no marriage limitations before, so for this to be passed and prohibit marriage for a child under 15 is a huge accomplishment because you will be protecting young boys and girls, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone. Globally, 12 million girls marry before age 18 every year, according to Girls Not Brides, a coalition working to end child marriage. The United Nations regards the practice as a human rights violation. Heather Hamilton, deputy director of Girls Not Brides, said it is encouraging that the kingdom is setting age limits for marriage, but the rules are a far cry from protecting children under 18, who can still marry with court approval. Girls are still at risk of being forced into marriage if their parents can persuade a court to agree, she said in an emailed statement. We know that even in countries like the U.S. and U.K., courts offer little protection to girls who dont want to marry but risk alienation or retribution from their families if they tell court officials their real feelings. Child marriage - defined internationally as marriage under 18 - remains legal in Britain. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, teenagers can wed at 16 with parental consent. In Scotland, they do not need consent. The majority of U.S. states do not lay out a minimum age for marriage if statutory exceptions are met, such as parental or judicial consent or in case of pregnancy. Campaigners say children married young are more likely to leave school, get divorced, experience domestic abuse and mental health problems and live in poverty than those who marry later. There needs to be a complete ban on child marriage - with no exceptions. You have to make it clear to society that this is a negative social phenomenon and it should be stopped, said Adam Coogle, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-child-marriage/is-saudi-arabia-on-the-road-to-ending-child-marriage-idUSKCN1P42CW |
Is a disgruntled third party biggest concern of Jimmy Butler-Brett Brown drama? | originally appeared on nbcsportsphiladelphia.com Now that Sixers swingman Jimmy Butler and coach Brett Brown both had the chance to respond to a story about a supposed confrontation between the two, it's probably safe to say whatever happened wasn't quite on the level of Latrell Sprewell choking P.J. Carlesimo - though, that is one way to get coach to call more pick-and-rolls. If nothing else, Butler and Brown did a nice job downplaying any discord, and in all honesty, I believed them about the nature of the infamous film session. Their version sounds like a healthy dialogue between a coach and star veteran still finding his role in a new offense with a new team, nothing more. It's legitimately concerning, and not just because Butler could leave marks around Brown's neck for team photo day. It's concerning because it might reveal potential issues in the Sixers locker room if either A) some players don't feel comfortable challenging an authority figure and/or B) somebody has a problem with or feels threatened by Butler's presence. A is obviously a lot less sinister than B, and plausible given the relative youth of the roster. No doubt, J.J. Redick, Wilson Chandler and Amir Johnson have seen some things as 10-plus-year vets - as Butler said, basketball is still a job, and people do occasionally disagree with their bosses in the real world, too. The rest of the guys, most of whom have never played anywhere else in the NBA or started careers in any field, may not feel comfortable being as vocal yet. Story continues That would be a relatively minor problem, assuming there was any validity to the idea at all. It's only a guess, but would be preferable to the other possibility. Somebody in that locker room or building simply doesn't care very much for Butler. It's difficult to envision how anybody benefits from this story leaking, and even Brown insisted it wasn't planted. Fine, nobody is actively trying to sow dissension within the Sixers. Regardless, somebody felt Butler was being disrespectful, to the point it became discussion-worthy around the league. Sounds like there might be an ax to grind there. If I'm the Sixers, I'm more worried about who got annoyed and started running their mouth about Butler than I am about Brown's throat. Between this, the complicated Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons dynamic and the Markelle Fultz saga, infighting might be a bigger threat to the team's short-term and long-term success than Butler's antics. Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device. More on the Sixers | https://sports.yahoo.com/disgruntled-third-party-biggest-concern-161657974.html?src=rss |
Why Was The QWERTY Keyboard Layout Invented? | originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Brian Roemmele, Founder + Editor at Read Multiplex, on Quora: It was almost the QWE.TY keyboard layout. The three primary confluences that motivated the QWERTY layout and the primary reasons are surprising. A New Way To Write The typewriter was heralded as a new way to write with greater speed, fluency and readability. This idea of the typewriter predates the office use that ultimately made it a standard business machine. Like many things in history, the QWERTY layout had fundamental contributing elements that became obscured across the span of time. The rise of the industrial age to the office age in the United States closely aligns with the rise of the typewriter. Although the typewriter has a history that predates the QWERTY layout, it was a confluence of elements that gave rise to Remington winning the early typewriter standard. The QWERTY Keyboard Business Model In November, 1868 Christopher Latham Sholes [0] and his colleagues, Carlos Glidden, Samuel Willard Soul, and James Densmore, in Milwaukee shipped out their first 28 key piano style keyboard-like typewriter [1] to Porters Telegraph College in Chicago, primarily to transcribe telegraph messages. By April, 1870 Matthias Schwalbach helped Sholes design a new typewriter with 38 keys [2], which consisted of capitals, numerals 2 to 9, hyphen, comma, period, and question mark. According to typewritten letters and patents of Sholes, the keyboard consisted of four rows, nearly in alphabetical order, but the u was next to o. But it would be his next versions that had a close version of todays QWERTY keyboard layout. The Sholes 28 key piano style keyboard-like typewriter. The most popular theory posits [3] that the inventors designed the QWERTY keyboard system to prevent the mechanical lock up of the strikers due to the close succession of adjacent often used keys that were high on the Bigram Frequency [4] of usage. The keys were actuated by the type bar connecting the keys and the letter plate, which formed a circle beneath the paper feed system. It is important to differentiate between the typewriters keyboard rows and the type bars. There were just two rows of type bars in Sholes design. The Remington QWERTY type bar connecting the keys and the letter plate. The striker lockup came when a typist quickly typed a succession of letters on the same type bars and the strikers were adjacent to each other. There was a higher possibility for the keys to become jammed if the sequence was not perfectly timed. The theory presents that Sholes redesigned the type bar so as to separate the most common sequences of letters: th, he and others from causing a jam. Bigram Frequency usage of letter pairs in the english language. If this theory was correct, the QWERTY keyboard system should create the maximum separation of the common letter pairings. However er, the fourth most common and re, the sixth most common letter pairing in the English language begins to break down this theory as they turn out to be the most used key combinations, surpassing th. Additionally, the Sholes typewriter prototypes had a different keyboard layout that was only changed just before he filed the QWERTY patent. If it had been put into production we would have been talking about the QWE.TY keyboard. The reason for the last minute change of moving the r next to the e has baffled many historians who have assumed the Bigram Frequency of key combinations influenced the key placement. Additionally, there was no direct mention of why the keys were placed in QWERTY layout in the patent. The claim that it would cause less striker lockups would have been a primary attribute of the patent. Finally, at the time that Sholes patented the QWERTY layout there were no touch typists , the only popular method on record was hunt and peck with visual feedback. The typewriter was just too new of an instrument for anyone to imagine memorization of the keyboard layout. With no touch typing, with no fingers on the home keys, there was not the speed nor the multiple finger combinations that would have caused high striker lockup. That problem only came years later after there were touch typists that had memorized the keyboard layout. Consider the placement of er and/or re. It was not unknown to Sholes that these were the most popular key parings when both combinations were added together. It has been argued that he got the educator and brother of his early partner, Amos Densmore to prepare a frequency study of letter-pairs in the English language using the Bigram Frequency of usage technique. But this turns out to not quite correct with history. Densmore was not an educator the in 1860's when it was suggested he conducted this study. He owned the Densmore Oil Company and manufactured train cars for transporting petroleum and did not have time or resources to conduct this research. Finally, the obvious and logical sequential alphabetical placement of the keys actually are spaced almost as well as QWERTY for key striker lock up, yet Sholes abandoned this layout as he abandoned others. The QWERTY Conflict Thus we are left with a conflict. Some argue the QWERTY layout was a compromise between the mechanical needs of the typewriter and the needs of the typist to have common letters under fingers. The concept of touch typing was not invented at this time so that is simply not valid. Most certainly Sholes was mindful of the placement of the keys on his keyboard from a mechanical standpoint to minimize potential key striker lockup, but he was also looking for an edge that may very well reach beyond engineering. Sholes did not have the resources to manufacture typewriters at the scale he had hoped the market would demand as the industrial revolution was predicted to create a torrent of typewritten pages. He needed a manufacturing partner. That partner was the E. Remington and Sons [5] that had began making guns and rifles and moved to sewing machines. In March 1886 they acquired the patents for Sholes typewriter. Sholes stayed on with Remington for a while and met the marketing men, William O. Wykoff, Clarence W. Seamans and Henry H. Benedict. They saw the problem from a perspective that no other typewriter company saw. They saw it as an education issue that could allow the company to command large shares of the market. With the release of Remington typewriter No. 2, the primary customers were not telegraphers, but mostly shorthanders in office environments. As soon as Model No. 2 was released, William Ozmun Wyckoff of Ithaca, New York, began to teach his six-finger typing method, using first to third fingers of both hands, to his shorthand pupils at Phonographic Institute. In August, 1882 Remington entered into an exclusive selling agreement of typewriters with Wyckoff and established a new company, Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict to teach touch typing. Model No. 2 slightly shifted some letters from the original Sholes patents, M was moved next to N, and C was exchanged with X for a number of patent reasons. By August, 1882, Elizabeth Margaret Vater Longley presented her eight-finger typing method, using first to fourth fingers of both hands on the home keys and it was ultimately adopted by Wyckoff in his touch typing courses. Let Me Train You To Type The Remington course plan was to offer free or discounted typewriters with a ready made touch typing course to private business collages, universities, and The World Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). The YWCA was a place where women were able to learn a new trade for the expanding office and secretarial job market. Prior to touch typing most typing was via the hunt and peck sight method with no home keys. The touch type course used the QWERTY keyboard layout and required the typist to not look at the keyboard and to memorize the keys. This memorization piece had an incredible effect on the typist. It also allowed the typewriter to mechanically have a higher slope angle of Model No. 2 for faster finger movement as there is less need to actually see the keys. Those so trained would find it almost impossible to use any other keyboard layout. They literally programmed the QWERTY layout into the head (like software, if you will) of the typist. Moving to another non- QWERTY layout would cause the words per minute to go down by about 80% according to Remington at the time. They posited that it requires about 400 hours of practice to achieve the reflexes to become a skilled typist and another 600 to be an expert with touch typing using the home keys method, which as far as the research goes, is the fastest technique. The plan worked so well they opened Remington Typing Schools throughout Europe a few years later. It was established quite early on, for many reason I will not cover here, that typing was primarily performed by women. In fact in 1874 less than 4% of clerical workers in the United States were women and by 1900, the number had increased to approximately 75%. Before his death, Sholes said "I do feel that I have done something for the women who have always had to work so hard. This will enable them more easily to earn a living. The plan Remington created was simple yet one of the most powerful ways to insure the QWERTY keyboard was the preferred standard. By training typists on the new concept of memorized touch typing they did a number of things: Got the typists to move from hunt and peck typing to the memorized key layout of the QWERTY keyboard and thereby increased the speed of Remington typists. Insured that the majority of typists moving to the expanding office typing pools were QWERTY trained and demanded/requested Remington typewriters. Shifted the marketing and sales to the user rather than the buyer of the business products. By March, 1893, WS&B and a new partner, Charles Newell Fowler of the Equitable Mortgage Company, founded the Union Typewriter Company as the shareholder of five leading typewriter companies, Remington, Caligraph, Yost, Densmore, and Smith-Premier, to form the Typewriter Trust later known as Standard Typewriter Manufacturing Company, Inc only later to adopt the Remington Typewriter Company name again. The five companies adopted QWERTY on their typewriters and by June, 1898, QWERTY became the de facto standard, with over 70% market share of typewriter sales. The Remington touch typing courses were one of the fundamental reasons for the shift to QWERTY. Competitors did not understand the tactics that were at play until it was too late. By 1901 half of all the US higher education schools had standardized on the Remington touch typing method. It took years for the next major brands to catch up, but all ultimately had to shift to the QWERTY keyboard layout. By 1915 high schools began occupational skill training using Remingtons courses. The Remington course and its variants were standard High School training up until the mid 1970s in the U.S., as ironically the personal computer just started to become popularly known. Watch How Fast I Can Do This There was one more thing that Remington used as a sort of icing on the cake, so to speak. Sholes originally was going to patent the QWE.TY keyboard layout, but at the last minute he changed his mind. History has lost who came up with the idea, but I suspect it was Sholes, he moved the "e" to the former . position for one hidden fundamental reason. The demonstrations for sales of his new invention, to prove it was faster, years before formal touch typing and memorization. The early sales presentations of the Sholes typewriter started with the representative typing TYPEWRITER or TYPE-WRITER [6] very fast in almost a single motion. It was so fast that it fascinated potential customers. Later on this secret was adopted by Remington and it was practiced by the sales people with contests for the fastest delivery of TYPEWRITER. Sholes took the letters for the word TYPEWRITER and put them on a single line. After many tests, long before there was memorized home key touch typing this was the ideal place for the eyes to see the keys while typing. Thus, we have a rather rich story of how the QWERTY keyboard layout came about. I know that this information conflicts with the folktales of mechanical keys locking up because of the Bigram Frequency of key pairs. The fact is that it was very easy to cause keys to lock up for most of the history of the typewriter up until the IBM selectric ball system. One can argue that many other keyboard and type bar layouts could actually cause less key striker lock up. We can also argue other keyboard layouts were more practical, like the sequential alphabetical or later the Dvorak layout. But by the time these concepts came around or were reintroduced, it was too late, thousands of trained touch typists already memorized the QWERTY keyboard and the network effect and momentum were impossible to reverse. So to recap the confluence of reasons: Patented designs - There were nearly 100 patents around the idea of typing, Sholes needed something unique. - There were nearly 100 patents around the idea of typing, Sholes needed something unique. Proprietary QWERTY Training courses - No one had organized on a large scale the training of typists. Remington cornered the training market. - No one had organized on a large scale the training of typists. Remington cornered the training market. Sales people and effective marketing - By training some of the most aggressive and flamboyant sales people typing out TYPEWRITER in one motion demonstrations they wowed the potential customers. - By training some of the most aggressive and flamboyant sales people typing out TYPEWRITER in one motion demonstrations they wowed the potential customers. Mechanical considerations - the dual type bars and key placement did have some QWERTY minor impact on lowering key striker lockup. Today, since the rise of the teletype keyboard that influenced Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs on the first TV Typewriter Apple 1 [7], on through the influence of the IBM Selectric on PC keyboards, on to the complete de-evolution of typing with thumbs on glass simulated keyboards, QWERTY is still with us. We learn it in a way that is at best, variations of hunt and peck with memorization of the QWERTY layout. We have assimilated the QWERTY layout so much to memory that it is very, very hard to conceive of the keyboard in any other layout. In fact, moving just a few keys on a QWERTY keyboard causes noticeable trauma to the typists in some research tests. It is hard to conduct research for an alternative layout. In the late 1950s a study was conducted with school children in Alaska using a sequential alphabetical keyboard on a modified Remington, they equaled the efficiency and speed of QWERTY typists. The tests had to stop when parents discovered their children were damaged and could not type QWERTY easily and it took some a year to deprogram the keyboard they memorized. Recent studies have also proven that using all of your fingers does not necessarily make you a very fast typist, some do very well with two fingers. So even the concept of some touch typing courses may be somewhat invalid. The QWERTY keyboard has also had a very deep and lasting impact across a number of very non intuitive areas. This is called the QWERTY effect [8], [9], [10] and the Right Side Ratio/Bias (RSR). This has been studied in depth and posits that essentially the mechanical load and cognitive load to reach certain keys, primarily the left hand keys, make humans disfavor using those keys and there is robust and compelling evidence that everything from baby names [11] to how highly we rate products on Amazon or movies on Netflix has a RSR bias [9]. This means that a significant part of our everyday life is deeply tied and biased to the QWERTY keyboard layout that was invented in the 1860s and was cobbled together to more or less sell more typewriters. Additionally, the mostly serial letter by letter process of typing has slowed down and perhaps curtailed the brains ability to present information meant to be spoken but lost because of the slow process of painstakingly typing each letter to the words and sentences you have already formed in your head. It is also important to note that with the recent shift to using primarily our thumbs on smartphones and tablets, we are rewiring our brains in such a way that it may have a deeply lasting impact [9.5]. Some have said that history shows that market share and technical superiority are rarely related. There is the likelihood of "lock-in" to inferior standards. The Beta and VHS competition as well as some others are an example as perhaps MS-DOS. But perhaps the QWERTY keyboard, some state, was designed purely for a marketing premise and not a premise that would actually create higher productivity. It can even be found in the Encyclopedia Britannica as evidence of how human inertia can result in the choice of an inferior product. The story can be found in two very successful economics books written by Robert Frank and Philip Cook's: The Winner-Take-All Society and Paul Krugman's Peddling Prosperity, where an entire chapter is devoted to the "economics of QWERTY. The examples of how QWERTY became a standard usually overlooks the sequence of events of history and how markets really are formed and react and act. Indeed, the software lock-in of QWERTY hardware by the brain memorizing the keyboard layout was brilliant and not widely known even today. The economic theory that somehow winner-takes-all capitalism (perhaps the a typewriter monopoly) in and of itself created the single reason for the rise of QWERTY is quite flawed. It was the brilliant idea to train the typist to memorize a particular keyboard layout that fundamentally made QWERTY a standard for better or worse. Without the front loading of the Remington touch typing classes there would be not QWERTY standard. I have used this example over the last few decades as a deep example to many founders of start-ups. There is much to learn from the QWERTY story and the economic impact, but this would take another longer posting. Cognitive Load And Mechanical Load Of Typing Today we use the technology of the keyboard and the QWERTY keyboard layout on a scale unlike any other technology. If Sholes returned to see his invention in use at this scale I am certain it would fascinate him and perhaps give him pause and a chuckle. The cause and effect the relatively new concept of typing has had on society is of course mostly positive. We get to interact with computers using this technologically ancient method. However, I see this as a stop over point to what I call the Voice First revolution [12]. The human thinking and communication work product is speech. We talk in words and sentences not serially in letters. This is the byproduct of millions of years of evolution and perhaps 500,000 years of vocalizations. Typing and the QWERTY keyboard literally has changed the way we think. Humans have been talking for a very long time. You are talking to yourself as you read this as well as I am talking to myself as I try to type this (this part I did not dictate using Siri). The only reason we did not talk to the typewriter or the early computers that copied the typewriters is because they obviously did not have the technology to understand us. And some may argue that talking to a computer has been around for a while and it is not very useful. I would agree. There is much more to the Voice First revolution then simulating what we do when we type. I know this, long before evolution self selects humans for better typing abilities without impacting thinking functions, we will have long ago moved on to using our voice. Giving us more power because of the machine? Indeed this is why humans build machines. However, the use of the keyboard will not instantly disappear, nor did the bicycle. It will be supplanted by new technology. The bicycle exists in the scooter and self driving car world. But it is a relic from the mechanical age. We will move from the mechanical age of of using our fingers and perhaps just our thumbs to filter our knowledge to the true software age of using our voice, it is how we are designed. Along the way we will be tied to the typewriter QWERTY keyboard that was designed for an era that has long past. We have QWERTY stuck in our memoriesfor now. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch... [1] http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Doc... [2] http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Doc... [3] https://amzn.to/2E1Bv10 [4] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.... [6] https://amzn.to/2KW6zAB [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV... [8] http://neuro.imm.dtu.dk/wiki/The... [9] https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.02287 [9.5] https://www.researchgate.net/pub... [10] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc... [11] http://www.casasanto.com/papers/... [12] http://VoiceFirst.Expert This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/01/10/why-was-the-qwerty-keyboard-layout-invented/ |
Why Do We Experience Rapid Eye Movements When We Dream? | REM sleep is not fully understood, but a way to think about it is that the visual system is operating on free-cycling autopilot, unconstrained by the outside world. Think for a moment about freeform dancing, dancing like no one is watching. Or similarly, think about how a baby moves when it is on its back in a crib. During normal vision, the visual system is locked to the external world, trying to link an internal story with an external reality so that what you see is grounded in what is out there. The eyes search around to collect information in order to keep the internal story synchronized with the outside world, all while serving the information needs of our current goals and plans. But in sleep, with eyes closed, there is no external reality to lock to; and there is no internal program trying to survive via sensory-perceptual traction. In dreaming, the mind can run free and carry the visual system along with it for the ride. So the visual system goes through the motions, looking here and there. But what we see comes not from the environment, but filled in by our mind and memories. We see things generated by our brain, and then glance to one side to find out more and then more is generated. No matter where you look in your dream, there is more to see because the brain just keeps filling things in with something sort of reasonable. And meanwhile, the eyes keep moving around because the mechanical system of visual attention direction hasnt been disabled. The limbs are paralyzed during dreaming to prevent dangerous movements, but this is not a problem for the eyes, so they move around, seemingly randomly. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/01/10/why-do-we-experience-rapid-eye-movements-when-we-dream/ |
How Much Is Grab Worth? | Grab is a Singapore-based company which offers ride hailing, ride sharing and food delivery services via its mobile app in Southeast Asia. In addition to Singapore, the companys services are available in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. In March 2018 Grab acquired Ubers operations in Southeast Asia and Uber now holds a 28% stake in Grab. This deal is likely to drive significant growth for Grab which already dominates the Southeast Asian ride hailing market with reportedly more than 60% market share in the region. Grab was valued at $10 billion in its most recent funding round, where it raised $2 billion for future growth. The company expects to double its revenues in 2019, as it integrates Ubers operations and forays into bike sharing and digital payments. Our interactive dashboard Estimating The Valuation Of Grab looks at Grabs key value drivers and the likely upside in its valuation if the target of 100% growth in revenues is met in 2019. Grab has witnessed significant growth in rides booked via the companys app over the last two years. Its number of users nearly doubled between 2017 and 2018, and average daily rides have increased significantly from around 2.5 3.5 million in 2017 to 6 million in 2018. For 2019, as the company benefits from the acquisition of Uber in the region, expands its bike sharing initiatives and builds further on its dominant market position in Southeast Asia, we expect significant growth in the companys number of users. This will drive growth in the total number of annual rides and boost revenue growth. Growth In Riders, Fares Based on limited data available for the total number of rides and total revenues, we estimate the average gross revenue per ride for the company to be around $2.50 in 2018. We forecast this number to increase to $3 in 2019, as the company establishes its dominance in Southeast Asia (post-acquisition of Ubers business) and sees increased demand for longer rides. With reduced competition, Grab can also look to withdraw discounts, leading to higher revenues. Grab charges a 20% commission from its drivers and we expect this number to remain steady over the next few years. Based on its most recent valuation and expected revenues for 2018, Grab commands an estimated revenue multiple of around 10x. This is higher than Ubers revenue multiple of about 5x based on its most recent valuation of $76 billion in August 2018 and Didi Chuxings valuation multiple of around 7.5x. If the company is able to achieve net revenues of around $2 billion in 2019 (per its own target), its valuation could potentially reach $16 billion with a lower revenue multiple of around 7x (lower than its current multiple as growth is likely to slow down in future years). Grab is focusing on growth initiatives and has an ambitious goal of becoming an everyday app and the company is diversifying into areas such as online grocery, food delivery and payments. However, regulatory hurdles and competition from local players are likely to be its key challenges, and the companys ability to navigate these will be critical for future growth. While Grab is not profitable yet, its market dominance, high volumes and expansion into food delivery and other areas should lead to economies of scale, driving profitability in the future. We believe Grab still has strong growth potential, and is likely to see some upside in its valuation in the near term even if multiples decline. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/01/10/how-much-is-grab-worth/ |
Can Elon Musk Actually Make A Flying Tesla Car? | Elon Musk turned a few heads on Twitter yesterday, January 9 when he claimed that an upcoming Tesla car might have the ability to fly. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO certainly hasnt left us wanting with his somewhat outlandish schemes before. Weve seen everything from a flamethrower to plans to start a Mars colony. Now it appears hes going to add thrusters to a new version of the Tesla Roadster car, claiming it will give it the ability to fly. The new Roadster will actually do something like this, Musk said in response to a tweet showing a picture of the flying DeLorean from Back to the Future. He added: Im not [joking]. Will use SpaceX cold gas thruster system with ultra high pressure air in a composite over-wrapped pressure vessel in place of the 2 rear seats. This isnt the first time Musk has alluded to a flying Tesla. Back in June 2018, he said that an option package for the new Tesla Roadster would include 10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around the car. These would apparently improve its acceleration, speed, and handling. Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly he added. To find out, I spoke to a couple of automotive engineers. And while they didnt doubt Musks ability to surprise us, they were a little skeptical. Of course you can install that in a car and make some fancy things, Dr. Markus Lienkamp from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany. If he recharges the system with air pressure and some liquid fuel it might be able to work permanently. Musk had alluded to this in another tweet last year, saying you could use an electric pump to replenish the air in the pressure vessel. But Dr. Lienkamp was not convinced. In my opinion [it is] just a showcase, he said. The system will be pretty heavy and costly. Dr. John Allport from the University of Huddersfield in the UK, meanwhile, was equally unsure. He cited the huge energy costs of the system as being a major problem, and noted that even if the thrusters did work as planned, youd probably only be able to lift the car off the ground for a few seconds. Technically theres nothing impossible about what hes proposing, he said. But the amount of energy to just lift a car off the ground, where is all the energy going to come from? Another issue is that the air from the thrusters would escape quickly. Hovercraft overcome this problem by having a rubber cushion around their base, which contains the air pressure. Without such a skirt around the Tesla to seal the air in, getting it to hover for more than a few seconds is likely to be extremely difficult. Once you get above a millimeter or so, your air loss is going to be so big that you soon run out of air, said Dr. Allport. What might be more feasible, however, is using the thrusters to improve the performance of the car. Many modern ships use thrusters to improve their turning capability, and a similar method could be employed here, firing a thruster to turn the Tesla into a corner and take it more tightly, or get a boost when accelerating. But the weight of the system needed to do this might negate the reason for doing it in the first place. Sports car designers typically try and get as much weight out of the car as possible, so having heavy equipment to provide thrusts of air could end up being self-defeating unless Musk has some tricks up his sleeve. Whats more clear, however, is that the dreams of a true flying Tesla might be a little far-fetched. True, it does seem as if the car would be able to hover off the ground for a few seconds. But sustaining flight for anything longer than that might prove difficult. If anything, it would be a hover rather than flight, said Dr. Allport. It really just comes down to a case of how much energy is needed, and how much energy can you store physically within the volume of the car. Still, Musk has proved us wrong before. And lets not get away from the fact that even a hovering car, if just for a few seconds, would be pretty incredible. You might not be taking to the skies any time soon, but a little hop off the ground would still be rather impressive. Well have to wait and see what Tesla has in store. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanocallaghan/2019/01/10/can-elon-musk-actually-make-a-flying-tesla-car/ |
Are the Oscars poised for yet another Crash landing? | At one time, the Golden Globe Awards was like a little sister to the Oscars, but in the past decade the ceremony has become more of a drunken uncle. This is not only due to the ceremonys open bar (and resultant sloppy speeches), but also its affinity for awarding fare that laughably targets the lowest common denominator. While we can blame this largely on its infamously out-of-touch voting board, which is occupied by 90 California-based journalists who write for publications outside the U.S., we must also consider the potential damage it leaves in its wake. At this past weekends Golden Globes, Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book won more awards than any other film. Let that sink in for a moment. Prior to Sunday nights ceremony, the critically panned Queen biopic had been awash in controversy because of its handling or lack thereof of frontman Freddie Mercurys sexuality, race and life with AIDS. When not focused on the cleaning up aspect, conversation about the film on social media tended to focus on its troubled production, which saw director Bryan Singer rarely on set amidst rumours of sexual harassment. He was ultimately fired and replaced. Meanwhile, Green Book, which tells the real-life story of Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), an Italian New Yorker hired to drive Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a black pianist, through the south on a concert tour, was receiving a similarly rocky reception prior to the awards show. It premiered in the fall to healthy reviews, but the film was soon criticized as being yet another white saviour film, produced by white filmmakers no less. The death knell seemed to have been rung when Shirleys family blasted the movie, calling it a symphony of lies, disputing the films depiction of a friendly relationship between the pair. Typically, production drama, a torrent of bad reviews and, at least in recent social-media rage-out years, racial controversy is enough to sink a film entirely. Nevertheless, Bohemian Rhapsody became the worst-reviewed film to receive a Golden Globe for Best Drama in 33 years, and Green Book scored for Best Comedy and Best Screenplay, beating critically-acclaimed frontrunners A Star is Born and The Favourite. While its well-understood that the Globes are a circus, heres the thing: voting for this years Oscars began the following day. And many of the Oscars voters comprised of over 7,000 actors, producers, casting directors, costume designers, you name it were either in that room, ready to be swayed, or watching remotely as each winner was announced and made their speech. Because of this, Hollywood trade papers have assumed those less-deserving films have gained a new momentum thanks to their Globe wins. And just like that, the vastly superior A Star is Born and Roma are no longer frontrunners for Best Picture glory. This scenario calls to mind one of the worst years in awards history: 2004. Despite Brokeback Mountain, Capote and A History of Violence all being released that year, it was Paul Haggiss Crash which has aged so poorly its borderline laughable now that went on to pick up Best Picture. (It also happened to be the year Three 6 Mafia won for Best Original Song. Ahem.) This, despite Brokeback, that years frontrunner, having walked in with the most nominations, and having scored a Best Director win for Ang Lee. The conclusion at the time was that Hollywood just wasnt ready to award a gay love story, instead opting for more conservative, but exceedingly tone-deaf material a lot like this years Green Book, 2012s The Help or 2009s The Blind Side. In the end, it suggests there really isnt any value to be found in hoping, year in and year out, that the Oscars will recognize the right movie. Thats not what awards season has ever been about, despite what the trophies might suggest. Will they ever honour the most deserving movie is a question weve been asking for a decade and will likely continue asking for another 10 years. Still, the hope the Oscar for Best Picture will actually go to a film that is everything to all people critically acclaimed, beloved by audiences and an artistic achievement lingers, no matter the reality with which weve been confronted. In its 91st year, its about time the Academy Awards actually stands for what it claims to represent. And one less Crash in its history is one step closer to that goal. | https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/movies/how-will-the-ever-bizarre-golden-globes-impact-the-oscar-race |
Why do video games use stronger security than some Canadian banks? | Ian Paterson is the CEO of Plurilock, a Victoria-based cybersecurity firm, and is a member of the Council of Canadian Innovators. I spent one of my holiday afternoons this year at a bank, with two tellers and a manager, having my debit card reissued and access to my accounts restored. All of this because my top Canadian bank lacked tools that are commonplace today in video games. Story continues below advertisement It was a late morning in December when I made a simple mistake, adding my bank details to a budgeting app. In todays cloud-centric world, logging in from somewhere or something new shouldnt be an issue but in this case it was. An automated process froze my account. When I called to have it unfrozen, I was told to visit town, find a branch office and confirm my identity in person. Oh, and to do this during holiday hours. On one level, I understand why my bank locked me out. Simply put, theyll lose customers if they arent perceived as secure. A recent PwC study showed that 85 per cent of consumers wont do business with a company whose security practices they doubt. From the banks perspective, a malicious attacker may have taken my login details, using them to empty out my accounts and, at the very least, interrupt my growing Starbucks habit. But Ill be blunt: Securely authenticating users digital identities without trips to the bank is a solved problem. Current best practices involve the use of multifactor authentication, which combines elements of something you know (such as a password), something you are (such as biometrics or your behavior) and something you have (such as a debit card). When Google mandated two-factor authentication across the company, the account-hijacking rate was reportedly reduced to zero. What my bank did wasnt a best practice; they simply lacked the modern tools to properly protect my account. And because they didnt have the infrastructure to step up to a second form of authentication, their only option was to go nuclear by blocking me and issuing a new card. They should know better. Most standards bodies today offer guidance on exactly how to remain secure. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a global leader in this area, issues guidelines on digital identity. These recommend two-factor authentication rather than reliance on SMS messages, complicated password rules and security questions as tools for protection. Complex password rules, security questions and premature block-outs impose burdens that consumers today, each with dozens of accounts, struggle to meet. Yet most companies employ exactly these strategies. Worse, these strategies are not particularly secure, as NIST understands. Thats is why all of this user frustration hasnt helped to reduce skyrocketing breach rates. When consumers face frequent password changes, draconian password rules and lockouts for forgotten passwords, they simply write their passwords down or pick short, familiar words theyre sure theyll remember. This makes password theft easy, particularly when automated hacking tools can guess even a completely random 10-letter password in a matter of hours. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement This isnt idle speculation on my part; I speak from experience. Im the chief executive of Plurilock Security Solutions, a cybersecurity company thats served the U.S. Army, power plants and hedge funds and that has industry veterans such as the former director of the U.S. National Security Agency on its board. We use human behavior as a transparent form of authentication, preventing damage from phishing and other online attacks invisibly. I began by mentioning video games because game companies are ahead of the curve here. Most games currently offer better, more reasonable security measures than my bank does as a matter of course. Massively popular Fortnite is a good example its free to play, yet offers two-factor authentication to everyone. Im not the only one to recognize that banks need to complete their digital transformation. Entire companies, such as Vancouvers FI.SPAN have sprung up to reimagine business banking. Strong authentication that solves the problems Ive outlined not only exists, but it is eminently affordable. So, in honor of my unexpected holiday trip to a bank office to present an old-fashioned ID card that itself is easily forged, Id like to make a modest proposal. For too long, companies have responded to consumer demand for real security with inconveniences that merely imply it. This isnt a good solution. In 2019, lets agree to move beyond security theatre and to implement tried-and-true solutions that are both effective and already on the market solutions that provide real security without matching levels of inconvenience. At the very least, I and my bank teller will thank you for it. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-why-do-video-games-use-stronger-security-than-some-canadian-banks/ |
Will St. Nicks magic run out for Eagles in New Orleans? | Open this photo in gallery Nick Foles looks to pass under pressure from Akiem Hicks in the second quarter of the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Soldier Field on Jan. 06, 2019 in Chicago, Ill. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images The Philadelphia Eagles have St. Nick, and he hasnt let them down in the clutch. The problem on Sunday is that New Orleans has a lot of Saints and a stronger team. Nick Foles has been nothing short of superb in replacing Carson Wentz, first in the 2017 season when he guided Philly to its first NFL championship since 1960. And now, with Wentz again injured, Foles helped the Eagles slalom their way to an NFC wild-card berth. Then, as in last Februarys Super Bowl win over New England, he drove the Eagles to a late winning touchdown at Chicago. Hell have to against Drew Brees & Co. in the Superdome, where the Saints annihilated the Eagles 48-7 on Nov. 18, Philadelphias only loss by more than seven points all season. Since then, the Eagles have won six of seven, counting the 16-15 decision over the Bears last week. Its a credit to the players and the coaches for just kind of staying in the moment, just trying to win the week, starting with today, coach Doug Pederson says. Just win today and then win tomorrow, try to go 1-0 each week. Thats been the mentality and the mindset all season, even during those couple weeks of adversity in there. You still have to have a belief that we can get it done. The players do believe. They just come to work every day ready to go. Theres great leadership on the team. Its really kind of held us together and pulled us through this stretch, and really the last three games of the regular season, I mean, they were all must win. Guys really understood what we needed to do, came together. Theyve jelled and here we are today. Where they are is ranked No. 12 in the final AP Pro32 and 8-point underdogs against No. 1 New Orleans. Its hard not to share the faith in Foles and the Eagles after seeing what they have done. Then again, looking at their secondary and how Chicago found lots of open room, its impossible not to believe in the home team. SAINTS, 31-20 No. 5 (tie) Los Angeles Chargers (plus 4) at No. 5 (tie) New England, Sunday Lets begin by mentioning that the Chargers are the better team. Right now, they might be the best overall team in the league. Should they win at Gillette Stadium, Pro Picks will be tempted to ride them all the way to and through Atlanta. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement However, Philip Rivers never beats Tom Brady (0-7 is quite an ugly number) and the Patriots are the only unbeaten home team this season. Plus, the weather could be a factor, which always favours New England. BEST BET: PATRIOTS, 23-16 No. 8 Indianapolis (plus 5) at No. The Colts, by far. Indeed, over the past two months, its difficult to find any team that has been more dangerous and dynamic than Indianapolis. Andrew Luck, finally healthy, is playing at his highest level. The offensive line is a wall, the defence has become a force, and the coaching is first-rate. The Chiefs have so much going for them when they have the ball, led by Patrick Mahomess passing in Andy Reids brilliant schemes. They have hardly anything except a pass rush going for them on defence and Indy doesnt allow sacks or even much pressure on Luck. Plus, the Colts are 4-0 in the playoffs against Kansas City, which hasnt gotten to a conference title game since the 1993 season. Story continues below advertisement UPSET SPECIAL: COLTS, 26-24 No. 11 Dallas (plus 7) at No. 2 Los Angeles Rams, Saturday night Another prime-time showcase for Ezekiel Elliott, and hell need to be extremely productive, as he was against Seattle. So, though, will his counterpart, Todd Gurley, likely back from a knee injury and crucial to the Rams advancing. Dallas has a solid enough defence to keep the creative Rams off-balance, especially if Gurley is limited. Los Angeles has not looked like a power in the past month and needed to straighten out some issues in the bye week. Still, we cant see an upset here. RAMS, 23-17 | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/article-will-st-nicks-magic-run-out-for-eagles-in-new-orleans/ |
Why should Canadian expats suffer for suffrage? | Yasmin Rafiei is a Rhodes scholar studying philosophy and politics at the University of Oxford One of Justin Trudeaus 2015 federal-election campaign lines was, A Canadian, is a Canadian, is a Canadian. Unless you live outside of Canada, it seems. Story continues below advertisement This Friday, the Supreme Court will decide if the democratic franchise of Canadians living overseas should be subject to a five-year limit. A voting ban which denies Canadians the right to vote in elections after five years living overseas was legislated in 1993 under Jean Chrtien, enforced under Stephen Harper, and has not yet been overturned under Mr. Trudeau. While Mr. Trudeaus government appealed removal of the five-year limit in 2016 via Bill C-33, in the two years following its introduction, the Bill has only achieved a first reading. Its tepid progress in Parliament has ushered the case into the hands of the Supreme Court, where it rests today. Its a question I contend with in my daily life outside my homeland. I was born and raised in Canada and had only ever studied and worked in Canada until last year. If I have a personal geography, it is tied to my parents, whose immigration to Edmonton from Iran involved embracing every aspect of their new country. My dad had me on skis as soon as I could walk; we hosted neighbourhood street hockey on our driveway; Edmontons river valley was, to my mothers consternation, my second home. I was raised in our citys public schools, graduated from the University of Alberta, and delivered the faculty address at graduation. However, it was in leaving Canada that I fully came to terms with my national identity. In 2017, I received a scholarship to study at University of Oxford, where I regularly encounter my identity, as it is perceived outside our national borders. Abroad, my primary identifier is no longer the province I grew up in or where my parents come from, but my nationality as a Canadian. Limiting my right to vote indicates Ive lost touch with this national identity when, in fact, I re-negotiate it every day against its reflection, mirrored to me in my international colleagues perceptions of Canada. Im hardly alone. A 2010 report by the Asia Pacific Foundation estimated that 2.8 million Canadians live abroad. Comprising about 9 per cent of our national population, our expat community is proportionately larger than that of Australia, the United States, China or India. This group, both substantial in size and highly skilled, should not be treated as a demographic anomaly. The courts coming decision demands our collective attention. Our citizenship is enshrined in our constitutional right to vote in our ability to decide, at election time, what we would like the future of our country to be. By stripping this right away after five years, our government makes a resounding judgment that expatriates are less Canadian because we live abroad. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Limiting voting rights also disincentivizes valuable expatriates from returning to Canada. My departure was incited by educational opportunity: After two years studying politics at Oxford, Ill spend four years studying medicine at Stanford University. Despite my time away, my right to vote enables me to decide the state of the home I plan on returning to. Under the current legislation, I will have effectively exchanged my graduate and doctoral degrees for that right. The critique frequently levelled against extending voting rights is that expats have broken the social contract: We do not pay taxes (although most do). But at the heart of this critique rests a dangerous assumption: that constitutional rights ought only to be afforded to those who can pay for them. This thinking could set an odious precedent for further excisions of voting rights. And it would be to Canadas benefit to expand voting rights beyond geographic boundaries. My status abroad, for instance, facilitates my work on the Ebola virus and antimicrobial resistance, biosecurity threats that dont know borders. I study and work alongside Canadian expats driven to resolve climate change, cyber-attacks, and mass migration issues demanding global co-operation. A post-national Canada that enables citizens to vote outside of its borders provides international depth to civic engagement but also supports citizens living overseas and confronting global challenges. Imaginings of Canada as a nation-state bounded by its geography do more harm than good. Being Canadian is not about where you live: Its about contributing to, improving, and stewarding a community forward through challenges, domestic and abroad. Whatever Canada is in the future, it is ours together and our voting rights need to reflect that. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-why-should-canadian-expats-suffer-for-suffrage/ |
Is Red Robin (RRGB) Fated to Witness a Terrible 2019 Too? | In 2018, the Retail-Restaurant industry gained 6.23% compared with the S&P 500s decline of 4.3%. However, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. RRGB, which belongs to the same industry, had a forgettable year. In the same time frame, the stock witnessed a sharp decline of 52.7%. The downside can be primarily attributed to soft comparable restaurant sales, weakness in dine-in traffic and decline in margin. The company has also been witnessing soft earnings and revenues trend lately. In the third quarter of 2018, the bottom line declined 23.8% year over year. Subsequently, the company lowered its EPS guidance for 2018. It anticipates earnings of $1.60-$1.80 per share, down from $1.80-$2.20 mentioned earlier. In the quarter, Red Robins revenues missed estimates for the third straight quarter. The company has been bearing the brunt of increased costs, which are hurting margins. In the third quarter of 2018, restaurant-level operating profit margin contracted 180 basis points (bps) to 16.8%. The decline was due to 120 bps rise in other restaurant operating expenses and a surge of 60 bps in occupancy costs. The rise in other operating costs was due to increases in technology costs, repairs and maintenance expenses, third-party delivery fees, higher utility costs and supplies. In order to drive traffic, Red Robin has been undertaking initiatives that have improved its restaurants seating efficiency and lowered guests waiting times. The company has rolled out its Kitchen Display System (KDS) that is linked to table management software. This is expected to result in annual sales growth of approximately $50 million as kitchens can handle higher peak volumes. It should also significantly improve guest experience by lowering ticket times and improving the quality of food at tableside. The digital wave has hit the U.S. fast casual restaurant space, as more and more restaurants are deploying technology to enhance the guest experience. In line with this, Red Robin too has been investing more in technology and data infrastructure. The company is set to grow its off-premise, online-ordering business via carry-out, delivery and catering. Despite the aforementioned efforts, analysts are still not optimistic about the Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) companys future earnings growth potential. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in 2019 has declined 3.8% to $1.79. Per the consensus estimate, revenues in 2019 are likely to decline 0.3% to $1.34 billion. Key Picks Better-ranked stocks worth considering in the same space include Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. TAST, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. CBRL and Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI. All these stocks have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Carrols Restaurant Group has an impressive long-term earnings growth rate of 20%. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has reported better-than-expected earnings in the trailing three out of four quarters, average being 0.7%. Darden Restaurants earnings in the current year is likely to witness a growth of 17.9%. Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> | https://news.yahoo.com/red-robin-rrgb-fated-witness-202508788.html |
What Kind of Populist Is Elizabeth Warren? | Six months ago, with the 2020 Presidential race barely within view, Elizabeth Warren mentioned a new political theme on which she intended to concentrate. Opposing corruption, she told a reporter, is becoming a much more defining part of my work. Corruption has a common-sense definition, one that is quite stark: The seizure of governmental authority by special interests at the expense of the general welfare, as Richard L. McCormick, a historian of political corruption in America and a former president of Rutgers University, put it to me this week. By early fall, when Warren introduced the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act in the Senate, she seemed to have something broader in mind. In a speech at the National Press Club, Warren said, Our government systematically favors the rich over the poor, the donor class over the working class, the well connected over the disconnected. This is deliberate, and we need to call this what it iscorruption, plain and simple. Populists, even radical populists, often deploy the passive voice, speaking of inequality or a rigged game. Warrens talk about corruption was bracing and direct. Someone was to blame. At the National Press Club, Warren mentioned Mick Mulvaney, the former Republican congressman from South Carolina who is now the acting White House chief of staff. Warren said, After he left Congress, Mulvaney told a roomful of bankers that he had a rule in his office: if a lobbyist didnt give him money, the lobbyist didnt get a meeting. Warren went on to tell the story of Billy Tauzin, the former Republican congressman from Louisiana. From within Congress, Tauzin helped to engineer the passage of Medicare Part D, which authorized the government to pay more than a hundred billion dollars in prescription-drug costs. He then got hired to lead the pharmaceutical lobby in Washington. Billy delivered, Warren said. She continued, Sometimes the payoff comes upfront. Goldman Sachs handed Gary Cohn over a quarter of a billion dollars on his way out the door to become the head of President Trumps National Economic Council. A quarter of a billion dollars to help quarterback a tax package that included giveaways worth just over a quarter of a billion to Goldmanin the first quarter of 2018 alone. The Trump Administration, Warren said, has given us the most nakedly corrupt leadership this nation has seen in our lifetimes. But they are not the cause of the rottheyre just the biggest, stinkiest example of it. She had recently introduced the Accountable Capitalism Act, a bill to reform the largest American companies, in part by requiring that forty per cent of the seats on their boards of directors be selected by employees. In business, as in government, she had noticed a pervasive culture of soft corruption that colors virtually every important decision in Washington. From the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth, Richard McCormick, the historian, noted, anti-corruption was a theme of every major political movement. During the financial crisis of 2008, it returned, with the Occupy movement, and, during the 2016 election, Donald Trumps swamp and Bernie Sanderss rigged game rapidly brought it to the center of American political life. Warren, a Harvard bankruptcy scholar and the engineer of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has the habits and authority of an expert; even so, for her, the idea of corruption seems to hold broad explanatory power. Last Wednesday, appearing on The Rachel Maddow Show, Warren mentioned the word corruption or alluded to it seven times. When asked how she saw the President, Warren replied, I see him as what happens when corruption invades a system. Two days later, when she arrived in Iowa to advance her case for the Presidency, she also seemed to introduce a new approach to American populism. Warrens tour of Iowa last weekend began in Council Bluffs, just across the Missouri River from William Jennings Bryans old political base, in Nebraska. The crowd was overflowing, as it would be at her other events, and she mentioned the President only in passing. Warren dwelled instead on her childhood, in Oklahoma, not poor but not steady either, and the moment when she saw her mother, past fifty and a lifelong homemaker, pacing her bedroom, her one fancy dress laid out on the bed, preparing for an interview for a minimum-wage job and repeating to herself, We will not lose this house. She got the job, minimum wage was enough, and the house was saved. Warren said that she had long understood this as a story about the tenacity of ordinary people but had come to see that it was a story about government, about what it had once made possible. The popular take on Warren when she began her political career was that she was awkward on stage, uncomfortable with the performative parts of the job. The solution turned out to be projecting grit, wielding her awkwardness as a signal of her determination. Her stage presence is full of punctuations: the left fist thrust upward, the ostentatious woo-hoo! While the Sanders and Trump campaigns shared a certain shagginess, a Warren event is a clockwork operation. The candidate arrives and leaves as scheduled. Her Presidential stump speech, which she dbuted, in Iowa, this week, lands at fifteen minutes, with only a few seconds of variation. The biographical section, with which she opens, takes almost exactly five minutes. A staffer or friend, pulling ticket numbers from a bucket, selects audience members to ask questions. After each event, there was a line to take a selfie with the senator, at the end of which you handed your phone to an aide, who passed it to a second aide, who held it over her head and snapped a half-dozen photos before handing it to a third aide, who gave it back to you. The Warren campaign is a populist undertaking, in that it seeks to organize rage at Washington and the elites, but it does so with expert efficiency. A woman of about sixty, with long hair and a slightly ethereal bearing, had her number called, and she walked up to the microphone and read her question from a phone. Her name was Catherine Nicholson, and she said that, even though she is a conservative, she supports Warren, whose advocacy on behalf of families she admires. Her son had recently died of brain cancer, at twenty-two, and the event had sharpened her sense of the frustrations of the health-care system. The atmosphere between the two women was inexplicably tense. Catherine and I know one another, Warren said. Nicholson, it turned out, had been a student and research assistant of Warrens, at the University of Texas School of Law, and later worked for her, before converting to Catholicism and homeschooling her children. Nicholson kept going. In this part of the country, she said, too many people who might otherwise find Warren appealing would write her off because she was pro-choice. (Nicholson had a point: last May, Iowas governor had signed one of the most restrictive anti-abortion bills in the nation, the so-called fetal-heartbeat law.) Nicholson urged her old professor to rethink her position on abortion, suggesting that it might win her the support of conservatives. There was a quiet moment, and then Warren said, to a burst of applause, that the role of government is to back out and allow women the right to choose. I found Nicholson after the event. She said that, of course, she hadnt really expected Warren to become pro-life, but that any sensitivity would be most welcome. Nicholson is now a caregiver for her mother, who has Alzheimers; she spends her days listening to Fox News, her mothers preference, and her nights speaking with friends. Some of them have dismissed Warren with one word, Pocahontas, and Nicholson urges them to take another view. She seemed to have in mind the person she had known, rather than the more partisan figure on the stage in Council Bluffs. When Warren was asked, by a reporter, how she might appeal to Trump voters in Iowa, she said evenly that she was not a professional politician. She mentioned that, of her three ex-military brothers, just one was a Democrat, and she let that hang in the air. Nicholson had wondered, in part, how the cultural gap between her old friend and her new ones could be bridged. But conservatives seemed far from Warrens mind. | https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/what-kind-of-populist-is-elizabeth-warren |
Why Would Paul Manafort Share Polling Data with Russia? | On Tuesday, when news broke that Donald Trumps former campaign manager Paul Manafort had shared internal polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian business associate of his with ties to Russian intelligence, the through line between the campaign and the Kremlin began to look incontrovertible. The revelation came in an inadvertently unredacted court document, which was filed by Manaforts lawyers in response to charges made by the special counsel Robert Mueller that Manafort had lied to investigators. According to the New York Times, somebut not allof the data was already in the public domain. The rest came from the campaigns own polling operation. Trump, who famously eschewed polling in the early days of his campaign and told the Meet the Press host Chuck Todd that pollsters were a waste of his money, eventually had five polling firms working to get him elected. All were hired after Manafort joined the campaign, in March, 2016, without pay. Five months later, he was forced to resign when it was revealed that he had failed to disclose his work as a foreign agent on behalf of pro-Russia political forces in Ukraine. Since then, of course, Manafort has been convicted of multiple counts of financial fraud. In June, Trump downplayed Manaforts tenure on his campaign, telling reporters, You know, Paul Manafort worked for me for a very short period of time. But F.B.I. wiretaps show that Manafort continued his association with Trump long after he resigned. Manafort was also in touch with his business partner, Rick Gatesnow considered to be Robert Muellers star witnesswho had been his deputy campaign manager and remained a White House insider. But, even more significant, it was Paul Manafort who decided to hire Tony Fabrizio as the campaigns chief pollster. Their friendship dates back to the nineteen-ninetiesFabrizio and Manafort worked together on the Presidential campaign of Bob Dole. Fabrizio also worked for Manafort in Ukraine, earning $278,500 for the same type of work he would later do for Trumppolling and surveying to help elevate Viktor Yanukovychs Party of Regions in the 2012 parliamentary elections. During the same period, Manafort dispersed $531,000 to Kilimnik, his translator and fixer in Ukraine, for professional services. According to a report in Bloomberg about Manaforts Ukrainian ventures, Fabrizio is included in e-mail chains with Manafort and Kilimnik. Fabrizio, a native New Yorker who now lives in Florida, has worked for dozens of Republican candidates, including Mitch McConnell, Joni Ernst, and Rand Paul, and is a senior counsellor at Mercury Public Affairs, which Mueller referred to federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, for failing to register as a foreign agent for its lobbying work on behalf of Ukraine. Fabrizios company, Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, bills itself as one of the leading survey research and campaign strategists in the nation. We were honored to have the privilege to serve as Chief Pollsters for President Donald J. Trumps historic upset victory, the companys Web site declares, at the top of its home page. But the firm also had the experience of many people who have worked for Trump: for a time, it was reported that Trump stiffed the company three-quarters of a million dollars for its services on the Presidential campaign. If nothing else, Fabrizio was familiar with both principals in this story. (Fabrizio did not respond to multiple requests for comment.) Adam Geller, the founder and C.E.O. of National Research, a Republican polling firm that worked with Fabrizio on the Trump campaign, told me, I honestly have no idea what was and wasnt shared with the Russians. In the final months of the race, National Research was responsible for polling in Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Iowa. By then, Manafort, whom Geller never had any direct contact with, had left the campaign. (Another polling firm employed by Trump was the Polling Company, whose C.E.O., Kellyanne Conway, replaced Manafort as campaign manager after he resigned.) But, for a time, Fabrizio was at the helm of Trumps polling operation, and it was his job to share polling information with Trumps campaign manager. The contested swing states that Trump narrowlyand surprisinglywon, such as Michigan and Wisconsin, were also places where both the Trump campaign and Russias Internet Research Agency focussed their efforts. Herein lies at least one answer to the question of why Russia would want the Trump campaigns polling data: it potentially gave them granular demographic targets for their bots and propaganda. In her analysis of five million paid, issue-based Facebook adswhich covered such hot-button issues as gun rights, abortion, gay rights, immigration, terrorism, and raceduring a six-week period of the 2016 Presidential campaign, the University of Wisconsin professor Young Mie Kim discovered that the most highly targeted statesespecially Pennsylvania and Wisconsingenerally overlap with the battleground states with razor thin margins. These were ads placed by two hundred and twenty-eight groups, many of which were later linked to the Internet Research Agency. Kim also found that these efforts were calibrated to certain demographics. Low-income white voters, for example, were targeted with ads focussing on immigration and race. An even more comprehensive analysis by Oxfords Computational Propaganda Project, which was released last month, shows just how pervasive Russias inflammatory targeting was. On Facebook, the five most shared and the five most liked posts focused on divisive issues, with pro-gun ownership content, anti-immigration content pitting immigrants against veterans, content decrying police violence against African Americans, and content that was anti-Muslim, anti-refugee, anti-Obama, and pro-Trump, the researchers wrote. The posts developed by the Internet Research Agency tended to mimic conservative views against gun control and for increased regulation of immigrants. In some cases, terms such as parasites were used to reference immigrants and others expressed some tolerance of extremist views. These posts increased almost seven-fold between 2015before Manafort joined Trumps teamand 2016, when he, and the pollsters he hired, were guiding the campaign. Not long after the election, in an interview with Frontline, Fabrizio offered a glimpse of how this data was gathered, and how crucial it was to Trumps victory. One of the groups that we created early on in the campaign from the polling was what I called Trump targets, Fabrizio said. These were voters who wanted to change direction, wanted a new direction, werent voting for Trump, werent hardcore Democrats, werent hardcore liberals, werent hardcore Hillary supporters. Knowing who to target, where they were, and which issues resonated with them gave Trumps digital team crucial information for their advertisements and social media messaging. We would report out to the senior team what markets those voters were concentrated in, Fabrizio told Frontline. In Florida, literally, if you changed four counties in Florida, twenty-nine electoral votes would have been off the table. Four counties. When Kost Bondarenko, one of Manaforts long-time Ukrainian associates, told The Daily Beast in May, 2017, that Trump won because of Manafort, this is what he may have meant. Fabrizios polling also showed something else: from the start, Trumps overt racismhis claims that Mexicans were rapists and that Muslims were terrorists, for examplewas popular. Hed shoot straight with them. And thats what they were looking for. The Internet Research Agency, we now know, also exploited Americans xenophobia and prejudices, tendencies that had been lurking close to the surface of U.S. politics long before Trump came along. But knowing where to direct their Facebook ads and Instagram posts would have been quite useful. (It should be noted that Russia engaged in a similar socially divisive online campaign on behalf of Manaforts client, Viktor Yanukovych, in Ukraine.) Once Russian efforts to destabilize the American electorate and promote Donald Trumps candidacy were revealed, there appeared to be a strange and inexplicable synergy between the Trump campaign and Russias propaganda offensive. When the Virginia Senator Mark Warner, the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, spoke on the podcast Pod Save America, in April, 2017, he wondered if the Trump teams data had been passed along to the Russians, given their uncanny ability to target states and levels of voters that the Democrats werent even aware [of]. At the time, all eyes were on Brad Parscale, Jared Kushner, and their digital team, especially Cambridge Analytica, whose swing-state targeting was suspiciously spot on. But it seemed to be one of the few instances in which Manafort, who had left the campaign shortly after Cambridge Analytica had been hired, escaped public scrutiny. Mueller, who had launched his investigation a month earlier, has long had his sights on Manafort. We now know his investigation into the former Trump campaign chairman involves far more than financial crimes. | https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-would-paul-manafort-share-polling-data-with-russia |
Can the All-New 2020 Ford Explorer Reverse the Automaker's Sales Decline? | Ford Motor (NYSE: F) revealed its all-new 2020 Explorer SUV at an event in Detroit on Wednesday evening. The popular three-row crossover has been completely redesigned on a new rear-wheel-drive architecture, with more room and more towing capacity. The new Explorer is a big deal. The Explorer has been a huge seller for Ford for years, generating hearty profits especially in upscale trims, but sales (and profits) sagged last year as newer rivals stole sales. The company is betting that the all-new Explorer will reverse those trends when it begins arriving at U.S. dealers this summer. Here's what we know. A blue 2020 Ford Explorer, a midsize crossover SUV, parked in a wooded setting. More Ford said that its all-new 2020 Explorer will arrive at U.S. dealers this summer. Image source: Ford Motor. What's new about the 2020 Explorer: Everything While it looks a lot like the current model, the all-new Explorer really is all-new. It's built on a new rear-wheel-drive architecture that gives it a distinctive look, as well as more towing capacity and more room inside. (The new Lincoln Aviator SUV is built on the same architecture.) That question contains one of the answers: It's a competitive differentiator. These days, rear-wheel drive is associated with luxury vehicles. But there are practical advantages as well: In addition to the added towing capacity, the new architecture will give four-wheel-drive versions of the new Explorer improved rough-weather and off-road capabilities. But while the new Explorer has a bit more "truck" added to its feature set, it's a far cry from the truck-based Explorers of old. This new Explorer should be quite refined on the road, thanks to its unibody construction, a new 10-speed automatic transmission, and a long list of standard comfort and convenience features. The dashboard of a 2020 Ford Explorer Platinum, showing a large touchscreen above the center stack. More In Platinum trim, the new Explorer features a big centrally located touchscreen. Image source: Ford Motor. The current Explorer isn't exactly cramped, but the new model is roomier inside. Notably, it's a bit wider -- with the seats folded down, it can carry a 4- by 8-foot sheet of plywood, a feat the outgoing model can't manage. The new Explorer comes standard with Ford's well-regarded 2.3-liter EcoBoost engine, which will make 300 horsepower and 310 pounds-feet of torque in this application. With an optional trailer-towing package, Explorers with the 2.3-liter engine will have 5,300 pounds of towing capacity, up from just 3,000 pounds in current base-model Explorers. | https://news.yahoo.com/2020-ford-explorer-reverse-automaker-230500731.html |
Should Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray play football or baseball? | Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray is expected to enter the NFL Draft to try his hand at professional football. After being awarded the top honor in college football, this seems like a no-brainer. However, Murray was already a first-round MLB draft pick. In the interest of his long-term health and financial success, many feel he should choose baseball over football as his professional calling. PERSPECTIVES Murray proved he could hang with the big boys in college football, winning the Heisman Trophy and quarterbacking the most productive offense in the sport. While he might be smaller than your average quarterback, he showed he can get gaudy numbers that could translate at the pro-level. Drew Brees, Russell Wilson and others have show that there is a future for Murray in pro football. Murray is almost assured to be picked in the first round, where his rookie contract will overshadow every rookie contract in baseball -- a sport where even the best players have to cut their teeth in the minors for a few years. Once he proves he can play at the pro-level, Murray could be one of the highest-paid players in the league. The smart money would be to be pursue pro football. Kyler Murray will reportedly enter the NFL draft. @MJ_Baumann explained why that would be a completely logical financial decision: https://t.co/mejK1x0zp1 -- The Ringer (@ringer) January 10, 2019 If Murray wants to be paid fully-guaranteed money, while saving his brain from being scrambled, baseball is the only choice. Unless you are one of the top quarterbacks in the league, you are not making anywhere near what you could in baseball. The median salary in MLB is $1.5 million, while the NFL has a median salary of $860,000. At least with MLB, you're getting all of that money. In the NFL, you're subject to incentives or being cut and losing money on your contract. Aside from the money, baseball is a much safer sport, especially when it comes to head injuries. Football has become synonymous with concussions and concussion-related ailments that cause brain trauma. If Murray values his life, he should choose baseball. Kyler Murray throwing away easy guaranteed baseball money to go to the NFL makes zero sense -- Chris August (@august_chris_) January 10, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. | https://www.nola.com/interact/2019/01/should_heisman_trophy_winner_k.html |
Is J.C. Penney Finally Showing Flickers of Life? | Shares of J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) surged 11% on Jan. 9 after the struggling retailer issued a holiday sales update. The company stated that its comparable-store sales for the nine-week period that ended on Jan. 5 fell 3.5% on a shifted basis (which aligns the fiscal and calendar years) and 5.4% on an unshifted basis. J.C. Penney also reaffirmed its goals for generating positive free cash flow (FCF) in fiscal 2018, reducing its inventory by more than 8%, and finishing the year with more than $2 billion in liquidity. The company also stated that it will close three stores "as part of an ongoing evaluation of its store portfolio" over the next few months as it explores the monetization of "beneficial" real estate assets. Exterior of a JCPenney store. More Image source: J.C. Penney. J.C. Penney plans to reveal additional details when it reports its fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 28. Stumbling over a very low bar J.C. Penney was crushed between e-tailers, superstores, and fast-fashion retailers over the past decade. An ill-advised turnaround effort by former CEO Ron Johnson alienated the retailer's core customers, and his ineffectual successors failed to win them back. A string of executives -- including CEO Marvin Ellison and CFO Jeffrey Davis -- also abruptly resigned over the past year. A glimmer of hope appeared when J.C. Penney hired Jill Soltau, the former CEO of crafts and fabric retailer Jo-Ann Stores, as its new chief executive -- but Soltau faces a tough uphill battle. J.C. Penney's comps flatlined over the past year and tumbled into negative territory during the third quarter, and its holiday update indicates that trend will continue in the fourth quarter: Q3 2017 Q4 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Comps growth 1.7% 2.6% 0.2% 0.3% (5.4%)* Source: J.C. Penney quarterly reports. *(4.5%) on a shifted basis. However, J.C. Penney's 5.4% comps decline during the holiday period notably wasn't worse than its decline in the third quarter, and its 3.5% decline on a shifted basis actually marked an improvement from its 4.5% drop in the third quarter. But without other crucial information -- like store traffic, transactions, and margins -- we can't tell how much of that comps growth was fueled by promotions. Interior of a JCPenney store. More Image source: J.C. Penney. Soltau hasn't said much about her turnaround plans for J.C. Penney, but she's made clearing out the retailer's excess inventory a top priority. An 8% decline in inventory for the year is encouraging, but it also suggests that its "improvement" in shifted comps during the holidays was driven by markdowns -- which will further dent its gross margins. | https://news.yahoo.com/j-c-penney-finally-showing-233000005.html |
Why Isn't Cardi B Considered A Headliner At Bonnaroo? | The 2019 lineup for Bonnaroo was released Tuesday morning, and the camping music festival, taking place at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennessee, features some revered hip-hop acts for the grand event taking place Thursday, June 13 to Sunday, June 16. If youre a fan of Childish Gambino and missed the This Is America tour, which he announced would be his last one ever, you may have a second chance at seeing him before he retires his moniker, Childish Gambino. Hes heading on a festival trek beginning with Coachella in April and making his subsequent stop to Bonnaroo this summer. Childish Gambino will take center stage as the leading headliner on Friday, while Post Malone will bring his Rockstar persona to his (bound to be memorable) set on Saturday. Weirdly enough, hip-hops queen Cardi B will perform on Sunday, but is not listed as one of the main acts of the night. Despite having the the fourth-biggest album of 2018 with Invasion of Privacy, the lineup lists her as a secondary set to Phish and The Lumineers, who both didnt even release projects last year. Her debut studio album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and two singles I Like It featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin and Bodak Yellow (Money Moves) from the project peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100. The unstoppable rapper even garnered five Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Rap Album. It should also be noted that no female artists were named headliners for the festival. Rather than giving at least one headlining spot to a female artist, the festival organizers decided to give Phish two sets on two separate nights of the four-day extravaganza. The festival overall fails to recognize mainstream and emerging female artists, as the secondary line doesn't completely reflect the women currently impacting the music industry today. Only one female artist is listed per day in the follow-up line except for Sunday. Even if Cardi B was moved to the much-deserved headlining role, that would still only leave one female artist serving as a supporting act that Sunday. Out of 14 acts listed under the headliners, only four female artists were announced to perform, and the remaining 10 acts are men acts. While Bonnaroo fails to fully recognize women especially in hip-hop other notable hip-hop acts include Chicago rapper Saba, who will perform on Thursday, Solange and Brockhampton, who will perform on Friday, and Juice WRLD, Gucci Mane and Lil Simz, who will perform on Saturday. Lil Dicky, The Soul Rebels and Prince cover band Princess comprised of Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum will bring the weekend to a close with their enthusiastic sets. More acts not in the hip-hop/R&B categories include Phish (with two sets), Odesza, Kacey Musgraves, The Lonely Island, Brandi Carlile, The Lumineers, Beach House, Courtney Barnett, Bishop Briggs, Zhu and Mac DeMarco. Launching in 2002, the festival originally based their lineups on jam and folk rock bands, but explored other genres as trends in music evolved throughout the years. Bonnaroo festival organizers havent completely honed in on diversity and inclusion with their lineup, seeing that they failed to incorporate an all-encompassing set of women acts on its bill. Though, they have slowly improved with their hip-hop presence in the last three years. Previous hip-hop MCs featured in the past include Kanye West, Eminem, JAY-Z, Lauryn Hill and Wu-Tang Clan. Check out the full lineup here. Follow me on Twitter @champagnelali. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenalvarez/2019/01/10/why-isnt-cardi-b-considered-a-headliner-at-bonnaroo/ |
Could an on-fire Alexis Griggsby help snap the Huskies five-game losing streak? | The Huskies are still looking for a consistent offensive threat to complement Amber Melgoza. Lately, Alexis Griggsby appears to have stepped up her game, and her deadly perimeter shooting could be huge for UW against Colorado on Friday. Weeks ago, Jody Wynn struggled to find any positives following one of the most lopsided losses in the 45-year history of the Washington womens basketball team. After sifting through the debris of a 103-56 defeat to No. 4 Mississippi State, Wynn singled out Alexis Griggsby, a sophomore reserve who piled up a team-high 11 points mostly in garbage time. It was good to see Lexi play the way that (she) did, Wynn said. That will hopefully continue to encourage (her) to keep working and getting in the gym and keep believing that (she) can be a good piece to our family. [UW WBB | Starting lineups, scouting reports against Colorado] The next game, Griggsby didnt attempt a shot during a scoreless, 12-minute performance against Washington State. Nonetheless, Wynn never lost confidence and remembered the 5-foot-9 guard was one of the best players during preseason workouts before an ankle injury forced her to miss a few weeks and the first two games of the season. Needing a spark to jump start an offense that ranks near the bottom of the Pac-12 in scoring (69.5 points per game) and three-point shooting (28.9 percent), Wynn gave Griggsby her first start of the season and fifth in her career last week at No. 5 Oregon. Were searching for consistent performers and I thought it was her turn to get that start, Wynn said. And she ran with it. During an 84-71 loss, Griggsby responded with a personal best 26-point performance that matched her season total through 11 games. She also converted 6 of 11 three-pointers and 10 of 16 field goals both career highs in 26 minutes. Two days later, Griggsby knocked down 5 of 7 three-pointers for 15 points in a 78-67 defeat at No. 11 Oregon State. My teammates just trusting in me and believing in me to make the shots, Griggsby said. Coaches believing in me to make shots. My teammates screening to get me open to get the shots off. Its an all-around collective effort for me to get my shots off. Griggsbys offensive fireworks couldnt have come at a better time for Washington (7-8, 0-3 Pac-12), which has lost five straight heading into Fridays 7 p.m. matchup against Colorado (10-4, 0-3) at Alaska Airlines Arena. Since Wynns arrival last season, the Huskies have desperately searched for consistent scorers to support all-Pac-12 guard Amber Melgoza, who ranks fifth in the conference with a 19.5 scoring average. Melgoza has led Washington in scoring in 13 of 15 games and no other UW player averages more than 10 points per game. This cant be just the Amber show, Wynn said earlier this season. Weve been looking for 1, 2 or 3 more players to get a little more consistent (scoring) so teams cant just load up on Amber. I dont know who its going to be. At times its been Missy (Peterson). Jenna (Moser) has had some nice games. And Hannah (Johnson) and Mai-Loni (Henson). It could be anybody and weve seen that. Last week, it was Griggsby. Admittedly, she wasnt ready to contribute much last season. That mental game that you have a freshman, you kind of feel like sometimes you dont belong, said Griggsby, who averaged 5.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 17.7 minutes last season. Youre doing the little things, but you feel like the little things dont get noticed as much. And an ankle injury ruined what had been a promising performance in preseason practices. In the month of October she was an outright starter, Wynn said. She was one of our most consistent performers. And it went away after the ankle sprain. Pretty bad ankle sprain sat her out for a few weeks and just really never got her groove back. Lost confidence and just battled through the confidence struggle throughout November and December. You knew it was there, it was just hidden under a few layers. Griggsby said: When shooters cant get that shot to fall it kinda of just puts you in a little rut. But I was able to get out of it. After tallying 52 points against UWs three ranked opponents, Griggsby deflects the extra attention shes garnered for her offensive exploits. Im just coming out here to play and do the best for our team, she said. Im not a person that needs all the praise. However, Griggsby will likely land on opposing teams scouting reports considering shes connected on 11 of 18 3-pointers (61.1 percent) against Pac-12 opponents. Its nice to have her energy and her confidence, Wynn said. She might not be the fastest, she might not be the biggest, she might not be the strongest and she might not be the most athletic, but shes going to do little things for us that helps us on both sides of the ball. | https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/could-an-on-fire-alexis-griggsby-help-snap-the-huskies-five-game-losing-streak/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Will Oklahoma's Kyler Murray enter the 2019 NFL Draft? | CLOSE Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray won the 2018 Heisman Trophy following a 50-plus touchdown effort that helped the Sooners earn a College Football Playoff berth. USA TODAY Kyler Murray has an uncommon decision for a highly-successful, Heisman Trophy-winning underclassman. Murray's decision has at least three likely answers. He can play baseball all year with the Oakland A's organization, play until late July and return to Oklahoma for his senior season or forgo baseball altogether and enter in the NFL Draft. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that the A's expect Murray to enter into the NFL Draft. Murray's rookie contract with the A's is worth $4.66 million. Entering the draft would not immediately cancel Murray's baseball deal, but it would be a substantiated sign that he wants to play. The Chronicle reported that the A's would have to get approval from MLB to allow Murray to go to the NFL Scouting Combine. If he does decide to continue on to the NFL, Murray would have to pay back his signing bonus. He would also be far from the first player to flirt (or outright play) with playing both professional football and baseball. CLOSE The Athletics and Oklahoma's Kyler Murray have agreed to a deal that guarantees him almost $5 million and allows him to play football for the Sooners for one year, reports FRS Baseball's Jon Heyman. Time Others who have flirted with the NFL and pro baseball John Elway Elway played short-season rookie ball in the Yankees in 1982, then played his final football season at Stanford and finished second in Heisman Trophy balloting. Elway was the No. 1 overall pick and leveraged that with his baseball career. The Colts traded him to Denver and the rest is Hall of Fame history. Deion Sanders Sanders was a world-class athlete who was a top football recruit and a sixth-round pick by the Kansas City Royals. He decided to play and star in both sports at Florida State. Sanders once called baseball his mistress, so as it were, baseball came and went in Sanders' life. He was drafted in the 30th round by the Yankees in 1989 and made his MLB debut that same season. He was a key cog of the Braves' teams in the early 90s as he switched between the NFL's Falcons and the MLB's Braves in the fall. He'd play for three more MLB teams while he starred with the Falcons, 49ers and Cowboys. Brian Jordan Jordan worked his way up through the St. Louis Cardinals' organization as he starred as as a safety with the Atlanta Falcons. As he got closer to the majors, a decision was going to have to be made. The Cardinals gave Jordan a bonus to quit playing football as he moved up to the MLB level. John Lynch Lynch was a junior at Stanford when coach Dennis Green headed to the Minnesota Vikings. He was then drafted in the second round of the 1992 MLB Draft by the Florida Marlins as a pitcher. But new Cardinal coach Bill Walsh convinced him to play minor league baseball for a season before returning to Stanford for a final season in college football. He was selected in the third round of the NFL Draft in 1993 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is a member of both the Buccaneers and Broncos hall of honors and will be a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist next month. Russell Wilson Wilson's case is the most recent. He starred as a two-sport athlete at NC State and played minor league baseball with the Colorado organization in between his junior and senior years of college football. Wilson struggled in minor league ball, transferred to Wisconsin and had a stellar senior season on the gridiron. Now, he is one of the league's top quarterbacks. 2019 NFL DRAFT ORDER:Titans pick 19th; Cardinals are No. 1 | https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nfl/2019/01/10/kyler-murray-enter-2019-nfl-draft-oklahoma-heisman/2537508002/ |
Is it time for the Maple Leafs to trade Jake Gardiner? | Maybe its time for the Maple Leafs to trade Jake Gardiner. And if Kasperi Kapanen has to go as well as the Leafs deal with a tighter salary cap, then its up to general manager Kyle Dubas to make it all fit for a playoff run now while looking to keep the core together for playoff runs to come. Leafs defenceman Jake Gardiner will become an unrestricted free agent July 1, and whether or not the organization will be able to afford him remains a topic of discussion. ( Rick Madonik / Toronto Star file photo ) But such talk may fly in the face of logic given Gardiner is an important part of the Maple Leafs, a team that finally can say it has Stanley Cup aspirations and is respected around the league. But the defencemans future with the team is tenuous. Hell be an unrestricted free agent July 1, able to command a salary in the $6-million to $7-million range, a price tag that would appear too high for the Leafs. Because by the time Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews get news deals, most of the teams pending $26 million in salary cap money will be gone, and there will be others to sign. Article Continued Below Logic would suggest keeping Gardiner an Own Rental is the term in the NHL these days to keep the team intact and see how it fares in the playoffs. The Leafs did a similar thing last season with James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov. They didnt make it out of the first round, and all three left as unrestricted free agents in the summer, signing lucrative deals elsewhere. Now consider what the most valuable of those players van Riemsdyk, the scorer might have fetched at the trade deadline last year. San Jose gave up a first-rounder, a fourth-rounder and a prospect for Evander Kane, who was a pending UFA, like van Riemsdyk. Ditto Paul Stastny, worth a first-round pick and other considerations to the Winnipeg Jets to acquire him from the St. Louis Blues. The Leafs appear headed for another No. 2 vs. No. 3 showdown with the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division playoffs. If Toronto turns the tables on a team that has owned them recently, next up would be the No. 1 Tampa Bay Lightning. As they say, anything can happen. But if anything can happen with Gardiner, then anything can happen without him too. In the long term, moving Gardiner would seem to be a positive. Presuming the Leafs get a first-round pick, that player will almost certainly be a contributor in a year or two. And for the first three seasons hed be a cheap addition on an entry-level deal, something the Leafs will be starving for. Combined with their own first-round pick, the Leafs would be well-positioned to provide support players for Matthews and Marner. Article Continued Below In the short-term, the here and now, moving Gardiner wouldnt make much of a difference. Either Dermott or Nikita Zaitsev can take over the second power-play unit. If Martin Marincin and/or Justin Holl start getting minutes, or if Calle Rosen gets that long-awaited call up, the Leafs will probably not have surrendered much in the present to secure a more solid future. And whatever might be lost defensively by trading Gardiner could be tempered by a Kapanen deal, because moving Gardiner would not preclude the Leafs from shoring up the right side of their defence, their biggest deficiency. To get a good right-side player will cost them a young stud. Dubas has already promised William Nylander he wont be traded, so its doubtful hed go back on his word. At least not this quickly. Kapanen is probably the most tradable, and his appearance on the teams first power-play unit only adds to his resume. Kapanen appears destined for a third-line role, behind Marner and Nylander, making somewhere around $2.5 million a season. Another team might see Kapanen as more valuable than that, perhaps even at the $4-million level. The compensation the Leafs would get on a $4-million offer sheet to Kapanen also a restricted free agent July 1 would only be a second-round pick, something Dubas would have to be aware of. The Carolina Hurricanes could be a potential trade partner, as they boast a slew of right-handed defencemen. Brett Pesces name keeps coming up; his cap hit is $4.025 million a season until 2024 and hes just 24. Kapanens speed and scoring ability would shine on Connor McDavids wing. And his ability to kill penalties and be a force in his own zone would be a match for coach Ken Hitchcocks system. Larsson is 26. And there are bigger fish to be caught: Theres Alex Pietrangelo of the Blues, currently out with an injury to his right hand. Though its hard to see how his $6.5-million hit next season would be a fit for the Leafs. But the 28-year-old would be a difference maker in the short-term. His price tag would be higher than Kapanen, maybe Timothy Liljegren or Rasmus Sandin as well. No matter what Dubas chooses to do, theres risk. The safe route is to stay the course, maybe add a rental. But Dubas doesnt want to be like previous GMs, and more likely will break with the tradition of how things had been done. Kevin McGran is a sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @kevin_mcgran Read more about: | https://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/analysis/2019/01/10/is-it-time-for-the-maple-leafs-to-trade-jake-gardiner.html |
What is going on in Brexit and what might happen next? | Heres your no-frills primer to whats going on in Brexit and what might happen next. Two-and-a-half years and a fraught series of negotiations after the UK voted to leave the EU, the two parties finally managed to sign their two-part divorce deal late last year. The first part of this is the 858-page withdrawal agreement covering the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British nationals on the continent, the sum Britain must pay the bloc for past commitments, and a mechanism (the backstop) to avoid customs and other border controls between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The second part is a much shorter political declaration on the shape they would like their future trading relations to take, which is vaguely worded enough to allow for almost any outcome, from a close Norway-style relationship to a more distant free trade arrangement like the EU has signed with Canada. In theory, this whole package must now be approved by the British parliament so the necessary legislation can be passed to allow the UK to formally leave the EU as planned at the end of the two-year article 50 exit process on 29 March. Britain would then enter a 20-month transition period, during which nothing much will change and the future relationship will be negotiated, before finally stepping out into the big, wide world in December 2020. Essentially because the withdrawal agreement and particularly the backstop, which will come into force if the detailed terms of the future trading relationship do not manage to avoid that hard Irish border does not have a majority in parliament. MPs in favour of Brexit fear it could leave Britain a perpetual Brussels rule-taker, potentially trapped in the EUs regulatory orbit for ever. Those opposed to Brexit say the deal risks leaving the country economically weakened, with no say in EU rule-making, and worse off all round than staying in the EU. The opposition Labour party rejects the deal, as do a large number of Conservative hardline Brexiters. The Ulster unionists of the Democratic Unionist party, on whom the government relies for its majority, also object, leaving the government facing a crushing defeat in the House of Commons. For this reason, Theresa May, the prime minister, pulled the Commons vote on the agreement that was planned before Christmas, rescheduling it for 15 January in hopes she could persuade the EU to come up with concessions or guarantees that would win her opponents (or enough of them) over. Good question. The EU hasnt budged (it cant, to any great extent: the agreement is legally binding, approved by 27 countries, and will not be re-opened), and it is hard to see what supplementary assurances it could offer that would satisfy the Brexiters. Parliamentary resistance has not weakened, and the government has been reduced to trying to cut side-deals in the form of amendments to the deal with various different interest groups to try and peel off some of the objectors. Few observers think this tactic will work. In the meantime, the prime ministers opponents in the Commons are waging a procedural guerilla war, tabling and winning amendments aimed at wresting more and more power over the process from the government and giving it to MPs instead, particularly if a no-deal Brexit looks likely. The problem is that while there is no clear majority for Mays deal, there is no clear majority for anything else either: not for a second referendum, nor a fresh election (Labours objective), or no deal (which almost all economist and business groups say would be a catastrophe), or a mooted Norway-plus, single-market style deal. And the clock is ticking. Assuming May is defeated on 15 January, it seems increasingly likely that the government may have to ask the EU27 for an extension to the two-year article 50 deadline to allow it (or more accurately, given the current mood, MPs) to look again at the existing deal, or try to develop an alternative Brexit approach it can agree on. Brexit, in other words, is far from over yet. | https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/11/what-is-going-on-in-brexit-and-what-might-happen-next |
Will NVIDIA's New Automotive Platform Widen Its Moat Against Intel? | NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) recently introduced Drive AutoPilot, a new reference platform that lets automakers add automated driving features to their vehicles, at CES 2019. The platform improves current advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) with features that bridge the gap between semi-autonomous vehicles and fully autonomous ones. These features include lane changes, highway merging, pedestrian and cyclist detection, parking assistance, and personal mapping features. Inside the vehicle, it provides driver monitoring features and AI copilot capabilities. It also allows updates to its software over the air -- a feature most major automakers (except Tesla) -- haven't adopted yet. The platform is powered by NVIDIA's Xavier AI-focused SoC, which can process over 30 trillion operations per second. A woman sits in a driverless car. More Image source: Getty Images. Drive AutoPilot isn't a fully driverless platform like NVIDIA's Drive PX series of onboard computers (a version of which powers Tesla's similarly named Autopilot feature). Instead, Drive AutoPilot seems squarely aimed at Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) Mobileye, which provides ADAS platforms for over 90% of the world's automakers. Understanding NVIDIA's automotive ambitions NVIDIA's Tegra series of ARM-based CPUs form the foundation of its driverless business. NVIDIA originally tried to market the Tegra as an application processor for smartphones, but it was pushed out of the market by Qualcomm. But instead of abandoning the chipset, NVIDIA pivoted the Tegra toward other markets -- including game consoles (like the Switch), drones, and navigation and infotainment systems for connected cars. NVIDIA's early foothold in the connected car market led to the launch of Drive PX in 2015. The second version, Drive PX 2, was introduced in 2016. In 2017, NVIDIA introduced Drive PX Xavier and Drive PX Pegasus -- two platforms that were designed for fully autonomous vehicles. Last September, it launched Drive AGX Xavier, a scalable platform for autonomous machines, robots, healthcare devices, and self-driving cars. NVIDIA currently has over 370 Drive partners, including Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volvo, and various service providers and auto suppliers. Those companies support the growth of its Automotive revenue, which accounted for 5% of its top line during the third quarter. | https://news.yahoo.com/nvidia-apos-automotive-platform-widen-013000792.html |
Should we weed out the worst-performing KiwiSaver funds? | Australia's Productivity Commission seems to think so. It has just released its final report on a review of the superannuation industry which recommends ways to weed out the worst performers. Advertisement It wants all regulated super funds to carry out an annual test which would check the performance of the fund against a pre-set benchmark. If the fund is more than half a percentage point a year below its benchmark over a rolling eight-year period the fund would get a year to lift its performance or face being withdrawn from the market. Members of the closed fund would then be transferred elsewhere. It sounds like a nice idea - an independent body looking out for consumers - especially when for many people KiwiSaver is a complicated product they struggle to understand. Research has already shown many KiwiSaver members are complacent and aren't motivated to switch funds based on fees or performance. Of the 2.7 million people in KiwiSaver just 189,736 switches were made in the year to March 31. There is now more than 10 years' worth of performance data for KiwiSaver funds, which is enough time to see who the consistent poor performers are. But the challenge would be in ensuring each fund's benchmark is appropriate. In the past some fund managers chose to set their benchmark as the cash rate, which was not appropriate for funds invested in shares. Setting an appropriate benchmark would need to be checked by the regulator, as would the performance data. All of that takes time and money for a regulator which already has a stretched budget and limited resources. New Zealand's KiwiSaver market is much smaller than Australia's. There are just 31 schemes, although underneath those lie several hundred funds. Checking and comparing the performance of your fund is not that difficult. Members can either use the quarterly Morningstar figures or the Financial Markets Authority's KiwiSaver tracker tool. Those who aren't happy with the performance of their fund can switch easily by getting in touch with a different provider. The reality is if you care about avoiding the dogs of KiwiSaver the power is already in your hands without waiting for the regulator to step in. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/personal-finance/news/article.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=12188684 |
Should people with pot convictions be able to supply in a legal cannabis market? | People with previous cannabis convictions should be able to supply legal medicinal cannabis and, if recreational use became legal, be offered a clean slate, Green MP Chloe Swarbrick says. But the National Party say only "fit and proper persons" should manufacture legal cannabis. Swarbrick's comments follow an email exchange - released to the National Party under the Official Information Act - showing that the Greens had asked Ministry of Health officials to look at proposals for the medicinal cannabis legislation, including one that would "allow individuals with previous drug convictions to manufacture cannabis". The Greens' proposal never came before the House, but that door has not closed. Advertisement Who should be eligible to supply medicinal cannabis will be a key aspect of the Government's new regulatory framework, which will be in place by the end of the year following public consultation. National's associate health spokesman Shane Reti said medicinal cannabis manufacturers and employees should be "fit and proper persons". National has proposed clean slate legislation requiring no terms of imprisonment and no convictions for seven years for employees, and even tougher standards for licence holders including no associations with gangs. "The industry was adamant that it understood the need to be absolutely squeaky clean in this new industry and they were up for that," Reti said. "The Greens have listened to one version of the pleadings from East Coast-based Hikurangi Enterprises (which has a licence for medicinal cannabis) and ignored the rest of the industry, who were completely behind the fit-and-proper-persons requirements." He called the Greens "soft on drugs" but Swarbrick, the Green Party's spokeswoman for drug law reform, dismissed this as "classic National Party hysteria". "If you're convicted of something while it is illegal, you serve your time," Swarbrick told the Herald. "If that substance then becomes legal and regulated and you jump through the same hoops that everyone else does, why shouldn't you equitably be able to engage in that market?" The people who have been disproportionately penalised by the war on drugs shouldn't be excluded from participating in a legal market, she said. She had visited Hikurangi and spoken with people taking a course at the Eastern Institute of Technology's Ruatoria Regional Learning Centre on experimental hemp production. "Some of them have gone away for that substance and have served their time and are now they're looking to use their skills and invest in their community. And this is a massive economic opportunity for them." It was Green Party policy to have regard for equity and social justice in drug law reform, but she said it was not yet party policy to allow those with previous cannabis convictions to work in the medicinal cannabis market. "I guarantee we will have discussions on that point [during the Government's public consultation process] and it's something that should be discussed with maturity." Currently, licences for medicinal cannabis are only issued for medical or scientific research. The Government's medicinal cannabis law was passed last month and the regulatory framework, such as rules around licences and quality standards, will be drawn up after public consultation. A binding referendum on legalising cannabis for personal use will take place at the 2020 election. Canada's legal cannabis regime started in October last year and includes a pardon for convictions for carrying 30g or less of marijuana, but not for other crimes such as supplying cannabis. The Canadian Government has been criticised for not expunging cannabis convictions, which would remove any record of a criminal conviction; a pardon seals the record but does not erase it. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12188844 |
Who will pay for Donald Trump's border wall? | With the US government in partial shutdown, the president continues to demand funding for his Mexican border wall. Lauren Gambino, in Washington DC, and Bryan Mealer, in Texas, discuss how Trumps central campaign promise has led to this point of paralysis. Plus, John Harris looks back to the optimism of 1989 Donald Trump has visited the southern US border in Texas after walking out of talks to resolve one of the countrys longest government shutdowns in history. The president has refused to authorise the release of funds to pay up to 800,000 government workers until he secures funding for his central campaign promise of a border wall. The Guardians US political correspondent, Lauren Gambino, joins Anushka Asthana to discuss the paralysis in the US government and why the president is so fixated on building his wall. And, as Trump tries to rally support in Texas, the Guardians Bryan Mealer reports that there is indeed a crisis at the border, but one largely of the presidents own making. Refugees and asylum seekers are facing appalling living conditions in detention centres struggling to cope with new arrivals. Also today: the columnist John Harris looks back to 1989: a period of sudden transitions, revolutions, exciting new music and optimism for the future. | https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/jan/11/who-will-pay-for-donald-trump-border-wall-podcast |
What Part of 'War' Don't We Understand? | Political debates tend to be moved forward by new facts generated "on the ground." At these moments, it is far easier to convince people of the truth, because that truth is tied directly to facts people can see out in the world. Hezbollah's initiation of a war with Israel is one of those moments. A few of us have been saying for years that the War on Terrorism is not just about Israel by itself or Iraq by itself that it is a "regional war," as Michael Ledeen has put it, in which the U.S. and its allies are being attacked by an "Islamist Axis" connecting Iran to its network of terrorist proxies across the Middle East. Now this is everybody's headline. Last week, for example, a headline in the New York Times admitted "Crisis Is Regional, Not Just Israel vs. Palestinians." This week, Newsweek devoted its cover story to Iran's role as the instigator "feeding the fire" of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Condoleezza Rice summed it up when she concluded that the terrorists "have showed their hand. And they've showed that their sponsors are in Tehran and in Damascus. Things are clarified right now." And the real news about President Bush's open mic night at the G-8 summit is not his use of a common vulgarity, but an exchange between Bush and Tony Blair regarding Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. There's been a lot of talk about the cleverness of the Iranians and about what master chess players they are to outmaneuver the Bush administration. But their strategy turns out to be utterly transparent. Bush followed his exchange with Blair by adding, "I felt like telling Kofi [Annan] to get on the phone with Assad and make something happen." As we all know, the most fearsome response to an act of war is a phone call from a U.N. bureaucrat. A similar paralysis is even holding back some of the most seemingly belligerent commentators. The Wall Street Journal, for example, characterizes the Hezbollah provocation as "Iran's First Strike" against the U.S. then counsels that we should let Israel do our fighting for us while we seek sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council. Similarly, Michael Oren advocates an Israeli strike against the Syrian military but only to force the Syrian regime to make a bargain, keeping itself in power by withdrawing support for Hezbollah. None of these actions matches the problem. If the problem is that the Syrian and Iranian regimes seek to preserve themselves and extend their influence by supporting terrorists across the Middle East, then the solution is to end those regimes and we should devise a military response directed at that goal. Syria and Iran cannot be pressured, deterred, or contained, because supporting terrorists is their means of survival. This has been the Iranian and Syrian strategy since 2003: support the insurgency in Iraq, support Hezbollah and Hamas in the Palestinian territories and keep everything in such turmoil that America will be afraid to take further action, for fear that things will get even worse. But past military action has led to chaos only because we have always left intact the terror-sponsoring regimes in Syria and Iran. Consider the incentives we have created for these two regimes: the more trouble they cause for us the less likely we are to attack them. The more they attack us, the more secure they are from our retaliation. This is the opposite of a rational strategy. What makes this possible is the crippling effect of two fundamental errors in our thinking: myopic short-range Pragmatism and crippling altruistic self-doubt. Pragmatism doesn't just mean being practical; it's a philosophy which holds that there are no over-arching ideas and principles that can guide our action. The best expression I have ever read of the fractured thinking method of Pragmatism is in the current Newsweek cover story. After showing that Iran is the force behind every major conflict in the Middle East, the authors admonish us: "The Iranian challenge is not a Gordian knot that can be sliced through in one bold stroke. It's a bag full of knots, each of which has to be untied and, if possible, untangled from the rest." Part of the reason America hesitates to act is because generations of Pragmatists have tried to turn our brains into bags full of knots making it harder for us to see the big picture and the bold strokes that are actually necessary to defeat our enemies. Just as powerful is the warped logic of the "suicide bomb morality" of altruism, which identifies self-sacrifice as the essence of virtue. In any conflict, the good guys are expected to prove that they are good by backing down and sacrificing their interests while nothing is expected of the bad guys, precisely because they are evil. That's why a Los Angeles Times op-ed demanded that Israel "has to be the most responsible party" by declaring an immediate ceasefire. The author answers: "What, after all, can we expect from Hamas or Hezbollah?" Notice the warped psychology this fosters: the onus is always on the good guys to turn the other check and submit to evil. This is a moral outlook that empowers the evil because they are evil and restrains the good because they are good. There is no longer any doubt what is driving the conflict in the Middle East: it is the Syrian-Iranian strategy of using proxies to strike at the U.S. and extend Iran's fanatical influence over the region. The only question is whether we can stop tying our brains into knots and stop turning the other cheek long enough to strike back and topple these two regimes. | https://www.foxnews.com/story/what-part-of-war-dont-we-understand |
Can the U.N. Save the Day in the Middle East? | This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," July 20, 2006, that has been edited for clarity. Watch "The O'Reilly Factor" weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the "Radio Factor!" BILL O'REILLY, HOST: "Impact" segment tonight, the U.N. Security Council met today to try to figure out what to do about the violence in the Middle East. With us now, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. This is going to sound like an immature question. I know it is. And I don't mean it to be, but I have to ask the question. I mean, you passed a resolution almost two years ago, 1559, that said that you were going to control what happened in Southern Lebanon, you were going to disarm Hezbollah. It was a joke. It was a joke. JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Well, I think what can happen is that we can use the Security Council as a way to accomplish the objective of bringing democracy to the Lebanese people. We've helped pushed Syria out of Lebanon, although they're intelligence services are still there. So it is a place where, under the best of circumstances, you can make progress on issues like that. BOLTON: Yes. Well, the U.N. has been involved in Lebanon for 28 years. And that gives you some measure of how unsuccessful it's been. But in the past couple of years, because of not what happens in New York but because of what's happened in the region, there has been pressure to get Syria out. What we need to do now is move to get that 1559 framework fully implemented, get the Syrians out completely. And that means have them stop... O'REILLY: You know, I don't see the United Nations as able to do anything. BOLTON: Yes. O'REILLY: They can't stop the slaughter in Darfur. They couldn't do anything in Iraq. We're almost going it alone. Britain and the United States. They sit by Kofi Annan today. I don't know what Kofi Annan said. I listened to the sound byte 12 times. I don't know what the man's talking about. And I mean, maybe I'm not smart enough, but he's going this is bad, this is bad, this is bad. It seems to me that the United Nations, number one, should understand there's a worldwide war of terror. BOLTON: No, I don't think they do. O'REILLY: OK. So number one, the United Nations doesn't even understand there's a worldwide world on terror. Even though India gets bombed, even though Somalia now is making trouble with Ethiopia, and country, after country, after country. They still don't get it. BOLTON: Well, I think what we're trying to do is advance American interests. And in this case and the case of Lebanon, we've got a chance to set the Syrians and the Iranians back, not because of what happens in the Security Council, but because of taking advantage of the moment that the action Israel has taken against Hezbollah. Hezbollah wouldn't be in the position it's in today if it weren't for Iranian, Syrian financial support. O'REILLY: We know that. But the world now is focusing on civilian casualties inflicted by Israel. You don't hear about civilian casualties inflicted by Hezbollah on Haifa. All you hear from Chirac, from the Pope, is oh, Israel are killing the civilians. So I don't think it's ever going to be overcome. BOLTON: Well, I think what President Bush is doing is making a pretty clear statement that Israel has a right to self-defense. And when it's attacked by a terrorist, it's entitled to respond. O'REILLY: Yes, but they don't care what President Bush says. BOLTON: Well... O'REILLY: Chirac doesn't care. Russia doesn't care. BOLTON: What our job is in New York is to make sure that that right of self-defense is not abridged arbitrarily. But also, to try and do what we can to help the Lebanese government, which was elected democratically, and to see if we can help remove the cancer. O'REILLY: I hope he can help, but I don't have any faith he can. And that's not any reflection on you. I just think the whole place is a rat's nest. BOLTON: Well, they have a lot of trade interest in Iraq. BOLTON: But what we hope the five foreign ministers have agreed to here is begin to put the squeeze on Iran. We'll see. Look, this is a test, Iran, North Korea, Lebanon. These are all tests for the Security Council. It may fail, it may succeed. BOLTON: No, I'm not optimistic. I'm not pessimistic either. I just try and take it a day at a time. What we need to do is to use this forum to advance American interests. And it's hard there. There's no question about it. O'REILLY: You must have the most frustrating job in the world. BOLTON: Could be right. O'REILLY: Because you can't reason with people. BOLTON: Well, I think the thing to keep your eye on is making sure that American interests are protected and the interest of our allies. And that makes it worthwhile, because if we weren't there protecting them, it would be... O'REILLY: Yes, you have to be there, but I got to tell you, Mr. Ambassador, and I appreciate you coming in, most Americans don't have a use for the U.N. They have no confidence in the U.N. These poor Darfur people are getting slaughtered. BOLTON: Right. We're taking our good, old time, but the administration is committed to making sure that we do whatever we can in Darfur. It's been frustrating dealing with the U.N. there. There's no question. BOLTON: Right. 750,000. BOLTON: Right. The U.N., Kofi Annan. All right, Mr. Ambassador, thanks for coming in and keep slugging it out over there. If you need any help, get me a pass. I'll come with you. BOLTON: I'll give you a call. Copy: Content and Programming Copyright 2006 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2006 Voxant, Inc. (www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, LLC'S and Voxant, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation. | https://www.foxnews.com/story/can-the-u-n-save-the-day-in-the-middle-east |
Will Intel Reform Bill Make Us Safer? | This is a partial transcript of "The Big Story With John Gibson," Dec. 17, 2004, that has been edited for clarity. Watch "The Big Story With John Gibson" weeknights at 5 p.m. ET! JOHN GIBSON, HOST: It's been a long road to the signing of the Intel Reform Bill today. I'm joined by former Speaker of the House, FOX News Political Analyst Newt Gingrich (search). Newt, the only reason any of us care about this is the idea that we do need to be made safer. NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, I think this is a step in the right direction. It doesn't do it by itself. The intelligence budget is way too small; we have far too little emphasis on human intelligence; we don't have enough assets in places like Syria or Iran or North Korea. So it's going to take a lot of work to really strengthen the intelligence community and to make it effective over time. This bill is a start, but nobody should relax and think that this bill does the job. GIBSON: Mr. Speaker, bills are also something that sometimes make most Americans' eyes glaze over. Walk us through it. GINGRICH: Well, the most important driving thrust of this bill is that there should be a coordinated effort where all the different intelligence services talk to each other, where the information flows to the president and to other decision-makers and to the military in a timely way, and where there's some kind of overall coordination, which is what we've not had; we've had a series of disparate agencies doing things. But I just want to emphasize, while this is a very useful step, I very much supported passing this bill, unless the budgets are adequate, unless we recruit enough people, unless Congress changes its attitude about human intelligence and the problems involved in asking people to go out and risk their lives for this country in difficult places like Syria and Iran and North Korea, this bill by itself will just add a new layer of bureaucracy. So, there's a lot more that has to be done than just this bill. GINGRICH: Well, first of all, nobody should assume ever that we're 100 percent safe or that any kind of intelligence preparation is going to make us 100 percent safe. We're up against smart opponents. They're going to study us every day, they're going to try every day to get through. They only have to get through once to cause a disaster. Whereas, we could stop them 50 or 100 times and some of them will come back again. So, I think this is a step in the right direction, but it's not going to guarantee that you and I can go to sleep tonight and be sure that the United States is safe. What it will do is it'll create a much more integrated picture of where our resources go; what we're trying to accomplish. Having a National Counterterrorism Center gives us a much greater ability to integrate the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (search), the Border Patrol, Customs, the people involved in actual CIA and other kind of spying; the National Security Agency (search), which does most of our electronic intercepts. There are a lot of different assets out there that are working to make America safe. And historically, they haven't talked to each other very well; they very often have hidden secrets from each other; and I think we're trying to get to a system where the user can pull forward all of the information. And the obligation is on the intelligence agency to actively share that information, not to hide it from other American agencies. GINGRICH: Yes, I think it makes an enormous difference because the person who sees the president the first thing every day is the effective deliverer and describer of intelligence on America. If that person sees the president say, 280 days a year and they're with the president for a half hour 280 times a year, their relative influence on the president, their ability to win bureaucratic arguments is going to be dramatic. So, whoever you'll know where the real power is by who gets to actually walk in the Oval Office and brief the president. GIBSON: I've got to sort of, move us over one click in this discussion, and that is this because we're going to talk about it later in the show at much greater length, but I do want to know what you think about this there's this whole sudden discussion about whether Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, should stay or should go. And his critics are, this time, not coming from the left, but from the right. GINGRICH: Well, I think it's totally wrong to focus on Secretary Rumsfeld. The American military did a great job in Afghanistan; the American military did a great job in Iraq; the American military's doing a great job in the global war on terror. It is the State Department which has failed to cut off Iran and Syria; it is the State Department which has failed through the Agency for International Development to create jobs in Iraq. The Congress gave $18 billion to the Coalition Provisional Authority (search) and they couldn't spend the money. The bureaucracy couldn't deliver. So, I think it's really wrong for people to focus on the Defense Department as the problem, when most of the problems, frankly, are in the civilian side of national security, and in bureaucracies that aren't able to deliver. GIBSON: Right. But Mr. Speaker, this particular discussion is centered on a moment when Mr. Rumsfeld was asked a question by a soldier, and he said something, and I think everybody agrees is true: "You go to war with the army you got, not the one you wish you had." But nonetheless, it seems most people, or a lot of people, think he was being insensitive to the soldiers who were out there riding in those vehicles that aren't armored up. GINGRICH: Look, Don Rumsfeld has had the characteristic for four years of telling the truth to the American people and telling the truth to the men and women he leads in the Defense Department. I think what he said that day he believes. And I think he said it as directly and as candidly as he could. I find it amazing that politicians, including people who have pretty regularly voted against appropriations for defense and people who have pretty regularly voted against doing what we need to strengthen our country, in terms of these kinds of things, decide to jump on Don Rumsfeld for what they think is insensitivity. This is a man who has done everything he could for three and a half years so our young men and women could have the best equipment, despite the Congress, so our young men and women could have the best support, despite some of these people in Congress. And I find it a little ironic that some of the people, who voted no on spending the money, now want to say that it's Donald Rumsfeld who's somehow insensitive. GIBSON: A ringing endorsement of the Secretary of Defense. Former Speaker, Newt Gingrich. Mr. Gingrich, thanks a lot. Appreciate it. GINGRICH: Good to be with you. Content and Programming Copyright 2004 Fox News Network, L.L.C. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2004 eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, L.L.C. 's and eMediaMillWorks, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation. | https://www.foxnews.com/story/will-intel-reform-bill-make-us-safer |
Will UBL's Latest Message Lead to More Attacks? | This is a partial transcript of "The Big Story With John Gibson," Dec. 16, 2004, that has been edited for clarity. Watch "The Big Story With John Gibson" weeknights at 5 p.m. ET! (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: He's a terrorist. That's what terrorists do. He is a criminal. He's a terrorist. He's a murderer. And we're going to continue to hunt for him until he is captured and brought to justice. (END VIDEO CLIP) JOHN GIBSON, HOST: Colin Powell (search) talking about Usama bin Laden (search) who is at it again, spewing hatred. He's released another audiotape, this one praising terrorists for attacking the American consulate in Saudi Arabia and calling Saudi rulers corrupt puppets of the U.S. who must be taken down. I'm joined now by former CIA officer, Michael Swetnam (search). MICHAEL SWETNAM, FORMER CIA OFFICER: I don't think so, John. I think this message was all totally directed at the Saudi Arabian people who, over the last several days have, in fact, been turning against bin Laden and Al Qaeda a little bit. What's happened in the last several days is that Ayman al-Zawahiri (search), bin Laden's deputy, came out several days ago encouraging more attacks against U.S. officials and places like our consulate. They did that Monday when they attacked the U.S. consulate, and all they managed to do was kill four Saudi citizens. Since then, the Saudi media has been really condemning these attacks. And, in fact, the highest religious leader in Saudi Arabia has come out and roundly criticized these attacks and Al Qaeda for sponsoring them. This message by bin Laden was one trying to win back some support from the Saudi population that he seems to be losing. SWETNAM: That would be one of the worst nightmares that you can imagine. GIBSON: I know. That's why I asked you about it, Michael. SWETNAM: It would be terrible. It would be terrible. Actually, the Saudi rulers are there are dissidents and there are factions that do not support them. But a surprising number of Saudi wealthy and middle-class do support the kingdom and do support the rulers. And so it's not necessarily within reason to say that this fiefdom will continue for quite sometime. Bin Laden, of course, would like to a group to raise up in revolution and throw out the leadership in Saudi Arabia, but it doesn't look very likely today. And as long as Al Qaeda is involved in attacks in Saudi Arabia that, in fact, cause the population to turn their nose up at Al Qaeda, he's in fact hurting his cause, rather than helping it. SWETNAM: Well, it's certainly true that the ruling family will not forever stay in power. A more hopeful scenario is one that, gradually over time, a democracy is let into the country and that the country becomes more and more a democratic type of kingdom, rather than a fiefdom. And, in fact, the ruling family is going to hold local democratic elections this spring. And so there will be some more local-level leaders. Whether that will, over a reasonable period of time, lead to a real democracy is yet to be seen. But that's really the scenario that we would like to see unfold in Saudi Arabia. GIBSON: Hey, Michael, I read these Web sites with translations from the Arabic, and there's Arabic columnists lamenting the fact that, in the entire Arab world, there are only two places where there are elections going on, the Palestinians and the Iraqis, both under the occupiers. SWETNAM: Yes, it does. And, in fact, the more that democracy takes root in Iraq, and the more successful that democracy is, the more pressure there will be on the Saudi Arabian kingdom to do something about bringing in democracy. In fact, there is a pseudo-democracy in the UAE right next to Saudi Arabia. There are pockets of it here and there. The more that democracy takes roots, the better for us, but we don't want it to happen overnight. In this part of the world, one of the surest ways to bring about a revolution is to have something happen too fast, when the society is not really ready for it. GIBSON: Michael Swetnam. And Michael, as always, thank you. Appreciate it. SWETNAM: Thank you, John. Content and Programming Copyright 2004 Fox News Network, L.L.C. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2004 eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, L.L.C. 's and eMediaMillWorks, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation. | https://www.foxnews.com/story/will-ubls-latest-message-lead-to-more-attacks |
Can the Cleveland Indians, Francisco Lindor and Trevor Bauer avoid going to arbitration? | CLEVELAND, Ohio The Indians will find out Friday if they are able to reach deals with shortstop Francisco Lindor and right-hander Trevor Bauer. Friday is the deadline for exchanging salary figures for 2019 for arbitration. This is the first time Lindor has been eligible for arbitration. MLBtradeumors.com projects he could earn a salary of $10.2 million. He made $623,200 last year. Bauer beat the Indians in arbitration last year. He received a salary of $6.525 million while the Indians offered $5.3 million. Hes projected to receive $11.6 million this year. Chris Antonetti, Indians president of baseball operations, wouldnt comment on negotiations with Lindor or Bauer, but added, our hope is always to work towards an agreement rather than have value decided in a hearing. Lindor and Bauer, should they go to an arbitration hearing and win, could walk away with the biggest arbitration awards in franchise history. Last year the Indians took a file and trial approach with Bauer, their only player to go to arbitration. After the two sides failed to reach an agreement before exchanging numbers, the Indians stopped negotiating and waited to argue their case in a hearing before three arbitrations. Bauer was the first Indians player to win an arbitration case since Greg Swindell in 1991. Antonetti would not comment if the Indians will take the same file-and-trial approach this year. Lindor has played just over three years in the big leagues. Hes been to three All-Star games and helped the Indians win three straight AL Central titles. Its been speculated that he could break Kris Bryants record salary of $10.85 million for a player eligible for arbitration for the first time. Bauer went to his first All-Star Game last year. He went 12-6 with a 2.21 ERA in 28 games, including 27 starts. He struck out 221 batters in 175 1/3 innings. Arbitration hearings start Feb. 1. | https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2019/01/can-the-cleveland-indians-francisco-lindor-and-trevor-bauer-avoid-going-to-arbitration.html |
Who's more compassionate, Republicans or Democrats? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Democrats want to know how Republicans can support President Trumps policy of separating babies from refugee families. Republicans want to know how Democrats can sanction abortion. In my research into the publics support for a variety of government policies, I ask questions about how compassionate someone is, such as how concerned they are about others in need. These questions are integral to understanding how people feel about who in America deserves government support. Some people are more compassionate than others. But that doesnt break simply along party lines. I find that Democratic and Republican Party voters are similar, on average, busting up the clich of bleeding heart liberals and uncaring conservatives. And then there are Trump voters. Beyond partisan stereotypes Compassion is defined by many psychology researchers as concern for others in need and a desire to see others welfare improved. The similarity in compassion among voters of both parties contrasts with other measures of personality and worldview that increasingly divide Republicans and Democrats, such as values about race and morality. Republicans are not less compassionate than Democrats, but my research also shows that there is a stark divide between parties in how relevant an individuals compassion is to his or her politics. Public opinion surveys show that you can predict what kind of policies a more compassionate person would like, such as more government assistance for the poor or opposition to the death penalty. But for most political issues, the conclusion for Republicans is that their compassion does not predict what policies they favor. Support for more government assistance to the poor or sick, or opinions about the death penalty, for example, are unrelated to how compassionate a Republican voter is. In my work, I find that the primary policy area where compassion is consistently correlated to specific policies for conservatives is abortion, where more compassionate conservatives are more likely to say they are pro-life. Democrats predictable When Democratic voters say they are compassionate, you can predict their views on policies. Theyre more supportive of immigration, in favor of social services to the poor and opposed to capital punishment. Yet, while Democrats may be more likely to vote with their heart, there isnt evidence that theyre more compassionate than Republicans in their daily life. When it comes to volunteering or donating money, for example, compassion works the same way for Republicans and Democrats: More compassionate voters of either party donate and volunteer more. The real difference My research suggests that voter attitudes about the role of compassion in politics are shaped not only by personal philosophy, but by party leaders. Political speeches by Republican and Democratic leaders vary in the amount of compassionate language they use. For instance, political leaders can draw attention to the needs of others in their campaign speeches and speeches on the House or Senate floor. They may talk about the need to care for certain people in need or implore people to have a heart for the plight of others. Often, leaders allude to the deserving nature of the recipients of government help, outlining how circumstances are beyond their control. Democratic politicians use compassionate rhetoric much more often than their Republican counterparts and for many more groups in American society than Republican leaders do. When their leaders use compassionate political language, such as drawing attention to other peoples suffering and unmet needs as well as the worthiness of the groups in need, Republicans in experiments are actually moved to be more welcoming to immigrants and to support state help for the disabled. This explains how Republican voters responded positively to Republican Sen. Robert Doles campaign for the rights of the disabled in 1989. It also explains the success of presidential candidate George W. Bushs compassionate conservatism in 2000, which one Washington Post columnist wrote won George W. Bush the White House in 2000. It also suggests that its not necessarily the public, but the party leaders, who differ so significantly in how relevant they believe compassion should be to politics. Trump supporters the exception Despite political rhetoric that places them at opposite ends of the spectrum, Republican and Democratic voters appear to be similarly compassionate. Democrats view compassion as a political value while Republicans will integrate compassion into their politics when their leaders make it part of an explicit message. There is a caveat to this: I asked these survey questions about personal feelings of compassion in a 2016 online survey that also asked about choice of president. The survey was conducted a few days after Republican presidential primary candidates Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio had dropped out of the race, making Donald Trump the only viable Republican candidate for the nomination. In their responses to the survey, a large percentage of Republican voters said they would rather vote for someone other than Trump, even though he was the unofficial nominee at that point. The Republican voters who didnt support Trump were similar to Democrats on the survey with respect to their answers about compassion. Their average scores on the compassion items were the same. This is in line with the other survey data showing that liberals and conservatives, and Republicans and Democrats, are largely similar in these personality measures of compassion. But Trump supporters answers were not in line with these findings. Instead, their average responses to the broad compassion questions were significantly lower. These answers showed that Trump supporters were lower in personal compassion. While a lot of the Republican voters in the sample may well have gone on to support Trump in the general election, the survey respondents who were early adopters of candidate Trump might continue to be his most steadfast supporters today. We know that public officials rhetoric can influence public opinion on political issues. The research indicates that appeals to compassion if made by trusted leaders should work for voters of both parties. But it also indicates that if such messages are absent, compassion is less likely to be seen as important in politics and the positions people and parties take. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/whos-more-compassionate-republicans-or-democrats-99730. | https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Who-s-more-compassionate-Republicans-or-13522989.php |
Where does staying the course get the Flyers? | One thing Ive been pretty surprised by since the Flyers changed their coach and GM recently is how static everything else has been. Its easy to see why Chuck Fletcher, who never built anything even resembling a winner in Minnesota, would want to slow-roll into the new job. He climbed aboard a sinking ship midseason and maybe didnt have the best understanding of why it was sinking. He eventually fired the captain of that ship, Dave Hakstol, for problems that werent really under the captains purview, but thats understandable too. Scroll to continue with content Ad No one was ever under the impression that Scott Gordon or Carter Hart were going to be the reasons for the team to turn around, even if the team started Gordons tenure at 3-1-0 and Hart has been perfectly fine, at .909 in his seven appearances. The problems with this particular vessel go a lot deeper than just coaching and goaltending, although they were obviously issues. (Getty). This is a club with a great central offensive talent (Claude Giroux) with some high-quality supporters (Couturier, Voracek, perhaps Konecny, maybe even Simmonds and van Riemsdyk if you wanna stretch the definition), but little to no depth and, sad to say, not much high-end help on the way. On the blue line, the situation is similar with some headlining players, some absolute albatrosses, and a few prospects who err on the good side but no one whos going to wow you. Its been said that the Flyers will never tank because they will always try to be competitive. Thats admirable in its way, but hey gang the losing streak just hit eight and and almost every meaningful player on the team is on the wrong side of the aging curve. Story continues And yet, from everything I can gather here, the only guy theyre gonna try to sell who is of any real note is Wayne Simmonds. Nashville?) even if the results this season (just 12-6-18 in 42 games with meh-at-best underlyings) arent there. Simmonds is likely to walk this summer, so Fletcher has to recoup some kind of return, but you have to wonder whether other GMs are gonna look at those totals and say, This isnt worth what Tomas Tatar or Evander Kane fetched last year. Which is to say a first-round pick plus some other assets. Plus, oops, Simmonds has a 12-team no-trade list that limits the market sharply. And if you dont have that reason for future optimism, lets dampen the mood further by pointing out that the Flyers cap commitments are such that they really cant do too much tinkering with the roster as-is (Simmonds was a bargain for most of his contract so his $3.975 million doesnt give you much wiggle room). Jori Lehtera is the only other big-ticket item coming off the books, but they have to re-sign Laughton, Konecny, Provorov, and Sanheim to what will probably be good-sized raises next year as well. So without a radical change i.e. Admittedly, room for transformational change is limited because of long-term cap obligations. Giroux, while great right now, is turning 31 this week, and signed at an $8.275-million AAV through 2022. Voracek, whos turning 30 in August, pulls just $25,000 a year less through 2024. And van Riemsdyk, 30 in June, carries a $7-million cap hit through 2023. So on some level theres a necessity in staying the course, but Fletcher really needs to figure something out with this group (even Joel Quenneville wont save them by himself). That means a big trade of meaningful roster players, including Giroux or Voracek with money retained, if you can find a partner and someone willing to give you a lot. Or they can do a really radical thing and just accept that trying to make the playoffs every year isnt serving them well. Since the salary cap era began, the Flyers have only been a 100-point team three times, and none since 2012. And hell, since 2012, theyve missed the playoffs more than theyve made them. Maybe, just maybe, the old formula of throwing money at the problem and lucking into a few Giroux-type players while also having terrible goaltending just doesnt work in the modern NHL. And maybe, just maybe, that means the Flyers will have to try to go into the tank if they ever want to get better. Flyers fans, media, and front-office types might not want to do that, as theyve spent years glibly making fun of the Penguins for tanking in the early 2000s. But when youve picked in the top-8 four times in the last 12 years BY ACCIDENT with another surely on the way in June while the Penguins won three Stanley Cups, I think the joke is probably on you. Simply put: As a going operation for the last 12 seasons, the Flyers average 91.9 points a season over 1,000-plus games. The Minnesota Wild, the team Chuck Fletcher built that no one ever thinks about at all. And the Wild have 33 percent more 100-point seasons than the Flyers do in the cap era (averaging 93.2 per 82 games). If the Flyers werent on NBC every week because of who owns the network and where theyre located that is, if they were the Kansas City Flyers or whatever they would suffer the exact same fate, relegated to historical non-factor. And rightly so, because theyre not even as good as the Wild over a dozen years. So the choice is theirs: They can actually try to be a legitimate contender, or they can continue to be Wild East, a perennial not-a-real-threat-to-anyone. But if I had to guess on where they land here, well, look who their GM is. Ryan Lambert is a Yahoo! Sports hockey columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here. All stats via Corsica unless otherwise noted. More NHL coverage on Yahoo Sports: | https://sports.yahoo.com/staying-course-get-flyers-154449029.html?src=rss |
Can Nicolas Maduro Weather a Second Term? | Sign up for the Balance of Power newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more. Venezuelas president has survived protests, impeachment drives, an assassination attempt and U.S. sanctions. The answer hinges on the crippled economy, Alex Vasquez and Andrew Rosati write, as the successor to the late Hugo Chavez begins a new six-year stint in power. Feeding a hungry nation, kick-starting production at state oil company PDVSA and fending off creditors are among his most pressing challenges. Hyperinflation, which Bloombergs Cafe Con Leche Index puts at nearly 225,000 percent, has prompted a mass exodus from a country that was once South Americas wealthiest. Blackouts and crumbling services are endemic. In Caracas, residents line up at mountain springs to fill jugs and bathe children, while the hungry pick through garbage bins. Further isolation makes tackling problems even more difficult: More than 60 nations refuse to recognize Maduros election victory, and his efforts to deepen ties with authoritarian allies Russia, China and Turkey have yielded limited support. Still, Maduro has been defiant throughout. What remains of the political opposition is fragmented, and he enjoys the support of key figures in the military and police. If Maduro can start the oil flowing again, it would help keep prices low an important benchmark for U.S. President Donald Trump. It would also give him more staying power. Global Headlines Shutdown breakdown | Trumps decision to bid bye bye to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and storm out of a White House meeting brings relations with Democrats to a new low just as the impact of the nearly three-week government shutdown is intensifying. Some 800,000 federal workers will miss their paychecks tomorrow, spreading financial pain to families across the country. Trump heads to the U.S.-Mexico border today to rally support for building a wall, the central issue in the standoff. Read more: Ryan Beene and Jennifer A. Dlouhy take a closer look at how Trumps wall battle is keeping him from honoring some of his other high-profile campaign pledges and policy priorities. For Trump, storming out of a meeting is a signature ploy. Brexit abyss | Another dramatic day in the U.K. Parliament saw Prime Minister Theresa May openly contemplating Plan B, with the Brexit deal she struck with Brussels almost certainly doomed. Britain remains divided over leaving the EU, but as David Goodman and Jess Shankleman write, its also conflicted over its place in the world. While Leavers promise a return of British grandeur, the split may leave the country diminished. Seeking assurance | The Trump administration is pushing for a way to make sure China delivers on its commitments in any deal the two nations reach to defuse a trade war roiling financial markets. Things are no less tricky at home, where Trump is setting himself up for a fight with congressional Republicans if he seeks expanded unilateral tariff powers, Jenny Leonard reports. Employment boom | Trump is presiding over the best U.S. job market in decades, a fact he's eager to tout. Whats less certain is how much responsibility he can actually claim. Theres no easy way to determine how many of the 2.64 million jobs added in 2018 and 2.19 million in Trumps first year resulted directly from his policies. Shobhana Chandra explains why. False dawn | The first-ever victory by an opposition presidential candidate in the Democratic Republic of Congo was announced early today. But it has been marred by allegations from a rival that the electoral commission rigged the result in favor of Felix Tshisekedi because hes considered less of a threat to probe corruption during the Kabila familys reign. The dispute over the ballot, which was delayed for two years, is threatening to spark instability in the worlds top producer of cobalt. What to Watch South Korean President Moon Jae-in said a second summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un was imminent. Germany's Angela Merkel heads to Greece for meetings with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, signaling a return to her international agenda in the final phase of her chancellorship. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will brief key House Democrats on plans to end sanctions against three companies tied to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. | https://news.yahoo.com/nicolas-maduro-weather-second-term-105804417.html |
Why cant I get a refund on my 500 deposit for a help-to-buy home? | I paid a 500 deposit on a new-build flat using the help-to-buy scheme. The development was supposed to be completed three months later, but nine months on there was still no handover date, so I withdrew. But the agent, Claremont Property Group, says the deposit is non-refundable. DE, Swindon Completion delays can cost a fortune if a house sale is tied to a purchase and buyers have to fork out for rental accommodation while they await their new keys. The Consumer Code for Home Builders, which all developers who sign up to help to buy are obliged to follow, requires deposits to be refunded if delays are unreasonable. This timescale is not specified but over six months would generally qualify. Claremont Property Group does not explain why you were refused, but confirms it has issued the 500. If you need help email Anna Tims at [email protected] or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Submission subject to our terms and conditions | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/11/help-to-buy-new-build-delay-completion-deposit |
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